Reflecting

As John and I were driving back from our wonderful road trip to So. Cal, I was hit by what the Lord has done in and around our lives in the past decade. I thought it would be fun to take a moment and and make a "pillar" of sorts, praising His goodness in all He has accomplished. So, just to give some highlights:

The decade started with a bang. John started at UPS the begining of February 2000. Six days later, we got engaged. We were married February 25, 2000 (yes, he only gave me TWO AND A HALF WEEKS!! But man, it was beautiful, thanks to very special women in my life, helping me like CRAZY!)



And then three very short weeks later, Andrew Samuel was born (March 17, 2000). Here is a little bit older picture of our precious Drew.



The next few years were full of haze as we moved 4 times, John changed jobs, I started working part time at The Difference, and all the while treading through what it actually means to be married and have a child. Needless to say, we messed up more than a handful of times. But by God's grace, with the help of our church family (especially our young marrieds Bible study), and the Lord bringing new friendships into our lives, we pressed on (or, more accurately, He pressed on for us).

In the summer of '02, we bought our first home in Tigard, OR. It happened to be just minutes from where John grew up and where his parents still live to this day. Great starter house. We were able to discover a passion we both have: hosting others. And it was there that we brought home Samantha Kathryne (born May 10, 2004).



Here is our home in Tigard



Our little lady



Then came another boat rocker. John and I had decided before we bought the home that law school wasn't the best idea. Not quite a year later, he came back and admitted that it was something he couldn't get out of his heart. That re-started the process which took another two and a half years. But by fall of 2005, we had sold our Tigard home, bought our second home, and both John and Drew were off to school...in Eugene, OR.



Here is our house in Eugene (before we removed that big hedge in the front yard)



Here is Drew heading off to his first day of kindergarten

Eugene was such a great time of learning for us. We were taught that we could survive as a family, we were able to see our true friendships, the kind that miles apart can't shake the foundations of love. And we learned that the word "organic" wasn't as scary as we once thought it was. It was also a season where we went through a bit of a desert in our faith. As painful as that was, I now see the reasons for it.

All along in law school, the plan was to end up right back in Portland. And once again, God had different plans. He opened no doors there while opening a huge door in Seattle. And as you all know, in the end we ended up here. I could not praise Him more for doing it. We have authentic community, a great neighborhood, and best of all, an amazing church. And again, I am learning the lesson along the way of contentment. He has opened door after door here for me to serve and to be used. For the first time in my life, I feel like He is putting to death some of the demons that have taken a free ride for so long on this journey.

All in all, in the past decade we have been married, welcomed two amazing children, moved seven times, lived in two different states, called three churches home, traveled to Mexico and Disneyland twice and to Austin to visit the Zimels I think five times, owned seven cars, gone to four bowl games with our beloved Ducks, added our precious puppy to the family, met fantastic friends, read countless books, fought with each other, made up, watched too much TV, played Wii, cleaned the house more times than I would like to recall, fell in love with working out, played dozen of games, and learned how to actually cook...sort of at least:)

Thank you Jesus, for through You alone we know true redemption. Thank you John for leading me through these past 10 years with grace and humor. Thank you Drew and Samantha for being the bestest teachers God has given me. And thank you friends and family for keeping me ticking!




I do believe that a life like this is the definition of "Living the Adventure". And as we enter the next decade and all He has in store for it, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Comment weirdness

I just realized that I hadn't changed over my "comment notification" email address from my old 'uoregon.edu' account. Sooooo...if you've left a comment on the blog in the past six months (?) or so, I probably didn't read it. I just went through and scanned a few of the comments, so thank you to Neal, Katie, Janelle, Brenda, Jessica, etc... for the comments.

And thanks to everyone else for checking out the blog. I apologize that my posts have become so infrequent!

Fun with Photo Booth

One of the fun programs included on my MacBook Pro is Photo Booth. This software, combined with the built-in iSight camera, have quickly become a favorite of my kids. OK, OK...I've actually had fun with it too. Photo Booth does this fun 4-plex series of photos just like you would have taken in the photo booth at the carnival.

Check these photos:

The Great Rose Bowl & Disneyland Road Trip!

On Christmas morning we surprised the kids with a book that informed them that we would be taking them to Disneyland, Legoland, and the Rose Bowl! This was something that we had been thinking about ever since it became a possibility that our beloved Ducks might make it to the "Grandaddy of them All"

We packed up the 4Runner and left Portland on Sunday, December 27. Our first stop was in Roseburg where we were able to see our great friends the Newtons. They used to live in Seattle and have recently relocated to the 'burg (boo!) but we were really happy for a chance to see them for a few hours. The Newtons also have a really great dog named Jack.



We woke up at 3:00AM on Monday morning and drove all the way to Anaheim, where we checked into our hotel a few blocks from Disneyland. Here is Sam in her jammies in the car watching a movie.


On Tuesday we hit Disneyland and the kids loved it!










Wednesday we headed about an hour south to Legoland. While it was an experience we don't necessarily regret, we probably won't be going back to Legoland. It seemed to be focused on much younger kids, and after the thrill rides of Disneyland we were a bit "let down" with what Legoland had to offer.




This is a picture of Drew being forced to go on a ride that he wasn't all that excited about. As expected, he ended up loving it.


Look at that look of glee on Sam's face!


Drew with the Lego Indiana Jones


Legoland featured this huge and very impressive models of various cities around the globe made entirely out of Legos.

Thursday (New Year's Eve) we returned to Disneyland and fought huge crowds everywhere we went. The kids were troopers and we managed to make it to midnight, even though Sam was basically falling asleep in my arms.





















Friday we packed up and headed to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl! Even though the Ducks didn't get the result we had hoped for, we had a really good time. After the game we hit the road and pushed it hard all the way home to Seattle, driving through the night and finally getting home about 12:30PM on Saturday. We were exhausted but it was a great time!


Here is Missi setting up our little tailgater. It was great to see a bunch of friends from Eugene and Portland who had made it down to Pasadena for the game.














Here are the kids passed out in the back of the car.

Check out these sweet photos

Here are some old family pics I came across while at my parents house over the holidays (and yes, I fully realize that my sisters will probably hate me for a long time after I post these):