Trip to Seattle: Part 2: Weekend with Tim & Jan

We spent Friday night, Saturday, & Sunday with Matt's aunt & uncle. This was the first time I had met them. They were such fun to spend time with -- incredibly hospitable and generous. They took us into the city for the day on Saturday, where we also met up with one of their daughters, Matt's cousin. We saw some sights, drank a good amount of coffee, and ate lots! Here's some highlights:

saw the first ever starbucks visited the famous pike place market

the fresh flowers there were gorgeous...

and plentiful! watched these guys throw some fish around -- another thing pike place market is famous for a view from the street just outside the market

tim, jan, & claire the famous "gum wall"... yeah it's disgusting, but still kind of cool

On Sunday, we took the horses out for a little riding and then relaxed around the house for the rest of the day.

Trip to Seattle: Part 1: Mount Rainier National Park

(We are 3 ½ days into our trip and have already taken.. ahem.. about 400 pictures. While many of them will probably get deleted, I can’t possibly share all that I would like to here on this blog. Just a few for now that go best with the story, with more favorites to come later.)

ARRIVING :: We arrived Tuesday safe & sound in Seattle after a 4 hour morning flight from Chicago. I realized that this was my/our first ever domestic destination flight (not counting connecting flights for international trips). It was strangely easy to pack for (1) just Matt & I with no kids, and (2) going for just one week in our own country!

Matt’s uncle met us at our rental car location and took us out for lunch overlooking the Puget Sound at a little fish & chips joint. He then led us to their home outside the main city. He is a builder/craftsman and built the entire thing himself, including much of the interior woodworking. It is beautiful. They also have a bit of property with a couple of horses, a pond, and gardens. See that umbrella on the deck there? Under there is where I am sitting presently typing this post.

CAMPING :: We are vegging this afternoon after arriving back from our camping adventure in Mount Rainier National Park. We headed out there Wednesday morning and camped for two nights at White River Campground. Matt’s aunt & uncle had all the gear we needed so we didn’t have to haul it all from MI.

entrance to the park our campsite

The first day we set up camp and then drove up to Sunrise Point. I have no pictures of the drive because I was literally scared stiff as we drove right on the edge of a serious cliff with no guard rail. A park ranger said to us with no humor in her voice, “I don’t think they’ve ever lost anyone off the edge.” Thankfully, we did not make history and I did not lose my lunch. The views, however, were breathtaking. There is just no way to capture the entirety of what you are seeing with a camera.

Mt Rainier in the background

We were hoping to see loads of wildflowers, but because of the amount of snow the park got this past winter (and spring, and even into June) -- about 75 feet total! -- they were only just beginning and were not yet in their prime like they usually are this time of year. There were some, though. The temperature our first day up there only topped out in the upper-50’s, so we soon headed back down to camp, took a walk down to the White River, had dinner, built a fire, and did some reading.

HIKING - IGNORANCE IS BLISS :: The next day we were up at the crack of dawn and Matt wanted to get an early start on hiking the Glacier Basin trail, whose trailhead was just feet from our campsite. I figured it would be a nice little walk and it would take us a couple of hours. First, I failed to recognize that we would be going uphill most of the way. Also, we neglected to see (until the end) this little yellow sign posted under the main trail sign:

After a short walk on an easy trail, we started having to wind up and around and through piles of rock and rubble with streams running through here and there. We were like, wow, this is an interesting trail. After a while we stopped to talk to a fellow hiker who said there had been a flood in 2006 that washed away over a mile of the original trail. Turns out what Matt had read to be a “moderate” level hike in one brochure was (more accurately) categorized as a “strenuous” trail in another. I was sure glad I had on my best “strenuous” hiking apparel. (ha, ha) :)

The last half mile or so of the trail was pretty seriously uphill and I was exhausted. We were also hitting patches of snow at this point. Good thing the views from Glacier Basin made it all worthwhile. I would have needed a 360 degree camera lens to take it all in. We had hiked 3.1 miles and gained 1700 feet in elevation. We were so proud of ourselves! At Glacier Basin there was a wilderness camp (where the serious backpackers camp) complete with tall metal poles to hang your stuff on so the bears can’t get to it. There were also guys gearing up to hike a bit farther up with downhill skis strapped to their backs.

a couple different views from Glacier Basin

We would have stayed up there longer, but the mosquitoes were biting with a vengeance, so we headed back down. It was much easier on the downhill, I must say! All in all we were gone for about 7 hours -- 5 ½ hours of which were hiking. I don’t think I have ever said “wow” so many times in one day… the last of which was probably, “Wow, am I going to be sore tomorrow!”

And yes, we even saw a bear! God knew that Matt really wanted to see one, and that I needed to be IN our car on our way OUT of the campground when he crossed our path! :)

favorite pics from today

harry returns

amidst all the other things i have to get under wrap this week before leaving on our trip, there is one "to do" that i have on my list this week that you may find silly. i have been working on harry potter #5 since january and i am now determined to finish it before we leave. this book fizzled for me about half way through, mostly because i was so intimidated by its length that i lost motivation. i could have easily checked the audio book out of the library to finish it up, but i was too stubborn -- i wanted to make myself READ it. i have recently picked it back up and last night broke the 700 page mark. as of right now i have just over 100 pages to go.

matt and i hit barnes & noble the other night and each bought ourselves a new book for the trip, as well as harry potter #6. so, there's some extra motivation for me. besides, i can't stop now -- i need to find out how it all ends!! maybe i can finish the series by the end of the year??

my sweet husband, who finished #5 a few months ago now, has been waiting for me before starting #6. we finish a book and then watch the corresponding movie together. maybe we will have to watch #5 before we leave!

ps--never thought i would read these. initially, i jumped on the bandwagon that said these books were evil. they're really not if you ask me. it's fictional fantasy, which i'm finding that i really enjoy. i have never been much of a fiction reader in the past, but these books have opened up that world to me and i am so hooked now!

am i in denial??

so, i went clothes shopping for myself, by myself today -- a wonderful and rare treat. i was feeling pretty good after finding success at Forever 21 and the Gap when i walked into Aeropostale. that's when my shopping experience took a turn for the worse.

"can i help you find something?" asked the saleswoman.

"yeah, do you have any skirts, like cargo style?"

and then, the first blow.

"is this for you or your daughter?"

ouch. do i really look old enough to have a daughter who would shop at Aeropostale?

she said i might try Penneys.

now, i still like to shop in the juniors section. granted, sometimes i pick up what i think is a cute skirt only to discover it is actually a shirt, and i can't really buy jeans there if i want to be able to bend over with any sense of decency, but for the most part i like the style of clothes better. perhaps i am living in denial of my actual age. the encounter i was about to have with a second saleswoman seemed to suggest this.

"hi," i said, "where would i find a khaki or cargo style skirt, not too short...?" (by this i meant one that would actually cover most of my thighs.)

"for you?" i should have known right then that this was not going to be good. "follow me."

yes, for me! ok, i may not have showered this morning, but come on, people!

she took off briskly toward the opposite end of the store and i reluctantly followed. the reality of what was happening was beginning to sink in, and soon i was standing in the middle of the "womens" section. please take no offense if this is where you shop, the clothes are certainly very nice, it's just not really my thing. i faked a smile with a "thanks" as she left and just stood in one spot for a minute, kind of in shock. i looked around half-heartedly, then headed to the fitting room with the pairs of juniors shorts i was holding to try them on, bought one pair, and left.

these scenarios bring to mind a time earlier this year when matt asked me to pick up some adult beverages at Trader Joe's while we were visiting his family. good thing i had amanda with me for moral support, because when i went to check out, realizing i did not have my ID on me, i made some comment about my age and the guy was like, "um... yeah, i can tell." my internal response went something like, "watch it, buddy, you're not looking too hot yourself."

the first ten years

With all of the focus on our upcoming trip to Seattle to commemorate our 10th anniversary, I almost forgot that the actual day is tomorrow! Wow. It seems like forever and not long at all at the same time. It seems like we have done so much and yet not much at all at the same time. I guess the strangest part for me to ponder is how different our life is right now from how I might have predicted it to be. Since before Matt and I were married we knew that we both shared a heart for missions and desired to pursue that calling together. We did have several opportunities to travel/live overseas, yet it totally did not work out how we thought it would. And now we find ourselves living this very normal, fairly mundane life in little ol’ Zeeland. While on one hand we have grieved the loss of a dream, on the other hand our idea of what “missions” really means has changed immensely.

I used to think the ultimate “living by faith” must mean to leave everything and go and do ministry for God in a foreign land. Now, I very much feel the need to trust God and rely on his grace to get me through each day... (lately, going through a particularly challenging season with the kids, it is quite literally an hourly plea, or even more often than that.) Many of my ideals and ambitions are having to die a slow and painful death. My place of ministry is small and not at all glamorous. Right now, living by faith for me means embracing this even when it feels like crap, allowing mySELF to be humbled and broken on a daily basis, and trusting that God can make something beautiful of it all. (The way I am feeling about things this week, believing this takes all the faith I can muster!)

Matt and I will often comment to each other that it often feels like we are going backwards instead of forward in our walks with God. I guess it depends how you are measuring it. Life is way harder than I thought it would be and it certainly seems that there are way more valleys than mountaintops. We have experienced God’s goodness in awesome and very personal ways, and we have also experienced months and years of wilderness and depression where He seems nowhere to be found. As I think back over our life together, there are so many joys and so many sorrows all mingled together. In hindsight, I can see God walking with us through all of it. Not that we are always good at acknowledging that at the time, but yes, he has been faithful and good.

While we are mostly just trying to manage our current demands of life & children, once in a while Matt and I will still wonder together what God has in store for our future. Ever since our harsh return from Australia, I have felt like I can only ever see like an arm’s length in front of us in terms of where God is leading. He’s had us in baby step mode for a while now. We wonder if life will ever take us overseas again, or if that was just a season. We’re still trying to figure out how God wants to use our lives for his glory... :) In the meantime, I guess we’ll just keep trying to take those little daily steps of obedience as best as we know how.

lazy days & busy play

i feel pretty lazy lately, but the kids seem to wake up in the morning with plenty of ideas of how to keep busy, usually involving lots of imagination and a whole lot of mess!

yesterday, miriam and levi became magicians on the swings, using their magic powers to make the sheets on the clothesline move and be still. (it had nothing to do with the breeze, of course.)

today, levi and sawyer decided to decorate their trucks for a parade...

...while miriam busily created her outdoor recipe for "green onion bread".

oh, and this was sawyer's outfit of choice today. actually, the underwear was my idea (why add extra clothes when they are just going to get peed in), the boots were his. not because it was raining, just because they are the only shoes he can put on by himself.

family weekend

we had a fun-filled holiday weekend with family visiting. our gang took in some mini-golf and go-karts, fireworks festivities, the beach, and of course a weekend with matt's fam is never complete without a guys' trip to the golf course and a girls' trip to the mall (or at least target)! we are all exhausted, i think, but so enjoyed being together for a few days.

brady, our almost one-year-old nephew

a new picture of kevin & amanda

critter camp & bunny love

miriam was SO excited to go to "critter camp" for three days this week, after which she graduated into being able to volunteer at the critter barn. she gave us a tour of the farm at the end of the last day and you would have thought she already owned the place. as we were driving out she asked, "mom, can i volunteer tomorrow??" i have a feeling we are going to be there a lot over these next years.

we all loved on some baby bunnies before heading home... this picture kills me with cuteness!

talking with a two year old

here is a conversation i had with sawyer this morning that is pretty typical lately.

S: look, mommy!

M: what do you see, sawyer?

S: a tane!

M: a what?

S: a tane!!

M: a train?

S: a TANE, mommy!!

M: a crane??

S: yeah, a tane.