Merry Christmas!!!

Rejoice in the birth of our Lord and Savior!!

She really is 18

Heather celebrated her 18th birthday in August. The week of her birthday she kept making the statment that she could not believe she is turning 18. Whenever she said that I would think back to her birthday when she was in grade school. Our home had a terrific back yard with a great big tree perfect for a pinata. I can still "see" Keith hanging the pinata and all the kids taking their turn. It is a simple but fun and special memory.

All our girls are now adults. Its a hard transition for mom and dad....letting go. It really is not easy to do but you have to trust that your children have been prepped for life and that you are always there for them no matter what their age. I also trust that they will turn to God and look to him for guidance not only in times of strife and hardship but when times are good. God always wants the best for his children.

Heather, yes you really are 18 and you have a wonderful path ahead of you. Live your life to the fullest but strive to live a life that is good and one that definitely has God at the center.

July weather

Seattle is melting!!!

It has been hot all week. Our normal high is in the mid 70's and for the past week 70, if we are lucky, has been our low. Yesterday Seattle broke a record with a temp. of 103. For those of you who live in hot climates you maybe saying geez what is all the fuss especially since we have that kind of heat all summer. Most people who live in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, parts of California and the list goes on...have air conditioning. Only 13 percent of the population of Western Washington have air conditioning, so after days of 90+ temps you start to feel a little insane.

Keith is lucky to escape to work and since I work from home I spend all my time here. The girls and I have all sorts of fans in the living room, we've been eating Otter pops and drinking tons of water. We take frozen packs that you use in a cooler and put them over us to cool our body temp down. We basically have become lazy slugs that only move when necessary. I'll be so happy when it cools down again. I usually love the heat but this is even a little on the ridiculous side for me.

Complaining really does nobody any good. In fact I think it makes you hotter, if that is possible, and I get irritated with the weathermen on the news that keep saying, it was another scorcher and you are going to have problems sleeping tonight....like we don't know that already. In the mean time I take comfort in the fact that we are only a few months away from rain and gray gray skies...then everybody will complain that we have too much rain and not enough sunshine.

Seems like nobody is ever happy with the weather!

Monday reflection

Last night our Landlord stopped by the house with a huge bag of rainier cherries. I was touched by his thoughtfulness but shocked at his appearance. This is a man who is truly suffering, his daughter died about three years ago and her death has taken a huge toll on him. As he handed me the bag of cherries I asked how he was doing and he told me that he gets by...he had quit his job so that he could spend as much time as possible with his son. As he talked he told me stories about his daughter and kept telling me to take care of my girls. As he drove away I was overcome with sadness.

I got to thinking how lucky we are. Keith and I have been blessed with three incredible daughters. Yes, at times they truly can drive me nuts but we are very fortunate to have had the privilege of being their parents. I think at times we can take family for granted and we think we have all the time in the world. I was reminded last night to take time to enjoy my family and all the blessings that have been bestowed on Keith and I.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Graduation Day!

Our youngest daughter Heather graduated from high school today Sunday June 28, 2009. Wow, it is a really proud moment for her dad and I but at the same time it is sad to see the last bit of her high school days fall away.



We are excited to see what she does with her future and hope and pray that all her dreams and ambitions come to light.


As Dr. Suess says: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.”

Fathers Day at the Woodland Park Zoo

We spent the morning at Woodland Park Zoo. It felt really good to get out and walk and enjoy the wonderful creatures and plants that God has created.

Our Princess

Pets...wonderful creatures that bring us joy, love and comfort. I do believe that anybody who scoffs at the loss of a pet has never bonded with one and felt the unconditional Love that they always have for us.

It is with great sadness that we said goodbye to our sheltie Princess on June 18, 2009. She came into our lifes on Thanksgiving weekend 1998 in Richardson Texas. She was a fat, fluffy bundle of fur and looked like a small cow. In fact we often called her the cow dog because she was white with wonderful patches of black, here and there, just like some cows.

Our girls were all in elementary school when she joined our family and often was their shadow. She loved running in the back yard, playing with her ball, oh how she loved playing ball, and getting belly rubs from anybody who was available. She was very touchy about her tail and would go crazy and "talk" up a storm if you said "I'm going to get your tail!" Often she tried to herd our two cats, Frisbee and Calie, but they often refused to corporate which I do believe drove her insane. She did boss our Pomeranian around and would play with her till Little Bit would run for cover. Such a funny dog who was full of sweetness and could charm anybody.

Alyssa and Heather, such brave, mature and compassionate young women. They stayed with Princess till the end. I know it was hard but I am glad that they were there with her. Heather made the decision to have Princess privately cremated and to get her ashes. In some small way I think it will provide her comfort.

Thank you Princess for teaching us how to live in the moment and thank you for all the love you provided.

Daughter thoughts

To some people birthdays are just another day. I adamantly disagree with this statement and think it is a day that should be celebrated with great joy. In June our middle daughter will be turning 20. This is a miracle to me because when I was pregnant with her I ended up in the hospital on bed rest and IV's because I was in danger of having a miscarriage. She hung in there and we were blessed with a second wonderful daughter. We had another health scare with her when she was in sixth grade and started having some heart problems. Bless the doctors at Childrens Hospital in Dallas Texas because they were able to figure out what was happening.


Even though she is turning 20 when I look at her I still see a funny, inquistive, sensitive, and at times a very stubborn child. She was always trying things, basketball, soccer, swimming and finally found figure skating. She loved to figure skate, even though she broke her nose one time with a fall on the ice and another time we had to run to the rink... she ended up tripping over a speed bump in the parking garage, climbing over a fence....but we got her there just in time to have Renee, her skating coach, put her on the ice.

However, her true passion is art. She has always loved to draw, whether it was drawing with chalk on the driveway of our home in Missouri or buying notebooks to take with her every where she went, she is constantly drawing. When we lived in Dallas Valerie Mitchell was her art teacher. What an incredible lady and artist. One of the most painful events was moving away from Dallas and leaving this wonderful setting. Going to art class every week was something that was greatly anticipated.

Now, she is starting college this summer. She took a two year break once she graduated from high school. She will start her college adventure on-line attending the Academy of Art University which is in San Francisco. I'm excited to see what she learns and how her skill develops.

As she moves out of her teens and into the next phase of her life her dad and I wish her much happiness and success. I'm glad she held on for what she wanted and did not settle. I think to many of us settle in life and then end up very unhappy. Don't be a sheep-----bah!

The picture above is a self portrait that she did for her art class. It has always been one of my favorites.

Memorial Day Weekend

Its Monday morning and we are sitting here watching the Cornell and Syracuse National Championship Lacrosse Game. At the moment the score is tied 3-3. Keith used to play Lacrosse when he was in college so it has become a tradition for us to watch the game. By the way we are hoping Cornell can pull off an upset.

It has been a terrific weekend with Candace coming home for the long weekend and Keith celebrating his birthday. It has been a weekend of touching base as a family and catching up with each other, eating some good food, going to the movies, doing a little shopping. It has been a weekend of making family memories. On top of all of this the weather has also been terrific, sunny and mild temperatures. Seattle is at its best when these type of days occur and I, for one, have learned to appreciate the wonderful sunny days that we have.


As we relax on this Memorial day I say a prayer for those who are currently serving in the military and thank you so very much to all the men and women who have paid the supreme sacrifice.

April blooms

April....not sure where the time has flown. My good intentions on posting every month have flown out the window. So I guess we begin again....It looks like spring has finally come to Washington. The trees are in bloom and they are truly beautiful. We have a plum tree that is right outside our back deck. It is in full bloom and is simply beautiful. I love seeing it bloom every spring.