The Deadliest Catch...

Today we attended a salmon BBQ and meet-n-greet with the crew from the Deadliest Catch television show. This was the second annual gathering in our community, but the first time we attended. Four were crew members from the Northwestern, and one was from the Time Bandit. If you haven't seen the show, it's a lot of fun to watch, with lots of excitement, drama, and sometimes even a few tears.

Josh and Jake from the Northwestern. Jake is a local guy from Anacortes, and has seen some rough times. On one of the shows he left the boat early because his sister died, and this past January his father went missing. You can view the website they have set up to help find him.

The family with Edgar from the Northwestern and Mike from the Time Bandit.

Here we are with Matt, Jake and Nick from the Northwestern. After Mike took this photo, Matt put Kaia down and picked me up, but that photo was not very attractive of me, to say the least!

I can already imagine the squeals coming from the girls the next time we watch the show!

Birthday Boy...

Wow, Kellen hit 19 this past weekend, his last year of being a teen! He had to work on Saturday night, so we did a brief celebration that day, then planned to do a more formal one the following evening.

What he didn't know is that we had invited several of his friends to join us for dinner, then back to our house for cake. We met up at a local Japanese restaurant, where we had our own Tatami room and good food. Kellen was a bit rusty on his chopstick skills, but he was good enough to gobble up his sushi!

We met up back at our house for cake and a competitive game of Monopoly. This is the beginning of birthday season for us: four in about the next seven weeks! Gearing up for Josh's next week:)

Dear Tooth Fairy....

What to do when you literally lose your tooth before you put it under your pillow? Write the tooth fairy a letter, of course....

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I'm sorry I lost my tooth. I hope you bring me money anyway.
Love me,
Jaelyn

Meant to be...

Yeah, it's Veggie Tales, but it's much deeper than that. Got to see it for yourself...

Ta Da....

Below are some pictures from our reflooring and painting project. But first of all let me take you back to what our kitchen looked like back in 2000....



So here's what our kitchen looked like after our original remodel...

All we really changed was the flooring, but it really makes the room show up more. The flooring is a little more gray than this photo shows though.


Here you see a little of the family room before....

During the tear apart....

After....

Dining room before (plus extra furniture from the family room)....

During....

After (sorry, this picture is a little yellow, but you get the idea)....

Mike tearing up the entryway....

Look at the ugly linoleum he found under the wood flooring he pulled up....early 80's for sure!

After.....

This was a full family affair.....Mike (master planner), Kellen (clean up crew), Josh (lead asst.), Toni (professional painter), Jaelyn (nail remover), and Kaia (second nail remover) worked, plus my parents came down to help with the final touches. Dad helped Mike with the transition pieces and other details, while Mom helped entertain the girls and wash/dust the many neglected knick knacks. Mom and I then rearranged everything for the walls, directing Dad where to hang them. We really appreciate the group effort, and it looks great, but I especially need to thank Mike for his many, many hours of planning, work, and sweat, despite many moments of frustration. Good thing he's a math teacher, as he had to apply many formulas to figure out how to match up all the flooring. Love you babe!

Closure...

Our first glimpses of Yung Yung were peek-a-boo sightings from around the corner...


As we followed him into the room, we met his very sick mother...


My heart has been heavy again as this week I learned of the passing of Yung Yung's mother. I posted just a bit about them while we were in China; a mother who brought her six year old son to the orphanage because she was dying and had no where else to turn. Sweet Yung Yung is now an orphan himself, as his mom passed away about a month ago. Please pray he is adjusting to life with the other children at the orphanage, and given an opportunity to mourn his loss. Please also pray the sweet photos he clung to of his mother (in healthier days) are something that are kept safe for him. And most importantly, pray this boy can be part of a family again!

I've Been Flushed!!!

Yesterday we came out of our house to find this in the yard...

The senior class delivers it to different yards as a fundraiser. For $10 you can send it on its merry way to some other unsuspecting person's yard, and for an additional $10 you can buy insurance so that it never finds its way back to yours! I decided to have a little photo session while I could:) I wonder where it is on its way to now????