Kate's visit... Vancouver this time.

 I promised Kate that I didn't have plans for her life, as the last time she visited me because she was "in town" she ended up staying "in town" (Tianjin) for the next four years!  We met at Honeyrock 6 years ago, and lucky for me she's been a great friend since We've had lots and lots and lots of adventures together.  This time she was in Vancouver, and came over for a visit.  I wanted to suggest that she stick around for awhile, and hinted at it, but decided at this point, seeing that we don't have clear plans for our own lives, it's better to watch and see what God will do as he leads us all in the places that he wants us to be.  

 While Kate was here for the day, we enjoyed her presence on a rainy rainy Vancouver day.

 I sometimes wonder if the sun actually does shine.

 Rain or shine, these kids certainly enjoyed a visit!  This little guy flirted with Kate all day!

 It's nice when they are happy, even when they are a little on the crazy side.  Kate and I were friends before I really knew Dave, and we hiked many a mile in the Northwoods of Wisconsin together, on the highest mountains in Borneo, and in the streets of Tianjin, and backcountry of Mongolia.  And now, the trails of the Pacific Spirit Park, the markets of Granville Island and finally ...

 A Taste of Paradise on Commercial Drive.  Hmmm.....

 Well, it sure was good to see an old friend!  Thanks for coming Kate! I do wonder where in the world we'll rendezvous next?

Just doin' my job

My friend and colleague caught me hard at work today, that is, huffing and puffing after a gargantuan uphill bike ride with two in tow.  I usually work my way uphills to the chants of "go Mama go!" echoing behind me.  Today however, my little ones were plumb tuckered out by their morning activities plus a quick bike ride to the beach and back again

There were no cheers coming up the hill today, but I'm just doing my job!

Kids active today--check
Dinner made for us plus others--check
Kids asleep--check
House clean... um... kind of
Children's events planned and run--check
Dinner, bath, bed-check, check, check

Now I'm just watching my husband hard at work doing his job...  (trying to find a job!)  :)

Mixing work and kids

Who am I kidding?  Taking care of kids is work of course!

 But trying to mix paid work and simultaneously taking care of kids... well, that's a potential disaster.

 Note to self, don't try to blog, work, and take care of kids. And definitely don't try and cook dinner at the same time!

Time for me to get the vacuum cleaner!!!  And get dinner out of the oven!!  I'm smelling something burning!

 At least there's an opportunity to teach responsibility, right?

"I'm a Monkey"

 When asked if he is a monkey or a boy, Asher will generally respond "monkey."  He is definitely all boy, but there's some serious monkey in him as well.  It's been fun watching him grow, and especially in the last couple of weeks, picking up vocabulary and sentences at very fast intervals!  This is coming in rather handy-- like today for instance.  Asher's friend Ezra started crying and his mom and my head were both turned so when we asked Asher why Ezra was crying he answered "I (babble babble) pulled (babble/something incoherent) his hair."  So when we confirmed "Asher, did you pull Ezra's hair?" He nodded and confirmed "uh huh."

 So there's no playing dumb any more.  He can tell us what happened.  And that goes for keeping track of his sister too.  (That will help me out much more!)  But we'll have to keep a eye on things having to do with his sister's discipline, the little brother likes to play up the big pouty lips and need for mama kisses when things aren't so bad.  

We know this kid is tough.  He's the first to go and pet dogs his sister won't come near.  He's the first to chase away ducks that send shivers down his sister's spine.  He's rough and tumble and always with bruised knees and a bonk or two on the forehead, but comes up smiling after every fall (a few minutes later, and after ice,that is).  And that smile is generally a fixture on his face.  But this boy is growing up at a remarkable pace!  Somehow, in my mind, he looks like this: 
And, he still does, but it's hard to believe a year has passed since my bald little smiling baby is with a full head of hair and walking and talking and naming everything he can get his hands on!  With all this mind and body work, it's no wonder that when it comes to nap time, or the end of a long day, he looks like this. 

 Yep, we put him in his own bed finally.  And it seems to be working just fine.  Since he had been jumping out of his crib for a while, we figured that is was actually safer for him to be in a bed than it was for him to be landing on his head at midnight.  With his newfound obvious freedom, it's sometimes a challenge for him to stay in his own bed and leave his sister alone (though she's perfected hiding under her covers so that he thinks she's not just behind him!)  But for the most part, he's taking to his bed quite well.  And to growing up.  Though, I don't know how ready I am for this 20 month old to be a full grown "big boy" and no longer my little "monkey!"

Summer?

The calendar says it is summer, but the weather patterns?  Rain.  Temperature hovers at 60 deg. F.  Summer?  Well, maybe summer for Vancouver at least.

So, while it's summer in theory, the rain free days we've hoped for come far and few in between.  But, this week at least we had 2 of them.  And if it's not raining here, all inside plans must be cancelled and one must get outside as quickly as possible!  This week when the weather promised to be sunny and pleasant (for a day), we hopped in the car to drive down the big hill to the beach and then got in our bike (and bike trailers) for a day trip to Stanley Park and the Aquarium.


When it's summer here, this place is one of the loveliest places on earth.


When it rains, well, it's still lovely.  But getting out to enjoy the loveliness requires a bit more bravery and stamina.  Luckily, my kids have both.  Watering the garden is one of our favorite past times.  Even though Asher is sure to get completely soaked in the process, he relentlessly stakes his claim to the hose nozzle and gets drenched both by water shooting out of it, and his sister "watering" the garden.  Even though we could use a little more sun around here, our produce is thanking us that it is getting fed regularly.  And when it gets fed, we get fed.

Like this Palak Paneer spinach dish from fresh garden spinach picked the previous hour.

 Sage, Fennel, Chives and Rhubarb for something (I haven't figured out what, and I don't think they will go together in the same dish!)

 And of course, greens for daily salads.  We've got plenty of those!

So, we enjoy summer here in Vancouver as is comes.  Rain or shine, we're determined to live it up the best we can!  And always thankful for this place that has become home.

And finally: Crescent Lake and Lodge and Forest. Day 6-7

I know there are lots of pictures here.  This was an incredibly beautiful drive through the Olympic Peninsula and documenting our stay at the Crescent Lake campground and hike through the forest outside Crescent Lake Lodge. This was one of the Great Camps built in Roosevelt's time.  We enjoyed breakfast there and a hike to a falls.  Sorry, lots of photos here, but too many beautiful ones to leave any out!

Driving and beaches! Day 5-6

We covered lots of miles and saw amazing scenery driving up the Oregon and Washington coast.  We ventured to spend our first night in a tent at a campground and it was a success.  The beaches and scenery of these states are truly incredible and we loved the space and time to take it all in.  I highly recommend this trip!  

 Drive Through Oregon, stopping at Canon Beach and up the Washington Coast

Salem OR, day 4-5

What can I say?  Visiting Aunt Janet in her beautiful home overnight was lovely.

Salem, OR:  Visiting Aunt Janet

We all had a sense of peace and renewal during our time with her!  

Portland: day 2-4

We had such a nice time in Portland visiting friends.  We saw Klarissa, who is one of the first people I met while at Wheaton and long time friend!  It was fun to spend time with her and Moses, Asher's new role model.  Asher was in boy play things heaven with all the fun toys around!  We also saw Ben and Steph in Portland and had a tour of the city (well, part of it) with them and caught up from when we lived together in TJ.  Ben and Steph were friends of our the year we met, dated and married.   We also had a gormet Indian dinner with the Bevis family in Newberg and truly enjoyed spending an evening with them.  Our drives to and from all these places over a couple days was worth it!

Portland and Newberg

Tour de Pacific Northwest photo tour and recap: Bellingham

Over a thousand miles and 7 days, I can honestly say I've seen some of the most beautiful parts of the world and am delighted to know they aren't that far from where we live.  I'm so glad we took this past week to catch up with old friends, and spend time as a family together.  During the first half of the week we visited friends in Bellingham WA, Portland OR, Newberg OR,  and Salem OR.   For us, to connect with people near and dear to us from other parts of our lives is special, as we seem to relocate every couple of years!  We had time with college friends, China friends and even Janet T., my "aunt" and friend of many years!  Rather than post a gazillion pictures, I'll give you the option of looking at slideshows or albums at your own time and pace:)  (Because, I really did take a gazillion pictures!)

Day 1-2
Bellingham, staying with Knipps.

 Tim and Kristi and children have been good friends of Dave's at Taylor, and good friends of ours when we went to Regent together.  Kristi was instrumental in starting the mom's Christian fellowship that I now and quite involved in.  They live over the border in Bellingham and it was good see them a year out of Regent doing life together.  Tim is a pastor at a church there and Kristi is home with both girls.  I'm inspired by them and wonder if our life might look something like this in a year?  (Maybe?)

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to this dad and all those wonderful dads out there!  (Including MY DAD!)  Happy Father's Day!

Exploration: Family Tour de PNW part 2

We explored our surroundings this past week.

View Larger Map

It was amazing.  More to come.

I'll leave you will a photo teaser
Ok, 2.

Ok, I couldn't resist!

There's much much much more where these came from.  I'll save them for another day when I'm a little rested.  We're high on beauty of our surroundings and with time spent with friends and family as well as in nature.  More updates tomorrow!

Northwest Family Adventure Part One

We've just finished a wonderfully busy month with t'ball and swimming lessons, b'bques (like, with 400 people that I run games for) and of course, classes, and we're ready for a little adventure and breather.  And because we live in such an amazing part of the world that we've just barely scratched the surface exploring, we've decided on a little family road trip.  We are one night in and 2 days of driving and so far so good.  There's an amazing difference between driving with screaming infants versus driving with 2 children who eagerly play with toys in the back seat and sticking stickers all over themselves.  

First stop, friends in Bellingham.  Tim and Kristi are fellow Taylor grads with  Dave and fellow Regent students.  Kristi started the moms' group that is a big part of my life now.  It was lovely to see their adorable home and reconnect with them and their 2 children.  

Sunshine has made all the difference.  It's been COLD and rainy in Vancouver lately and we all have found it impossible to shake colds.  It seemed like crossing the border cleared up our sinuses if that makes any sense at all.  We surely love our home, but sometimes I feel like I just need a little connection with the USA.  

So, we are officially entering the 'what in the world are we doing with our lives' chapter.  Dave has a semester left at Regent, so come December, we are eagerly anticipating what our lives could possibly look like.  This trip seems to be the perfect time to get a breather and reflect on what our next chapter might look like.  There's nothing better than to connect with old friends and reflect with them a bit on what the Lord has been speaking in  our hearts and where we sense his leading.  It feels like I'm graduating from college again... it seems fitting that we should be connecting with friends from many places and stages of our lives who are near and dear to us.  

Second stop, Portland OR.  (Mr. Rainer has been a constant companion on this trip!)

And of course, it's an added bonus that our kids are having just as much of a blast connecting with the children of those friends!  Josie and Asher have been very eager to explore all the fun in our friends homes.  

Asher has loved finding all of Moses' toys!

 I've loved connecting with dear college friends

 Itinerary
Tomorrow:  downtown Portland
Tomorrow Night:  George Fox University
Wednesday: Salem, OR
Thursday----??  Exploring the beauty in the area!  (We brought tents and sleeping bags for all!)

Looks Who is Three!