A little vacation with Hannah...

I thought a post about a little trip Hannah and I took to Victoria, Canada would be perfect for kicking-off my entrance back into the blogging world. :)

Hannah treated the both of us to an overnight stay in Victoria this past week. We headed up to Port Angeles on Thursday to catch the 2pm ferry. As we drove in to Port Angeles we decided to stop at Wendy's to get some lunch. While we were in line a little old man came up to Hannah and asked what her Gold Star pin meant on her coat. He eventually asked if he could eat with us. He was a very sweet man and he told us all about his wife who passed away this last December. He cried every time he talked about her and he would cry every time Hannah would talk about Gabe. He wore two rings around his neck on a chain and I am guessing those were his and his wife's wedding rings. He showed us some pictures he had of his wife that he kept in his wallet. He was in his 80's. He and his wife had been married over 50 years. He was very sweet and I am glad we ate lunch with him.

The ferry ride over took a little over an hour. We went up to the the top of the boat and sat outside under a covered area. The ride got pretty rocky as we got farther out into the Straight of Juan de Fuca. It was sunny though and we enjoyed the ride. Once we reached the harbor we went out to the front of the boat and enjoyed the view as we came in to the harbor. Once we got off the boat we had to go through customs.

We walked past the Parliament building as we made our way to our hotel. We also passed the elegant Empress Hotel. All of the fall colors were so beautiful! Hannah picked a very good time of year to visit Victoria. We found our hotel, we checked in and dropped our bags off in our room. We were on the 15th floor and we had a great view of the harbor and the Parliament building. There was also lots of construction going on for the 2010 Olympics that are going to be held in Vancouver.

Hannah and I only packed one bag each since we knew we were going to have to carry our bags with us the next day when we checked out of the hotel. It was a fun challenge trying to downsize everything we would usually take on a trip like this. I wore a pair of jeans and brought an extra shirt for the next day and some pj's. I packed some small toiletries and of course some make-up. Hannah and I agreed it was really nice to have everything in one bag. The next day we literally had no packing to do when we left.

After we dropped our bags off we headed out to do a little shopping. We bought a couple souvenirs and went back to the hotel to drop them off. We asked the lady at the desk where the Spaghetti Factory was. It was only about a block away so we headed down there and had dinner. After dinner we walked over to the waterfront so I could get a picture of the Parliament building all lit up. On our way back we went in to the Empress Hotel to see what time High Tea would be the next day. We found out you had to make reservations though and the office was already closed.

That night in our hotel we ordered room service and two delicious pieces of chocolate cheese cake were delivered to our room on a platter.

The next morning we ate a continental breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We enjoyed Belgian Waffles, sausage, french toast, fruit and eggs. We were pretty stuffed after breakfast and new we wouldn't be eating lunch any time soon. We checked out of the hotel around 11am and we headed out to do some more shopping and sight seeing. We went to a Starbucks and I was very happy to find out I would still get my employee
discount even though we were in a different country.

We walked quite a few blocks to find a castle. We had to carry our bags and after several blocks they started to feel pretty heavy. But we made it and it was so worth it. The castle was located in the middle of a neighborhood which reminded us of North Tacoma neighborhoods. We really enjoyed walking the halls and the beautiful staircase. We both agreed it made us in the mood to watch a good Jane Austin movie.

After we enjoyed our self-guided tour we headed back down to the waterfront to catch the ferry home. We had enough time to go and get a quick lunch at a restaurant called Milestones on the waterfront. We had a perfect view of the ferry dock so we could see when the ferry came in. We asked for the check as soon as we ordered so we could pay, eat and leave as soon as possible. We ate pretty quickly and as we were eating the ferry came in. We walked pretty fast over the ferry dock and we made it just as they started letting people through customs and onto the boat. It is a good thing we made it as it was the last ferry leaving for the day!

On the ferry ride home we sat outside on the upper deck out in the open. It was pretty chilly but it was a beautiful day. In the middle of the trip home they stopped the ferry because of a pod of Orca whales that was swimming close by. They never came to close. They would come up about every 30 seconds and a big spray of water could be seen. This was the first time I had seen Orcas.

We had such a fun time. It was so much fun having girl time and getting to goof off. I am so blessed to have a such a wonderful friendship!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I just want to let you all know I am working on getting a new template for my blog and making changes. I have not had very much time online lately so the changes are going to take me a little bit of time. My plan is to be back up and running by mid fall. So make sure you check back next month! I just want to have a new fresh template to kind of rekindle my desire to blog. I am still going to visit all the wonderful blogs I read already! :)
Stay tuned...

Just for fun...

A year...

God looked around his Garden and found an empty place.

He then looked down upon his earth and saw your loving face.
He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest.
His Garden must be beautiful, he always takes the best.
He saw your path was difficult, he closed your tired eyes,
He whispered to you "Peace be Thine" and gave you wings to fly.
When we saw you sleeping so calm and free of pain,
We would not wish you back to earth to suffer once again.
You've left us precious memories, your love will be our guide,
You live on through your child, you're always by our side.
It broke our hearts to lose you, but you did not go alone.
For part of us went with you on the day God called you home.

Today marks one year since Gabe DeRoo was killed in Iraq by a sniper. It is so hard to believe it has been a year. Hannah, little Gabriel, her sister Ruth, brother-in-law Chris and I went up to the cemetery today with flowers. Gabriel even brought a little balloon that said "I love you" on it. Hannah is doing so good today and a bunch of us are going over to her house later on this afternoon for a little potluck. Hannah and Chris took pictures at the cemetery and Chris is going to send me some so when I get them I will post them for you all to see.

We miss Gabe so much and Hannah most of all. I would give anything to see this little family back together again, but we know God knows best and He is good. And we still have the wonderful hope that he is in Heaven and we will see him again. God has taken such great care of Hannah and little Gabriel. God is so good!

Our Little Family Vacation & Our 3rd Anniversary

The week before this past week we went on our little family vacation. We have been going to LA to visit my family every summer but this year we couldn't because I started my new job. It has been really nice though because LA family has been coming up here to visit us. My Gramma and Auntie Annie came in July, my cousin Eva-Karin will be here in a couple days, my cousin Lauralyn will be here next Saturday for 10 days and then in September my Aunt Karin is coming to visit. For our little family vacation we went over to Northern Idaho. We stayed for two night and 3 days. At the hotel we stayed in there was a indoor swim park, bowling, an arcade, outdoor mini golf, and go-carts. The first night we were there we played a game of bowling and then Ruh and Daisy went swimming. The next day is when we went to the Silverwood Theme Park. I was very impressed with it even though it was so small. It was very clean and it had a wonderful wild west atmosphere a lot like old Knott's Berry Farm. They actually had a ride from Knott's Berry Farm which was the first cork-screw roller coaster ever made. This is an old steam locomotive that took people on a 3.5 mile circuit around the park and into the woods. This is the first thing we did when we arrived.
At one point the train stopped at what looked like an old mining camp. A little play was put on about two hill-billy guys who were going to "rob" the train. Before we stopped there the tour guide mentioned that they would be taking donations for a charity organization. They did not specify how they would take the donations though. It was a really cute show and then the two men boarded the train and "took" donations.
Here are some buffalo that live on the land there.


Ruh and Daisy went on the bumper boats but I opted out since I had just dried out from the last water ride we had gone on. They got pretty soaked but had a ton of fun doing it!


That night we went and played 3 games of bowling. We had so much fun. I beat Ruh every game! But I did also have a P.E. class in high school where we went bowling three days a week so I think I have had some practice. ;)

Daisy made a good shot!! :)



The day we checked out of the hotel we wanted to do some sight-seeing so we headed up to the little town of Wallace. If any of you have seen the movie Dante's Peak it was filmed in this little town. We went on a silver mine tour. A little trolley in town took us up to the mine. An old retired miner took us on the tour.

One fact he shared with us was how they warn miners that something bad has happened. They have what are pretty much glorified stink bombs that they set off down the main shaft and quickly spreads through the miles and miles of tunnels. Once the miners smell it they know there has been a cave in or an accident and they need to get to the service immediately. He said because the smell circulates so quickly this is the best way they have found to communicate withe everyone and this is the method they have used for over 100 years.



Here is the little trolley we took to the mine. After the trolley picked us up from the mine it took us on a tour of the town.

I thought this street sign was very cute.

We had such a fun time on our little vacation! I am so glad we went.

Ruh and I had our third wedding anniversary this last Tuesday. We decided to go to Bremerton, park the car and take the hour long ferry ride over to Seattle. We walked along the waterfront, enjoyed the shops and the view of the water. Then we headed up to Pike's Place Market. We also enjoyed browsing the shops. We came across a little Turkish cafe that sold baklava, Turkish Delight and Turkish coffee. We got some pistachio baklava and I wanted to try the Turkish Delight since I enjoy Applets and Cotlets so much which is the American version of Turkish Delight. Ruh also got a Turkish Espresso. Wow, that was some strong coffee! They grind the beans to a powder and just mix it in the water, not filter it like we do. There was a real nice sludge at the bottom!



This was just a funny "car" that drove by I wanted to get picture of! :)


After Pike's Place we headed back down to the waterfront and walked to The Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch. We then walked back up to Pike's Place one more time and then headed on down to the ferry dock. We had such a delightful anniversary! I love my hubby sooooooo much! I am so blessed to have him! :)

For Little Hannah...

This precious little girl is Hannah. She is the daughter of one of my dear blogging friends Rach. On Thursday she passed away in a drowning accident. My heart breaks for Rach and her family. You can visit Rach's blog, read the stories and see the pictures of this precious little girl. Please be lifting Brian, Rach, Lily and her family up in prayer!

Hannah-"Blessed by God"

This week Ruh and I did some hiking while Daisy was at a Christian camp for the week. He did all the planning and he found an article in The News Tribune about Victor Falls located in Bonney Lake. It is only a 45 minute drive from Gig Harbor. It is actually located in a very rural area. There are no signs from the road but the directions gave a clear description of what to look for. You can't even see the trail from the road but we parked where the directions said to and found the trail pretty easily. We walked a short distance down the trail and could see the water fall from above on a very steep ravine. The directions said there would be a rope line to climb down the ravine with. We did come to the rope but it was an almost vertical drop. Ruh was all excited about climbing down but I got shaky just looking over the edge! He tried to get me to climb down but I just couldn't. So he climbed down without me and I sat at the top enjoying the view of the falls from above. At one point I decided I was going to at least try to climb down. I sat down at the top and grabbed onto the rope with both hands. I kind of slid down, VERY slowly, on my rear but only got about 6 feet and I got really shaky and nervous. I knew I shouldn't go any further because I was so shaky. So I turned back around and climbed back really quickly. A few minutes later Ruh climbed back up and we sat at the top for a little bit while he ate a snack.

We decided not to just head home but we drove up through Enumclaw and went up toward Mt. Ranier through Wilkeson. We found a sign for Mt. Ranier National Park and Mowich Lake. We drove up towards the lake. It was about a half hour drive up a winding dirt road with beautiful vistas. The lake was absolutely beautiful and Ruh and I walked around a couple small trails surrounding the lake. Ruh really wanted to get wet so he dove in clothes and all! I brought my digital camera with me but when I pulled it out at Victor Falls none of the batteries were charged! I was so bummed. (So the picture above of Victor Falls is not by me but one I found on the internet. ) The lake was so beautiful and I wanted to take pictures so badly. The picture here is one I found on the internet. There were lots of trails up there and one also led to another waterfall. Ruh and I are planning to go back and do some hiking very soon.




Ruh's next day off was Thursday. I worked that morning from 5:30am to 1030am. When I got home I packed us a lunch and we headed out to Wallace Falls located near Gold Bar in the Cascades. I made sure all my batteries for my camera were fully charged and ready to go. So all the pictures you see here are ones I actually took. Wallace Falls State Park is not too far from where we camped at Lake Wenatchee with Ruh's family this last May. At the start of the trail there was a sign posting up the length of the different trails. To the middle falls was 2 miles and to the upper falls it was 2.75 miles. We decided to head up to the middle falls and then see if we still had enough energy to go all the way to the upper falls. Ruh forgot to bring his backpack so we were only able to carry one water bottle each. The trail wound in the woods. We really enjoyed our time together, talking and goofing off with each other. When I go on hikes I really like finding a good pace and not stopping but staying the same speed all the way to the destination. Once I find my pace I can go for a long time. When we reached the lower falls we stopped for a little but and enjoyed the view. We continued on up to the middle falls. The second half of the hike was lots of up hill switch backs. Once we reached the middle falls we decided we shouldn't continue to the top because it was getting late and I needed to be up in the morning at 4am. We sat at the middle falls for about 20 minutes. Ruh and I have decided we really want to try and hike to as many falls in Washington as we can. Ruh wants to go on a hike once a week for the remainder of the summer and for as long as we can in to the fall. We are really trying to be more active and this is such a fun way to be active. There is something about being out in God's creation that is so rejuvenating. I love it!

So much time has gone by since I last posted on my blog! I have been getting adjusted to my new job at Starbucks. I have been much busier since I have started working again and I have been wanting to use my time differently than working on my blog as much as I used to. Since I am not going to be able to post every two or three days I am going to start posting one day a week. I am thinking the day I will pick is Saturdays. Saturday evenings are usually a very leisurely time for me and it would be a perfect time to curl up on the couch with the laptop and do some blogging. :)

My job at Starbucks is so much fun! I love it! At first it is very intimidating and I wondered what I had gotten myself in to. I thought that especially the first morning they had me working the drive-thru at the busiest time of the day! But I survived and learned A LOT that day. I never knew how much work actually goes in to making someone their cup of coffee and making sure they get it in a timely manner. I have been working there a month and a week and I am now very comfortable and everything is so much easier. The only thing left for me to really learn is how to make the drinks. I had a little lesson the other day on the basics but then they leave it up to you to practice when you get the chance and learn how to make all the different drinks. So during the slower times of the day (which are few and far between) I will ask if I can make a drink or two and they are very happy to let me practice. I am really getting comfortable with making the cold drinks. Yesterday we got pretty busy and since it was a warm day lots of people were ordering Frappaccinos and I would jump in a help when there was a long row of drinks that needed to be made. It was a lot of fun.

A typical shift for me has me arriving at 5:30am. There is usually just two other workers there at this time because this is a very slow time of the day. I usually get the warming area ready for when people order breakfast sandwiches and pastries they want warmed up. Then I just look around and do whatever I see needs to be done like stocking cups, brewing coffee and arranging the pastry case. Around 6am more co-workers arrive and the rush usually starts. I am then busy warming up food, brewing coffee, making coffee bases for cold drinks, writing orders on the cups for the barista and answering the drive-thru when the person who is doing it is swamped with doing something else. I will also call the line up front which means asking people what drink we can start making for them before they even get to the register. I also really like keeping my warming area clean and tidy. It makes things a lot easier for me and I can get the food warmed and to the customer quickly when things are organized the way that is best for me. I am wearing a head-set at this time so I can hear when someone in the drive through orders something that needs to be warmed up. I also must keep an ear out for customers in the front who want something warmed up as well. If someone in the drive-thru orders something from the pastry case I usually grab it and take it to the drive-thru. And this is only some of the things I must do during my shift. Obviously this job requires lots of multitasking and concentration. But it just gets easier and easier each day I work. I also love the fact that there is always something that has to be done so there are never times of boredom and staring at the clock wondering when you will be able to go home. Most days I lose track of time and the supurvisor on shift that day has to remind me that it's time for me to go home! I am very thankful for the job I have and the fact that I do not dread going to work at all, I look forward to it!

My Uncle Phil was married to Maxine on June 16th. My mom went down to LA for the wedding and was the photographer. They were married in Penn Park which is located in very pretty uptown Whitter.
















We had a very nice 4th of July. I had to be at work at 5:30 the next morning but that did not keep me from shooting off fireworks and enjoying a bonfire. The Riley's and the Waldock's from church came over to my parent's house. We had a BBQ and a bonfire. The weather was beautiful and hot so for a while none of us even wanted to go and sit by the fire because it was just too hot. But once the sun went down behind the trees and it was shady then sitting by the fire was muchWe had a very nice 4th of July. I had to be at more pleasant. It didn't get completely dark until 10pm and then we brought out the fireworkd. Mary and Deborah Riley and I were the ones who shot off the fireworks for everyone. At one point Mary tried to light a couple small fountains at the same time and one of them got knocked off the ladder we had set up and fell on her arm. She was able to hit it off before it went off though but she got a small burn on her arm. That was the only incident though and everything else went with out a hitch. It was so nice to have the Riley's there since they are moving to Texas in a couple weeks. Major Joe Riley is a Chaplain in the Army and he just got back from Iraq because they reassigned him to Texas. Mary Riley is trying to find a full time job here in Washington so she can stay. Deborah is going Seattle Pacific University in the fall and so she will be returning then.

On July 6th my dad went in for back surgery. He had a bunch of herniated disks and pinched nerves. One of his legs was going numb because of it and they said if he didn't get the surgery soon his leg would go permanently numb. Yesterday after the surgery they had him up and walking around and he already had a lot more feeling back in his foot and shin. He is doing really good, but is pretty sleepy from the pain medication. I guess as he heals up he will see even more improvement!

So that is an update on what has been happening. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

Officially a Middle-Schooler

Daisy's last day of school was yesterday and it was her last day of being in elementary school. This next year she will be at Goodman Middle School. This is a picture my dad took at the "graduation" ceremony. She is with her teacher Mr. Marinelli. There will be more pictures coming soon! :)

Sorry!

Hi Eveyone! I am just writing real quick to apologize for my lack of blogging. I have been getting adjusted to working again and the changes it has made in my schedule. I will probably get back to blogging in the next week or so! :) Hope all you dads have a wonderful Father's Day tomorrow!

As most of you know my big brother moved back up to Alaska. His girlfriend Elizabeth decided this last week she REALLY wanted to see him. So she got a flight voucher from her dad who works for Alaska airlines and flew up to Fairbanks to spend the day with him on Saturday and fly home Saturday evening! Ben called my mom yesterday afternoon and told her to go online and look at the Fairbanks newspaper's web camera. So my mom did just that and there was Ben and Elizabeth waving to the camera in real time! You can see them standing next to the green truck in the picture. :)