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!

We Had a Bomb Cyclone Blow Through

 Hi,

A few posts ago I talked about how I showed up for the Harvest Party to find the lead custodian had to leave early. Well, turns out he's been under a lot of stress at home, in ministry, and then at work so he ended up stepping down from that position and I'm back to being Supervisor again. This is the busiest time for us so to try to hire and train someone now wouldn't work. I'm glad I took those couple months to rest while I had the chance! We'll look for new candidates after the first of the year.

Last night we made it through a Bomb Cyclone. I remember having one or two others in the years we've lived in Seattle but they are rare. And I think this one was the worst.

 (From Fox News)

On the right you can see Washington, Oregon and Northern California

They said we had 75 MPH wind gusts, that's strong for this area. And we had so many downed trees. Our power went out around 8:30 last night and I hear a very sad, "Nooooo!" from downstairs. Beth and I got out the flashlights and she came upstairs to hang out with me. She doesn't like to be downstairs when the power's out.

About that time Chuck texted me. He was working - driving a city bus - when he came across a downed tree across the road. The police were already there so he stopped and called dispatch. Then he hears a large crack and a tree had fallen and hit the back of his bus! Thankfully he was in a 60 footer so he wasn't injured at all. The police came over and took pictures and then he waited until a metro supervisor arrived. He ended up not getting home until after midnight.

Right after our power went out I noticed the pilot light in our gas fireplace was still on (sometimes it goes out when the power does) so I turned it on real quick. Then I remembered I bought two battery operated sconces for the living room so I turned those on. Beth and I stayed nice and cozy all evening. Our power came back on around 1:00AM, not long after Chuck got home. That's when we all went to bed.

Beth sound asleep in my recliner

I know not everyone faired as well as we did. I was thanking the Lord for how good we had it. I've been watching the Weather Channel and it looks like the rest of the country is going through some storms. I pray you all stay safe!

You Have To Look Closely

We went up to Leavenworth Saturday night. We've wanted to do a little stargazing and heard Lake Wenatchee was a great place to view the Milky Way. So we stopped at Leavenworth to have dinner and do a little shopping.

 

The drive there is so beautiful. I love road trips! Even if they are only 2.5 hours long!

 

She knew I was taking her picture 😁

 

The Baren Haus. They have a variety of food but we wanted to have something authentic so Beth and I tried the Schnitzel, have you ever had it? We really liked it!

We walked around a little before heading to the lake. Leavenworth is so pretty at night!

We got lost on the way to the lake, made a u-turn on a residential street, then went into the wrong entrance to the park... finally found the turn off and drove through a campground to get to the water. It was about 10:30 by now and the sky was spectacular! It blows me away that we can see the Milky Way with the naked eye. This is the picture I took -

 

 

I think you can see 5 stars!! 😂 Peter got some great shots, the rest of us just kept looking up. I took a picture off the internet and this is pretty close to what we saw, except for us it was directly overhead.

It's spectacular! Took my breath away and reminded me of God's creative power. We serve such a great and mighty God!

An Unexpected Adventure

 A couple weekends ago we drove up to Anacortes, about 90 minutes from us to go to a memorial for a friend we hadn't seen in years. There were a lot of old friends there, it's always good to see everyone but so sad that it has to be under those circumstances.

While we were there a friend told us about the Washington Park Loop. It's a 2 mile road that goes along the waterfront and it was just a few miles from where we were. There's camping and picnic tables and then this single lane, one-way road.

 

Then there'd be a small parking spot nestled between the trees and bushes just big enough for one car. I got out on one of them and after stepping over a fallen tree and walking down a tiny dirt path I came across this huge overlook!

The wind was just howling but the views were so pretty! I was out there so long that by the time I got back to the car my ears were sore! Have you ever had that, where the wind makes your ears so cold, that they almost hurt on the inside?

Back in the car and we continue driving. I couldn't get over how pretty the scenery was.

 

Then we pull up to another open area and of course I hop out, phone in hand. I walked across some flat rocky areas to another incredible view.

 

I'm so glad our friends recommended this place. On our way out, we spotted two deer! It's a little hard to see them in the tall grass but as we pulled away one of them lifted it's head and looked right at us. "See ya next time!"

Quiet And Relaxing

When Chuck and I drove up to get Beth when she got back from the aquarium, we stopped at a little park overlooking the Everett Naval Base. It was around 10:00 at night and the views were so pretty.

 

I love the way this tree looks in the light from the lamppost.

I had a very quiet weekend last weekend. There weren't many activities happening at work which meant I was able to stay home all day! I did a little yard work, cleaned out a few cupboards... it was great to just be home all day!

Allie was in a concert at her school on Wednesday night. It was about the circus and she was a lion. The cutest lion ever!

 I heard back from Beth's case worker and it looks like I can get her a job by myself. So I'm looking into a few opportunities.

It's been a slow week and I've loved every minute of it! 

I hope you've been able to relax and take a deep breath this week too.