Happy Spring!

These pictures were taken by Dan during our recent trip to Vancouver.

The fate of our van

Shortly after our accident, we took our van to the car hospital and begged them to do all they could to save her. They looked her over, and thought they could repair her good as new. But when they actually went in to do the surgery, they found much more damage than they had been able to see from an external examination. So they conferred with the insurance company, who decided to send her to the junk yard. It is too bad - she was still had a lot of life in her. At least we have the consolation of knowing that she will give donate many of her parts to make other cars whole again.

Knowing that we could never replace her, we bought a used Toyota Sienna instead.

The family all got together in Vancouver in mid-February, right before Celia and Keith had a break from school. It was a fun time, except, well, the traffic at the border upset Dan a little....










Then we had to unload a whole van load of stuff Celia and Keith wanted us to bring to them. Fortunately, Colin is very strong and made quick work of the task.


















While still unloading luggage, Joann managed to set a suitcase behind a door and when it fell over it hit the door which then hit her nose. Note the swollen nose in the picture.











But the rest of the trip was really great. We saw some really cool totem poles at the Museum of Anthropology.





















In celebration of Chinese New Year, we made dumplings ala Janelle. They were quite good.




Colin, Dan and Joann went to Chinatown to view the very colorful parade. We were at the end of the parade route, and the poor person at the back end of this dragon was pretty bent out of shape.



On the way up to Whistler, we had a little extra time for a cruise up the Sunshine coast.


Unfortunately, Celia, Keith and Colin were chased by a huge bear when they got out of the boat to look around. It was a very frightening experience for us all.



















This is what Keith was doing while the rest of us were skiing. We had two lovely days of skiing, and no one took pictures except for Celia, who hasn't sent them to us yet.

Happy Birthday, Colin!

Today Colin turns 23. Happy Birthday, Colin!!!

We have enjoyed watching Colin grow from a kid to a teenager to a young man. Now he has a job and his own apartment and does responsible things like eating vegetables. :-) He furnished his apartment mostly with free furniture because he doesn't want to accumulate and get tied down at this point in his life. He is taking a class on missions following his trip to China last summer, and hopes to host a college exchange student.

Colin, we're really pleased with the choices you are making and your openness to doing whatever God has for you to do. You're a great son.

Love, Mom and Dad

January - a smashing month

Yes, this is our van. On January 19th we were on our way up to Crystal Mountain with Evan and Elliot, our nephews, and we were hit from the side by a young driver who didn't see us coming. Fortunately, none of us had so much as a scratch or a sore muscle. We are so thankful for that. While we were all shook up, Evan immediately said, "So that's what it's like to be in an accident!".

As I think about the way the car shielded us from injury, it brings to mind Psalm Ps 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.


I spent a weekend at Cascades Camp with a group of junior high students from our church. Being somewhat of a kid myself still, I had a good time and enjoyed playing wacky games and watching the girls blow large soap bubbles with their hands in our room.

I am learning a new type of knitting! I knit a rather large version of something, in this case a slipper, and then throw it in the washing machine three or four times with hot water to shrink it. It's called felting. I've made a hat and a bag. So far the slippers are still too long, but I'll keep washing.















Dan and Colin spent time together making a bed frame for Colin's new mattress. It's an engineer type bed: strong and functional. It is made out of 2 x 4's and 2 x 6's.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is my dad's birthday. Let me tell you about my dad.

Here he is with the love of his life, Kay. They enjoyed dancing in their younger years and would get all dressed up to go to the Cove with a big group of friends.











He loves us kids, too, and we never lacked in his attention. Here we are at Deception pass. We went to lots of fun and interesting places together when we were growing up.





This is the house that Dad built in 1955. Mom helped a lot too, and I helped by not eating nails or falling down the stairs. Mom and Dad still live there.


Then he went on to building a boat... in our basement. He had to remove the wall to take it out. This is the "Salty C's".




















Then came the Salty C's II (below). We took our boats to the San Juans every summer with friends. I used to love boating.




Pictured below is the Lady Kay, a beautiful Grand Banks that my dad lovingly cared for and kept in perfect condition. Mom and Dad boated every summer until about two years ago when they sold the boat.


We all used to ski together and went to places like Sun Valley, Big Mountain, and White Pass.


Dad loves his grandkids, too. Here he is with Colin in Hawaii, trying to keep him safe by the water. Mom and Dad took the whole family to Hawaii five times over 15 years. These are memories all of us will cherish.




















Yes, they were an active bunch, but Mom and Dad were always ready (and still are) to be with the grandchildren. When they were little, nothing was more fun than spending the night at Grandmother and Grandad's.

The grandkids loved boating, too.























Mom and Dad have always loved to travel. They have a special love for Germany and Hawaii. They also love going on cruises. They are always ready for a new adventure, something new to see. We went to Victoria together last May.





















Yes, Dad loves being together with his family.

Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you!
Joann

Lots of white, but not on Christmas

We decorated our Christmas tree in the cold living room during the power outage. (Yes, the lights on the tree are on - we have a generator). Colin wasn't able to join us, so we found a picture of him and added him in.

Here is one of several frogs given to Dan for Christmas.
Seems that there is a never ending supply of frogs out there in retail land.












Dan and I got away after Christmas for a couple days of skiing at Crystal Mountain. Conditions were ideal: cold, clear with light, fresh snow. We were able to ski the whole mountain. Well, it was windy at the top part of the time, about 60 mph. The wind was blowing the snow around on top so that you could hardly see when disembarking from the chair. We pointed our skis straight over the edge of Green Valley and put our arms out, and the wind kept us at a nice slow speed.















Mt. Rainier, above, and Mt. Adams, below

The whole family finally gathered on January 1. Celia and Keith spent Christmas with Keith's family and Colin was in St. Louis for a week at the Urbana missions conference. We opened our presents on New Years day. The nice part about that was that I could shop the after Christmas sales! Colin got lots of things for his new apartment, such as a tablecloth and an afghan made by Celia with her new crocheting skills.



January 10th - Four or five inches of snow fell at our house in just a couple of hours. It isn't going anywhere anytime soon, with below freezing temperatures all day.