Random Fun

Each weekend we have gone a an adventure. The only bad thing is that neither Aaron or myself are planners so we usually end up driving in the car for hours. We have found some pretty cool stuff. About an hour north of us is a town called Bellingham. It has some of the most amazing rolling his and a very pretty mountain called Mount Baker. This is where we will go skiing in the winter. We have found amazing lakes, waterfalls, whale watching, and some great biking. (We jazzed our bikes up a bit so we feel like locals now. Aaron found out his bike was made for 9 to 14 year olds HA HA LOL. He now has a complex about it) I will take pics this week.

MT. Baker

Then we realized that just 15 minutes from our house is an even more amazing place called Camano Island. (So we finally stopped spending hours in the car) We tried to camp there this weekend but it was full. It is right on the Sound (Washington's Bay) and has this peace about it that draws you in. Tyler is now a little fisherman and we are dying to buy a boat.

We have our second visitor coming this week!!! YAYYYYYYYYY So who is next? A quick flight and we can show you paradise :)

It has been a long time

I have not updated this in awhile. We have been in the middle of a move to Washington. I have to say I went into this move with no expectations. I was leaving all my Young Life crew which has been my life the last four years. We are also close with our families and leaving them is soooo hard. Another scary thing was leaving my house. I felt like I was walking away from everything,

but....... after being here a month I can say we left a lot but God has great things in store for us here. We got here and I saw all the furniture crammed in the house and started balling. I was so overwhelmed. Thank God my parents were here to help. My dad is such a fix it guy and was here to make a 20 year old house feel new. My mom spent days helping clean and organize. I can say we had this place practically put together in 2 weeks. Which was awesome because we got to be tourist every weekend. We have been to so many amazing State Parks, The Islands, The Mountains, and Lakes. It has been so surreal. Everyone told us the weather was horrible but I have to say the weather is amazing even when it is raining. There is just so much beauty in the green grass and trees. I love looking at the clouds uncover the snow capped mountains. We are 20 minuted from the beach, 45 minuted from skiing, and I would have to say minutes away from some of the best camping in the world. We also live in an older home but the view makes the home feel humble and homey.

We have already found a church that fits us perfectly. We are looking forward to getting involved and developing lasting friendships. We also reached out to the local Young Life chapter, that is a whole different post, but I am so curious to see what God has in store for us there.

Tyler loves it!! He is such a little outdoors boy. He loves fishing, the water, and digging in the dirt. We are living outside these days trying to soak up all the sun we can before the rainy season. We are going camping next weekend and I just know he is going to have the time of his life.

Even though we are having a great time we miss all our friends and family so much. We will be back in Texas in November and look forward to seeing each and everyone of you.

Tyler's truck it is just like daddy's

Papa and Tyler looking at all the wild animals that we could see 2 feet away. Amazing!!!

Tyler helping fix the house. So cute. He is such a helper these days.

One of the many beauties here. We have so much more exploring to do and more family time to do it. We are surely loving life!

It is all coming to an end

These days have been really sad for me lately. The last few weeks have made me think of so many different and great memories. As all of you know we have been involved in an amazing ministry called Young Life for the last four years. Our kids graduate on June 4th. We had the last Young Life club this week and I got to see 30 kids stand up and talk about what the Lord has done in there lives. So amazing. I have been crying for days. When we first volunteered to do Young Life I remember thinking I don't have the time or anything to offer these kids. At the time I didn't realize that God had his plan and we were just a small part of a bigger picture. These kids just wanted to be loved on and they absolutely loved feeling like a kid in a world that makes our teenagers grow up to fast. God allowed us to plant seeds in these kids that will forever change their lives. With all this being said the weirdest thing is I got more out of this ministry and serving than I ever gave. God changed my heart forever! He blessed me with the most amazing friends and YL family I could imagine. He revealed more to me through their eyes than I had ever seen before. He taught me that serving is all about giving up control and putting yourself out there. I am changed forever because of this ministry and am so humbled and blessed that I have had the best 4 years of my life.

Yes we are moving to Seattle but guess what.... they have Young Life there too!! So I look forward to the new chapter of ministry work that will be put in front of us.

Leaving their mark on our house

Dressing up for dodgeball

Most of the crew

The Move to Seattle

Here is an update on our move to Seattle. It looks like we should be up there by June. We have not had any luck on selling the house. (only one person has looked at it) So we are deciding to lease it. The house is going up for lease today. We are competing with a property on our street that is unusually low and has been siting there for awhile. Please pray for us. The traveling is really getting to Aaron. Being up in Seattle will take a huge load off of him. I am really excited and ready to get this thing rolling. I search for houses daily in Seattle! I am ready for our new adventure in life!

San Fran and Lake Tahoe

We planned a family trip on Aaron's points and flyer miles. We were gone for 10 days. Tyler was great on the flights. The flight there was 6 hours!! He did good but it was exhausting keeping him entertained. I had a direct flight on the way back in first class and it was awesome. Tyler was an angel. I could not believe it. I flew back alone with him.

We went to San Francisco first and I lovvvved it. Next time I will not take Tyler and do a romantic weekend with Aaron but I made the best of the trip with him. We stayed in an amazing hotel downtown. Aaron worked during the day and I found a few things to entertain him. We walked down to the Warf everyday. We went to the aquarium and fed the birds. We also saw the sea lions sun bathing. Tons of fun. That weekend we met up with my sister and her family and drove to Tahoe. Wow can I say amazing. We skied and played at the lake. We even went bowling one day. We had a blast!! Thanks Stephanie and Gary for letting us crash your vacation. Love you guys.

Bowling! Tyler looooooooooved it.

These ducks were the prettiest ducks I have ever seen!

My wonderful sister and her family!

He is going to be my little snow boarder someday

Lake Tahoe is 100 time better than Colorado!!

Aaron fixed his hair that day!

My dad thinks he is an Indian Cheif

My brother-in-law! Tyler loves him.

Tyler is so cool in his shades

He loved the aquarium

Snow Snow And More Snow

It has snowed here a lot this year and Tyler loves it. We have a dog door and I could not keep him from going outside all day. He would even put on his own shoes before he crawled out. Check out the pictures below from the snow day we had weeks ago.

Ginger and Jack are best friends these days. They play all day long together. She is still a pain. But kinda cute ;)

Tyler and Dada's snowman. We never put the eyes and mouth on it.

He kept eating the snow.

The crew playing it was a perfect day.

I found him outside in his diaper. He didn't even care.

Weekdays

Tyler is so much fun these days. He is really trying to talk. He calls Dora the Explorer "backpack" and he lovesssss the show. He calls balloons "baza baza". He also begs at the freezer for "wafs" which are waffles. (He will eat 4 in one sitting. They don't even have to have syrup on them. He loves hem so much.)

I just don't want to forget these moments like when he stands on his stool to brush his teeth and the way he dances and jams to songs he likes. I don't video enough and know I am going to regret it later. Tonight I watched him pull down all his books and pretend like he was reading them. He even kissed them good night (we do that every night.)

It is really hard being a stay at home mom (alone all week) but I am so blessed to have such an amazing son. I cherish all the moments I spend with the little guy and as hard as the weeks get I always look forward to hanging out with him again the next day...

Thank you Tyler for making my long week go by so fast.