Weekend wrap up.....

Who could resist this scene?!

While we were waiting for the ferry to Whidbey Island on Saturday I spotted this pink floral carpet on the sidewalk and

I couldn't help but take a photo of Bren and Madison in the pile of fallen petals!

Too bad the ferry was off-loading just as I took the first photo so after a few more seconds of clicking, we had to leave and run back to the van.

I got one good one though!

They say that taking a ferry is the ultimate pacific northwest experience, so we couldn't wait to do it!

We were amazed at how many cars the ferry could hold and at the beauty that surrounded us as we made our way across the water.

This weekend Bren was able to attend a carnival at what will be her school next Fall.

She was excited all week for the carnival and had so much fun!

She got her face painted and played all kinds of games.

She filled her goodie bag with loads of plastic toys and candy prizes.

It was fun to walk around the campus that will be the beginning of her school days.

She is so thrilled to be starting school soon.

Not a day goes by that she does not ask me if today is the day she gets to go.

All too soon, that day will come and my last baby will be off to school.

Kindergarten up here is run on a half day schedule, so I'll still have another year to slowly ease into having my days free full time.

And believe me, I'm in no rush at all!

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Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mommies out there!!!!

And to my own sweet Mom,

I love you and thank you so much for being such a vital part of my life.

You are such a blessing to me!

Seeing Red!

Here's a peek into our new space.....

I'll share more as the rooms get finished.

Box by box, room by room, we are starting to feel at home in this house.

I was so excited to get my RED sectional from IKEA in my living room!!!

We left our old tired brown sofa and loveseat in Rhode Island and I really wanted something that added some pop to the space we spend so much time in.

I wanted to walk into the room and smile.

Red does that for me, so the logical choice for me was bright, bold, beautiful RED!

It was a hard sell on the rest of the family, but knowing that these are slip covers and we can change to safe, mediocre kakhi for less than $300, I got my wish.

I'll show a better photo of the sectional once I get a steamer and steam the wrinkles out of the slip cover. The wrinkles look so much worse in the photographs, so I don't want to give you the impression of sloppiness while everything is still fresh and new.

For a more honest dose of reality, check back in about 4 months after David has been gone a while when the wrinkles in my sectional are the least of my housekeeping worries.

For now though, I'm basking in the newness of everything and in the convenience of having a husband who is not deployed and not having to report to work for another ten days!

For the living room, we got a big white window box style coffee table to balance out the bold solid red and we also got a kakhi slip cover for the chair to add some contrast.

We added navy blue solid and striped pillows along with stark white ones for a kind of modern nautical look.

I really wanted to put lime green pillows on the sectional, but I figured I'd pushed my luck enough with the red and I'd be wise to let them get used to that brave choice first!

Here's what you see when you are standing at my front door looking in.
I love the light that this house gets.
We've still got lots of clutter to either throw out or find a home for, but so far it's coming together nicely.

Here is the downstairs finished basement.

Because the room that the boys share down there is much smaller than we had anticipated, we geared the whole downstairs toward them and entertaining their future friends.

The game systems are down there along with the kid's computer and a TV for watching movies and sports.

I found the colored chairs that are around the black table on craigslist and I'm hoping that this area will be used for homework or for playing board games.

At first there was so much whining from Zach and Michael about sharing the small room downstairs that I thought I might have to move into it myself just to preserve my sanity while David is gone, but now that it's all put together they love it.

It's going to be a great space for them to use when they have friends over.

Blue Skies!!

So just in case you were wondering if those blue skies I posted in my last post about the road to Marysville were actually the last ones we'd seen, here are a few fun photos of our visit to the park on Sunday after church.

Note the gorgeous blue skies!
The weather here has really been surprisingly beautiful for the most part.
There were a few dismal days when I started to worry if I could really live here for three or four whole years, but the sun still broke through long enough to keep me from throwing myself off of the nearest bridge!


There was one bizzare day last week when it was 53 degrees outside and hailing!
People were walking around in the parking lot of Target wearing tank tops and capris and they were being pelted with marble sized balls of ice!

I've been told that we have moved here at the right time.

Everything is in bloom and most of the gloomy-all-day days are suposed to be over for a bit.

It does make me think twice though when almost everyone who knows that we are new arrivals says something like, "Welcome to the cold, wet northwest!"

As someone whose mood is greatly affected by the weather, a comment like that strikes fear and dread into my very soul.

But, I'm not thinking about that now.

For now, we've got lots of blue or spotty blue skies and weather that is warm enough to go out and play in.

The trees are in bloom, the grass is green, the birds are all out singing in the morning and the flower pots on everyone's porches are overflowing with color.

So far the northwest is not wet and cold for us.

So far it's like a present waiting to be opened.

A new adventure everyday.

Something new to find, some place new to explore, someone new to trade smiles with.

So far the northwest is green and pleasant

and I'm stocking up on as much of that as I can get!!

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you know how big of a deal it was for Bren to come across this little guy!

It was fun to see Bren find something familiar to her.

And even funner for David and I to find something familiar for us!!!

Our FAVORITE beverage, ev-ah!!!

If you have not had an Orange Dream Machine from Jamba Juice you have soooooo much more living to do!

If you have experienced this heavenly concoction, then you know what I'm talking about.

Add an immunity boost and it will cure all that ails ya!

The road to Marysville...........

Ok, let me catch you up on the last leg of our trip.....

the road to Marysville!

Driving from Spokane to Marysville only took us 4 hours and 45 minutes.

We started out on Hwy 90 west with blue skies and lots of wide open land.

Having heard so much about the gloom in the Seattle area, I was secretly wondering if this was the last time I was going to see blue skies for a while.

Here we are getting our first glimpse of the Cascade Mountains.

I was so nervous about going through the Snoqualamie Pass because there had been snow in the forcast and because I am a big Southern whimp!

Snow really freaks me out and I just assume that I'll slip right off the side of the mountain and if I survive the crash I will, of course, be quickly eaten by the big black bears that I hear live in the mountains around here. This irrationality without a doubt ties right into the fact that my life is heavily dotted with irony. I would never, and I repeat never drive on a twisted mountain road in any weather on my birthday. That would just be asking to be remembered with a little white cross and a floral wreath on the side of the highway right there beside that failed roadside barrier on the Snowqualamie Pass.

I have to do deep breathing and really psyche myself up just to remain sane while driving in the snow or through winding, cliff hanging mountain roads in any weather really. Just days before in South Dakota, I think, we were driving through some pretty nasty weather on the 212. The road was super curvy through some pretty steep hills and my windshield wipers just weren't keeping up with the sleet that was falling. I kept telling myself to just hang on until the next curve, then I could pull over and cry. Once through that curve, I'd tell myself that I could pull over and cry after the next curve..... I did that for miles until the weather broke and the land became flat again.

It's just a quirk of mine. My only one, I'm sure.

So, anyway, the closer those mountains got, the higher my blood pressure rose and the less jolly the atmosphere in my van!

And look here! What a treat.....snow clouds!!!

Here we are going up the Snoqualamie Pass.

I remember nothing.

I had to look at the photos that Michael took to get a feel for how truely beautiful it was. Too bad I was busy gripping my steering wheel so tightly that my fingers had to be removed from

it with plyers!

Through the loud whir of rushing blood in my head and the beat of my heart in my ears, I would occassionally hear one of my kids oooh and aaah over the huge mountains looming over us. Tempted to see them for myself, my eyes would dart right or left for exactly one-tenth of a second and then return to their position locked dead straight on so that I didn't accidentally drive us off of those magestic mountains!

And then the snow was replaced with green once again and I was able to exhale!

And look at what greeted us as we turned off of I-5 and onto our Marysville exit!!!!

A Rainbow!

We drove through about two miles of cow pastures and pig farms as we made our way along a winding road called "Sunnyside".

Minutes later we were climbing a big hill to our new home. The higher we got the greater the view. I kept hoping that we'd keep climbing so that we'd get a better and better view.

To my great pleasure, we have the best view in the neighborhood!!!

This is the view from our back deck.

I was describing the neighborhood to my brother and said that it's like everyone in Marysville wanted to live on the same piece of land, and so they do!

The homes here are definitely close together, but having lived in Navy housing for years, we are used to that.

In Rhode Island, we lived with lots of space around us and we really kinda missed the closeness of neighbors. Furthermore, we are not super fond of lawn mowing around here nor are we fond of prodding young boys to lawn mow, nor do we delight in the murmuring and complaining that goes along with deciding whose turn it is to mow the lawn.....and so we take great joy in our smallish yard. :)

Coming Up For Air!!!

Hi everyone!!!

We just got internet hooked up so I thought I'd check in really quick so you all would not forget us!!

We are busy unpacking our boxes and trying to make this house look like our home. We've been in Marysville for one whirlwind week so far and I cannot wait to tell you all about it and show you some photos, but for now, there are too many other things that need my attention.

Today we'll be meeting with Zach's principal to get him all set to start school on Monday. We'll also drop off the completed packets for my two middle schoolers so they can start on Monday too.

We've also got to get all of our medical records sent to our medical clinic on base, find an orthodontist for Michael and then David has to go weigh the vans so we can submit our travel claims within the time alloted us.

Whew! It's been crazy, crazy, crazy!

I can't wait to come back and blog all about our first week.

I've got a great Penelope story to tell you, I've got to tell you about our first visit to The Rock Church and I want to show you my brand new sectional.....can you guess what color it is????

If I already told you on the phone, don't spoil the surprise!

Much love to all!

I'll be back soon!

"Happy Boobie Shirts"

On Sunday we ran the race for the cure in Spokane, Washington.

Linda's sister Jennifer and her friends from work put together a team to run for one of Jennifer's friend's mom who has been battling breast cancer this year.

They raised an incredible amount of money by selling these "Boobie" shirts.

If you would like to order a shirt and read more about their team, just click here.

It was so moving to see all of the survivors and their families run the race.







There was an option to be timed, but we didn't sign Michael up for that. I stood at the finish line and counted the runners that came in. Michael came in 38th and was the second person that I saw come in without a yellow tag which indicated that they were a timed runner.
I'm so proud of him!

Zachary and David also ran the race as did Linda's husband and daughter.

Linda's sister and father ran too.

The girl in the pink is Linda's daughter Katie.

Here is Team Gigi, or otherwise known as the boobie shirt team.

Having been surrounded by boobie shirts and boobie talk all day long, Bren remained kind of quiet and just took it all in.

Later that night when I tucked her into bed, she said,

"Thank you God for my friends and thank you God for my family.

And thank you God for Happy Boobie Shirts!

Amen.

Ya gotta have friends......

You know that one friend in your life who just gets you? The one who knows just what to say when you are feeling sad and who adds so much to your life that you feel almost like family?

Well, for me, that's Linda.

We met in California and after her move to Spokane 4 years ago and my move to Georgia shortly after, we've spent most of our friendship long distance.

We've been having so much fun crashing at her house while we wait for our moving truck to get to Marysville.

The boys went to shoot arrows the other day and really had a great time.

Thanks to a suggestion left on my comments (thanks Sandi!!!), we went to Huhots in Spokane for some mongolian BBQ.

The boys have had a blast playing basketball almost every evening.

It seems that the sons gave the Dads a run for their money.

We also went to the river front in Spokane and let the kids feed the ducks and run around a little. That whole area is so pretty and seems like it would be a really fun place in the summer when it warms up a bit.

It snowed while we were there, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Here's the 8 of our kids ranging in age from 4-16!

We'll be so sad to leave on Wednesday, but like Linda says, at least we are in the same time zone.

I see lots of camping trips in our future.

Hello Washington!!!!

The drive from Missoula, MT to Spokane, Wa was the most beautiful of the whole trip.

The mountains in Idaho are just breathtaking!

Can you believe the amount of snow they have in April?! The whole Welcome to Idaho sign was almost completely covered by the snow bank.

This is the lake in Couer D'alene Idaho. I probably murdered that name, but I'm way too tired to look it up right now. It's such a pretty place! If you haven't ever been here, put it on your list of places to see.

And finally, we crossed the state line into Washington!

Our home state for the next three to four years. It took us a long 7 days to get here, but we saw so many beautiful and interesting sights along the way.

We've still got 5 hours to go until we get to Marysville.

We're enjoying our time here in Spokane with our friends, the Streltzoff's while we wait for our moving truck to catch up with us.