Wednesday, February 27, 2008

A new generation of family entertainment

We are avid American Idol fans - as avid as you can be with our crazy schedule. And it's a whole family affair. Hannah loves it. And now Kaitlyn even gets into it by swaying and clapping to the music. It hit me last night as we were watching the guys perform... when I was Hannah's age, this was my family, except we were sitting around watching Hee Haw and Barbara Mandrell! Wow!

Speaking of Idol..... I have failed to make note on my blog of a very important sighting when we were last in Seattle. For those of you who have followed previous seasons, we saw Blake Lewis at a restaurant. He walked right by me while we were waiting to be seated. I must confess that I had a crazed fan moment, which I'm really not inclined to. But it sounded something like this: "Is that Blake Lewis? That's Blake Lewis! Oh my gosh, it's Blake Lewis! Ya'll, he's coming this way!" I really tried not to be a gawker. Deep inside I was wishing I had the guts to see if he'd take a picture with us. Oh well.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Weekend

Friday night, Dale and I made plans to go out for his birthday. We are grateful to have family that provide us a continual supply of gift cards. This has really saved the dating aspect of our relationship! So, we decided to head to P.F. Changs (yum!!) and the movies to see Vantage Point. What an interesting movie! Kevin and Janet were able to accompany us, so it made it doubly fun!




























I do have to make note of a funny story about the evening. Our waitress was a super nice and very attentive Chinese woman. At one point during the meal I splattered some sauce on the front of my white sweater - down in the belly button region. She happened to be at our table when it occurred and offered to go get some "soda water". How thoughtful. When she returned she dipped a napkin in the Club Soda and, rather then handing the cloth to me, she began to eagerly blot my sweater herself. After two such blottings, she looked at me and said, "One more time!" The good news after this awkward experience was that most of my stain was gone.

Sunday night we had Home Bible Study at the Lancaster's. Before Bible study everyone had a great time playing DDR and Rockband.

They even let Hannah have a turn. I also have some great pictures of Janet & Beth getting down, but I've decided to be nice and not post those pictures for the sake of our friendships. :)














Here's Dale having fun behind the drumset.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Happy Birthday Dale!

In honor of my sweetie's 32nd birthday, I want to take a minute to share what I love about him...

* He is passionate - about a few things - but mainly about the Lord.
* He is quite handsome.
* He is a kid at heart.
* He is very smart.
* He is an awesome Daddy to Hannah and Kaitlyn.
* He says corny things like "Cool Beans" not knowing that people don't say that anymore.
* He KNOWS God's Word and desires for others to know it.
* He is an amazing teacher and communicator.
* He makes me laugh.
* He is a hard worker.
* He is one of the most honest people I have ever met.
* Thanks to him, Hannah refers to boys as "dudes".
* He can carry on a conversation with just about anyone.
* He challenges me.
* He loves a good debate.
* He lives with integrity.
* He seeks God.
* He influences others to seek God more.
* He is truly my best friend.
* He is spontaneous.
* He can't remember where he left his keys, but he can remember what I was wearing the first time he noticed me.
* He seeks to lift up Christ and not himself.
* He had a car named, "Hot Rod", after the Transformer character.
* He serves me by helping me around the house. He even does the laundry!
* He is a great drummer.
* He dreams big.
* He knows that God's even bigger.
* He has a soft spot for animals.
* He loves the great outdoors.
* He can wing just about anything - it's amazing!
* He is friendly.
* He is wise.
* He is committed to me and to our family.
* He has a great smile.
* He is someone I can admire and be proud of...

This morning we celebrated over breakfast. Hannah was so excited to give him her handmade card, she actually gave it to him last night. It was fun to do it all over again this morning! Happy Birthday Dale!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Update of the Week

Last Wednesday we had enough snow to play in for a little while. Hannah had a blast! She had her heart set on making a snowman though and there just wasn't enough snow for it. Although it was quite entertaining trying to make one!














Valentine's has been fun for the girls. Here they are opening cards and gifts from Grandma, Grammie & Pawpaw and us.










































Kaitlyn really liked the kitty we got her, but we've had a case of confused ownership. Or maybe I should say stolen ownership. Hannah has claimed it as her own passing it off as "Kaitlyn is sharing with me.".....














...Watch out Sleeping Beauty! When Kaitlyn realizes what's going on she'll be after her sister's prized new doll!














Dale began a Valentine's date tradition with Hannah this year and took her to Chili's for lunch. She said she was going to make sure Daddy was a gentleman and was looking forward to giving the waitress her order herself, like a big girl. And they were good to me to bring me back some of that awesome chips and queso!














Read This!

This will make you think!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Seattle Trip

First things first....We have a contract on a house! Our main mission for our trip was accomplished and we are so thankful. Before our trip, an unanticipated obstacle to getting into a house had arisen and we went not really knowing what was going to happen. But once again, God has absolutely amazed us by His timing. He went above and beyond to provide for us during the trip. He continues to show us that He is with us and is in control of every detail.

So, we thank each of you who prayed while we were gone! Kaitlyn got better, and other than a miserable landing into Seattle, she did great! We got to see some snow, but the weather never hindered our plans. It was an exhausting week, but in light of what we put the girls through, they were amazing. As we walked through the first few homes, Hannah kept saying, "But there aren't any toys!" as if to say, "Nope, we can't get this house." We finally got her to realize that she'd be bringing her toys to put in the new house. Hannah also had a lot of fun getting to play with some new friends - children of other church planters in the area. We are thankful she has made some connections that will help in her transition. Right now she thinks all of her Nashville friends are going to be with her in Seattle.....

Here are a few pictures of our house. It is framed, but there is still about 2 months worth of work to be done before it will be complete. We are hoping this means we get to pick out tile, colors, etc. Now, look at these pictures and wrap your mind around the fact that this house was listed for $439,000 and we were excited because that is CHEAP! And actually it was originally listed in the $460's, so we really got a deal!





























One reason the real estate is so expensive is because the land is very valuable, so therefore most houses in the Seattle area have little or no yard.















Although I was sad to give up having a yard, this community has a playground for its residents. This will actually work to our advantage for church-planting purposes as people will naturally be drawn out of their homes.















Here are some finished homes down the street from us. We really like the Northwest architecture. The newer homes are all very Eddie Bauerish. Families have already moved into a few of the homes and we are guessing by the time we move about half of the homes will be occupied. So we'll have plenty of new neighbors to meet and more to greet as homes continue to be filled.















Here are some pictures I took while we were driving around. Seattle sits between the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. We're excited about the fact that ski slopes are as close as a 45-minute drive!




























Here are some pictures of downtown taken from a local park. The body of water is Puget Sound.




























Finally, here's a picture from our July trip, taken from the Space Needle. On clear days Mt. Rainier "hovers" in the distance. It's absolutely beautiful.