Washington

We have such a great time visiting friends and family in Washington. The boys absolutely love it. Especially Cooper. He talks about wanting to live there all the time. He misses the orchards, space, and riding 4-wheelers. He also misses the cousins, aunts/uncles, grandma and grandpa. We all do...but not as much as the boy. Being able to see my friends is special to me too. We have been hanging out at Summer's moms house since 6th grade. During the Summer, we'd hang there every Wednesday, chatting by the pool, with ice tea, hotdogs, and western family peanut butter cookies. The kids swim for hours! We also got to see Timi, Tori, Kevin and the kids...and eat from my fave,El Porton. Cooper never fails to have an incident. This time, it was a swing to the face. Good times.

Beautiful 10 hr drive....

with 3 teenagers! The good news is, Im in this car. Coop and Chase are probably fighting in the other. Poor Jenny, Terry, and Court:)

Cousin Kirsten just LOVES Coop. What a lucky boy, she'll do anything for him.

I'm happy for the moments we get to spend with old friends from our hometown....

Seattle

Boy, do we miss Seattle. Fun trip with our good friends, the Hinz's. We went to our fave places...Pikes Place, Ivars, Space Needle, downtown and waterfront.....good times.

I'm happy for the moments we spend seeing and experiencing new places together, as well as enjoying our fave spots...

Feeling Blessed

As tragic a time this past week has been for my Dad and our families, I am feeling so blessed to witness faith, the spirit, and love. Even though I continue to struggle with many issues surrounding, I am grateful for the opportunity to dig deeper into my faith and relationship with Christ. I have so many questions and emotions. We want answers and to be able to make sense of everything, but we can't. In times of hardship we attatch earthly explanations and reasons to make ourselves feel better. But there is no way we can comprehend the power of God and Gods plan.

One thing that I am for sure of, is the importance of family and friendships. We all know this. But, honestly, how many times do you have the opportunity to actually experience and feel the power of it? Without the strength and confidence of my siblings, step-siblings, Debbie, their close friends, our close friends, family members, co-workers, and church families....there is no way anyone would make it through this in such a compelling manner. I could name individuals, one by one, and how much they have impacted me and my family through something as simple as a text to see how things were.

Aside from my mom's passing, this has been the most difficult. I am blessed to see Tiff, Matt, and family cope in the way that they do. Such amazing individuals and I am blessed to call them my family. All this has been a growing and learning opportunity for my boys as well. As unfortunate as it may seem, they will some day go through trials with their own families and suffer loss. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have these discussions with them and allow them to see how everyone is handling it....among their aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, and family.

God is love....and he surrounds us.

I am happy for the moments that make us real and the opportunity for us to grow...together...