Saturday, June 30, 2012

Beyond Excited!!

Thursday was one of those days when everything went... right.

Diana got us tickets to be in the audience of a local show called New Day Northwest. I had been a part of a studio audience many years ago when my sister and her husband took me to see a taping of The Price is Right. But this was a first for Beth and Diana.

I had to drive downtown - not my favorite thing to do but we got there early enough to get a good parking space, then we walked a couple blocks to Starbucks to wait until the studio doors opened.

Being on the set was so energizing! Seeing the process of retakes, camera operation and set design was fascinating! We loved it! The first guest was Betsy Morgan, she plays Fantine in a production of Les Miserable that's playing right now in Seattle. Our entire family loves that musical and that was one of the reasons we got tickets to be in the audience.

After Betsy finished singing I Dreamed a Dream, the host of New Day Northwest, Margaret Larsen looks into the camera and says, "Everyone in our studio audience today gets a pair of tickets to see Les Mis next week!" That place erupted!!

We got a total of 6 free tickets!! So on Thursday, Chuck, Me, Beth, Diana, Sharaya and Ryan will all be seeing Les Miserables!! We are beyond excited!!






After the show we got free gelato ice cream, plus a free copy of a book written by one of the guests. Here we are in the lobby eating our gelato and watching the show we had just taped!






 On Thursday, July 5 at 8 PM we'll be here!!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Rewind Wednesday - Waiting For Her Bus

I had such a great Rewind Wednesday for you!! This morning I took a picture of Beth waiting for her DART bus to take her to karaoke and art. Then I remembered a picture of Beth when she was 5, standing on a kitchen chair, looking out the window waiting for her school bus.

Did you think I could find that picture today??

I have looked on thumb drives, in photo albums, photo boxes. I've probably spent more than an hour looking for that darn thing. Can't find it anywhere!

I'll probaby find it tomorrow when I'm looking for something completely unrelated.... like socks.

Well anyway, when Beth was 5 she was SO excited about her bus coming! She pulled a chair over to the window and crawled up on it. Sharaya was in the picture too along with a friend named Jenny. All three girls are smiling and anxious for Beth's Bus!

Fast forward to today.







She was out!! Yea, I think the excitement's worn off.



Sunday, June 24, 2012

She Sincerely and Innocently Asked

I am the admin for our Ministry to Internationals and on Friday the Iranian Fellowship held a big dinner. I've been planning and preparing for this for weeks and I must say I'm thankful it's over. I worked 14 hours and with help from amazing volunteers, served more than 250 people. It was a long but successful day.

But that's not what I want to tell you about. We had two serving lines and an old friend that I hadn't seen in years came into my line. It was so good to see her and I could tell she felt the same.

After the event she found me again and introduced me to her friend. (Can't remember his name right now.) E and I talked about work and our kids. We counted the years since our last visit.

Then she asked it, "How's your Down Syndrome daughter?"

I was a little surprised at how much it bothered me. There's really nothing wrong with it except she didn't put People First. E doesn't have children who have special needs so I know it was asked with complete sincerity. I didn't say anything about it to her but for some reason I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

Five years ago I wouldn't have thought anything about it. Since reading all of your blogs though, I've come to learn about People First Language. It really is important to remember that they aren't their diagnosis. I'm not a congenital ptosis person. I'm a person who has... ptosis.

Mary is a person who has....

Johnny is a person who....

Beth is a person....

Sunday, June 17, 2012

The Young and The Restless... and His Children

I was at home for lunch on Thursday when I heard a knock at the door. It was my dad!! He drove up by himself to surprise me!

He lives in San Diego.

We live in Seattle.

It's 1200 miles.

He's 87.

Happy Father's Day to a dad who has more energy than most people half his age!!







And to Chuck.

A man who didn't have a dad to show him the way. You did an amazing job with our girls! You showed love; you disciplined when it was needed; you played and you prayed.

Happy Father's Day Chuck!




Saturday, June 9, 2012

As the World Turns... Ever So Slowly

Wow. I can't believe it's been a whole week since I last wrote. Let's see, what have we been up to?

The first of the week was pretty basic. Beth did a few chores around the house. She went bowling on Tuesday. Had a score of 96, not too bad. She was bowling in the 110 range there for a while but recently she'd dropped about 10 points. Not sure what happened.

I had some much needed quiet time on Tuesday night. Spent some time with the Lord, praying and reading. I crave those moments sometimes.

Diana got called into Campell Nelson this week. (They're a car dealership that sells Nissan and VW.) She actually quit there when she went to Ireland and London a few months ago but out of the blue they called her this week, "Can you come in and work for a few days?" So she'll have a nice paycheck next week! She's already talking about taking the train to Canada for a few days! That girl has a hard time staying home.

I went out last night with a few friends from work and we played Bunco. It was at a friend house; we had dinner, then played for a couple hours! They even gave out gifts to the winners, losers and everyone in between! We play about once a year but we should do it more often. It was so much fun! Most of us are not night owls and by 10:00 were laughing til we cried! I finally got in after 11:00. Completely forgetting that I was babysitting Allison at 8 this morning! I was SO tired and at 1:00 today I hit that wall. Ever been there?!?

Allie rode her bike in the driveway for a while.










Beth changed her bed today. She brought her sheets and comforter upstairs and put them in the wash. I handed her a clean set and she said she needed help putting them back on her bed. I told her to at least start putting them on and I'd be down in a minute to check on her. When I got down there she was almost finished! I asked her if she still needed help and she said no! Awesome! I knew she could do it, I think she was just bein' lazy.

Tonight I took pictures for Ryan's family. His brother is in town and his mom wanted a family photo. Since Sharaya was in the pictures they needed someone else to take them. We went down to the beach by the ferry dock. I used Sharaya's camera and now she'll take them home, edit them and make 'em all purdy. It was a beautiful evening so afterward Diana and I walked along the pier. (Diana came with me to help make Allie smile!) 








And that's about it for this week. I'm going in now to take a shower and get ready for our Sunday school class tomorrow. I hope you all have a great week!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

The Days of Our Non-Riveting Lives

We babysit Allison on Saturdays and we decided to take her to the park. Before we left she read Beth a book. It was a pop up book about stories from the Bible. It was cute, Allie just made up words as she turned the pages, but Beth listened intently!




 
Going down the big slide!



I love what these fiberglass slides do to hair!


 


 
We decided to bring Sugar. That dog loves to ride in the car!



Having a deep conversation with Auntie DiDi.


 


 
Jumping!



This park even has a zip line!
I love Beth's expression in this one!
Go Allie!



Poor Beth desperately wanted to play.
Her weight and the size of the equipment kept her from doing too much.
(She's lost 9 pounds in the last month!!)



Allie saw Beth on the equipment and came running.



 
Sorry these posts haven't been more riveting. There really hasn't been much happening around here. I bought some plants today. Some Morning Glories and Minifamous. I plan to put them in a large pot and set them by the latice in the back yard.

Went to a yard sale put on by our MOPS group. Bought Allie a potty chair. Ryan and Sharaya plan to start potty training soon so I wanted one for her while she's at our house. Also got some electric trains and a track for the kids in our Special Connections class. They love trains!

Umm.... took Beth shopping. she bought the Tangled CD. Chuck fixed dinner while we were gone. :)

Well that's about it from here. Hope things are well at your house!