Oh me, oh my. I'm not sure I can even think straight enough right now to get through this post. Why? It is after midnight and I have 101 things still on my to-do list before our plane departs tomorrow night heading south. But getting this post done is one of the things on that list. So here goes....
At my last post I told you that we had friends in town and were planning a night out with them the very next night. And that's exactly what we did!
Here is Jonathan and Mandi and we had a blast getting to go out to dinner with them.
Not to mention the food was scrumptious! This is my bacon wrapped crab stuffed prawns served with apple cinnamon couscous.
And here is the proof that we were actually there. And check out the view of the Sound that we had from our table. It was a magnificent evening!
Having Jonathan and Mandi come stay with us was such a treat.
Jonathan taught us about "mapmyrun.com" so that we could plan out our running routes around town. (I've told you I'd fill you in more on that running stuff later. It's not time yet.)
We got to go to Bobby and Brenda's for a fun cook-out...
Note all the guys hanging out, no children in sight. Ha!
Kade was completely focused on his cream soda. The first time we've ever let him have a soda of his very own. He was in love with it from the first sip. And I think he savored it and made it last for about 2 hours.
Ryne wasn't worried about soda...there were cookies to be eaten!
And conversations with Bobby to be had...about cookies, no doubt!
And I really do think that Kade is telling Ryan all about just how delicious cream soda is. And look how sweet Ryan is to sit and listen to him.
And from no where here is a funny moment with Ryne:
We are driving down the road and I look back to see this crazy guy. Couldn't help but sneak a pic.
And somewhere during the week we had a big guitar concert by the Lewallen boys. Enjoy these pictures of the event. Be sure to notice the crazy facial expressions....
Now, I know you've been just waiting for this event. We had visitors. We did we HAVE to take them?
Mt. Rainier, of course!
This time we went to Sunrise which is on the opposite side of the mountain from where we usually go. It was a beautiful day.
Kade and Ryne got to visit with one of the Rangers. She gave them buttons with some slogan about staying on the paths so that they could restore the mountainside's native plants.
Kade then thought he was the mountain police and carried on looking for people off the path so that he could correct them. Thanks for the "badge" sweet Ranger lady, I think you now have a ranger in training.
Oh, and check this out:
Jonathan carried my "load" for me!
Unfortunately that meant he was in Jonathan and Mandi's great picture together in front of the mountain. I'm sure people assumed he belonged to them. I was totally okay with that. My back was empty!
The view of the mountain (sorry, Kade, I meant to say volcano) is totally different from Sunrise but it is still amazing! And it was a perfect day to be there.
Russ and Jonathan enjoying the view from the top of the hike.
And I just really like this picture. I can tell that Kyle is happy to be getting to spend some time with one of his favorite friends.
And Kade seemed to really enjoy himself that day. Not sure if the big grin is still from thinking he is the "mountain police" or because things look so funny through Daddy's prescription sunglasses???
And speaking of Daddy...
Kyle had a birthday!!!!
Because we were so busy with friends in town we didn't really have time to plan a big party. In fact Jonathan and Mandi flew out early on the day of Kyle's birthday and we just had a quaint little family lunchtime celebration. Complete with tacos and quesadillas from the "taco bus" that we had been wanting to try out. And wouldn't you know it...they were DE-LI-CIOUS!!
And of course it can't be a Birthday celebration without cake and candles and the "happy birthday" song.
And to make it a real celebration we even had presents ready to be unwrapped....
Look at their faces. Kade: what is that thing? Kyle: oh my, is that what's really in the box?
It was an ipod touch and I think he liked it.
And we had to have enough packages that Kade could help unwrap....
and so could Ryne.
But honestly, I think the boys just wanted to get through the presents so we could get to the cake:
Just when the day was winding down and birthday was almost over, Kristy showed up with this:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake!!
Kyle was trying to scare people away from his cake, I think.
It didn't work. Some kind of yummy!!! Gone in about 20 minutes!
And 20 is almost the number of people we had who wanted to go try out that "new to us" park that I showed you before. There were actually 19 of us...
and we went and had a big picnic and let the kids play.
Believe it or not I actually got both of my boys in the same place at the same time and was able to get there picture. I'm surprised that I ever found both of them at the same time. See I had planned so well and dressed them both in red shirts so that I could spot them rather quickly since it was one Momma and two boys this day. Wouldn't you know it, we show up and there is some camp or daycare or something there with about 25 kids ALL wearing red shirts. Yikes!
Can't tell you how glad I was that there were a few more Mommas around to help me keep track of them. They are busy boys.
Natalie was pretty busy that day to taking in all the excitement. I couldn't help but show you this cute picture of her wearing Ryne's hat. Every time she would roll over and it would fall off, he would immediately pick it up and try putting it back on her. Really pretty cute of him.
The boys did so well at the park that I decided to take them for frozen yogurt. Now hold on to your britches for what you are about to see. When we left the park it was so close to nap time that this is what I let them do:
Eat their frozen yogurt in the car...unassisted!!
I know, I had one of my moments of insanity but I just couldn't help it.
I don't think Kade spilled a drop. In fact when he got to the bottom, he handed me his spoon so that he could drink the rest from the bowl. Ryne, on the other hand, spilled quite a bit but it was all spilled right on the very front of him and just on the straps of his seat belt. I was happy with that! And they enjoyed their frozen yogurt just the same!
And since we are talking about things that are enjoyed let me finish up here by telling you what we got to do on Thursday of this week. Our entire Life Church staff and all the wives along with our new church planter and his wife and our sponsoring pastor and his wife got to load up and go to a conference all together. And it wasn't just any old conference. It was the kind of conference where this guy meets you in the parking lot...
handing out Krispy Kreme donuts!
And then is willing to take a picture of your entire crew:
From L to R:
Mollie (Tumwater church plant helper)
Russ and Belinda (Tumwater church planters)
Derek and Alissa (more affectionately known to us as D and Lissa)
Arin, Baby Ainsley and Kristy (Life Church's new Worship leader)
Me and my man Kyle!
Bobby and Brenda (our sponsoring church pastor and his fun wife)
We had a fabulous time!
We knew we would because it was a Catalyst One Day conference.
When we lived in Arkansas we LOVED going to Atlanta every year for the big Catalyst conference. So when we found out they were bringing a One Day event to the Northwest we had to go. And it was totally worth it.
These two guys ...
Craig Groeshel and Andy Stanley just poured out some wisdom for us to glean from.
We also got to hear from Mark Driscoll and Judah Smith, a couple of pastors from the Seattle area who are really making it happen.
Sweet Ainsley was so worn out that she had to grab a nap during one of the breaks.
Kyle and I had a special treat...
We got to go to lunch with about 100 (I don't know, maybe it was less than that, I'm a terrible guesstimator) other people in which there was a small group Q & A time with Craig and Andy.
What they shared was of course great but look at how they fed us:
On some fine china! And it was Yummy!
The food was great and getting to go to the lunch was a special treat. But even if that hadn't happened it would still have been a phenomenal day.
This may be my favorite pic from the whole day. I know you can't see Andy very well but surely you can tell he is sitting on an ugly couch. Great visual aid for us. I won't go into his whole analogy but he just pointed out that many time we have a bunch of ugly couches that we need to get rid of but since we have grown emotionally attached to them we fail to see them for what they are, ugly couches.
Look at this crew just soaking it up! I think we talked back through everything we had heard on our van ride home. I need to be sure to pull my notes out often to be reminded of what I learned.
And that makes me think of something that I did pull out of the closet as a reminder of the past. High school memorabilia! Getting ready for a 15 year class reunion next weekend. Thus the trip to OK and AR that we are about to venture out on.
I'll check in later and let you know how that it going!
Oh dear, it is now 1:07 AM and I am supposed to be running at 6:15 in the morning. Changing out the laundry and going to bed...over and out!
At my last post I told you that we had friends in town and were planning a night out with them the very next night. And that's exactly what we did!
Here is Jonathan and Mandi and we had a blast getting to go out to dinner with them.
Not to mention the food was scrumptious! This is my bacon wrapped crab stuffed prawns served with apple cinnamon couscous.
And here is the proof that we were actually there. And check out the view of the Sound that we had from our table. It was a magnificent evening!
Having Jonathan and Mandi come stay with us was such a treat.
Jonathan taught us about "mapmyrun.com" so that we could plan out our running routes around town. (I've told you I'd fill you in more on that running stuff later. It's not time yet.)
We got to go to Bobby and Brenda's for a fun cook-out...
Note all the guys hanging out, no children in sight. Ha!
Kade was completely focused on his cream soda. The first time we've ever let him have a soda of his very own. He was in love with it from the first sip. And I think he savored it and made it last for about 2 hours.
Ryne wasn't worried about soda...there were cookies to be eaten!
And conversations with Bobby to be had...about cookies, no doubt!
And I really do think that Kade is telling Ryan all about just how delicious cream soda is. And look how sweet Ryan is to sit and listen to him.
And from no where here is a funny moment with Ryne:
We are driving down the road and I look back to see this crazy guy. Couldn't help but sneak a pic.
And somewhere during the week we had a big guitar concert by the Lewallen boys. Enjoy these pictures of the event. Be sure to notice the crazy facial expressions....
Now, I know you've been just waiting for this event. We had visitors. We did we HAVE to take them?
Mt. Rainier, of course!
This time we went to Sunrise which is on the opposite side of the mountain from where we usually go. It was a beautiful day.
Kade and Ryne got to visit with one of the Rangers. She gave them buttons with some slogan about staying on the paths so that they could restore the mountainside's native plants.
Kade then thought he was the mountain police and carried on looking for people off the path so that he could correct them. Thanks for the "badge" sweet Ranger lady, I think you now have a ranger in training.
Oh, and check this out:
Jonathan carried my "load" for me!
Unfortunately that meant he was in Jonathan and Mandi's great picture together in front of the mountain. I'm sure people assumed he belonged to them. I was totally okay with that. My back was empty!
The view of the mountain (sorry, Kade, I meant to say volcano) is totally different from Sunrise but it is still amazing! And it was a perfect day to be there.
Russ and Jonathan enjoying the view from the top of the hike.
And I just really like this picture. I can tell that Kyle is happy to be getting to spend some time with one of his favorite friends.
And Kade seemed to really enjoy himself that day. Not sure if the big grin is still from thinking he is the "mountain police" or because things look so funny through Daddy's prescription sunglasses???
And speaking of Daddy...
Kyle had a birthday!!!!
Because we were so busy with friends in town we didn't really have time to plan a big party. In fact Jonathan and Mandi flew out early on the day of Kyle's birthday and we just had a quaint little family lunchtime celebration. Complete with tacos and quesadillas from the "taco bus" that we had been wanting to try out. And wouldn't you know it...they were DE-LI-CIOUS!!
And of course it can't be a Birthday celebration without cake and candles and the "happy birthday" song.
And to make it a real celebration we even had presents ready to be unwrapped....
Look at their faces. Kade: what is that thing? Kyle: oh my, is that what's really in the box?
It was an ipod touch and I think he liked it.
And we had to have enough packages that Kade could help unwrap....
and so could Ryne.
But honestly, I think the boys just wanted to get through the presents so we could get to the cake:
Just when the day was winding down and birthday was almost over, Kristy showed up with this:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake!!
Kyle was trying to scare people away from his cake, I think.
It didn't work. Some kind of yummy!!! Gone in about 20 minutes!
And 20 is almost the number of people we had who wanted to go try out that "new to us" park that I showed you before. There were actually 19 of us...
and we went and had a big picnic and let the kids play.
Believe it or not I actually got both of my boys in the same place at the same time and was able to get there picture. I'm surprised that I ever found both of them at the same time. See I had planned so well and dressed them both in red shirts so that I could spot them rather quickly since it was one Momma and two boys this day. Wouldn't you know it, we show up and there is some camp or daycare or something there with about 25 kids ALL wearing red shirts. Yikes!
Can't tell you how glad I was that there were a few more Mommas around to help me keep track of them. They are busy boys.
Natalie was pretty busy that day to taking in all the excitement. I couldn't help but show you this cute picture of her wearing Ryne's hat. Every time she would roll over and it would fall off, he would immediately pick it up and try putting it back on her. Really pretty cute of him.
The boys did so well at the park that I decided to take them for frozen yogurt. Now hold on to your britches for what you are about to see. When we left the park it was so close to nap time that this is what I let them do:
Eat their frozen yogurt in the car...unassisted!!
I know, I had one of my moments of insanity but I just couldn't help it.
I don't think Kade spilled a drop. In fact when he got to the bottom, he handed me his spoon so that he could drink the rest from the bowl. Ryne, on the other hand, spilled quite a bit but it was all spilled right on the very front of him and just on the straps of his seat belt. I was happy with that! And they enjoyed their frozen yogurt just the same!
And since we are talking about things that are enjoyed let me finish up here by telling you what we got to do on Thursday of this week. Our entire Life Church staff and all the wives along with our new church planter and his wife and our sponsoring pastor and his wife got to load up and go to a conference all together. And it wasn't just any old conference. It was the kind of conference where this guy meets you in the parking lot...
handing out Krispy Kreme donuts!
And then is willing to take a picture of your entire crew:
From L to R:
Mollie (Tumwater church plant helper)
Russ and Belinda (Tumwater church planters)
Derek and Alissa (more affectionately known to us as D and Lissa)
Arin, Baby Ainsley and Kristy (Life Church's new Worship leader)
Me and my man Kyle!
Bobby and Brenda (our sponsoring church pastor and his fun wife)
We had a fabulous time!
We knew we would because it was a Catalyst One Day conference.
When we lived in Arkansas we LOVED going to Atlanta every year for the big Catalyst conference. So when we found out they were bringing a One Day event to the Northwest we had to go. And it was totally worth it.
These two guys ...
Craig Groeshel and Andy Stanley just poured out some wisdom for us to glean from.
We also got to hear from Mark Driscoll and Judah Smith, a couple of pastors from the Seattle area who are really making it happen.
Sweet Ainsley was so worn out that she had to grab a nap during one of the breaks.
Kyle and I had a special treat...
We got to go to lunch with about 100 (I don't know, maybe it was less than that, I'm a terrible guesstimator) other people in which there was a small group Q & A time with Craig and Andy.
What they shared was of course great but look at how they fed us:
On some fine china! And it was Yummy!
The food was great and getting to go to the lunch was a special treat. But even if that hadn't happened it would still have been a phenomenal day.
This may be my favorite pic from the whole day. I know you can't see Andy very well but surely you can tell he is sitting on an ugly couch. Great visual aid for us. I won't go into his whole analogy but he just pointed out that many time we have a bunch of ugly couches that we need to get rid of but since we have grown emotionally attached to them we fail to see them for what they are, ugly couches.
Look at this crew just soaking it up! I think we talked back through everything we had heard on our van ride home. I need to be sure to pull my notes out often to be reminded of what I learned.
And that makes me think of something that I did pull out of the closet as a reminder of the past. High school memorabilia! Getting ready for a 15 year class reunion next weekend. Thus the trip to OK and AR that we are about to venture out on.
I'll check in later and let you know how that it going!
Oh dear, it is now 1:07 AM and I am supposed to be running at 6:15 in the morning. Changing out the laundry and going to bed...over and out!
1 comment:
you boys are so cute! i love seeing their pictures
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