Seattle Here we stay

As usual, it has been quite a few months since I last updated but really all we have been doing school, school, and more school. We have had many small breaks and fun times with our friends but nothing too exciting. We do our normal visits to Pike Place Market when we have visitors, The Seattle Aquarium, zoo, and the science center. Our biggest change in our life came at the end of March came when we got Evan's clinical rotation schedule. We were planning on going to Montana for his third and fourth years. I was looking forward to a new adventure, renting a house with lots of land and a creek running through it. I also wanted a house with a room for my mother in law to have extended visits with us. When we found out the Missoula, MT was only for third year and we would have to move back for fourth, we were weren't so excited about it. Well, they (the administration of UW) changed Evan's schedule and made the decision for us to stay in Seattle. I can see now it truly was the best decision for us and I am so glad I have another couple years with my close friends and church here in Seattle. I really will need the support once Evan is gone more on his clinical rotations. We have felt very blessed with our quirky little house and as Evan looks at other places to rent we realize that this is a good deal for Seattle in that it has a yard, is really close to a park and beach, and right on the bus line. We were not even looking at other houses when about a month ago, a wonderful house just fell into our laps. It truly is a gift and blessing from God. It is a spacious, four bedroom house with a big play room downstairs, a room downstairs for guests, with a shower and small kitchen. And, the best part for me, it is wooded and has a creek running thru the backyard in the middle of Seattle!!! And, it is only fifty dollars more than what we are paying now!!! So, needless to say, we are now in the process of moving ten streets over!!! Thank you, Jesus! Soon after we make the move, the kids and I will be traveling to Kodiak for the summer. Evan will be studying for the Step 1 USMLE which he will take on July 12. He will come up after that. We plan on leaving Kodiak in September and then traveling down to CA for a wedding. Legoland, Disneyland, and the San Diego Wildlife Park are all in our future. Evan's schedule has us in Seattle for the rest of the school year except for a six weeks in Feb/March when we go to Fairbanks for surgery. I will also be visiting Ohio in November with the kids. Our plans are constantly changing but we are all doing very well. The boys are obsessed with Legos and Star Wars, and since there are many Lego Star War systems, they are very happy. I will post some pictures from Gareth's Star Wars birthday party. Julianna is still very much a rough and tumble girly girl. She is doing very well in her ballet class, she loves to sing, play with Barbies and babies, and is always challenging me with finding enough school work for her to do. She is the only one in the house that loves school. Evan is finally done with classes for which he is very glad. He had his white coat ceremony last Friday, which is the transition ceremony for the clinical wards. I am pretty tired of school myself. I love and hate homeschooling at the same time. I find that I have to guard my time diligently because when I get involved in other things, like lately trying to pack and get the house ready, and try to teach, I am just not a fun mom to be around. I need to have an adventure in the RV!! It is definitely time to get that thing rolling again! Well, that has been our lives for the last few months. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

We found snow!!!

We have been hankering after some snow for quite awhile now and since we had a Sunday afternoon with no plans we headed out to find some. A forty-five minute drive later we were surrounded. We only spent just over an hour out there, but it was so much fun. The only thing we wanted to do was to have a snow ball fight!!! It was great! Although, I do have to admit I do NOT like to get pelted in the jaw from a snowball from Evan. Our next goal is to go snowshoeing!

An Amazing Adventure!

I have an amazing brother. He has been through the army National Guard, he has been a Columbus police officer, he passed the Ohio Bar exam and is a lawyer, he is been thru JAG training, and most recently spent the last five months in Quantico, Virginia going thru FBI training. (David is not only just highly motivated. He is also funny, generous and good looking. I just try not to tell him that too often because I don't need him to get a big head.) He really wanted his family to be at his graduation and we, as his family, all wanted to be there. It caused some figuring out on my part because I knew I would have to travel by myself with the kids because Evan had to attend classes. He already missed the first few because of our Hawaiian Christmas vacation. So, after traveling all night with no sleep from Hawaii, I then repacked and left early the next morning to Richmond, Virginia. Our plan was to rendevous in Washington D.C for two days before the graduation. Even though the kids were tired, they did amazing flying and driving all day. They truly are great travelers. We then spent the next day visiting Arlington Cementary and the National Mall. The changing of the guard was one of our favorites. We also had a three hour night tour of the Monuments. It was truly inspiring to me. I am not sure how much the kids got out of it but they at least liked riding on a bus and spending time with their cousins. Gareth really wanted to see the White House and since everyone else in our group was going to the Holocaust Museum, our plan was to see the White House and go to the International Spy Museum. It was just a few blocks to the White House but it was like I asked them to walk to the moon. By the time we got there, we were all grumpy. We had a few time outs and took our picture in front of the tiny bit we could see. You can see from the picture Gareth is not happy. The Spy museum was one of the only museums on the Mall you have to pay for, but it was so worth it.

The next day was David's graduation. The FBI is truly an impressive organization. It was a proud moment for us all to see David graduate from there. It was also great to be able to tour around there. We still had two days before we were scheduled to leave and so while everyone else drove back to Ohio, the kids and I headed to Williamsburg, Virginia. We had a wonderful time exploring colonial times and stayed at a fun hotel with a pool. We fed horses, visited a blacksmith who gaves us nails they just made, a gunsmith, and took part in a court proceeding, at least Joshua did. They kids also enjoyed playing with the stocks, which I think could be quite handy at times. It was a great time but the most important part for me was how much God took care of us. I truly had to let go and let Him take care of the details. I do not enjoy traveling without Evan. It can be so stressful, especially as Gareth throws major fits. And it was hard and Gareth did throw major fits. But I continually asked God for wisdom, and he continually took care of me. It was a great, amazing adventure and I praise God for it!

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka

Love and Merry Christmas on the island of Kauai!! It was grand. We started off our Christmas festivities with a small family Christmas around a small rosemary Christmas tree in Seattle. We all finished classes a few days before. The kids each got one bigger present and it really was a nice family time. We then headed to Kauai to meet up with Evan's side of the family. The kids had great time with their cousins. Julianna especially enjoyed showering attention on her newest and youngest cousin Evangelia. Evan's brother Trevor did an awesome job securing our Christmas palm branch and it was great fun decorating it. We spent almost every day at the beach. Evan took a few tries at surfiing and is proud that he can say he has surfed with skater Tony Hawk. Evan and I had one special day all to ourselves and even though it was quite rainy, we did see several beautiful rainbows. Julianna is truly a girly tomboy and she proved it as she was the first one to catch a frog that had come out in the cool evening to enjoy our lawn. She then proceeded to carry it like a baby, patting it on the back and cooing to it. It was a very relaxing time with Evan's family and a great way to immerse ourselves in the celebration of our Savior's birth.