I just had to post this! Hudson has recorded our latest answering machine message w/ his rendition of "Feliz Navidad" and I got him to sing it on camera and had to share it!
I hope you enjoy Hudson's version of "Feliz Navidad"
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
The trips & Thanksgiving
I'll start by saying that our trips were great! Matt stayed healthy and we had a good time in Arizona!
Here are some photos/highlights from Matt's trip...
the kids love having their picture taken! Matt had many pictures of the kids smiling, showing off muscles, etc.
Matt spent a lot of his time fixing doors (sorry for the sideways picture, for some reason it just won't go the right way!) the place where they stayed had no doors that functioned properly, ie... they wouldn't close! so Matt spent many days getting them to open and close. This is important to keep the bugs out! there were lots and lots of bugs there!
Matt also got to meet the kids that we sponsor through 'Children of the Nations'! Our kids are Robinson, Osias & Ariendy. Matt was able to take them gifts and spend a few minutes with them. The 2 younger ones were super shy so Matt said between that and the language barrier it was challenging. But the older boy and Matt were able to have a good conversation (with an interpreters help).
I mentioned bugs! I should've said BUGS! There were huge bugs all over the place!! lots of mosquitoes and lizards and beetles and moths larger than matt's hand!
There are the beds that they were able to build while they were there. They made 15 beds (5 for each of the 3 hardest hit villages) and also donated mattresses. This was awesome because these families all share a bed and due to the hurricane they lost their beds.
These are 5 of the ladies who received the beds.
I'm sure this was a major highlight of the trip! This is them riding on the top of a big truck (look at picture below to see what I mean) They had to duck power lines (what an adventure) and hold on for dear life... just what the guys love to do!
All in all, I think they had a good time, blessed many people and all but one person stayed healthy!
and at the same time... in Arizona...
Hudson taught himself how to do a belly flop...
We swam... a lot... and played in the pool with Grandma Vicky! The goggles are important so you can have conversations under water! :)
Camden wowed us with his swimming ability and diving ability! (diving for toys underwater, that is) and both boys jumped in just about every way imaginable!
We all returned safely on Saturday night before Thanksgiving...
then we went to Puyallup to spend a couple days with Matt's parents (Gaga & Papa) and our thanksgiving tradition is to get up in the morning, head to TOP foods (where you'll find an open starbucks) and then we go...
That's right... BOWLING!! Have you ever heard of that one? we've been doing it for over 10 years now!!
as you can tell by the pics, we had a great time! nobody really takes bowling too seriously... and we always a blast!
Then there was turkey at our friend's house (the family friends we bowl with) and all of the 'traditional' Thanksgiving happenings.
On a sad note, while we were away on our trips our puppy (and our friend's puppy) escaped their yard and we think they were stolen. They searched the local shelters, put up signs, contacted tons of people on craigslist and no puppies to be found. Apparently two beautiful puppies like Kemper & Stella were too tempting for someone and they decided not to return them to us. We're still hoping that someone somewhere decides to give them back!
the last picture I took of him. :(
Here are some photos/highlights from Matt's trip...
the kids love having their picture taken! Matt had many pictures of the kids smiling, showing off muscles, etc.
Matt spent a lot of his time fixing doors (sorry for the sideways picture, for some reason it just won't go the right way!) the place where they stayed had no doors that functioned properly, ie... they wouldn't close! so Matt spent many days getting them to open and close. This is important to keep the bugs out! there were lots and lots of bugs there!
Matt also got to meet the kids that we sponsor through 'Children of the Nations'! Our kids are Robinson, Osias & Ariendy. Matt was able to take them gifts and spend a few minutes with them. The 2 younger ones were super shy so Matt said between that and the language barrier it was challenging. But the older boy and Matt were able to have a good conversation (with an interpreters help).
I mentioned bugs! I should've said BUGS! There were huge bugs all over the place!! lots of mosquitoes and lizards and beetles and moths larger than matt's hand!
There are the beds that they were able to build while they were there. They made 15 beds (5 for each of the 3 hardest hit villages) and also donated mattresses. This was awesome because these families all share a bed and due to the hurricane they lost their beds.
These are 5 of the ladies who received the beds.
I'm sure this was a major highlight of the trip! This is them riding on the top of a big truck (look at picture below to see what I mean) They had to duck power lines (what an adventure) and hold on for dear life... just what the guys love to do!
All in all, I think they had a good time, blessed many people and all but one person stayed healthy!
and at the same time... in Arizona...
Hudson taught himself how to do a belly flop...
We swam... a lot... and played in the pool with Grandma Vicky! The goggles are important so you can have conversations under water! :)
Camden wowed us with his swimming ability and diving ability! (diving for toys underwater, that is) and both boys jumped in just about every way imaginable!
We all returned safely on Saturday night before Thanksgiving...
then we went to Puyallup to spend a couple days with Matt's parents (Gaga & Papa) and our thanksgiving tradition is to get up in the morning, head to TOP foods (where you'll find an open starbucks) and then we go...
That's right... BOWLING!! Have you ever heard of that one? we've been doing it for over 10 years now!!
as you can tell by the pics, we had a great time! nobody really takes bowling too seriously... and we always a blast!
Then there was turkey at our friend's house (the family friends we bowl with) and all of the 'traditional' Thanksgiving happenings.
On a sad note, while we were away on our trips our puppy (and our friend's puppy) escaped their yard and we think they were stolen. They searched the local shelters, put up signs, contacted tons of people on craigslist and no puppies to be found. Apparently two beautiful puppies like Kemper & Stella were too tempting for someone and they decided not to return them to us. We're still hoping that someone somewhere decides to give them back!
the last picture I took of him. :(
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Whoa! It's been a while
I guess I better catch you up on what's been going on around here for the past month!
We went to the pumpkin patch with our friends, which is an annual event for us.
It's such a picturesque location that it seems more years than not our Christmas card ends up being one of our family at the pumpkin patch.
This year, I'm thinking this one isn't going to make it onto our card :) It was a horribly rainy day. We still had a good time, despite the fake smiles in the picture :)
As some of you know we've been planning a family mission trip to the Dominican Republic for the past several months. Here is a picture of the boys the day after they received their shots (all 3 of them!) for the trip. They were so brave! We even had to go to 2 doctors in order to get all of the shots!
After months of preparation... it turns out God had different plans for our family. Hurricane Noel hit the Dominican Republic, specifically in the area we were headed. We knew that this meant our mission would be different (Matt was going to pour concrete floors with a team of other man and myself, the boys and another woman were going to be measuring kids' feet and dress sizes for Christmas gifts.)
Here are a few pictures from the villages we would be working in.
This photo is of the school in Algodon.(one of the 4 villages or "Bateys" as they're called)
This photo is of one of the villagers homes that was destroyed.
People evacuating from Algodon.
We were advised not to bring our children into this disaster area. The COTN (Children of the Nations) report stated that the water was contaminated with human and animal waste, dead livestock, and bacteria. Water levels were still increasing and they're expecting rain for the next two weeks. After praying about it and waivering several times trying to figure out a way that we could safely take our children, we decided against going. Matt will be taking this trip with a team of other adults, however the boys and I will not be joining him on this trip. We were all disappointed to not go on this long awaited trip, but we know we'll get a chance to go another day.
Matt leaves on the 10th and returns on the 18th. If you could keep him in your thoughts and prayers that would be awesome! There is an increased risk of Malaria and also so many opportunites to get sick. On Matt's previous trip down to the Dominican Republic (2 years ago) the conditions were 100% better than they are now and most of the team got sick. I definitely pray for protection over the team!
As for the kids and I... we are going to spend a week in Arizona visiting my mom. After all of our preparations and packing and even getting the okay from Camden's teacher, we decided we weren't going to sit around and mope! So we are leaving tomorrow and won't be back until the 18th! We're looking forward to a quiet, relaxing time with hopefully LOTS of sunshine! :)
Other Happenings...
Matt's sister who has been living with us for the past 8 months moved out on Monday and headed toward Arizona! (funny that we'll see her when we are down there too!)
Her job for the past 8 years in Seattle has been working for Dale Chihuly (if you don't know who he is, he's a world renowned glass blowing artist.) So during her last week of work she took Hudson to work with her and Camden and I followed not too far behind. We all ended up at the "boathouse" in Seattle where the glass is blown and yes, BOTH of my boys got to blow glass!! It was so gracious of the people working to allow them to do this! It was a treat for all of us!!
and Kemper, I can't forget to mention Kemper! He is GROWING!!
He has become quite a good little puppy. He knows how to sit and he's pretty well potty trained. He still has plenty, P-L-E-N-T-Y to learn, but he's figuring things out. I was told by a friend of mine who recently raised a puppy that they enter some sort of adolescent phase around 4 months old. I see what she meant! He loves to get into just about everything these days! Socks, toys(he now sneaks up to the boys' rooms to snatch toys!), just about anything he can find! he even licks the walls!?!?! All of that and I just said he'd become 'quite a good little puppy'??? I know what it is... it's those sweet puppy dog eyes that say "what? I didn't mean to do that! Aren't I cute?" it makes you forget all the wrong things they do! He really is a joy to have around!
We'll be back in touch after our trips. Hopefully we'll have lots of positive things to tell when we return! Adios :)
We went to the pumpkin patch with our friends, which is an annual event for us.
It's such a picturesque location that it seems more years than not our Christmas card ends up being one of our family at the pumpkin patch.
This year, I'm thinking this one isn't going to make it onto our card :) It was a horribly rainy day. We still had a good time, despite the fake smiles in the picture :)
As some of you know we've been planning a family mission trip to the Dominican Republic for the past several months. Here is a picture of the boys the day after they received their shots (all 3 of them!) for the trip. They were so brave! We even had to go to 2 doctors in order to get all of the shots!
After months of preparation... it turns out God had different plans for our family. Hurricane Noel hit the Dominican Republic, specifically in the area we were headed. We knew that this meant our mission would be different (Matt was going to pour concrete floors with a team of other man and myself, the boys and another woman were going to be measuring kids' feet and dress sizes for Christmas gifts.)
Here are a few pictures from the villages we would be working in.
This photo is of the school in Algodon.(one of the 4 villages or "Bateys" as they're called)
This photo is of one of the villagers homes that was destroyed.
People evacuating from Algodon.We were advised not to bring our children into this disaster area. The COTN (Children of the Nations) report stated that the water was contaminated with human and animal waste, dead livestock, and bacteria. Water levels were still increasing and they're expecting rain for the next two weeks. After praying about it and waivering several times trying to figure out a way that we could safely take our children, we decided against going. Matt will be taking this trip with a team of other adults, however the boys and I will not be joining him on this trip. We were all disappointed to not go on this long awaited trip, but we know we'll get a chance to go another day.
Matt leaves on the 10th and returns on the 18th. If you could keep him in your thoughts and prayers that would be awesome! There is an increased risk of Malaria and also so many opportunites to get sick. On Matt's previous trip down to the Dominican Republic (2 years ago) the conditions were 100% better than they are now and most of the team got sick. I definitely pray for protection over the team!
As for the kids and I... we are going to spend a week in Arizona visiting my mom. After all of our preparations and packing and even getting the okay from Camden's teacher, we decided we weren't going to sit around and mope! So we are leaving tomorrow and won't be back until the 18th! We're looking forward to a quiet, relaxing time with hopefully LOTS of sunshine! :)
Other Happenings...
Matt's sister who has been living with us for the past 8 months moved out on Monday and headed toward Arizona! (funny that we'll see her when we are down there too!)
Her job for the past 8 years in Seattle has been working for Dale Chihuly (if you don't know who he is, he's a world renowned glass blowing artist.) So during her last week of work she took Hudson to work with her and Camden and I followed not too far behind. We all ended up at the "boathouse" in Seattle where the glass is blown and yes, BOTH of my boys got to blow glass!! It was so gracious of the people working to allow them to do this! It was a treat for all of us!!
and Kemper, I can't forget to mention Kemper! He is GROWING!!
He has become quite a good little puppy. He knows how to sit and he's pretty well potty trained. He still has plenty, P-L-E-N-T-Y to learn, but he's figuring things out. I was told by a friend of mine who recently raised a puppy that they enter some sort of adolescent phase around 4 months old. I see what she meant! He loves to get into just about everything these days! Socks, toys(he now sneaks up to the boys' rooms to snatch toys!), just about anything he can find! he even licks the walls!?!?! All of that and I just said he'd become 'quite a good little puppy'??? I know what it is... it's those sweet puppy dog eyes that say "what? I didn't mean to do that! Aren't I cute?" it makes you forget all the wrong things they do! He really is a joy to have around!
We'll be back in touch after our trips. Hopefully we'll have lots of positive things to tell when we return! Adios :)
Monday, October 15, 2007
In Loving Memory of our sweet Samson
September 8th, 1997 - October 12th, 2007
After Samson's fairly short battle with cancer we decided that he had gone through enough pain and suffering and it was time to send him to the big horse pasture in the sky. (we joke that Samson's doggie heaven is a big horse pasture because when Samson would run away from home, he would often frequent the horse pasture about a mile away. I think he thought he should be more of a farm dog or something?)
I think I shared the above picture shortly after we got Kemper, of Samson sleeping with his arm around Kemper. And the picture below was taken 2 nights before Samson died. I thought it was so sweet. It was like Kemper knew he was so sick and miserable and needed extra loves :) It was so sweet!
Samson will be truly missed. Hudson spent every night praying that he wouldn't have cancer anymore. on Friday after he died, Hudson said "I pray that Samson would be okay in doggie heaven and that he wouldn't have cancer anymore." Through the tears I said "He doesn't have cancer anymore!"
As sad as it is to not have him around, It is good to not see him struggling and to no longer see his body wasting away by the day!
We will miss our great dog who loved to swim, go for rides, go for walks (with or without us) and we will try our best never to compare Kemper to Samson because although Kemper is a great puppy, He'll have a hard time living up to Samson!
After Samson's fairly short battle with cancer we decided that he had gone through enough pain and suffering and it was time to send him to the big horse pasture in the sky. (we joke that Samson's doggie heaven is a big horse pasture because when Samson would run away from home, he would often frequent the horse pasture about a mile away. I think he thought he should be more of a farm dog or something?)
I think I shared the above picture shortly after we got Kemper, of Samson sleeping with his arm around Kemper. And the picture below was taken 2 nights before Samson died. I thought it was so sweet. It was like Kemper knew he was so sick and miserable and needed extra loves :) It was so sweet!
Samson will be truly missed. Hudson spent every night praying that he wouldn't have cancer anymore. on Friday after he died, Hudson said "I pray that Samson would be okay in doggie heaven and that he wouldn't have cancer anymore." Through the tears I said "He doesn't have cancer anymore!"
As sad as it is to not have him around, It is good to not see him struggling and to no longer see his body wasting away by the day!
We will miss our great dog who loved to swim, go for rides, go for walks (with or without us) and we will try our best never to compare Kemper to Samson because although Kemper is a great puppy, He'll have a hard time living up to Samson!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Timmmmbbbbbberrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
So here is the culprit (sorry for the sideways picture, I can't get it going the right way!!!) This is the very large, very dangerous tree that we needed to cut down to be able to survive another winter of potential windstorms without losing any sleep :)
now, I have no idea if this picture does it any justice. We found out that this tree was over 140 feet tall and at the base it was over 8 feet in diameter! Which means that it was over 25 feet around! (since I happen to know Pi!)
However, in order to cut down this tree they had to get rid of all the smaller trees below it. We thought the trees around it were puny, as it turns out...they weren't as tiny as we thought.
this picture is one of the stumps of the smaller trees... the chain saw laying on it is quite large, as you can see in the following picture, comparing it to Matt's foot! This tree was 113' and as they cut it down/knocked it over with the mammoth tractor...it came within 3 feet of the fence! and made a HUGE boom!!
To give you an idea of the size of the tree, here is the first 'tree guy' starting his climb. they had never seen a cottonwood this large and they didn't have a rope large enough to go around so they had to connect two! (they assured us that was just as safe!)
They had to cut off some of the branches on one side of the tree to ensure there was not too much weight on one side (the way they didn't want it to fall) So this photo is of Hudson sitting next to one of the 'limbs' from the tree!! Each limb was the size of a small tree! CRAZY!
look at these amazing pictures of the tree coming down! It was unbelievable to see in person! and right where the tree was cut, if you look closely you can see the two brave souls who were actually sawing the tree! after the tree fell Matt promptly yelled up to them "do you need me to grab you a roll of toilet paper?"
Here they are cutting the next 40 ft section off the tree.
Once we cut the tree down, you can see how rotten it was! The piece that Camden is sitting on was from 20 feet high! 20 feet above the ground it was rotten about 4' in diameter!
This photo is a piece of rotten tree from 60 feet above the ground! 60 feet of the tree totally rotten and you could never tell from the outside! that is why cottonwoods have the nickname "widow maker" Because they rot from the inside out and are also extremely heavy and unpredictable. Again, SO thankful to have it out of harms way! Phew!
Hudson got to help too! He didn't want to "really" drive the tractor, "not for real" but the tractor operator let him scoop a big scoop of dirt and Hudson was quite impressed with himself!
So here is the video clip. As we were sitting there waiting for it to happen Hudson said "mom, will you tell me when it falls?" I said, "oh you'll know!" and he said "but what if I don't? will you tell me?" I don't think he understood what exactly was going to happen!
so that is the end of our tree story. It ended without injury or damaging any houses, fences, etc. what a wild day!
now, I have no idea if this picture does it any justice. We found out that this tree was over 140 feet tall and at the base it was over 8 feet in diameter! Which means that it was over 25 feet around! (since I happen to know Pi!)
However, in order to cut down this tree they had to get rid of all the smaller trees below it. We thought the trees around it were puny, as it turns out...they weren't as tiny as we thought.
this picture is one of the stumps of the smaller trees... the chain saw laying on it is quite large, as you can see in the following picture, comparing it to Matt's foot! This tree was 113' and as they cut it down/knocked it over with the mammoth tractor...it came within 3 feet of the fence! and made a HUGE boom!!
To give you an idea of the size of the tree, here is the first 'tree guy' starting his climb. they had never seen a cottonwood this large and they didn't have a rope large enough to go around so they had to connect two! (they assured us that was just as safe!)
They had to cut off some of the branches on one side of the tree to ensure there was not too much weight on one side (the way they didn't want it to fall) So this photo is of Hudson sitting next to one of the 'limbs' from the tree!! Each limb was the size of a small tree! CRAZY!
look at these amazing pictures of the tree coming down! It was unbelievable to see in person! and right where the tree was cut, if you look closely you can see the two brave souls who were actually sawing the tree! after the tree fell Matt promptly yelled up to them "do you need me to grab you a roll of toilet paper?"
Here they are cutting the next 40 ft section off the tree.
Once we cut the tree down, you can see how rotten it was! The piece that Camden is sitting on was from 20 feet high! 20 feet above the ground it was rotten about 4' in diameter!
This photo is a piece of rotten tree from 60 feet above the ground! 60 feet of the tree totally rotten and you could never tell from the outside! that is why cottonwoods have the nickname "widow maker" Because they rot from the inside out and are also extremely heavy and unpredictable. Again, SO thankful to have it out of harms way! Phew!
Hudson got to help too! He didn't want to "really" drive the tractor, "not for real" but the tractor operator let him scoop a big scoop of dirt and Hudson was quite impressed with himself!
So here is the video clip. As we were sitting there waiting for it to happen Hudson said "mom, will you tell me when it falls?" I said, "oh you'll know!" and he said "but what if I don't? will you tell me?" I don't think he understood what exactly was going to happen!
so that is the end of our tree story. It ended without injury or damaging any houses, fences, etc. what a wild day!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
What else has been going on???
Well, since precisely 20 days ago when Kemper arrived, it seems like our live has been devoted to the constant supervision and chasing of this dog. the posts are filled with his pictures... hardly anything else!!!
So I thought I'd share a few other things going on...
1. We had my mom come visit for a week! It was a great visit! we celebrated Camden's birthday at Pagliacci Pizza (Camden's pick) and enjoyed lots of mom/Grandma time before Camden started school.
2. Camden is enjoying 1st grade. He was handed a packet of homework on Friday that is due this coming Friday and I said "okay, time for homework" to which he dutifully replied..."OOH YUCK! I don't like homework!" We sat down, finished a days worth, I said "so how was it?" and he said "well, it was actually pretty fun!" This week's new thing is Camden taking a shower by himself every morning before school. He loves it! He said it makes him feel "refreshed" :)
3. Hudson and I are trying to figure out what to do with our days without Camden! Half way through Camden's first day of school Hudson said "I give up!" I asked "What do you mean?" He said "I don't want to do another puzzle or read another book or do anything." I think he was flat out bored! (after spending months of playing with his brother and now it was just mom and that annoying puppy who interupts EVERYTHING!...
So now... we have library story time on Monday mornings, Tuesdays we go swimming together, Wednesdays he'll hopefully be in a "sports of all sorts" class for 7 weeks (if they get enough kids enrolled!!) and Thursdays he'll hang out with some of his church friends while I participate in a bible study. Fridays Matt is home so its sort of a unique day in itself.
4. On a downer note... for those who don't know... Samson has cancer :( we are so saddened by this but enjoying our time that we have with him. (When he's not running off to the nearby stables!) ...I think he's decided that if he's got cancer he's going to live it up...and by that I think he means... "I'm not going to let that invisible fence shock keep me around!" We've started feeding him people scraps here and there... and when we see his day coming, we're having steak for dinner... and he's getting his very own!! :)
5. Okay, I'll mention the puppy now. I hesitate to say that Kemper is actually learning how the rules go... But, at times I think he does sort of get it. The other day I got up and said "Kemper, do you need to go outside?" to which Matt replied..."oh...he'll let you know. he'll sit by the door and ring the bell" (we have a hanging bell to alert us that he is patiently waiting). I laughed and said "He may have you fooled, but I don't buy it! not for a second!" Later I saw it happen with my own eyes! He really did do it! However, we've had several regressions since that fine day. He does sit on command which is pretty darn cute, but in the yard, if there is something in his mouth that he is not supposed to have (which he very well knows) He tries to escape me. If someone had a video camera I'm sure they could win $10,000 just watching me try to catch this dog! And... of course I have to win because if I let him win... oh boy, I don't want to think of it. and so the puppy days continue...
Lastly...you know in the movies when you see a boy and his puppy..and they're like best buddies? Well, if you could see the pure joy on Camden's face when he plays with Kemper...it is truly priceless! He loves Kemper with all of his heart. He loves that after all these years he has a doggie who will play chase with him! It's so sweet!
WHAT HAPPENED? The blog seems to have only posted puppy pictures! OH NO!?? Hmmmmm... maybe next time we can find some pictures to go with the text :)
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Life with a puppy and other events...
well, first of all...
Camden turned 7!! Hard to believe it, but we have a 7 year old boy!
and 2 days later... he started first grade!! He was very excited! had a great first day of school with only one mishap! He forgot to give his teacher a note that said that I would be picking him up from school daily. So the teacher made him get on the bus, which he was very upset about. But never fear, mommy was at home waiting for him to get off the bus. :)
okay, now...life with a puppy...
WHO KNEW HOW HARD THIS WOULD BE???
Nobody seems to talk about the fact that raising a puppy involves the same night time schedule as a newborn and the same daytime routine as having a crawling 6 month old baby with no diapers on???
Our house is INSANE!
We literally can't take our eyes off of him for more than a minute or he'll most likely have pee'd or poo'ed somewhere in the house. and of course if he hasn't done that then he MUST be chewing on something! Holy Cow!
honestly, i think he's starting to get a little bit better, but it's still a lot of work! he's 9 weeks old today and of course he's adorable..which is why puppies survive! if they weren't this cute... WHO WOULD EVER WANT ONE???
So all of that to say... WE LOVE HIM! ...despite his using the house as one big toilet, despite chewing my favorite flip flops, despite getting us up 2-3 times a night, despite the fact that Matt has had to clean out Kemper's kennel 2x which was too disgusting to write about... despite ALL OF THAT... we do love him. he is adorable and he's learned that laps are a pretty good thing, and he LOVES to eat! he has LOTS of personality and is a bundle of joy and energy!
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