This One is for July

Looking at our blog, it would appear that we've been hiding in a hole since our anniversary, but that's not true at all! July was an awesome month full of events and lots of fun times. I'll try to catch you up...

First, we celebrated the 4th of July by spreading the word about our church. We set up a booth at DuPont's July 4th event and passed out free balloons and bottles of water to as many people as we could. I guess you could say that this was Life Church going public...really just letting people know that we're here! We had a blast!


Here's Derek trying to untangle some balloon string =)


Balloons just waiting to be given away.


Our friend and fellow Life Churcher, Little Deb, giving this sweet girl pony ride.


Fabulous volunteers just keeping the balloons coming!

You can check out our website at http://www.lifechurchdupont.com

Next on our list of fun times in July was taking a trip home to see our families! My Daddy celebrated his 50th birthday on July 8th and we surprised him by flying in for his birthday party without him having a clue we were coming! He was indeed surprised and we were happy we were there to help celebrate. We were home for almost a week before flying back to Washington. It was so nice to see our family and friends, even though we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to see during our short stay. And for whatever reason, we didn't have the camera around very often, but I did manage to get a few pictures of some of our favorite people =)


Me with my aunt "G" and her boys
(who I also consider to be my boys) Jared and Zack


Me and My Moma

Another surprise we got to deliver while at home was a plane ticket for my Mom to come stay with us in Washington for a week. Some amazing ladies in my mom's life all got together and decided she needed a last minute vacation so they arranged for her to have just that! Thanks amazing ladies! You gave my mom and me some very treasured time together! So wrapping up July is my mom's trip back to Washington. Here are a couple of the things we got to do together.


We took Mom to her first major league baseball game
Mariners vs. Indians (the tribe was the victor)


We arrived early and got to enjoy some batting practice


Derek and I haven't been to a Mariners game since 2002
on our Seattle/Spokane mission trip.


We had a great time! Mom loves baseball and it was
great to share this experience with her.

Then on Sunday, Derek was gone to camp, so Mom and I took a trip down to Pike Place Market. Mom had heard from a certain passenger on the plane about a fish throwing place, so I just had to take her down there to see it. Actually, this was my first time to the market, too. Somehow in the last nine months, it just never made my list. We had so much fun just taking in the market experience.


We're at the market!


The "fish throwing place"
Enjoy a fish throwing video...



Very fresh seafood


Beautiful flowers...you can have your own bouquet for only $5!


Doesn't that fruit look yummy?


Where Starbucks began..the very first one!


It was a great afternoon to follow a great week! It is always sad to take her back to the airport. I'm just so thankful that God does give us opportunities to spend such amazing QUALITY time with our families. We are truly blessed!

Portland Anniversary Trip

What do you do when you want to celebrate a special occasion but don't have alot of time? Well, I don't know what you would do, but we took a trip down to Portland, Oregon! We went out of town last year for our first anniversary...all the way to Wickes, Arkansas...Bogg Springs Kids Camp! This year, we had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday free, so we decided to go down to Portland. To make it even more exciting, we decided to take the train to get there! We had a great time and just wanted to share a few pictures...


Portland here we come!


Derek getting on board the train.


Ready for our mini-vacation!


Our view of Portland from the hotel


We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at The Melting Pot...I think it's our new special occasion place. In Portland, the restaurant is underground, very neat!


Here we are right after our chocolate fondue course...yum!


Portland was wrapping up something they call "The Rose Festival" so we got lucky and happened upon a parade, how fun!


This is Portland's Waterfront District. There were lots of ships docked b/c of the Rose Festival.


Union Station in downtown Portland...we really enjoyed taking the train on this trip. Before this, my closest train experience was watching "The Polar Express." =)


It was a great trip...much needed...and we can't wait for the next one!

Our Second Anniversary!

Just a couple of days ago on June 9, Derek and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary! It is so strange to look at our wedding pictures and think "Wow! Those pictures are two years old!" It honestly feels like we just said "I do." I am so incredibly thankful that God brought the two of us together and has blessed us tremendously in more ways than we can imagine. I am so thankful to be married to an amazing God-Following man who I love more than I know how to say and who I know without a doubt loves me the same (even though he would say he loves me more!). I am so lucky to truly be married to my best friend!


Beautiful flowers waiting for me at home along with a couple of tickets to see Wicked in September!



Derek brought Olive Garden home for us since I had to work late...amazing =) This was much tastier than the Bogg Burrito we had for dinner on our first anniversary!



Happy Anniversary Love!

One of My Favorite Sights

Last Thursday Derek and I were in our living room and noticed that the sky outside (even at 8:30p.m.) was peach. We then decided that if it was peach from our view, it must be amazing closer to the sound, so we took a quick drive and here is what we found. As we got closer, we saw a sky of hot pink, purple, and bright orange, just beautiful! The pictures really don't describe how beautiful it was...this is one of the things I love the most about living in the Northwest!

Only a Surprise to Us

Most of you know that my Dad is currently battling renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer). In November of last year, he had a seizure at work because of a brain tumor. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor, and then had a kidney removed in December. Further tests showed several small tumors on his lung, for which he has been taking a chemo pill to treat. Just this week, Mom and Dad were in Houston at M.D. Anderson Hospital to see what progress has been made. Some of the lung tumors are no longer there and others are smaller. However, two new tumors have been discovered and must be treated. One tumor is on the brain again, and the other is in the pelvic area. In two weeks, my family will go back to Houston for Dad to have radiation treatment on the brain tumor, as well as a bone scan to learn more about the tumor in the pelvic area.

Since this started last November, so many of you have expressed your sympathy and love for our family through your prayers, phone calls, emails, facebook messages, and many other ways. My family and I are so appreciative of every single one of you, and now we are just asking you to continue to pray for Dad as his body is going through so much in trying to get rid of this cancer. He definitely needs strength both physically and mentally. Even though we were surprised by the new tumors, we know that nothing takes our amazing God by surprise, and we are comforted in knowing that He is ALWAYS in control. Please continue to lift my Dad and my family up in your prayers. Our hope is definitely in HIM!



Here is Dad with a couple of his "trophies" from turkey season this year.
I am so glad that he gets to hunt while going through this!