He gives and takes away...

I just got home yesterday from a quick trip to WA by myself.  My Grandma Dorothy who was 93 years old, passed away a little over a week ago.  I know she was ready to go, she said so herself many times. Her death has left a hole in lots of peoples lives though and she will be very missed.  I have many great memories of her, especially from my childhood.  Her farm was a great place to spend time and play with all my cousins.  There were 13 of us all pretty close in age.  Her house was such a fun and comfortable place to be.

I got to see my siblings and my dad lots while I was there!  The trips there and back were long.  My flight landed on 2:00 am on Thursday morning and then I drove to my dads and got there about 4:30 am.  My flight left at 6:00 am on Sunday morning out of Seattle but I didn't get home until 25 hours later!  Weather in Kodiak always makes for an interesting trip home.  And yes that is a baby bump you see in the picture above.  We are expecting a baby at the end of July!  Very exciting. Overwhelming, but exciting.

 I've been feeling pretty yucky, but I have started to feel a little better in the last week or so.  There has been a lot of thought put into this pregnancy, it was a hard decision.  But I truly believe that God decided to bless us with this little one.  It will be fun to have another baby in the house!

4 years ago

 Today was the 4 year anniversary of Case's death. We drove out to a beach and lit 4 wish lanterns for Case.  It was such a beautiful night on the beach in the snow.

 Lane stood way out by the water, you can see him in the center of the picture.

It's really hard to believe that it's been 4 years.  Sometimes it seems like longer and other times it seems like it just happened.  The years have not lessened my memories of that day. It was so traumatic, I am sure it will always be vivid in my mind.  We were so blessed to have Case for the short time we did.  What sweet little soul he was, very calm and content.  The wish lanterns are just a little symbol of how we are loving him from here to heaven!

SEA-hawks!!!

 While we were in Washington, Reese, Lane and I went to a Seahawks game with Reese brothers and their wife/girlfriend and brother in law.  It was quite the experience.  Unfortunately they lost :(  They've only lost 3 games this season and we went to one of them.  Boo.

 For the first half of the game we were at the VERY top of the stadium.  Got my workout in for the day climbing those stairs!

 At halftime we traded seats with 4 of the people in our group and were like 11 rows up.

 The crazy people behind us picked Lane up and bounced him around for awhile when the Seahawks got a touchdown.  Lane had a great time and I am go glad he got to experience a SEAHAWKS game!

Leavenworth

We left for Washington on December 17th.  I was ready to leave our little island that we live on and go to a mall, drive on a freeway, eat at different restaurants, that sort of thing.  We spent the first two nights at my dads house and then headed to Leavenworth WA for a couple nights.  They have a light festival every year and we love the area!  Michele lives about an hour and a half from there so she met us that afternoon.  The boys enjoyed sledding on the infamous Leavenworth sledding hill.  And Estelle and Hazel were super excited to see each other!

 We went out to dinner and got some gelato and then Michele and kids left.  It was a quick visit but we knew we'd see them on Christmas!

 Saint Nicholas came to town one night and handed out golden pears to all the kids.

 The lights in Leavenworth are magical!

 Every year we've gone there we take a walk in the park behind town.  I commented to Reese that while we were living in San Diego the snow, the wildlife, and the mountains were especially cool to see on that walk but now that we live in Kodiak, that awe is not quite so "strong."  It's interesting what you become used to and how your definition of "cool" can change.  To be honest, laying on a warm beach right now sounds pretty "awe"some!

In the past week I've had two of my siblings tell me I need to update my blog :)  Oh man, I just haven't been super inspired to keep up on it.  I told my friends in Washington that "I just don't have much to say."  I'll be very honest when I say that Kodiak has not been my favorite place to live.  It's not that it's horrible it's just that there really isn't anything to do and for whatever reason I don't feel like I've been able to "bloom" here.  I am still trying, but I guess I am just in a bit of a dry phase...  But I will make it more of a goal to keep this updated this new year!