Surprise Visit with Von

I got home from work last Friday afternoon, and had an email from Von that they were on their way over to Olympia/Lacey from their home in Eastern Washington for a cross country meet! I was so excited! We haven't seen each other since we attended the Victoria Sampler retreat in April, so it was wonderful to spend all day Saturday with them at the beautiful Capitol Lake Park. In between cheering and clapping for all the runners, we had a great time catching up with Von, hubby Gary and two of their kids, Kevin and Kyle, who did very well in the freshman boys race.

This is a picture of one of the girls races. They ran all the way around Capitol Lake, about 2.2 miles or so. Amy and granddaughters also joined us...it was a gorgeous day and we all ended up a little sunburned!!! After a late lunch/early dinner at Taco Bell, we exchanged hugs and kisses and said goodbye. What a treat it was to see Von again. There is just something about long-time friends that warms the soul!! Especially when we share a passion for stitching!!!

Life has been very busy this month, with school starting, and new routines to have to get used to. I passed my Insurance Test last week, Hooray! That's two parts down and one to go, but I'm not going to tackle that until next year.

My parents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary next week!!!! Wow! I have been helping Mom with invitations and getting ready for a big party on Sunday the 28th. It should be a fun afternoon! Congratulations Mom and Dad!!!

Daughter Alli had a high-resolution ultrasound this morning to check on the baby. She was also scheduled for an amniocentesis, but they ultimately decided against it. Her blood tests last month that check for Downs Syndrome were all very, very normal, and the regular ultrasound they had done found no indications in head and brain size for anything but a normal baby, but they found a small spot of calcification in the baby's heart, which can be a marker for DS. The high resolution ultrasound found NO other markers, (Back of the neck, brain, fingers, etc), so the risk of the amnio was greater than the risk of finding Downs. We are all a little relieved that no other markers were found, and so are trusting for a healthy baby....little dickens wouldn't open it's legs, so we are still going with the "probably a boy" from the last ultrasound!

A break from our labors....on Labor Day!

John and I had the opportunity to spend the long Labor Day weekend at my parent's cabin in northern Washington State, very close to the Canadian border and about half way between Bellingham and Mount Baker. It had been about 4 years since we had been able to stay at the cabin, due to the river flooding and doing some damage to the cabin. My parents had emptied out all the furnishings during the flood, and it has just this summer had the damages repaired and the furnishings moved back in. It was so wonderful to be able to enjoy this peaceful retreat again!


On our trip up last Saturday (about a three hour drive from our home in Lacey), we did a little remembrance sight seeing in Bellingham, the town I grew up in.

We drove by my old high school (dare I say it? Class of '72!!!)

and the house I grew up in. ( I wish I could go inside again!)

It is always amazing to me to see how the trees my father planted and tended have become huge. Monstrous really. To think these tall trees used to be our Christmas trees when I was a child!!! The tree that bears five kinds of apples (due to my father's patient grafting) is still producing fruit. Wow. I wonder if my kids will ever drive by our house 35 years from now and remember the trees we planted?


Oh, and Dad...the ponderosa pine that you and I planted at the cabin when I was in junior high survived the flood just fine...the bottom branches are bare, but the top is healthy and full. And very, very tall!!! I'm very, very glad it is still there. Hopefully it will still be there in another 40 years! Kind of a cool family heirloom, don't ya think?