MercyMe in concert!

Lil and Bruce generously offered to watch Thomas so John and I could run away to another concert tonight. John's cousin, Scott Brickell, who manages MercyMe, wasn't in town with the band to meet up with, but we were still eager to listen to the group we've been following for several years now. The crowd was amazing, and it was really incredible to sit back and listen to the beautiful voices flooding out of the grandstands. It was quite amazing, actually, to know that so many people were singing, praising God, in such a beautiful way. Interpretive dance girl distracted during I Can Only Imagine, but if you blocked your hand just right or leaned a certain way, you could try to block her out of sight line. Bummer for John as that was the only song he was really interested in, but I was able to hide against his shoulder and block her out. What can you do when the Spirit moves someone, huh? Not a whole lot. Just got to hope God was smiling on her flowy body!

Family Visits

After several attempts to make it over, the family was finally able to come on over and hang out in the good weather. We didn't do much but have a blast out in the water. Drew wins the award for fish-of-the-weekend, as I think he spent about 90% of his time in the water, playing with Lily and the boys, or hanging out with Thomas. While here, Mark and Robin had a family of friends over, and the Lawrences came down to play as well. It was wonderful to hang out and cuddle with Grace and Jake and Thomas played well together, despite some meltdowns from a super sensitive Thomas who fell apart when Jake asserted his dominance with a loud roar! What that boy lacks in size he makes up for in volume and gusto! I'm so thankful that they were able to come over and hope that they enjoyed their time playing and hanging out with us.

Lynden Fair 2006 Thomas 2 Years Old Part 1

Today we decided to go up at the last minute, based on the weather and Thomas' sunny disposition. I had the bright idea to catch the "1st Annual Opening Parade" and what a STUPID idea that turned out to be. Now, before I totally trash myself, I have to point out that I was not the brilliant board that decided to shut down at least three key gates into the fair on the same day that they were trying out a new (and extremely slow) computer system, on the SAME day that they advertised for a fabulous grand opening parade!!!!! Thomas and I gave up waiting for the parade to start after waiting on a street corner for 20 minutes, and we headed for the main entrance, having found that the side entrance was blocked off. While we waited in the front entrance line that wrapped around the block, we were fortunate to catch the "amazing" parade...complete with approximately 6 wagon teams of Clydesdales and a handful of ponies! You've GOT to be kidding me? We waited in 80 degree temps for THAT??!!! In total, we waited 1 hour and 7 minutes to get through the gates, and by that time it was time for Thomas to take a nap. I pushed him through, bought a wristband for rides, and hurried him along to get in line yet again. Within minutes, ride by ride, the power went out at the kiddie section. Before I unloaded and embarrassed myself infront of my son, I pretended that waiting in lines was our outing for the day and we hustled out of the crowds, who were all milling around like cows waiting for their feed (aka-the power to go back and the rides to start up again). By the time we made it back to the car someone was exhausted, drenched in sweat, cranky, hungry and thoroughly annoyed, and it wasn't Thomas. Thomas just went along for the ride, content just to be my buddy for the morning.

Lynden Fair 2006 Thomas 2 Years Old Part 2

This evening, after John got home from work, we all headed back up to the fair to play some more and hopefully have better luck than the morning excursion. It was definitely a lot more fun, with time for rides, tractors, ice cream sandwiches and kettle corn. We didn't get tickets for the demolition derby, but Thomas was able to watch perched high on Grandpa's shoulders. Lots of oohs and aahhs as he watched all the action. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the evening together.

Trip to White Rock, B.C.

Today I wanted to head up to Pemberton, up near Whistler, to get away for a while, but the hotel I wanted to try out was booked up tight. Instead, while John headed down to a preseason game with his dad, Thomas and I headed up to White Rock to check out the beach. It was a beautiful evening for playing in the water, and I think Thomas enjoyed the warm waters to play in. I would have liked to try out one of the fish n' chips shacks that dot the boardwalk, but Thomas was eager to get back home. He's not used to having to dry with salt water on his skin instead of his usual hot water bath. The border trips were great and it was super easy to get up there. Hopefully we can take the family back up and enjoy the water together. Up there Thomas had O'donals and back down we had KFC and gelato. That was how "on vacation" I wanted to be.

Tommy tubbin'

John was playing with the camera tonight while I was out getting Thai takeout. It is amazing how the days continue to fly by and my baby turns into such a little man. This kid hasn't taken but a handful of baths in the inside tub this summer, and come winter, I wonder what we'll do about the outside tub time.

Sleepy time

Friends at Play

Daddy and Tommy tubing for the 1st time

John was able to take the kids out together again for his first time tubing with Thomas. Lauren doesn't look like she's having fun, but she actually was, and seemed to have a great time out there.

Mamas lovin' on their babies

Ist Tubing on Lake Whatcom, July 22nd am

Before I succumbed to the attack of the Killer Avacado, I was able to enjoy the morning with all the friends and cousins who traveled into town to play with us and try to beat the heat. Jodi was brave enough to take Lauren and Thomas out on their very 1st tube ride on Lake Whatcom with John driving. I believe Madeline tried it out last summer, but I can't be positive. They loved it, and Jodi reported back that Tommy was hollering, "Daddy, asser, asser daddy!" (translated "faster daddy!") as loud as he could. What a brave bunch we have with these little ones!

You can see Lance is having to drag Madeline out to give the older boys a turn, Lauren is having none of it and Thomas is backing away trying to find an opportunity to bail out. They were none to happy to give up their ride and share!

Friends Playing at Lake Whatcom

The biggest and best plans for summer are the ones unplanned. This is where people just call and then show up on the property to swim, tube, BBQ and play with the kids. These days it is very easy to hang out, as the kids are all at an age where they're easy to manage and keep track of, and they all take care of each and play really well together.

Men Supervising Children

New Happenings

Things have been going crazy lately, and I've yet to actually come to terms with the fact that it's NOT June anymore. I'm finally off the Tylenol drip (I'm being sarcastic) that I've been hooked to for about two weeks now, and I was beginning to worry that Tommy's mommy was going to become dependent on mass doses of painkillers again. The headaches were back, the asthma was back and the pain was constant, which made me no fun to be around. But, gone is everything but the asthma, and after numerous test that all came back good, it looks like we'll just have to play this asthma round out and see where it goes.

Thomas has been taking it like a champ, though, but he has no sympathy and continues he wear us all out. He's big into pretending now, and throughout the day we're playing cars in the garage, on the car table or out on the beach. Sometimes he'll throw trains into the mix, but most of the time he's picking out cars for us to be and then we have to follow his lead. "Mommy, play carssssssss!" he'll call, "Grandpa, play carsssssss!" and so on all day long. When outside we race around the landscape playing monster trucks, and he's big into picking the pea pods off, picking apples and rolling down the big mountain of dirt up in the orchard. He's singing songs with grandma and counting a lot, but loses track and counts all over the place. He loves to dive in the water with John, but has finally figured out that Lake Whatcom is COLD, so the majority of his time is spent in hot bath, where he loves to play waterfall and pour water from different containers. He's big into hiking with me and likes to go up to Arroyo Park and hike to the waterfall. Of course, it's always a big game as to how far back down the trail he'll make it before clinging to my leg, saying, "Mommy, hold you, Mommy, hold you." Then it's up to me to get us down and back out of the canyon to the car. Good for my workout, that's for sure. I'm so thankful he loves to be outside hiking and playing. It's great to know that the weather should hold for a while longer, but I'm worried about how he'll handle the winter when we're shut in again. I try to remind myself not to worry about things I can't change, but he sure is enjoying living his life outside.

Mom and Dad arrive post-surgery

Mom and dad showed up today to help out with anything that might need helping out post-surgery. I was bummed that I'd be out of commission during their stay, but thankful that they would shoulder some of the responsibility for caring for Thomas. I wasn't much company to them while they were here, but it was good to have them here to play with Thomas, especially since he seems to be coming down with some nasty cold again. I'm sad that they can't see the normal Thomas in action, and instead get a cranky Thomas, but it's good anyway to have them hanging out with him and entertaining. We didn't do much as I was supposed to sit on the couch and recuperate, but we did sneak out and go down to Fairhaven to look around and eat lunch together. Although not in pain, whatever they gave me knocked my legs out from under me, and I was like a zombie for 3 days. Maybe it was the meds, maybe the lack of food, maybe the nauseating taste of blood in my mouth, maybe the fact that Thomas was up sick in the night, but I wasn't much of anything while they were here. I know Dad was worried that something was wrong, but other than exhaustion, everything was good. Hopefully the next time they're here I'll be just as spunky as ever. Nothing like pulling 4 teeth to ruin the party!

Wisdom Teeth Extraction

Today was the day I've been putting off forever. Forever being since the day I saw my best friend's face all blown up from her own ordeal way back in high school. You hear all the horror stories, some from back in the day, some recent, and then I had Stephen's hospital/surgery scare from last summer playing around in my mind, as well as the most recent story of a distant relative having a stroke in the dentist's office. Combine those with the fact that my husband had his pulled without anything but the standard dentist needle because his doctor dad told him that there is a risk of dying anytime you go under. Oh, gee, that's comforting! Needless to say, I was less than thrilled about the prospect of going in and possibly....oh, well, say DYING!!! Don't think I didn't rehearse what I would tell John before I left him in the waiting room. Something along the lines of "Tell Thomas he is the biggest joy of my life, my everything, don't keep me alive on machines, get on with your life, tell our baby how much I love him and always will" kind of stuff. Unfortunately, all I got out was a quick kiss and I was out of there, hurried along to face whatever condition the surgeon and nurses were in after a night of 4th partying.

Talk about a non-event! I didn't even get to do a countdown like you see in the movies. Spray my hand with super, super cold stuff, tell me my legs might itch, I lean my head back and the next thing I realize is one eye is open and I'm peaking out from under a blanket in some strange room. I shut that one eye again, hoping the next time I'd open it I might remember where I'm at. No worries, though. Someone tells me they're going for my husband. Two eyes open up then. And everything is foggy from that point on.

I cooked some dinner for Thomas that night after sleeping until midday. I didn't need any good narcotics from that point on either, but was suspicious that things were going too well and I'd face some calamity later. My face wasn't swollen and nothing seemed much out of the ordinary, other than a nasty taste of blood a now constant. Without that, things would have been great. Hmmmm...I'm wondering when the "horror" story begins!

4th of July 2006/Lake Whatcom Boat Parade

Today our friends that now live in Paraguay, on their way to Chile, stopped over for a visit with their little boy Ethan. It was a great time seeing them again after so long apart. Carey blogs pictures and stories, so I still feel connected to them, but it was our first time meeting little Ethan and what a great little boy he is! They are so blessed with a beautiful, happy world traveler, and I so wish we still lived in the same town where our boys would grow up together. Unfortunately, while Thomas is learning to sail and wakeboard, Ethan will be traveling to exotic locales and speaking Spanish like a pro.

We participated in our 1st annual Lake Whatcom Boat Parade, after John and Bruce spent a great deal of time decorating the boat all up with red, white and blue flags and streamers. It was a lot of fun to be a part of the parade and Thomas and Matthew got a big kick out of the pirate-themed boats that were squawking back and forth with blow horns. Thomas was able to stay up well into the night as the fireworks began to go off, and we enjoyed a night-night boat ride out into the choppy waters of the lake for a great fireworks show all around us. By the time we arrived back at the dock, Thomas was ready for bed and we called it a night soon afterwards. We were all anticipating an early morning wake up call for my wisdom tooth surgery scheduled for o'dark in the morning.

"Mommy, s'that noise?" "Super, super, super crackery!" "Oohhhh, super, super loud." "Amazing!" "Grandma, play cars!" while all around flashes of lights and booms. He wasn't that interested.

4th of July 2006 Friends visiting

Troy came up to visit Jared and Carey while they are in town, and it was good to chat with him while he was here. Having raced bikes, it was interesting to hear his take on doping in pro cycling with the recent departure of Ullrich and Basso. He brought his little dogs, and it doesn't matter big or small, Thomas still runs in fear from them all. (Side note- Jared raced mountain bikes with the new Tour de France big dog Floyd Landis. Small world we live in, huh!)

Summer Days!

Today we spent time playing cars while waiting for dad to get home from his long run. Afterwards we headed out to play at the park, then out to run errands before coming in for a nap. John is trying to gather up 4th of July flags and banners to decorate the boat for our 1st entry into the Lake Whatcom boat parade. After Thomas woke up from his nap, we headed outside to bask in the hot sun, lounging around while Thomas mowed the grass and played in the hot water bucket. It is so amazing just to sit around and watch him play, and I'm thrilled that these days are so much more relaxed and I can actually sit down and enjoy the sun without chasing him all over the place. He is still constantly in motion, but is more focused on an activity and I can sit and enjoy the time with him without being all wild. Tonight we went for a boat ride together, just enjoying the sunshine and the heat. Thomas sit in the back with his hair blowing in the wind, and is quite content just to look around. The other night we went for our first wakeboarding ride and he watched us both. It won't be long before he's out there with us and may prove to be a quick study on the skis, as he was already riding the kid skis on the lawn and in the water by the beach when we got back.

Fairhaven Fountain Park