Goose Rock

Today after church we decided to beat tomorrow's predicted rain by hiking today instead of on Memorial Day. Today's choice was Goose Rock, one we haven't done since Kellen and Josh were little, despite being within 10 miles of our house. It was just as spectacular as I remember. The trail begins by going underneath the Deception Pass Bridge, then parallels the Pass below before veering right and up a steep incline to the summit. Most of the hike is through a heavily wooded trail, but once up top, it is rocky ground, peppered by colorful spots of red, yellow, and purple flowers, with a beautiful view. The only disappointment was that I did not have my camera, so these photos are off my phone, which doesn't take the best shots.

Really, despite the faces in the photo, we had a good time!

I Stand Corrected....

I am terribly embarrassed to admit it, but I was mistaken in my last post when I said we would be celebrating our 25th anniversary next month. My husband corrected me through posting a comment that we are only hitting 24 years this year. Guess I didn't realize he read my blog so closely; better be careful what I say. Now he has no excuse for not planning out our Hawaii vacation celebration!

20 years!

Nope, not my wedding anniversary yet. In another month that will be 25. I'm not sure whether to call it a birthday or an anniversary, but today marks 20 years since I was first diagnosed with Type I diabetes. No celebrating, no cake, in fact, some years this day comes and goes without me even remembering. But I thought that 20 years and still in great health was worth mentioning:)  In fact, just two weeks ago I was at my endocrinologist's office, and my a1c is again at a steady, healthy target, and my cholesterols are great. As he has mentioned before, I am his only over 40 patient who is not on a statin, and he still sees no reason for me to be. Where I would certainly not choose to have T1 diabetes, I do think that it has given me a reason to live a healthy lifestyle. Now here's to a cure before I hit 40!

Daddy's Girl!

Today we celebrated six wonderful years with Jaelyn! And as she was from the beginning, she still is a Daddy's Girl. Here she is just a short time after we met her face to face...

And here she is today, with her same Ling doll...

She chose her usual favorite Chinese buffet restaurant; not the fanciest, but she loves being so independent, filling up her plate with as much rice as she wants! Nothing fancy today, but such a special day for us all. We are blessed!

And here are a couple sports photos from last week. What a contrast between Josh's district track meet, where he tied his personal record in the 800, despite pouring rain and hail (note the gray sky and the rain on my lens). This is after the first lap of two, and Josh is hanging with the pack.

 and just three short days later, the beautiful weather at Jaelyn's soccer game...

Mother's Day n' More...

What an amazingly gorgeous day today turned out to be! Following a special time at church with the entire family, we headed to a delicious seafood brunch at a local restaurant. The weather today was so incredibly beautiful that we actually chose to sit on the patio, something we rarely even do here mid-summer. It was a nice change from the spring we have had thus far. We were even entertained by live music.

Speaking of entertaining, here's Josh and Kellen preparing to down their first oyster shooters....

 Can you tell which son enjoyed it, and which son did not???

I always enjoy the handmade cards and gifts the most....

The difficulty of getting a photo without one child being silly greatly increases with the number of children you have. Here was the best attempt...

After brunch we headed home, changed clothes, and they planted the Daphne "summer ice" and a few other flowers that they bought me, as well as spread bark.

Spring is my favorite time to enjoy my yard. The vivid red rhododendrons are in full bloom, and my pink climbing vine clematis begins to go crazy! The variegated purple/white lilac they planted from a Mother's Day past is just coming into bloom, and the sweet smell is intoxicating. I can even smell it through my cold-stuffed nose! I thoroughly enjoyed my day with my family.