Tragedy and Joy

Hey everyone,

May is about over and we're headed into June already. Does anyone else feel like this year is flying by? 

We live on a busy street and a couple weeks ago I had gone to bed around 10:00 when I heard a car fly by our house. The speed limit is 35 but sometimes people go so fast. I laid in bed calculating their speed 'They have to be going at least 60' when I heard 'Bam!!" I thought, 'Oh no! Please don't let that be from the car!' There's a very sharp turn a block or two from us and the street heads up a big hill. Then I heard, "Ka-boom!"

I flew out of bed, grabbed a sweatshirt and headed outside. Chuck had been watching TV but heard the sound too and was right behind me. By that time we could hear the sirens. From the sidewalk in front of our house we could see tons of flashing lights up the street. The article said the driver 'was traveling at an excessive speed.'

We learned the driver didn't survive and now there is a memorial at the corner where the car left the road. I don't think I will ever forget the sounds of that car that night. I keep thinking about that persons last thoughts as they lost control of the car, and about their family members receiving the news. It just breaks my heart. 

On to something a little lighter -

I was out watering the other night and happened to notice this on one of our evergreen trees -

I've been watering these trees for 25 years and this heart has just appeared in about the last 6 months. I just smiled thinking about how God's creation sings it's praises to Him. Isaiah 55:12 "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace, the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." The Lord speaks to us through His word, through others, and through His creation. His love is like no other.

Beth had some lab work done recently. It showed she's slightly anemic so she's now taking iron a few times a week.

Before I got on here, I was going around closing the blinds and noticed a pink hue outside. Our house faces east so I headed to the backyard and sure enough, a gorgeous pink sky! The sunset was beautiful tonight.

And tomorrow... Diana and Peter fly in and we get to see these two!!

Not sure I'll get much sleep tonight! We saw them back in December but when they're this age it seems like forever. They'll be staying with us for a week so Sharaya and Ally will be over a lot, we bought a kids slide, kids patio chairs, lots of new toys, took some extra furniture to storage, our house looks very different than it did a couple weeks ago!  

There's going to be a lot going on at the end of next week too so I'm not sure when I'll be back on here. I'll try to log on and read posts when I can. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

We went to Diana and Peter's for Easter. The food was so good! Peter's sister was visiting from New Jersey and she recorded them telling us Diana's pregnant!!! They hadn't told everyone in Peter's family so we couldn't tell anyone. But they went to New Jersey for Father's Day and I'm free to tell you the news!!

 

They really had it all planned out: After dinner we settled in for a game of Chronology, have you played it? I think I posted about it once before.

 

If these were my cards, the player on my right would read a card to me and I'd have to guess if it happened between 1949 or 1983, or before 1793... there were 6 of us and we had gone around the table a few times when Diana picks up a card and 'reads' "CWA originally from California becomes a grandfather again." Chuck picked up on it right away but I'm so focused on the initials CWA, that's not how the cards are written. I even asked, "They only give the initials?" I obviously didn't hear the rest of the clue! When Diana finally says, "We're due in December" that's when I lost it!!!

We all went out for lunch recently and they showed us a bunch of ultrasound pictures. As I'm looking through them I see printed in small red letters, IT'S A GIRL

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! We are so excited!!

We Tried So Hard To Be Prim and Proper!

A couple weeks before Christmas I took Allie to tea for her birthday and we had such a great time! I've gone before with friends but was always just invited, this time I chose the place and made the reservation... 

It was about 30 minutes from our house and if you know me, you know I don't venture far from home very often. Not by myself and when I'm driving! I'm so grateful for Google Maps and Street Scene. I've driven so many places on-line before I ever go there for real!  

We arrived in plenty of time and got to look around the little shop before we were seated. It was a cute little place and we oohed and aahed at all the tea sets.

Our table was decorated so cute. We loved how the napkins were rolled inside the cup to look like roses

After we placed our order we went into the Royal Gown Room which was filled with crowns and hats and boas... Allie tried a few on and found a beautiful tiara to wear while we had lunch.

 I wish I'd captured the look on her face when they brought out our lunch on the tiered trays. Her mouth dropped open, she was so surprised! It was priceless!

When I bit into my scone I expected it to be cool and a little bit hard but it was warm and so soft! My eyes got big, I looked at her and covered my mouth with my napkin so I could tell her how good it was when all of the sudden the background music began to play The Hallelujah Chorus! Oh my gosh we both laughed so hard!!

Have you ever had Tea in a Tea Room?

Family and Surgery

Sorry, I didn't realize it had been that long since I posted! 

Chuck had weight loss surgery last week. What an ordeal that was! The surgery went well but it took him a while to come out of the anesthesia. Not that he slept a long time but when they called me back he was dressed and walking his laps around the nurses station but he was still really groggy. I stayed longer than I planned to and when I left he was still out of it. But by the time I picked him up the next morning he was doing much better

This was in 2001                                            This was last week

This is how much weight he's lost on his own! For the last 18 years he's changed habits and worked so hard to lose the weight and keep it off! And now this surgery is the help he needs to take off the last of it! I'm so excited for him and what this means for his future. So many things are going to change for him! For the better!

Allie spent the night last weekend. Did I remember to take any pictures? Of course not. We played bingo and battleship... I love hanging out with her.

My sister has been trying to figure out all of my dads paperwork, his accounts and insurance policies. I called her today and she's so overwhelmed. She didn't sleep well last night and was up early this morning so she could get to the bank right when they opened... We prayed over the phone and she'll go to the bank again tomorrow when it's not a holiday. 

As I write this Chuck and I are watching the Seahawks game and he yells, "Why didn't their guy get called for that?!" And from down the hallway we hear Beth say, "I dunno." She's such a goof! 

Random Stuff

Sharaya took a trip to New Orleans this weekend. As a single mom she tries to get away one time a year for just a little 'me' time. 

So Allie spent the night on Friday! I took her to her school's Halloween dance. Allie and her friends hung out in the center of the gym and danced a little, they ran around outside, there was pizza and cookies... I'm glad I got to take her. It was fun to watch her in her element.

Afterwards I was showing her all the pictures I took and in this one she said they were pretending they were jumping off the titanic. 😊 

 Saturday morning I took her to gymnastics. 

Now she's staying at a friends house for a few nights.

Look at this face!! 💖

Saturday night was our Harvest Party at church. The theme was Candy Land and there were games in every classroom: laser tag, cookie decorating, ring toss, bowling, a lot like you'd see at a carnival. 

Then the gym was set up with  large inflatables and there were hotdogs and chips... it's always so much fun! We ended up having more than 1500 people come through!

All the volunteers stayed to help clean up and by the time my crew and I cleaned and restocked the bathrooms, vacuumed, mopped, set the alarm and headed home, it was 10:30!

We gave away a LOT of candy!

One of the photo spots

 

When it was all over...

I just spent a couple hours creating gift bags for my crew. They work incredibly hard throughout the year and I can't thank them enough!

 Just a few of the 8 custodians on my staff

(FYI - he's 6'10")

I've really been loving fall this year. It's usually not my favorite time of year with summer ending and all the sunshine going away for 5 months... But for some reason this year I just can't get enough of it! The cooler temps, the beautiful colors... I'm loving this!

Do you like fall? What's your favorite season?

Family Stuff

Chuck, Beth and I went to a wedding the other day and Beth studied that bride!

(She's wearing the brown pants)  

Chuck and I got some cake and sat down with friends while she followed J and S around the room. When she threw the bouquet, Beth actually squealed! Then she came over to us and began to talk about what she wanted her wedding dress to look like!

We had no idea Beth was going to this wedding with the idea of planning her own! 😮

Diana will be here on Friday!! A friend of hers is getting married next weekend so she'll be here for a week and we are so excited!!

Allie came over for a while today while Sharaya cleaned Allies room. It gives her a chance to get rid of things without Allie being there to protest. 😏

We painted and played board games and ate cookies and looked at her baby pictures and watched TV... we always have so much fun when she's here!

I'm in the process of painting our small bathroom. A friend of mine painted her bathroom a soft violet and had pictures of her daughter's cheer leading team on the walls. It was a University of Washington Husky's bathroom and it was gorgeous! She did such a great job on it and I thought, "I can do this!" 

I was born and raised in San Diego, Chuck's family moved there when he was very young and that's where we met, got married, started our family... and so it would be safe to say the San Diego Chargers were his first love. Even after we moved to Seattle, he'd cheer for the Chargers. So I decided to paint the bathroom the color of the lightening bolt. Then I'd add dark blue towels and accessories. It was gonna be great! But the color of the bolt actually looked orange. And I don't mean, "Does that have a hint of orange?" I mean, it was really orange. I always thought it was a mustard/gold color but nope. Orange.

And then the Chargers moved to L.A. 

Sigh.

So I'm painting it white again.

How are things going at your house?