Washington Adventure Day 3

Yesterday, Jenene made us flapjacks for breakfast and then we went to Bellingham again. This is the ocean just down the street from where Art and Jenene live
















Kiera has only taken one nap so far at Art + Jenene's so far and the rest have been in the car























So she woke up with zipper marks on her face


















I bought these slippers for $6.50 (50% off) since I'm usually cold at Art + Jenene's and my mom said they look like they're off of "Legally Blonde"


















We bought these adorable little moccasin boots at Target for Kiera to wear this winter


















I got both these from Aeropostale...the sweater was $12.99 and the t-shirt was $9.99 (yay)


















We all went for supper at CJ's Beach House which is right by the water and this is what I saw on the way there...apparently the Canada geese stop here on their way south


















Art has made it his goal to get Kiera to stand and crawl while she's here...I've been trying for over a month, so good luck, Art


















Kiera slept through the night last night; praise the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name! I actually didn't because I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom and then had a hard time falling back asleep. Oh well, not a big deal. Thanks so much to everyone who reads my blog and for leaving comments...I hope you are enjoying following my trip so far! I'm glad that I get to share it with you along the way. :) Well, time to go get some caramel gelato from the freezer!

Washington Adventure Day 2

Yesterday morning, Art's sister, Mary, came over and then we all went to the Semiahmoo Resort where Art works as a bell captain (bellman) for breakfast. It's quite a fancy and beautiful place right on the coast.
















In the restaurant























No little plastic jams here


















My meal: caramel apple french toast (SO delicious)


















There was beautiful furniture everywhere



































The entrance (Art is on the other side of the room behind the desk)


















I liked all the colors of the mugs in the gift shop


















Jenene handed Kiera a bag of Skittles to play with and of course she sucked on the bag and then the cashier told Jenene she had to purchase them and Jenene hadn't intended on doing that, so that was kind of funny! I managed to snag a picture of Art in his uniform.


















My favorite fall color


















I loved those huge wheat fern things (yes, that's the technical name)




































Kiera, me, Mary, and Jenene sitting by the beach and you can see White Rock, B.C. in the background
















Kiera's first time at the ocean and she was happy! She loves the ocean just like her mommy does.


















We weren't sure what these tree trunks were doing there, but I thought it looked cool


















In the afternoon, we went to Bellingham to shop for another "article of clothing" (see this post if you don't know what I'm talking about) at V's Secret (subtle, yes?). I found another one for $42, so I was VERY happy about that. In the evening, Art and Jenene had a bunch of their friends over and we played Cranium (girls against guys and the girls won) and then Apples to Apples. We were going to play Guitar Hero, but Kiera decided to go down for the night at 7:45 (yay!), so we couldn't play due to the loudness of that game. Kiera woke up twice in the night and only once for a bottle, which I had prepared in advance. She ended up sleeping on the air mattress with us from 4 a.m. onward since she wasn't happy in the playpen anymore, but this time we all slept fine until the morning! Praise Jesus and thanks to those of you who prayed! Now it's off to Bellingham again to look for cheap deals on clothes!

Vancouver/Washington Adventure Day 1

Yesterday, Kiera woke up at 5 a.m. for a feeding and then went back to sleep. I, on the other hand, got back into bed and proceeded to think about all the things I had yet to pack that morning. I finally fell asleep again around 6:30 and then woke up for the day at 8 a.m. I packed about 60 diapers since I didn't want to run out.























While I was running around packing, I placed Kiera in the clean kitchen with the cupboard doors closed. Although Kiera isn't crawling yet, she scoots herself around (a bit) on her butt. A couple of minutes later, it looked like this:


















She pulled out our shoebox that we keep stuff for recycling in and nicely scattered its contents everywhere. I was very nervous about the plane ride, but I had prayed for a miracle. Why was I surprised when God answered? Oh ye (me) of little faith! She was an angel basically the whole time! There were almost no problems with ears popping and when she got a tiny bit fussy during the descent, we gently blew warm air into her ears and she seemed to like that. She happily looked out the window during take-off and landing. She liked putting the window shutter up and down


















The beautiful Rockies















Kiera even slept on the plane for half an hour until we started descending (they asked a lady to move so that we had an empty seat beside us...praise the Lord!)























We arrived at Art + Jenene's cute little house in Washington after 3 hours of flying and 1 hour of driving


















We went to Bellingham (a half hour drive) to IHOP (LOVE that restaurant) for supper. I got a full plate of scrambled eggs and hashbrowns and then another plate with a cinnamon apple crepe all for $4.99! Maybe I'll actually gain some weight while I'm here. That would be quite the accomplishment for me! Then we went to Target to buy an air mattess, only to find out when we got back that the pump needed to charge for 12 hours before using, so then it was onto plan B: the hide-a-bed.


















Uncle Art made a tower on Kiera's head























Since I left the dental floss at home for Jared, I used one of Art and Jenene's individual floss things that I've never used before.


















Since it cut up some of my gums and I don't like to use the same section of floss more than once (one of my quirks), I'm going to buy my own regular floss today. The whole day was great until we got to the night. Kiera decided after 2 hours of sleeping (around midnight) that she didn't want to sleep in the playpen anymore and would cry every time we tried putting her back in there. So, she slept on the hide-a-bed between my mom and I. She was sprawled out as much as she possibly could, so I did not sleep much with her whacking me and her legs and elbows digging into my back. She also needed a couple of bottle feedings, so I was up throughout the night. Then when Art woke up at 6 a.m., she decided it was time to give a speech, so I listened to her happy chatter for a while and couldn't even be mad at her because she's just so cute! Please pray for a much better night tonight as she kept us all up for several hours. It's not going to feel like a vacation if I'm only getting an hour of sleep here and there. I'm very happy to be here and thankful that God brought us here safely. I look forward to sharing more pictures and stories with you!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love Ya, Tomorrow!

I'm leaving on a jet plane...ok, enough with the songs. I'm VERY excited to be going to Vancouver/Washington tomorrow! I'm a bit nervous about the plane ride with Kiera since she doesn't usually like to sit still happily for longer than 10 minutes. I told my cousin that it's a good thing they don't allow weapons onto the plane because if Kiera is fussy the whole way there (and she doesn't fuss quietly), the other passengers could get pretty ticked. I'm praying for a miracle and God is very capable of doing that, so I'm trying to leave it in His hands while packing the most entertaining toys into our carry-on. I'm taking one last long look at the equisitely beautiful roses Jared gave me for my birthday yesterday




































since they will most likely be dead by the time I get back. He also gave me a spare battery for my camera to use in case my battery dies at some point during my travels and I'm not anywhere that I can recharge it. Thoughtful! I should probably be packing as I'm going out for a "girls night" tonight with a friend. We're going to a local salon where they're having a free make-up and hair tips night and I think we can try stuff, so it should be fun! I don't know whether or not I'll be blogging from out there...I think I might try providing we're not too busy out gallavanting around the countryside. You'll have to check back and see! Please pray that Kiera will travel well and sleep well in a strange playpen in a strange house. That would make the trip a whole lot more enjoyable for all of us! Thanks!

Another Happy Birthday...and this time it's mine!

I have reached another milestone...as of sometime between 2 and 4 a.m. this morning, I turned a quarter of a century old. The past couple of years I've felt a bit old, but I know that's not true and even though I'm now halfway between 20 and 30, I have a lot to look forward to! As I look back on the past several years, I'm blown away by the things God has done in my life and His constant faithfulness.

Age 19 - I went to Capernwray Bible School in England for the first time for 2 months and then spent 6 weeks traveling around Europe
Age 20 - I met Jared, we started dating, and 2 weeks later I went back to Capernwray in England for 6 months
Age 21 - 10 months after we started dating, Jared and I got engaged
Age 22 - We got married just under 5 months later, we both went to college for the first time, and I got a new job after being at my previous one on and off for 5 years
Age 23 - We bought a house after 1 year and 2 months of marriage and I got pregnant 2 weeks before that but didn't know it yet
Age 24 - Kiera was born 9 days after my birthday

It's been a busy and amazing several years! God has abundantly blessed me not because I deserve it but because of His goodness and love. Thank you God for allowing me to celebrate another birthday and thank you that you have good plans for me this next year! (Jer. 29:11)

Happy Birthday Jared!

Today, my husband turns 24! It's hard to believe we started dating one month before his 20th birthday. So much has happened since then. It's been an amazing 4 years! Thanks for being the best husband

and most wonderful dad

a girl could ever ask for! I love you SOOO much and wish you many many more birthdays!

Thankful Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week-end with 2 evenings spent with immediate family which included yummy meals. On Jared's side we had waffles, which is one of my favorite meals, and on my side we had chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, strawberry poppyseed salad (my favorite salad), and apple pie a la mode! After supper with Jared's family we played Balderdash and Bingo for prizes. I came home with:

My very first MP3 player

A laundry hamper

and Kiera won a doll and a puppet that sings songs when you move the mouth (Jared's dad played for her)

The last "music player" of any kind that I bought was a discman in either 2003 or 2004. It said anti-skip on it, but what it really meant was, "If you're lying on your bed and there is zero air movement in the room and you don't move any muscle in your entire body, then it might not skip for 30 seconds."

Kiera enjoyed her very first Thanksgiving meal...well she basically just ate the mashed potatoes, but it's a start!

I'll end off with a quote from Jared that he said when we were looking at our backyard which made me smile: "The trees are balding."