Great Wolf Lodge

We plotted and schemed and planned this secret family getaway for nearly three months. A hot find on Groupon and some flexible scheduling for the three adults made it possible...wanting to give our kids a memory to build on was the goal!

The big kids thought dad took the day off to do errands with the family (cuz that's normal!). The little guy didn't know what was going on. And Isaac nearly flew out of his clothes to see his Momma, Auntie, Uncle AND cousins waiting to pick him up early at school on Thursday!  

A family adventure to Great Wolf Lodge was about to commence! Cheers abounded!!  (Except when I told my 7 year old niece that I'd be more than happy to just drive by the water park and go to her dentist instead...)

 
This boy sure does love his cousins...and I love the way they love him too <3

Isaac did some SERIOUS swimming.  He wanted nothing to do with the kiddie splash pad, thank you very much. Swimming under water (like your big cousins) can only be accomplished if you are in the big pools---this is so very true. Even daring to float on his back in the wave pool DURING the waves!

Underwater camera fun!!

Isaac was finally big enough to ride on the BIG slide with the rest of us! I wish i could have recorded the absolute squeals of joy that came out of his face as we flushed down the giant tube---at the end of the ride he repeatedly signed "Fun! Again! Again! Fun!".  Three times he climbed up the steps and three times we went down the slide!

Getaway memories with some of your cousins...it's kinda the best. 

Snow Day!

We had a very unexpected snow day today. As in 10 inches of very unexpected snow! There was some slush flurries on the way to church yesterday and I thought "aww, that's nice". But then it didn't stop...for like 24 hours. It just kept coming!  My street got 10 inches. Our friends 5 miles east got 14. Our friend 5 miles west of us...zero inches. Pacific Northwest weather is so weird!

I dug out the 4T snowsuit Isaac never got to use last year and we played hard in the winter sun:

Isaac got a quick lesson on what happens when you take you glove off:

Somehow, I didn't have to teach him this...

Getting hit by the "Isaac, stop eating the snow!" snowball

We took advantage of a toboggan that Isaac got for his 2nd birthday that has literally been sitting in the corner of the garage for 4 years, and trudged over to some church friends that live near by:

Tiny little goof balls!

And of course, our first snowman...with pool noodle arms and water balloon maker hair!

A very appropriate hot chocolate to marshmallow ratio, if you ask me.

He seriously chugged his. CHUGGED.

Snow days are the BEST, especially when they are unexpected. Movies and crafts and homemade tomato soup with hot corn bread. Hmmmmm.  PERFECT.

Chinese New Year 2017

It's Chinese New Year at our house and across the globe!  For us that means good friends, Chinese food, chopsticks, portraits in traditional silks and thanking the Lord of the nations for His promises for us ALL. 

We joined with some local adoption friends for a trip into Seattle for the Lunar New Year parade and festivities. I jokingly told the boys "the first part of the parade will be us finding parking"...but then we arrived to empty streets and widely available parking. What the...?  Turns out the celebration was scheduled for tomorrow. Oops! Some window shopping and lunch with friends was a great alternative. 

And...for the record...because this needs to be documented somewhere...I ate my ENTIRE lunch WITH CHOPSTICKS, including rice, without hurting myself or anyone else!  

It's a Chinese New Year miracle!

Some pretty handsome China-boys!

Being silly waiting for lunch

Isaac wasn't too excited about taking pictures in his silks today (oh that pout!), but he warmed up quickly. I can't get enough of my boy with the double-almond eyes 💗🐼💗

My favorite part of the day was Isaac's CNY gift...his first real Bible, inscribed with Psalms 86:9: All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name! 

The Epiphany

Getting to share a bit over at Village21:

Today, January 6, many Christians around the world will celebrate the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. It is the traditional remembrance of when the Three Wisemen would arrive from afar with gifts to the newborn King. They sought Him. They found Him. They honored Him. 

We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts, we traverse far
Field and fountain
Moor and mountain
Following yonder star

But on this day, I find myself thinking again of the faith of Mary...and then of Joseph. You see, when the angel appeared to Mary her heart only knew ONE thing: “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” (Luke 1:38). But I suspect her brain knew the following: Joseph is required to dump me, my family will disown me, we'll have no where to life, I won't be able to work, how will I support my child, there is no way to make this work, what will we do!?  SHE SAID YES IN FAITH ANYWAY. 

Joseph, was the same. He knew not of the precious life & emotional burden that his sweetheart was already carrying. When the angel asked Joseph to be the Savior of the world's forever daddy his heart & actions responded in faith (Matthew 1:24)...but I can guarantee his earthly eyes saw the practical path of destruction in front of them: His career would be over. There would be no inheriting his own father's business. There would be no working in his hometown. They would have to start new--where? how? with what provisions? HE SAID YES IN FAITH ANYWAY. I can imagine his panic that cold winter night as he struggled to keep his wife and newborn adopted son warm in a dank, filthy barn in Bethlehem. 

There was no way for either Mary or Joseph to know as they started down their adoption road (history's first embryo adoption??) that IF they said yes...WHEN they said yes, God had prepared their finances in full...above and beyond anything they could have imagined. 

Enter the Three Kings.

With gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Enough financial provision to last beyond a lifetime.

Now there is no mention in the scripture of the precise amounts of gold, frankincense and myrrh which composed the gift from the Wisemen but these were extremely wealthy kings, so it is reasonable to assume that they did not cheapen the event. They would have been very generous given the circumstances for sure. 

I'm not sure of the historical economic values, but solid frankincense in today's economy would be more than $25 per pound, myrrh would be more than $50 per pound and today's gold is nearly $1,200 per ounce. Add in some serious exchange values and the Joseph-son family would now never have to worry about finances, in fact I believe there was enough to cover Mary well into her 'retirement' with the Apostle John after Jesus's death & resurrection. 

Mary never could have known.

Joseph never could have known.

BUT THEY SAID YES ANYWAY.

That is an epiphany. 

Happy Dutch New Year 2017

We continued honoring the Dutch tradition of making oliebollen (literally = oil balls, aka Dutch donuts) on New Year's Day, honoring my mother's heritage and the few memories she has of her homeland.   While getting ready for our Dutch-day, I stumbled upon this delightful piece of cultural history:

"Historically speaking they are said to have been first eaten by Germanic tribes in the Netherlands between December 26 and January 6. During this time, the Germanic goddess Perchta would fly through the sky with a tribe of evil spirits. Apparently to appease these nasty spirits oliebollen were offered. The myth goes on to tell of how Perchta would try to slice open the bellies of anyone she came across but – luckily – her sword would simply slide off the bellies of all those who had eaten the tasty balls of oil!"

Clearly, the Dutch are prepared for just about anything!

This Chinese boy sure loves his Dutch gramma!

12 parts oil, 1 part ball

Isaac's part of the assembly line

How does one get powdered sugar on your backside while cooking??

This makes me smile...Isaac got a kids digital camera (that looks like mine) for Christmas and he has been photo-documenting just about everything in the house (Wonder where he has seen that?!)  He was sure to make sure he got photos of our day!

Here are the photos from his camera:

Thankful for a fresh day in a fresh year. Thankful for little boys and grammas that are best buds. Thankful for traditions. Thankful no Germanic goddess will be visiting our home (today or ever). Excited for what 2017 has in store for us!