'Big Cousins'

Soaking up the sun.

A night out to Gig Harbor.
(Mexican for dinner. Quick stop into Justice and the toy store. Ice Cream at Kelly's.)

Moat digging on the beach.

Blueberry picking in Eastern Washington.
($145 worth of blueberries to be exact.)

Meeting Kona for the first time!

It is always good to see our 'big cousins.'
Chloe, especially looks up to these young ladies...they are so, so special to her.
A couple things she brought home with her from them:
sketching clothing designs and memorizing the first verse to "Soul Sister."

Storybook Stuff

The Fourth of July at the Beach is the stuff storybooks are made of.
Fireworks on the beach and around the entire bay.
Seattle, Tacoma, Steillacom...all their fireworks are going off in the far distance.
Family. Friends. Food. in abundance.
I feel like I should pinch myself...
because this kind of beauty never entered this Midwestern girl's dreams.

Family and friends gather for dinner.

Gathering at dusk for a beach fire, sparklers and fireworks.

Both E and C assumed this position early on...
so we retreated to the 'viewing deck' upstairs.

Littles continued to join us one by one.
Sleeping bags, pillows, glowing necklaces...fireworks just far enough away.

Gangs all here!

Eli's #3 Party Pics

E-Man turns 3!

All aboard the Eli Express!!

Eli came into the world three years ago today...he arrived with the dawn...and continues to do so every single morning!!!

When asked what kind of party he wanted, he answered with the same answer for most questions...

"What are you thankful for today? Thomas"
"What was the best part of your day? Thomas."
"What is your favorite toy? Thomas."
"What kind of party do you want to have for your birthday? Thomas."


So, Thomas it was.

We played follow the conductor (complete with conductor costume...thanks Julia and Scott!!), we made Tooty Fruity Trains, ate train shaped sandwiches (Beth you are the BEST!), colored trains with sidewalk chalk on the front porch(Kevin and Ryan...amazing artistry), and had a dance party to the train themed CD Kevin made for him.

It was a great time!

May have discovered that E is not much of a big group guy...a couple times he was back in his bedroom playing with his trains while the rest of us partied it up. Which is totally fine.

*Mental note: Invite one friend for a fun day with Eli for his birthday...he will think it is the BOMB.

Happy Birthday, Eli! You are such a blessing and we are so thankful to be your Daddy and Mommy. xoxoxoxo

Mr. Biggers

We used to have a neighbor... Tiny old man. Always wore khaki shirts and pants...and this back in style fishing hat. Dark rimmed glasses. And dirty fingernails.

He was a gardener. He would spend the majority of the cooler hours of morning and evening on his hands and knees tending to the day lilies his Mama bred and planted in the yard. Hours and hours of tending. He was so proud of his ladies.

He and Mrs. Biggers never had children...so there was no one to pass these lovelies (his babies) to. He offered several times for us to come over and help ourselves to some. Which we never did.

They moved away a couple years ago. He was sick. So sick that when I stopped by to say goodbye, he did not recognize me.

The house he grew up and old in turned into a renovated rental.

They know nothing of the lilies. Landscaping crews come once every two weeks and mow the yard flat.

But I have noticed a few survivors peeking their faces out of the overgrown lot just behind the yard. They are lovely. They make me think of Mr. Biggers. And I wonder if he is still on this earth? Or is he with Him, the Lily Maker, in a place possibly filled with lilies? Did he know Him?

Mr. Biggers toiled and toiled. And now...there is almost nothing to show for it.

No one even knows about his passion for those flowers.



Except me.



Maybe I should get me a shovel...and maybe by moonlight...go out and get me some of those lilies...

To remember... to remember him...and to ponder the words,

"Meaningless! Meaningless!...Everything is meaningless..." Ecc. 1:2

And to make sure...that the things we choose to toil over...are things that matter...things that last.

Our Summer List 2010

Got this idea from Meg over at Whatever...she has a super fun blog AND a house to drool over (only seen it via her blog...but, oh to curl up on that comfy couch of hers in her perfect kitchen...)

BACK TO THE LIST!!!

This is our summer wish list...may or may not do all of the items:

see school friends see WA family bird watching nature stuff catch fireflies and butterflies and lady bugs and snails swim at Miss Judy's dress up Sammy climb trees Frances Meadows Water Park Daddy perfect his wake-to-wake on his wake board Mommy wake board Spray Park Play date with the Moores make homemade ice cream

sprinklers in the yard Boat rides tent in the yard campfires and s'mores

Raspberry Devonshire Pie Space Needle Train ride Popsicles

50 cent ice cream at Corner Drug

Wait for the Light

My Man preached today. From the heart and with conviction.

We had been talking about the topic, he and I, the whole week...

Light.
"Jesus is the Light of the world."
"God said 'Let there be light.'"
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

Somewhere in the middle of the week, our kids discovered Silly Bands. (stay with me.)
If you have children, you know how 'awesome' these things are. Taking the world by storm I tell ya! Chloe has officially dumped the cell phone and has pledged her faithful affections to Silly Bands.

We happened upon a basket of them at a salvage store and the angels started singing. We bought four packs and counted our lucky stars. Happy as a lark, Little Miss was. Her joy was overflowing when she found out a few of her bands GLOWED IN THE DARK!

She quickly found the darkest room in the house, our laundry room. She layed out all the bands on the floor, turned out the light and closed the doors. I could hear her talking to them about how pretty they were and how she just loved them.

Being the sweet big sister that she is, she welcomed Eli and I to join her in the dark to enjoy the beauty of her glowing silly bands. I brought Eli into the laundry room and closed the door. He was instantly scared and had NO INTEREST in seeing the silly bands. In his almost 3 year old language he basically said, "get me the heck out of this dark room or at least open the stinking door!"

No comfort (It's okay, Buddy, I am right here) or coaxing (Let your eyes adjust...wait for the light...the silly bands GLOW!) would do. He wanted out and he didn't care a lick about whatever it was that his sister was trying to show him. He did not want to be in the dark.

This got me to thinking...and I shared it with Kevin...and he shared it with the church...

How often are we in the dark?
In the dark about what is happening. Or why God has allowed something into our lives. In the dark about our suffering? Or what exactly could He possibly be accomplishing?
Or...WHERE ON EARTH IS HE in all of this?!?

In those dark places...how often to do we not recognize that He (the Light) is right there with us in that dark place?

How often are we scrambling to get out of the darkness without a thought or care for what the Light might be trying to show us?

What if we allowed time for our spiritual eyes to adjust?

What if we waited for the Light?

What might we see?