opening day bbq...

today was opening day for our seattle mariners... so i decided to bbq some chicken burgers and 1 turkey patty for mom... after some wind and rain this morning... and snow flurries the last two days... we actually had some sun this afternoon... the kids came out in the backyard with me and it felt great... the burgers tasted pretty alright too...


dupont sky... and view from our deck... we sure do love this place... come over this summer and bbq with us... the grill is ready...

oh yah... and by the way... the m's won 5-2...

Allison Wonderland...

tonight was abby's turn to pick the movie... she picked alice in wonderland... it was delightful... gwen and i started talking after the movie and realized that neither one of us had ever seen it before... so tonight... our family enjoyed alice and wonderland for the first time... together... ALL 6 of us...

up until yesterday... abby thought the title of the movie was allison wonderland and that it was named after the little girl in the movie...although this is very cute from our little princess... mom had to set here straight... as to avoid any embarassment at school...

we also love this ride at disneyland... it is so fun and its a disney original... unchanged over the years... if youre there... dont miss it, its tucked away by the teacups...enjoy

Jumpin' Jazz Cat

And now, for your listening pleasure, here's Noah playing Jumpin' Jazz Cat.

Mark mentioned in an earlier post, that one of our church's pastors and our dear friends, the Grants, will be moving away from us soon. Mrs. Grant has also been Noah's piano teacher for the past 2+ years. She also teaches Ethan and Abby. She is an amazing instructor and the kids (and I) will miss her dearly.

(You'll need to pause the music already playing on the blog (in the green box on the right) in order to hear Noah!)

Easter Sunday 2008

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen."

Luke 24: 1 - 6

a couple of storm clouds...

you could make the argument that i dont know much... in fact...i know very little... well, i know a little about a lot and a lot about a little... im not an expert in really much of anything... i wouldnt argue any of that...

but... living here in the pacific northwest... my whole life, i know about one thing pretty good and thats rain... i have done a lot in this rain... some of my fondest memories are in the rain...

when i was young i loved to play in the rain... i would make little boats out of twigs and leaves and let them run down the gutter along our street... all the way to the storm drain...

i loved to play soccer... and in high school there was nothing better than a match in the rain... slide tackling on the wet, muddy ground... mud caked to your legs and cleats and the feeling of sweet victory in beating another team and then knowing that they had to travel home, cold, wet and humiliated...

i remember taking walks with my lovely "bride to be" in portland in the rain... i was with her so i didnt even realize it was raining...

now... as a dad... i can experience my children enjoying the rain...cole and abby playing in the back yard in the rain... in their rain boots... ethan looking for the worms after a good rain... noah playing football and muddying himself (and others) up... these are good memories...

i also know the difference between a rain cloud and a storm cloud... rain clouds are bearable... storm clouds are difficult...

this weekend i experienced a couple of storm clouds... no it didnt storm here in dupont...we didnt have rain, thunder and lightning like you might expect... these are storm clouds in life...

saturday i attended a funeral/memorial service for a man at our church... i didnt know him too well, but i would say he was a friend... he was taken from us too early, by the worlds standards... he was only 58... our church and this family had dealt with a large storm cloud roughly a year ago in the passing of his son... now his wife and daughter are left to deal with both of these losses... we as a church community will do our best to help them through this... their extended family will be there for them... but that storm is real... the clouds are big and dark... the thunder is loud and the lightning is close... so i ask "is there a silver lining to all clouds?"... i dont know the answer to that... but on this big, dark storm cloud there was... at the service we heard story after story... testimony after testimony of his love, his love for his family, love for his savior, love for his community(church), love for his co-workers... we also heard about his strong finish... the way don finished his earthly life...changed my life forever... he never asked God why me? why did i get the terminal cancer? no... he trusted the One that gave him breath... he trusted the One that he knew would take him home... his faith in Him... caused him to finish well...he never wavered, and now he is home... with his Savior... the sender of this cloud...

another storm cloud rolled in on sunday... my pastor... my friend lloyd and his family... announced that they are moving... he and his family will be leaving our community for another that God has lead them to... God has lead him to iowa... away from us... how can this cloud have a silver lining? im not sure i know yet... but if i trust God... i know that his plans are bigger than me... losing a friend.... my family losing good friends... our church losing a leader and mentor... these are all difficult things... but i know He is in it... we will miss our friends... and hopefully they will miss us... but we all will know that this is Gods will...

storm clouds are scary sometimes and we dont know how long they will stick around or the damage they will do... but i do know this... the One who sends the clouds... controls the clouds... and loves me enough to be with me through the storms of life that come my way...

a new week... another opportunity for His faithfulness to be shown to me in full... when i had a meal with a friend today... and we talked... we talked about Jesus and His desire to weather any situation with us if we only let Him... it was during this conversation that i saw the Son, peak around the clouds and smile...

Stop and . . . count the worms?

So, we've all heard the saying that we should stop and smell the roses, right?

Well, this morning I dropped the kids off at school and told them that they had just enough time to walk in and sit down for Community Time (our elementary school begins this way each morning with all of the kids gathering together for announcements, lunch menus, pledges, and singing happy birthday to any birthday kids). As you can probably imagine, Noah and Abby promptly hopped out of the car and walked quickly into the school. Ethan got, well, just a wee bit distracted by all of the . . . worms!!! I sat and watched him count each and every worm between the car and the front door of the school. I can almost guarantee you that he was late for community time! And, so, do I scold him when he gets home for not following my instructions and being into school on time . . . or do I praise him for taking the time to notice God's creation and follow the curious nature that God has blessed him with? I'll admit, my first instinct was definitely one of displeasure, as I am a very goal-oriented, task-driven person . . . and I think I miss lots of worms along the way! But as I continued to watch him count worm after worm after worm, being passed on both sides by kids rushing into the school, completely oblivious to everything but worms . . . I could only smile.

3:44 PM UPDATE . . . Ethan informed me that he was, in fact, NOT late for school. And he counted 104 worms :-)

cinderella: a night on the town...

tonight was cinderella at Olympia high school... this is our second annual musical there, as last year we saw disneys beauty and the beast... this year the show was cinderella... but not disneys version... this took me by surprise... i thought it was ONLY a disney production... i guess i was wrong... this story about a poor peasant girl and a prince falling in love goes way back... hundreds and hundreds of years... (i checked wikepedia)... so with multiple renditions i wasnt sure what to expect...but to my pleasant surprise... i enjoyed the differences very much...
this group...made up of volunteers does the musical to benefit the high school and does a great job... it was neat to recognize members of the cast from last years performance and then see them in this years musical...
we attended this year with our good friends the fears again... and before the show we had an excellent italian dinner... at their house... and the "NEW"cheese cake recipe was de-lish(thanks martina)

a wonderful evening had by all... we will definitely do it again next year... if you are interested in going with us or know of another worthwhile show before then... let us know...




pictured: (back to front) ethan, colton fears, noah, miki grant, biz fears, abby,and cole

dressed and ready to go... including carnations for the princesses...