I hope we don't get fined for this!

I started this post back in October...procrastinate much? Anyway, it's a follow up on our friends memorial service & the excitement that followed.

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Well, despite our reason for traveling we had a really great weekend catching up with friends.

The drive was awesome, sunny & clear the whole way. When it's that nice you can see the top of Mt Rainer from the Moses Lake area - a simply stunning sight even from that far away!

The memorial service was beautiful, we worshiped together & praised God for Dave's life. Pastor Greg did a great job speaking on dealing with grief as a Christian & we heard memories of Dave & hope for the future from his family. There was a great video Cascade Productions put together from pics of Dave's spanning the years. And of course, a TON of great food! The kids did very well through the service, it was about an hour long & they are not used to sitting that long. We stayed in the back & other than excessive wiggling from Eli & having to take Adah out 2 times, they did great. Once it was over they could run around & get their energy out - but more about that in a minute.

I got my love-tank filled by my friends, oh I miss those crazy ladies sometimes! There's a group of gals I got to know very well during a prayer group & they are like sisters to me. They are the people I can bare the ugly parts of myself to & they still love me & accept me for who I am, icky parts & all. Becky, Dave's wife was a part of that & it was good to just hug her, tell her I love her & I'm praying for her & the boys. She was quite surprised to see us there - as were a lot of others. Chris enjoyed seeing everyone too. He hasn't been back for over a year so it was great for him to connect with the guys again. We were just starting to think about leaving when this hideous noise began sounding throughout the building - the fire alarm. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on & then I had one thought 'where the heck is Eli?'

You see, Eli has been notorious for turning lights on or off & touching things he oughtn't. In fact he did this numerous times at our old church in Cle Elum - the lights would go out & immediately Chris & I would holler 'ELI!' And it was always him, the little stinker.

We found Eli & the other kids. They were all scared & holding their ears. Sam & Eli in particular have sensitive ears & the noise was hurting them quite a bit. Chris questioned Eli & after lots of reassurance he was not in trouble he admitted that he did it.

He felt so bad the poor guy, I asked him about it later & discovered that he knew it would make a noise but he had no idea it would be that loud (did I mention this building has all wood floors?) or that it would be throughout the whole building.

We were very lucky it happened at the very end of the evening, a lot of people had already left & clean up had begun. Everyone was very understanding, especially as many of them already know Eli & his talent of getting into everything. I just felt bad Becky had such a turbulent ending to her husband's memorial. The police arrived about 10 minutes later to shut the thing off & they were nice as well. Chris was worried that we would get fined or something but I think they know that accident's (& 5 year olds named Eli) happen & were glad it was nothing.

He got a big lecture about not touching things etc & we decided that his 10 minutes of pain & shame was punishment enough. Every time we mentioned the subject he was so embarrassed he hid his face. He wouldn't look at anyone other than us for anything! We still refer to it occasionally, it serves as a good reminder for him & has been useful to Chris & I as a deterrent.

Mixed feelings

I've been thinking a lot about our plans for tomorrow & emotionally I'm being pulled in 2 directions.
One one hand I'm excited to visit with friends I haven't' seen in a long time. I miss them so much & cherish any chance to go back home & see them.
But on the other our reason for going is not a happy one.
We will be driving back to Cle Elum for the funeral of our friend David Zapel. (I can use his name now, the family was identified in the local paper so it's ok.) It's going to be hard to say goodbye to him, it's still hard to imagine he's really gone.
It's also going to make for a very long day. It takes about 3 hours to get there & we will be returning home after dinner. I suspect the kids are not going to be fond of this arrangement.
But it's worth it to honor Dave's life & to be there for Becky, Tim, Kyle, Jason & Cory.
Thanks for your prayers, I know they are felt. Becky has been telling everyone of the peace God's given her all this week. Pray that peace continues in the coming days & that the boys feel it also. I know they have many, many hard days ahead.
God bless you all & have a great weekend!

Yee-haw, I'm outie-here

I'm taking off in a few minutes for a weekend with the crazy church ladies in Cle Elum & I'm sooooo excited!
I'm sure I'll get some pics for you, someone always has a camera & one lady in particular is notorious for getting those shots you wish she hadn't.
Oh I love them so.
The kids are going to my BFF's house until Chris gets home. He is bummed he won't see me until Sunday (he stayed at my sisters last night) but at least I'm leaving him a crock pot full-o-chicken & a pot of brown rice in the fridge.
Good wifey, good good wifey.
HA! You know better than that don'tcha?

Have a great weekend y'all!

It's getting better all the time

Better, better, better.
Getting so much better all the time.
(love those Beatles!)

To all of you who commented in my last post; You are so great!!! Seriously, each of you got me teary eyed in gratitude. It's wonderful to know that I am not alone (as I always feel on days like that), I have great friends that will lift me in prayer when I'm in need, and that I don't need to be sent to a loony bin! }:0)
I just can't say enough how much I appreciate your heartfelt words to me, they make all the difference.
I also want you to know that the very next day was SO much better & I know that was a direct result of your prayers.
I goofed around with the twins, we made cookies (and a huge mess, and ate way too many) and when Sam got home we watched Ratatouille together. Chris came home early & we had Sam's parent/teacher conference which went very well. Then we had dinner & just hung out together. That's pretty much how the weekend has gone, hanging out and enjoying each other.
So I seem to be back to normal, whatever normal actually is. :)

Sam's on spring break this week so I'm taking the kids to visit my parents. I'm not sure If I will have time to blog or not. I'm going to visit a couple of old friends while I'm there so I'm looking forward to that & just hanging out at my old home. They've lived there for about 42 years, when we visit the kids sleep in my old room & I use my sisters room. The rooms have long since been converted to guest rooms but it's still fun for the kids to think they are in 'my room'. I love that all my memories are in that house, I know the neighborhood like the back of my hand & I'm completely at home there. Plus it's almost like a vacation from the kids when we go there. I get to sleep in, the kids want to hang out with g'ma & pa so I'm virtually ignored - darn!
Poor Chris will be left at home cos he has to work. He very grudgingly agreed to us going, he hates missing out on time with any of us. I'm making a big meal tonight & will put a soup in the crock-pot for him in the morning. What a good lil wifey I am (HA!) I'm sure he will find something to putter with to pass the time in the evenings. Maybe he'll even get a project or 2 done (could be wishful thinking but I can always hope.)

A parting gift of thanks to my friends






And 2 more just cos they make me smile :)





Have a fabulous week everyone!!