Been a long time!!

It has been a very long time since updating our blog. Quite a few things have gone on since then. Mark and I flew to Denver, Co to do a deposition for his law suit. Mark was grilled for nearly 6 hours. It was so exhausting for him. He has now had 2 shoulder surgeries and is flying back this Thursday to Colorado to see a doctor there that will testify if this goes to court. He just had an appointment with his Orthopedic and he is sending Mark to a Neurological Surgeon. Is there no end?!

Angel is doing well. She has been seen by a new neurologist at childrens hospital with hopes that she may be seizure free and taken off her meds. She goes for an EEG on April 30th. I have to keep her awake for 24+ hours. Now if I can stay awake that long!! But it is for hoefully, a good outcome. She started the WASL testing today. I don't think this is anything that the kids look forward to. The only good thing that can come from this is...no homework for 2 weeks!

I am still substitute teaching at the Small World Preschool and for the Edmonds School District Food service driving truck. I really enjoy both jobs.

We had a wonderful Easter. All of my kids and grandkids were here along with my parents. We hid over 200 plastic eggs. Due to the weather again this year it had to be done once again in the house. Not too many places you can hide them in here. But, I think the kids had a good time. They played the Wii and ran around. We celebrated Emma's 5th birthday too. She turned 5 during spring break and they were in Florida at the time. She requested that I bake a cake instead of buying one. Here it is!!

And the cute 5 year old!!She hates to have her picture taken.

Other than that, my parents made it home safely from Wellton, AZ. They left 90 degree weather to come home to rain, snow, hail and just plain cold and nasty weather. WHY??!! I tell them every year that they need to stay a month or two longer. Although I am not sure with our weather lately that that will make a difference. We are glad they are home and were able to join us for Emma's birthday celebration and Easter.

ARMY CAMP 2009!!!

Angel and I were fortunate enough to be able to go to ARMY CAMP with Edgewood Baptist Church. It was a group of 4th, 5th and 6th graders. This year it was held at Fort Flagler. What a wonderful location.

Our car was one of the first to arrive. There were beautiful blue skies and not a cloud in sight. We were biding our time at a picnic table and looked up. There above us was the most perfect majestic thing we could have seen all weekend. Just above the tree line and directly over our heads was a beautiful bald eagle. It soared directly above us for about 5 minutes before it disappeared. What a perfect start to a blessed weekend.

Angel was in the purple panther troop. It was made of all 4th graders. Major Karen Keller was their troop leader. She did a great job with the girls. They did crafts, went on hikes, learned about space and Gods word. This weekend reaffirmed Angels love and dedication to our Lord.

This is a picture of the PURPLE PANTHERS. Major Karen Keller (R), Privates Jennie, Angel, Meagan and Laura. Major Tina Jurich (L) helped when not in the kitchen. Not pictured is SGT. Elizabeth Staatz. The girls barracks is pictured in the background.

I helped out with the PINK troop made up of 6th grade girls when not working in the kitchen. Maybe I should just say that I slept in the same barrack location as them. The kitchen work seemed to take all my time. It was so much fun.

This is the view that we had out the back window of the kitchen. This is Mount Rainier just prior to the sun setting. I was not in charge of the kitchen. Just a helper. There were 5 of us and thankful that we had that many hands available. It seemed that once we arrived that we were lucky to make our way out of the kitchen except to go to sleep at night. The troops on KP duty would just get everything cleaned and put away and we would start in on the next meal. The hard part about the entire weekend was lights out time. That happened to be 9PM. For those of you that know Me, know that that is a huge deal for me. Since my normal bedtime is around 2AM. But, believe it or not I did it!! I went to bed to girls whispers and giggles and squeaking bed springs. I would not have changed a thing. It was all perfect.

To those that organized everything I say thank you for the most amazing weekend. Not only for myself but for all the troops that attended. I am sure that they all look forward to ARMY CAMP 2010. I know I do!! PRAISE THE LORD!

Rain, rain go away...

We went to Birch Bay with the Halsen family yesterday right after school. We had a wonderful prime rib dinner and then went clam digging in the dark. Yes, in the dark! The clams were very hard, no almost impossible to see. We all had head lamps on and had a great time. Angel and Tristan walked way out to the waters edge and could reach down to pick up the big clams laying on top. This was while the adults were laughing and digging in the dirt. It was so much fun. We did get about a 1/2 bucket full.
We woke up this morning to rain and more rain. With no break in sight. We had hopes of maybe doing some more digging this morning but that ended up not happening. I must say that the rain may have dampened the ground but it did not dampen our spirits.
Jerry, Laureen and Tristan, we want to thank you for the good times we spend together. We love you very much.