joy

yesterday i found great joy in watching my two year old run after and try to catch a butterfly. maybe the funniest thing i have watched in a long long time. i have lately been feeling as though i have no idea how to be a mom, how to raise children so that they are well behaved, so that they love the Lord, so that they are kind to others, so that they are happy. all that seemed to vanish as i watched sophie run with pure delight in a similar path to that of the butterflies. moments of joy, moments when you know, in the simple things, that it is going to be okay. today is earth day. probably my favorite time of year. here, the cherry blossoms are out and snowing their peddles on the ground. new flowers are pushing through the earth and taking on beautiful color. the robins are singing wonderful songs at four in the morning...trust me, i know. all these things that point us to a Creator, a wondrous hand that created all these things. and we have been asked to care for it. to be stewards of it. to keep it beautiful so that others may know that He lives. so today, lets do something radical, lets care for creation in our own backyards, lets look at our lives and be ready to be held responsible for our actions. lets be full of knowledge and concern which will lead us to sacrifice so that we will be able to work toward the redemption of creation..shalom here we come!

holdiays

holidays...a moment to spend quality time together, a chance to hold hands, a time to throw caution to the wind. who am i kidding, i never throw caution to the wind. holding hands is for couples who have no children. quality time...well, spent a lot of time together and we had a good time, pretty sure that scott and i will have quality time together again when we are fifty! we have discovered that having small adventures in your own backyard is as exciting as going somewhere fancy (not that we have ever been anywhere fancy together, but we like to pretend). so for this set of holidays we decided to play and find new places to go close to home. i had us all organized...as i am sure many of you can imagine. we had our days planned, our lunches packed and our walking shoes on. let me take you with us if i may... monday: marked on the calendar as BI BI = bowen island. we headed out in the morning but due to two accidents on the hi way we were not able to catch a ferry until 2:20. no worries. we saved our lunch that i had packed for dinner on the island and grabbed a quick sandwich, walked to the little park in horseshoe bay and soaked in the sunshine. when the time came, we walked across on the ferry and off to bowen island where we hiked around killarney lake. we were on the 7 o'clock boat home, with sun burnt faces and tired legs.

waiting for the ferry in horseshoe bay

our hike around the lake

waiting for the ferry home

tuesday: marked on the calendar as HHS HHS= harrison hot springs being warned by others that there really is nothing to do in harrison, i pushed caution to the wind and decided we were going anyway...they were right, there really is nothing to do at harrison hot springs. but not to fear, i am organized and planned! we had our picnic lunch by harrison lake and then headed around the side of the lake and up to hicks lake for another hike i had planned. when we finished the hike, we scouted the area a bit more and found some really great camping areas...don't be surprised if the werdals call you and ask you to go camping this summer.

harrison lake

hicks lake hike

wednesday: marked on the calendar as SO SO= seattle/outlets this was scotts part of the trip. i had had my chance for family outdoor time, now i needed to meet his needs...so we went shopping! we had booked a hotel via some internet thing where you pick the number of star hotel you want and where you want it, but you don't know what hotel it is until you actually book it...kinda fun, kinda crazy, see that is throwing caution to the wind, i wasn't raised to to that kind of thing...this is my height of rebellion, right there, booking a hotel without knowing which one...you rebel you! turned out to be pretty sweet, a pool and all just for sophie. we headed out wednesday morning and did a little shopping, got to our hotel and did a little swimming. hey note to self, has anyone ever stayed in a one bedroom hotel with a two year old and an infant...with different bedtimes then you? scott and i made ourselves comfortable in the bathroom with his portable dvd player as we waited for the kids to fall asleep and then we moved to the bed with our earphone in so that we wouldn't wake anyone! thursday, was family day as we headed to the woodland park zoo. our only issue was that sophie wanted to pat the lions and was fairly upset when we wouldn't let her...though she did get to pat a hedgehog.

the zoo

friday we headed toward home with a little more shopping time. we made it back late but all in one piece. saturday was to be a rest day, a day of napping and laundry. it was much needed. but this is also the turning point of the story. the part where my planning fell apart, the part where the pictures stop. saturday scott was on the couch, sick. penelope threw up three times. sophie was just out of it. sunday i took the girls to church as penny was better...and i had gotten them easter dresses, and i love easter time. so we left scott still on the couch. by the time we were home, both girls were in tears. i sent everyone to bed and put my dreams of easter dinner behind me. monday sophie threw up twice. tuesday we went for a little walk along the fort to fort and we recovered. wedsnday is back to work. holidays are over and i'm back to being my cautious little self!