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.

Merry Christmas!!

This morning Angel was up somewhere around , oh 6AM!!! When I heard her going down the hall I glanced at the clock on the dresser. I thought it said 8:06AM. I thought how wonderful she slept in this year. I then rolled over and went back to sleep. She came rushing in and woke me up. I glanced at the clock and it said 7:15AM. How could that be? Time went backwards! Then it dawned on me thru my sleepy eyes I had miss read the clock. She didn't sleep in at all. Santa really spoiled her this year. I think he brought her everything on her list and then some. It was lucky for her that she sent that letter to him nice and early. This is a picture of her stocking and gifts from just Santa. The big purple blob is a huge bean bag chair. There are roller blades, DS games, CD's, DVD's and many other things. Of course Santa brings the essentials like underwear!! That's a given. We took turns opening gifts. It was one for Mark, one for me, and two for Angel. She was thrilled with everything. I got what I asked Santa for, that was a Mario Cart for the Wii. What a fun game. I know I am hooked!

After we completed our Christmas at home we ventured over to Shannon and Andres' to have Christmas with them. Lilliana was so excited to see us come in. She thought that every gift was for her. She said to me, "I love presents Gramma!" How cute is that. I think the thing she was most excited about opening; wasn't any of the clothes of course, but the gift from Auntie Deanne, Uncle Chris and the kids. It was some sort of Dora and Diego toy and she lit up when she saw it and was so excited. She played with that all afternoon. Isatou got some real nice things too. She got quite a bit of clothing and put on a fashion show for us.

After we opened gifts the kids played and Shannon made a wonderful ham dinner. After dinner we played some games and had a fun time. Angel was wanting to get home to all of her treasures so we went on our way. It was an enjoyable and fun day with family. We love you Shannon, Andres, Isatou and Lilliana. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas Eve 2008 with THE MERWIN'S

After all the snow was cleared from our driveway we were able to head to Deanne and Chris' for our Christmas with them. Deanne had called earlier in the day and said that Chris didn't go to work and wondered if we could come earlier then planned. We originally were going to get together after our church service which would have put us at their house about 8:30PM. She said that the kids were driving them crazy!! So we agreed to change the time to 2PM. I don't even think we were in their driveway yet and the front door was open with Emma and Taylor standing there waiting. It was very cute. Needless to say it wasn't long and the kids were ready to start. We decided to go youngest to oldest. Well we know who was first and who brought up the rear. Yes, Emma was first and I was last!
A sweet sweater for a sweet girl. This was from GGma and Papa.Great Grandma and Papa gave him this Huskie clock for his bedroom wall. How appropriate is that!! It will blend in well with that purple and gold room.Taylor really wanted this XBox 360 NCAA 09 Basketball game. He asked Santa for it, but got it from Mark and I. I wonder what Santa will bring him now?!

Devon's turn!! He got this nice zip up sweatshirt from Great Gramma and Papa. From what they tell us he lives in these things. So it was appropriate.It was Devon's year to get the "BIG" gift. You see every year Mark rotates which one of the Merwin kids will get a bigger, meaning more expensive gift then the other two. This was Devon's year. The older he gets the harder it is to buy for that kid! This year, thanks to a hint from Chris, Mark knew what to purchase. His gift this year was a itouch. He squealed when he opened it and you can tell from the smile it was perfect. I don't think he put it down the rest of the time we were there. It was wonderful to see the excitement and joy that it gave him.After opening presents we had dessert and some wonderful conversation. The greatest gift that God has bestowed upon me is my kids and grandkids. We had a wonderful Christmas with Deanne, Chris, Devon, Taylor and Miss Em. We love you all very much!! Merry Christmas!!

SNOW!!! and more S N O W !!!

It was fun to see snow for the first few days. Then it got a little out of control.

Our little snowman lights that line the front walkway got covered.
But it is very beautiful to look at.

Bella absolutely loves to play in the snow.

This is our friend and neighbor Ron North. He and son in law Andres came over and shoveled the snow off the roof of the house, mom and dads fifth wheel, our trailer cover, which was so loaded with snow that it was sitting right on the roof of our trailer, and also the roof on the lower barn. Mark was unable to do anything but supervise from the inside of the house due to his recent shoulder surgery. The snow was almost at Ron's knee. That was too much weight for everything to handle so we thought it would be best to have it removed. We really appreciated all their hard work. It took them nearly 10 hours to get it all completed. Then we had another friend come over with his back hoe to dig out the driveway so we could get the rigs out of the garage. All the snow from the garage roof was about 4 feet of compacted snow. There was no way we could shovel all of it by hand. Thank you Denny Olsen for doing that for us.

Christmas Lights at Warm Beach

This evening we went with our good friends, the Halsen's to see the Christmas Lights of Warm Beach. This is just after we arrived, Mark, arm in sling, Jerry and son Tristan staying warm by one of many bon fires. We were all waiting for Laureen to take care of some important business. She would kill me if she knew I was posting this. But she wasn't the only one that needed to see this house when we finally arrived. It was a long slow snowy drive.
Angel and Tristan chillin' with Frosty. Frosty seemed very excited to see the snow coming down.
These are just some of the fantastic displays that they have. This is a cascade of lights streaming down from the top of a tree with balls of lights at the ends. It was quite a sight to see. This was just one of many trees like this.

Poinsettias made of lights. They were displayed in several scenes.

This is all in lights!! How beautiful is this mountain scene!?! These beautiful displays were throughout the entire site. This is held at Warm Beach Christian Camp in Stanwood. What a fantastic place. How perfect was it that it snowed on the night that we decided to go see the lights. We couldn't have planned it any better. He had a fantastic time. And indeed there had to have been at least 1 million lights on display. It was a wonderful night full of new memories.

Angel sings!

This year Angel was able to join the choir at school. It consists of 4th, 5th and 6th graders. On Friday, December 12th they had the opportunity to go to an Alzheimer's Home in Lynnwood. There were about 20 people that attended this concert and they enjoyed it very much. The sang along with the kids and swayed back and forth to the music keeping time. This was a was a wonderful experience for the kids. When they were done singing they were able to enjoy cookies and juice with them and got to sit and talk with them too. Angel discovered that there was a married couple there that she sat and got to know. The kids went back to school with very wonderful memories and requested from the music teacher that they be able to make cards for them letting them know that they are loved. The teacher then on Monday, December 15th had the kids do just that. She delivered them Tuesday afternoon. I am sure that they loved getting the cards from the kids.

Angel is 10!!!

What a silly face!!

Rachel Issacson, Angels good friend from school. They have been best friends for a couple years now.

Angel and Rachel. Girls can be silly at this age!!

Angel reached a milestone in her life. On December 16th she turned 10. It scares me to think that womanhood isn't far behind. She had a very quiet birthday this year and celebrated with her friend early. Angel decided to invite one friend to go to a movie, they saw Madagascar 2, out to dinner, they chose of all things Alfy's Pizza, and then an overnighter. They had a wonderful time together. They are still pretty silly at that age. They played the Wii non stop for hours.

Then on December 13th we had a family birthday. Gramma and Grandpa called from Arizona, Deanne and Shannon and their families were all here. It is so wonderful to have them al together. We had a cake from Coldstone Creamery, can't go wrong with that!!

Angel had a wonderful 10th birthday thanks to family and friends.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Today we went on a journey. The route we took brought back some very fond memories. For at least me anyways.
We decided to find a different tree farm this year since the one we had been going to didn't have tall grand firs. Like everyone else I took to the Internet to acquire a list of all the tree farms in the area. It not only covered Western Washington but parts of Eastern too. There was one that stood out. It was located in Skagit County. Big Lake Tree Farm!!! How many years had I gone past that tree farm and noticed it but never let it sink in? Too many to remember.
We made our way north on I-5 and got off at the College Way exit. Has Mount Vernon ever change! We made our way thru the numerous lights that it now has and out of town we went. I told Mark, "We will be coming up to a sharp right turn that takes you on to Hwy. 9. Be watching for it!" Guess what, that sharp right turn no longer exists. It is now a round about. On we went. Past the golf course, reminding him of every sharp turn on the road, past the Big Lake Bar and Grill and there it was! The Big Lake Tree Farm!!! What a wonderful place. They have lots of tall trees and acres and acres of them. We got out of the car and there it was. The most perfect tall grand fir I had ever seen. When Mark measured it, it was tall alright. About 3 feet or so taller then what we needed. So the hunt began. I found the perfect tree at every turn, most of which were to tall, some to short. There at the back of the lower property was the tree. Full, 8 feet tall and perfectly shaped.
When we left the tree farm we decided to go out via Hwy. 9. There it was the road to Lake Cavanaugh. It was very hard not to turn up that road and continue on to "the lake". I miss it, but I have my wonderful memories. I think we will make The Big Lake Tree Farm a tradition from here on out.

Halloween 2008

I have been chosen as the parent to put on classroom parties for Angels class. Here are a few of the boys decorating their cupcakes. This was just one of the activities they participated in that day.

This is another. This is Angel trying to get the hanging and swinging donut. The kids thought this was great fun.

The biggest event of the day was the launching of apples. We made it a science/math project. The idea was to see how far it would travel and at what velocity depending on angles and force. The kids just thought it was great fun shooting the apples. They could care less that it was raining that day. We also played bingo, and pin the leaf on a tree. They had many healthy and not so healthy treats to eat with goodie bags to take home. Even Mrs. Marcus had a great time.

That evening we went trick or treating with some friends over in the Silver Lake area. Great neighborhood where they decorate the houses. We lucked out that it was a fairly warm night and no rain. Angel was, as usual, the only girl. The kids ran from house to house and had a wonderful time. As you can see Angel was a bumble bee and was dressed appropriately for the cool evening.

An Outing at Craven Farms

Angel and I went to Craven Farms in Snohomish today. We were joined by our friends. The crazy group of kids are Derrik(L), Tristan, Bryce, Denny and Angel. This was the first time visiting the farm. What a place!!

The kids had so much fun climbing on the tractor, posing with the pumpkin totem pole and by the different things

they had set up for the kids.

Off to find a pumpkin. Now the hard part begins!! Trying to find just the right pumpkin could take forever in this field. It seemed that every one Angel walked past in her mind was the perfect pumpkin. Then she came upon the next one and the one after that. Finally she found her perfect pumpkin. That one perfect pumpkin..., ended up being three perfect pumpkins.

Angel thought it would be easy to push the wheelbarrow out of the patch. Not so... when she hit the first dip with water and mud in it she almost lost the load. After purchasing the pumpkins and taking them to the car we decided to try our hand at the corn maze. The 5 kids took off in one direction and us 3 moms took off behind them. Only they went one way and we went the other. Or at least that is what we think happened. Because our 30 minute tour turned out to be over an hour. Well over an hour!! Finally the moms found their way out and no kids in sight. We waited for about 15 minutes and went back in. Asking everyone if they had seen 4 boys and a girl. Yes, they had but it had been some time ago. We kept hunting. You can really lose your way in those things. Finally, we came across the kids. They wanted to go thru one more time. Yes, we let them. But this time we didn't go in after them. The kids and moms had a blast. It was a great day spent at Craven Farms with wonderful friends.

What's Up With Mark ?!?

Mark went to a Neurologist this past week. He told Mark that it is not his neck. That it still all has to do with his shoulder. He thinks there is another tear in his shoulder underneath where the pictures don't show it. He wants him to have another MRI and this time with die shot into him so they can see more. It sounds like they are going to need to lay him open and just find out what the problem is. Also, this doctor seems to think that he might possibly need to have his first rib removed. Mark said that they think they need to make another woman!! HAHA!!! He sees his Orthopedic on October 16th so we will hopefully know more after that appointment. Til' then...

Patti Takes A Part Time Job

Well it happened. I took a part time job. I guess I just couldn't stand being idol any longer. I am going to be working at "Small World Montessori". I am going to be a pre-school teachers assistant. I start Monday, October 6th at 8:30am. This is going to be a big change for me. I am so use to dealing with elementary age kids. The nice thing is I have Fridays off and I am home everyday by 1pm or shortly after. They are on the Everett School District schedule so when they are off I will be off too. I will still prepare the Wednesday evening meals at church and volunteer when needed in Angel's classroom. I am very excited to be busy once again.

Patti's New Adventure

I have taken on a new adventure this year. I was asked by the church to plan, shop for and prepare the Wednesday evening meals at church. The lady that has cooked them for the past 9 years has taken ill and can no longer do it. I guess they thought I was the right person for the job. I hope they didn't make the wrong choice. This past Wednesday, Sept. 24th was the first night of Awana and my first dinner. I chose to go simple for the first meal. Hamburgers, hot dogs, home made potato salad, baked beans and home made chocolate chip cookies. I must say I did enjoy myself. Mark is helping where and when he can. I am looking forward to doing Gods work through preparing meals for the families and friends of Edgewood Baptist Church. Besides, it is the best deal in town. Where can you get a full, home cooked meal for only $3 per person?! I don't think McD's can even beat that deal.

Fun at the Halsen's place at Birch Bay

Mark went with the Halsen's Friday after school to their property. Angel and I had to wait to join them until after her soccer game. They had done some clam digging for steamers and so Angel and Tristan had a contest on who could suck down the most. Angel won!! She loves her clams. We had such a good time. Angel played some tennis with Jerry and went swimming too. We are so blessed to have good friends like the Halsen's. I know that we will make many more wonderful memories together.

Huskies win a game!!

Angel is playing soccer this year for the Northwest Christion Sports League. She is on a team named the Huskies. That name was picked from the team last year. I am sure that coach Mike had nothing to do with it since that is where he went to school. She has an awesome coach. His name is Mike Kincade. He is a teacher at Meadowdale Middle and also coaches high school ball. He is a busy man. He keeps the girls hopping. I don't know who has more energy him or the kids.

The girls out practicing before the game. This isn't the entire team. They have 16 girls on the team this year. It is nice because they can constantly sub girls in and out and no one get too tired.

Angel is very excited they won the game 1-0 in overtime play.

Canning Time Again!!

Canning has started at the Hamm/Domer house. Mom and I, with help from Mark and dad have put up about 30 quarts of stewed tomatoes and about 50 quarts of spaghetti sauce. We both purchased 50 pounds of peaches so you know that we now have plenty of canned peaches on hand. Mark. Angel and I went blueberry picking and got just over 35 pounds of blueberries. We have an entire shelf in the freezer dedicated to blueberries. Along with a shelf of raspberries. Mark and I have been enjoying smoothies and fresh blueberry scones in the mornings. We have completed 2 pickings of green beans. They aren't as plentiful as they have been in the past years. But, we hope there will be more. We dug potatoes the past couple of days. We have a shelf in the freezer of pre-cooked hashbrowns and some cubed potatoes. Just heat and serve. We still have a shelf full in the barn. The corn is still to come. All our luck it will come on heavy just about the time that the folks head south. As you can see we have been busy around here processing fruits and vegetables. That is my excuse for not having things up to date and I am sticking to it!!

Angel's in Fourth Grade

I can't believe that Angel is now in fourth grade. Seems like just yesterday that we moved and got her signed up for kindergarten. She has 2 teachers this year. Her teachers are team teaching. She has Mrs. Marcus in the morning and Mrs. Worman in the afternoon. She really likes them!

The toughest part of the entire day wasn't dropping her off at school but trying to get a parking spot to drop her off. The place was a mad house. There wasn't a spot to be had for miles, well blocks anyway! I think everyone took their children to school. They had to with all of the supplies that they needed to take with them.

The best part of the day was when some of the parents met at Patty's Eggnest to celebrate school being in session. Mark and I were joined by Anita and Denny Olsen and Laureen Halsen. Jerry Halsen had just returned to work from a long vacation and was unable to join us. Our kids are all in the fourth grade.

Birch Bay with the Halsen's

After camping with the Halsen's in Leavenworth they invited us up to their place at Birch Bay. We ended up spending the night. Jerry had gone out early that morning and dug clams. They had a marvelous feast on clams that night. Angel and Tristan went swimming in the community pool. They get along so well and had a blast together. We did some beach combing. It was high tide so we didn't get too many things but it was a great day, with a great family and wonderful friends.