Summer is here! Sunshine, transitions and new beginnings.

Hello!!!!

I can’t believe it’s already June—-in fact as I write this, it is the first day of summer and I’m pumped!

Not only will this be our first summer living full time in beautiful central Oregon, but we have 3 more babies joining our family this summer. (Well I guess technically the last one isn’t here til the first part of October, so that will be fall, but we’re within 3 months of all of their arrival, which is crazy and super exciting!)

Since I moved down here, there have been trips back up to Washington pretty regularly, (as Mike is still there 8 more days), and we’ve had so many events and commitments over the last few months. So I decided that I would give you an update on what my last time in Tacoma included as well as some fun pics for you to enjoy with me!

The first day I got up there, we had a going away party to attend for my sweet niece who is moving with her hubby and kiddos to Tennessee. So, after a 5 1/2 hour drive up north, I got back in the car and drove another hour out to their place. I’m so glad I did it though! It was so fun to get to see their faces one last time… for now:). We will definitely be going to visit them while they’re in Nashville!

Here’s a pic of our Winnie with two of her cousins (the fiesty little red head on the left is Nicole’s 3rd boy Eli, and the one next to Winnie, (who isn’t quite sure what they’re both so exited about) is my other niece McKenzie’s little guy, Louie.

I thought Winnie would explode with her joy and excitement about hanging out with them.

So, Stinkin’. Cute!

The next night we went to the Luke Combs concert with Paige and Matt. They had given us tickets for Christmas (which seems like it was forever ago), and it was super fun! Of course in typical Seattle fashion, it absolutely dumped rain the entire time. Fortunately, our seats were just enough under the cover that we didn’t get wet til we had to walk to the car, but what a fun night out together! Experience gifts are fast becoming my favorite!

The next weekend was our 33rd wedding anniversary, so we celebrated at a place in downtown Tacoma that was highly recommended (by our foodie friend, Katy), called WoodenCity. The food was as great, as she said it would be, and the company was even better! It really is surreal to get to marker celebrations that remind you how long you’ve been together and how old you actually are. Haha It’s crazy how the essence of who we are doesn’t seem to age at all, even as our bodies are getting older and we’re feeling the effects of time.

But on to more fun things than aging…

I don’t know how many of you know that about 15 years ago our sweet friend Greg and his kiddos, Avery and Chloe, moved in with us. Their family was in crisis and we said, ‘what would you think of moving in with us and we can navigate it together?’ He said yes and we did that for the next 5 years. Greg is much like a brother to me and to Mike so Chloe and Avery are totally our niece and nephew——anyway, Chloe graduated high school and we got to go to her party with her new sister Lola, who was also graduating!  It’s crazy to see those you love grow up and become amazing young people and what a gift to have been able to do life so up-close with them for all those years.

Here we are with she and Lola and our dear friends Steve and Janet Potter.

And last but by no means least, on my last night up there we celebrated Mike’s retirement with our kiddos and Mike’s sweet mom and dad. Unfortunately sickness plagued David’s home so we didn’t get to be with him, but it was a really quiet, special dinner together, marking the end of a chapter for Mike and I loved every bit of it!

WHEW! That was a lot to do in an 11 day period. I’m tired just telling you about it. Haha  But in between all the parties and celebrations, I laid low with Matt, Paige and Winnie and helped them prepare for baby’s arrival and simply hung out. It was delightful and fun and a memory making time. We got to have casual dinners, we watched shows together and enjoyed more Crumbl cookies than I should have. We read books with Winnie-girl, told stories at bedtime and had tickle-fests. My heart was so happy to have this time with all of them.

She also got ahold of my phone and took no less than 150 pictures around the house. It was hilarious watching her go, and at the same time, so fun to see the things that she captured. It’s so fun to actually slow down and pay attention to what life looks like through the lense of a 2 year old.

And honestly, she did get a few really great shots!

I mean, not bad of her momma and daddy!

I know that was A LOT! Lots of events and lots of pics.

And at the same time, that’s just life, right?! Life is busy and full and has opportunities for us to enter in WITH people. To be like Jesus and sit together. To laugh and pray, share hopes and dreams and longings, as well as what’s hard and feels sad and even scary.

There were conversations and times that felt heavy, but all of it is real life.

And I love it.

I love my people so much and am so grateful that God has abundantly filled my life with relationships that matter. Not just on camera, but face to face, genuinely amazing friendships and family relationships.  People who are living their lives with honesty and humility and asking Jesus for more….together.

This life up north is all we’ve known for our whole lives. Each of our entire childhoods and our marriage has been lived in a radius of about 15 miles. And now, we’re starting something new almost 400 miles away and we’re filled with eagerness and hope, along with a tiny bit of fear.

But this I know for sure——we are not alone. Our God is a ‘with’ God and we can do all things, through Him who gives us strength!

Peace