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. :)

My New Job

Guess what?! I am now officially a Starbucks employee! I went in last Sunday, asked for an application, returned it the same day and got scheduled for an interview the next day. Friday I went in for a second interview and they hired me! I started on Monday. I worked for only 2 hours and mainly did paperwork. Today I worked for 8 hours and did lots of modules and training. But they also had me cashier which was kind of scary at first but I got the hang of it pretty quick. At one point everyone was running around like crazy and no one seemed like they could help me. So I took initiative and started taking customer orders and writing them down on the cups and handing them to the barista. I don't know any of the abbreviations for the drinks so I just guessed. There were a few times I got it wrong but the barista knew what I was trying to write. I learned so much today and I really love this job! It is very fast paced but that keeps things from getting boring and the day went by in the blink of an eye. This evening I made little flashcards with all the abbreviations for the drinks and the extras and so tomorrow I am going to start memorizing them. I have tomorrow off but when I go in to work on Thursday I want to be able to write down the orders on the cups and know I can do it without having to ask for help. I am really excited! I will keep you all posted on how everything goes! :)

Picture taken of Gabriel by Chris Rogers on Memorial Day 2007

Wall of Remembrance

"War is horrible, but sitting by while evil persists is worse." ~SGT Gabriel DeRoo

This Memorial Day was a very special one for all of us. It was the first Memorial Day since Gabe was killed in Iraq this last August. Even though I always knew what Memorial Day was for it never had the same effect on me as it did this year.

Early Monday morning, in downtown Seattle, Gabe's name was unveiled along with 27 others who have died in Iraq from Washington State. Of course Hannah and little Gabriel were there and Gabe's twin sisters Charity and Chastity. They had come to visit Hannah and little Gabriel for a week. After the names were unveiled each name was read and a bell was rung after each name.

It was so wonderful to be there and to see Gabe honored in this way. In one interview Hannah said she knew he would be honored to know his name had been put on the wall. After the ceremony was over Hannah took little Gabriel and put a picture of the three of them, with flowers, by the wall. Gabriel had a t-shirt on with a picture of Gabe in Iraq and it said "My Papa, My Hero-KIA in Iraq August 2006.

Hannah spoke to a couple reporters and one woman who was making a documentary. Here is the link to one of the interviews done with Hannah.







Here is video I took of the ceremony. Remember to pause my finetune player located under my previous entries so the audio does not overlap! :)

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Dannells Family Camping Trip 2007

Once again the Dannells family went camping. We returned to beautiful Lake Wenatchee. My in-laws George and Bonita arrived a day early to save a spot for all of us. They picked two large sites right next to each other and both on the water. There was plenty of space for all of us to spread out and be comfortable.

Ruh did all of the food preparation for our family as he has the past two times we have gone camping. He made kabobs and trout over the fire. One morning we had trout for breakfast which was so delightful.

Bonita set up her little cooking center which looked like it worked wonderfully! She looked so content sitting on a cooler cooking up a storm.

As always Bonita had her video camera ready to shoot at all times. Even is she has to climb on top of a
fallen tree to get the shot she wants!
:)







I think we all really enjoyed the large tree that had fallen down in front of the water. We would often sit and enjoy the sunrise or sunset. At one point Ruh and I were enjoying a nice cuddle moment by ourselves on the log. As soon as we started to kiss Taraz ran down the hill, launched himself off the log and right into the water, in all his clothes! Needless to say we all had a great laugh over that. Megan got it all on camera and I think soon he is going to put the video of the entire trip on his blog. I will make sure to put a link to it here so you all can watch it.




















George and Bonita, Taraz and Megan brought their canoes. Ruhiyyih and I went out one afternoon together. Bonnie(Bonita's twin sister) and Frank went in the other canoe. We paddled out to a little lagoon that had lots of reeds, skunk cabbage and lily pads. We enjoyed the sound of the water and the
birds. The view was amazing.



















We enjoyed evenings around the campfire. I brought my jar of Postum Bonita introduced me to the first camping trip we took together. I had a nice hot cup every morning and I indulged and had caffeinated coffee in the afternoon for a little pick me up. My sinuses went crazy while we were camping. There was pollen everywhere and I don't think the dust and campfire smoke helped either. Ruh took me to a small grocery store and I bought the only Sudafed they had. Unfortunately it was not non-drowsy so I felt a little loopy when I took it. The mosquitoes got a little persistent and so we were all able to use my new Avon Skin-So-Soft bug spray I bought right before the trip. I really like it! It makes your skin feel soft and it has a really nice smell so you don't feel like you have to shower after you use it.

I love camping so much. Ruh and I are planning on going again this summer and if possible going twice. But I definitely don't want to go alone! There is nothing like camping with family and making lots of great memories!


Remember to pause my finetune player located under my previous entries so the audio does not overlap the video! :)

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Happy Memorial Day: Don't Forget to Remember!

Preparation for Camping

It's that time of year again! Time for a Dannells Family camping trip. This time last year we were up near the Hood Canal at Lena Creek. Then in September we went to Lake Wenatchee after my brother-in-law Taraz's wedding. We are returning to Lake Wenatchee for this camping trip. My parents-in-law George and Bonita are heading up there bright and early tomorrow morning to save a couple spots for all the family that is coming. This year the list is: Ruh, me and Daisy, George and Bonita, Ruhiyyih, Rahmat, Taraz and Megan, Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Frank, Melanie, Robin and Amber, Laurel and Mehron. And of course we can't forget Buddy, Laurel and Mehron's black lab. My parents will also be heading up for the day on Friday.

Today I spent the day preparing. Ruh pulled all our camping gear out of storage. He also spent the morning preparing all the meat Bonita so wonderfully bought for us for camping. She bought us lots of chicken, brats and whole rainbow trout. Ruh cooked up most of the chicken and put together kabobs that will just have to be reheated over the campfire. I took out all of the cooking utensils and washed them all up. I washed them after we got home last time but I just wanted them to be freshly clean for this camping trip. I went through and pulled out things I knew we would not need and added the things I know we will. I washed out the cooler and put all the food we are taking that does not need to be refrigerated into a big box. All that is left to be done tomorrow is baking cookies, making biscotti, getting some camping gear from my parents and retrieving Ruhiyyih from the airport at 8:30pm. Tomorrow should be nice and calm since Ruh and I got a lot done today. So this will probably be my last post until Memorial Day. There will be lots and pictures and video coming soon! :)

Longing for the Great Outdoors

This is a picture my mom took of Gabriel. He was at church watching all the big kids play outside. Soon he is going to be romping around outside with the rest of them! :)

Women's Retreat

This past weekend was the annual Camp Gilead Women's Retreat. Camp Gilead is located in the quaint farming community of Carnation, Washington. Sally Helland, Nancy Suko and Mary Riley went up on Friday and spent the night. Hannah DeRoo and I went up on Saturday for the the day. The retreat is a special time for women to get away and spend time with other Christian women and to really focus on the Lord. There were four workshops: Marriage Booster 101 (taught by Nancy Suko), Organization-It's a learned skill, Controlling Your Tongue, Hospitality Ideas for Family, Friends and Others and Growing Women-Reaching Women. There were also three Chapel sessions taught by Carol Parkinson. At Saturday's Chapel Hannah DeRoo shared her testimony about Gabe's death and what the Lord has been doing in her life. I am so blessed to have her as my dearest friend and I can say that she is an amazing example of what it truly means to trust the Lord.

The main speaker, Carol Parkinson, taught during Chapel about our self-worth and where it comes from. Our worth does not come from how we look, how are homes look or how well we do the things we do on a daily basis, but our worth comes from who we are in Christ Jesus.

Hannah left a little early to get home to little Gabriel. I had a really nice time visiting with Sally, Nancy and Mary. Next year I am planning on staying for both days.

Happy Mother's Day

This morning Ruh's parents George and Bonita joined us at church for the annual Mother's Day breakfast the men and children put on for all the mothers. There was lots of sweet rolls and fruit. The little latte stand was also open. During breakfast my mom took "mom and me" pictures. Before breakfast was served everyone gathered in the sanctuary and whoever wanted to could share some special testimonies about their mom. Ruth Rogers spoke for little Gabriel and shared a very touching testimony about Hannah DeRoo (her sister). Gabriel is going to be able to look back and see what an amazing, wonderful mom he has. She has remained strong and steady for him, through her trust in the Lord, without his Papa who is now in Heaven.






I taught Jr. Church during the service. I had a special lesson today about mothers. One little fun activity I did with the kids involved an apron. I had a volunteer come up to the front and put the apron on. Then I would whisper in their ear something moms do
for us everyday and they would have to act it out and the rest of
the kids had to guess what it was. I even had a couple boys volunteer and the kids got a few giggles out of that. :) I also talked about how the Bible teaches we are to honor our father and mother. And even though today is mother's day and we want to make our moms feel extra special we need to honor them the rest of the year as well. For the craft we made little "badges" for the mothers that said "more precious than rubies". We glued little red sequins to them.






After church Ruh's parents, my parents and Ruh and I went to the Hot Iron Mongolian Grill. We chit chatted and talked a little about the upcoming annual Dannells family camping trip. We are heading back to Lake Wenatchee where we were for the last camping trip after Taraz and Megan's wedding this last September. But this time Taraz and Megan won't be on their honeymoon so they will get to join us! Ruh and Bonita talked a little about food preparation and Bonita told us she is going to buy all the meat for us this year. She knows how much Ruh really enjoys doing the cooking when we are camping. I am so thankful for the mother-in-law the Lord has blessed me with.







I am so thankful for the wonderful mother the Lord has given me! She is the perfect example of a calm and quiet spirit which is truly beautiful and pleasing to the Lord. I really hope and pray that I develop the patient, calm and quiet spirit she has. Thanks for being such an amazing mom! I love you lots and lots!

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

"In 1984 President Reagan proclaimed the Friday before Mother's Day of each year to be Military Spouse Appreciation Day. It is your day to stand up and be honored.

For the times you've stood and watched a ship sail from the harbor, an aircraft disappear into the clouds, or a truck convoy pull out of sight, not sure when they would return, we thank you.

For the countless household moves you've made from a place you know to one that's strange and different -- often by yourself -- we thank you.

For the families you've held together, for the anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays you've celebrated alone, we thank you.

For the hand you've extended to another military spouse when the need was there, truly creating a military family, we thank you.

For the spirit and strength you've shown when your service member has gone into harm's way, we thank you.

For the pride you've displayed while serving as an ambassador of the military spouse to the rest of the world, we thank you.

Far too frequently, the sacrifices and dedication of the military spouse have gone unnoticed and unappreciated. In our nation's recent history, thousands of service members have been placed in harm's way as they stood watch as freedom's guardian. You too have stood watch at home, facing challenges alone. You have waved flags and held banners high to express your support. You have kept the candles burning on the home front as a reminder of our deployed military.

You have made difficult sacrifices of your own, and have called upon your inner reserves to nurture family life so your service member can focus on the business at hand.

Even in times of relaxed alert status for our military, you have stood ready and alert for the slightest of signs, perhaps overlooked or ignored by your civilian counterparts, signaling a potential change in the status of our military forces. As a military spouse, you have willingly packed up and relocated countless times, and may have been separated from your own parents and siblings for several years at a time.

Quite often, you have been placed in an unfamiliar ethnic or cultural setting, or a remote location. You have met this challenge with confidence and pride, making your nation proud of you. By the same token, you have extended your hand and hospitality to visitors to our country.

A country cannot count itself strong by its armed services alone, but must also depend on its civilians. With military wives and husbands setting a superior example through devotion, courage, and commitment, we are a nation of strength.

Military spouses … stand tall, stand proud … we salute you, you are truly our unsung heroes."

~Source Unknown

Ben back to Alaska

My big brother Ben left for Alaska this morning. He is heading back up there to work at a resort for the summer and then he plans on moving back to Fairbanks where he will work for a friend doing flooring. I am going to miss him but I know he loves Alaska so that makes me happy that he is going back. I love you Ben! :)

Urgent Prayer Request

A couple days ago I got news from my Aunt Karin that her best friend's son fell at work off of an 8 foot ladder, hit his head and is now in critical condition at a hospital in Riverside California. His name is Kevin and he and I were friends when I was in high school. They have him in a drug induced coma to make sure there is very little stimulation as possible to his swelling brain. There are also skull fractures. His wife and family are not even allowed to touch him or talk to him as this might cause stimulation. The can't even do an MRI yet to see if perhaps he had an aneurysm and that is what caused him to fall. No one actually saw him fall so they don't know if he passed out and fell or just took a wrong step. Please be praying for his wife Sarah and for his parents Everett and Tammi. Please be praying the Lord will heal his brain and he will be able to recover. The Lord is good and He is watching over all of them!

Girl's Weekend

This last Thursday the girls (Hannah DeRoo, Hannah Sayers, Mary Riley, Ruth Rogers and I) went out to lunch after Thursday morning Bible Study. We went to Shenanigan's on the Ruston Way waterfront. I had never been to Shenanigan's before. It is a very upscale restaurant but the lunch prices are very reasonable. We all got sandwiches and dessert. Afterward we walked down Ruston Way and enjoyed the view of the water. We took lots of fun pictures as well. As we were heading back to the car Hannah Sayers suggested we have a girls sleepover Friday night. We all agreed that would be a lot of fun and Hannah DeRoo invited us all over to her house. It worked out great because Daisy was going to a friend's birthday party/sleepover the same night.

At the sleepover Gabriel was the entertainment! Hannah had country music playing and he danced around the room. We did face masks, ate yummy treats and watched a movie. We stayed up talking until about 2am. In the morning we all woke up at 7:30am with Gabriel. Ruth Rogers came over a little bit later and brought ingredients to make fruit smoothies. Hannah also made whole wheat waffles from scratch. We set her dining room table and enjoyed a very delightful breakfast. This morning was bright and sunny so after breakfast we all went out to the backyard and watched Gabriel play in his little house and push around a little potato bug. Hannah watered all her flowers. We had such a fun and relaxing time.

Here is a slideshow of our girl's afternoon out and the sleepover. Remember to pause my "finetune" music player under my "previous entries" so the sound from the video and the music don't overlap! :)


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Here is video of the little dancer! :)


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As stars shine...

"Prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus. Prayer is the natural outgushing of a soul in communion with Jesus. As the leaf and fruit come out of the vine branch without any conscious effort and simply because of its living union with the stem, so prayer buds and blossoms and fruits out of souls abiding in Jesus. As stars shine, so do abiders pray. They do not say to themselves, "it is time for us to get to our task and pray." No, they pray as wise men eat - namely, when the desire for it is upon them. They do not cry out as under bondage, "At this time I ought to be in prayer, but I do not feel like it. What a weariness it is!" They have a glad errand at the mercy seat and rejoice to go there. Hearts abiding in Christ send forth supplications as fires send out flames and sparks. Souls abiding in Jesus open the day with prayer; prayer surrounds them as an atmosphere all day long; at night they fall asleep praying. They are able to joyfully say, 'When I awake, I am still with Thee' (Psalm 139:18)." ~Charles Spurgeon

I Am Praying

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest...for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls." ~Jesus
Matthew 11:28-29

Sadly I had to take Eva-Karin to the airport this morning so she could fly back to LA. I have had such a wonderful time with her while she has been here. A week is just much too short! But I am not the only person who is going to miss her dearly. My cat decided that EK was her favorite person while she was here. Wherever EK was the cat had to be there as well. Here is a little video dedicated to EK and the cat! ;)

Remember to pause my "finetune" music player below my "previous entries"! :)


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A BBQ and Bonfire!

Last night we had a wonderful BBQ and campfire with my family, my in-laws and some friends from church. We sat around the fire visiting and enjoying the clear evening. My best friend Hannah brought her little son Gabriel and for the most part he stole the show! I have some video of the frisby being thrown around and of little Gabriel. I think you will find that his laughter is very contagious! :)
Remember to pause my "finetune" music player located below my "previous entries" column on the right side of my page or the sound from the player will overlap the video's sound. :)


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An outing...

My cousin Eva-Karin is graduating from college this May and her mother (my Aunt Karin) requested that my mom take her senior portrait while she is here. Eva-Karin wanted to go someplace pretty while she was here so we decided Federation Forest up near Mt. Ranier is a beautiful place and at the same time my mom could take her pictures there. What we didn't really think about was the fact that up near Mt. Ranier it would be a lot colder than it is down here by the Sound. We drove through quaint little Buckley and Enumclaw and ate lunch before we headed up to Federation Forest. When we arrived it was most definitely beautiful, but absolutely freezing. And on top of that it was windy which did not make it feel any warmer! We decided this would not be a good place to take EK's pictures! But we did still take a short, half mile, meandering hike through some of the forest. It would have been fun to take a longer hike but none of us, especially EK from Southern California, were dressed for the cold temperature. After our little walk we decided to head back down towards the warmer Sound.













We went to Point Defiance Park instead which was not windy and most definitely warmer than Federation Forest. Mom got into her "zone" and began taking lots of beautiful pictures of EK. (She even took some fun ones of the both of us.) Daisy and I took turns helping out by holding the silver reflector. At one point my brothers-in-law Taraz and Rahmat rolled up on their bikes. They did not know we were there but just happened upon us. Tonight we are having a BBQ and a bonfire at my parent's house! Bring on the sunshine, I hope! :)







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Make sure you pause the "finetune" music player or the sound from the video and the music will overlap each other! :)

To be in heaven...

This is a quote from Charles Spurgeon read by our choir director at our Good Friday Service. When he read it I began to think of Gabe and my baby and the joy they must have now being in eternal fellowship with Jesus face to face. And yet we who are still here and who have trusted Christ as our Savior can have a taste of what that will be like.

"To be in heaven is to lean one's head upon the breast of Jesus. You have done it on earth? Then you know what heaven is. To be in heaven is to talk with Jesus, to sit at his feet, to let our heart beat against His heart. If you have had that on earth, you have had some of the grapes of heaven.
Cherish then, these fortastes, of whatever kind they may have been in your individual case. Differently constituted, you will all look at heaven in a different light. Keep your foretaste just as God has given it to you. He has given each of you some one; if you love it, it is more suitable for your own condition. Treasure it up; think much of it. Think more of your Master. For remember, it is 'Christ in you the hope of glory,' after all, that is your only foretaste of heaven; and the more fully prepared shall you be for the bliss of the joyous ones in the land of the happy."

Eva-Karin has arrived!!

My wonderful cousin Eva-Karin just flew in this morning from LA on her spring break. (She is the one on the left in this picture, the one on the right is her wonderful sister Mary Beth.) She will be here until this Saturday. My brother Ben came with me this morning to pick her up from the airport. She was very hungry when she arrived, she explained how breakfast for her was a Easter Nest (nest shaped Rice Crispy Treat with a Peep inside) my Gramma had made and some coffee. She wanted to go someplace that they don't have down in LA so we went to the Ram on Ruston Way, on the waterfront in Tacoma. On the way down I-5 towards Tacoma we hit a huge rain squall and I had to slow my speed way and down and make sure there was lots of space between me and the car ahead of me. The weather has been crazy today. One minute it will be sunny and so pretty and the next minute and dark ominous rain cloud will pass over and dump buckets of rain. This is typical April weather in Washington. I told Eva-Karin in an earlier e-mail message that if she didn't like the weather when she was here then just wait 5 minutes and it would change. I guess my prediction is coming true! :) Tonight we are just going to relax and probably rent a movie.

Happy Easter!!

HE IS RISEN!!