Merry Christmas 2010

A good friend of ours was very generous and did an amazing photo session with our family.  Fun!

Perceptions can be a tricky beast

Do you ever wonder at what point you form an opinion about something?  It's funny how perceptions get formed.  Have you had an impression about something before you ever saw it - based on a perception or assumption  - maybe even misinformation - about what or how {it} should look?

Now - there is a phrase I learned soon after meeting Duncan: "Your perception is your reality" - meaning, even if other people don't think you should feel a certain way about something, it does not make it wrong for you to feel that way.   Your perception is your reality.  If someone hurts you, it does no good for them to say: "That shouldn't have hurt" or "That's silly to feel that way" - this is not to say you don't need to step back and think about why you responded a certain way... it just means that the way you perceive something is going to affect your view.

As we were winding down our East Coast vacation, I realized I had a perception about something.  Probably formed at some point in my early education years - it's not a huge deal, but it was interesting to me because it changed how I looked for an item of interest. 

We spent some time wandering around Plimoth Plantation -

 Taking in all the sites and sounds of an historic replica of the original settlement.  Everyone was in character and interacted with the visitors quite a bit.  The kids got to see how they cooked meals and trained animals.  We were all interested to see the clothing they wore.

We all had a great time.  We went back to our car and drove the 3 miles to view the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock.  As we were driving along, I had the map so we could view where Plymouth Rock was and find parking nearby. 

I could see on the map that it was before the Mayflower replica, so as we began to see the Mayflower in the distance, I wondered how I was missing Plymouth Rock.  I often miss things the first time around, so I didn't mention it to Duncan - not wanting to embarrass myself.  We parked and ate lunch in the park overlooking the Mayflower. 

I began mulling over the fact that I still hadn't seen Plymouth Rock.  Then I realized I had a perception and an expectation that Plymouth Rock would look like one of the other large rocks I have seen:

Haystack Rock - Cannon Beach, OR

After we ate lunch, we put the cooler back in the car and Duncan led us over to Plymouth Rock -

I was quite surprised to find that it was really rather small...

I am not sure at what point my perception was formed of a larger rock in Plymouth.  I guess because it was always talked about, I figured it was a large item - like the Statue of Liberty or Haystack Rock - and not just a small but symbolic thing.

Seattle - June 2010

We were able to take a trip to the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle today - fun times!  The weather cooperated and we didn't get showered on - great since we were walking everywhere!  The kids were troopers and did great.

We ended up being able to see a Navy Ship from New Zealand up close.  Graeme thought that was great.

Then we explored the shops as we waited for the ferry back to Kitsap County

What a week....

It has been a very interesting 7 days. Duncan and I went to a Pastors Conference last Fri/Sat.  We had a great time away - enjoying time with our Senior Pastor Terry Tharp as well as James & Liz Newman (Worship Pastor).

 

We came back home to pick up our kids from our friends' house and barely got in the door at our place before we realized that Blaire had a fever.  Thankfully it only last 24 hours, but the cough stuck around much longer.  Graeme was next... coming down with a fever on Monday night.  His cough was much deeper in his chest, but also much more productive than Blaire's.  Paige had tummy issues and a mild fever last night. 

Duncan and I have been feeling a bit run-down.  Especially today.  Paige had us up till 2am. 

We've been trying to stay healthy - especially because Duncan has a big event going on this Saturday with all the other youth groups in town - expecting a lot of teens to come hear the bands and the speaker at Rock the Corn.

Fall Decoration or Beauty Product?

Wooden Boat Festival 2009

Outdoor Toy Box

We have been needing a box to keep outdoor toys in. There never seems to be enough room in the budget to purchase one, so I was quite pleased to see that the local cedar store had put out a 'free bin'. We raided the bin and found quite the loot - Duncan was able to build this and re-use some hinges we had removed from another broken toy box. We still need to sand and re-seal it, but it's doing the job for the time being.

Family Camp - July 2009

It was our first year attending Family Camp at Lake Retreat and it was a lot of fun. Duncan was still 'catching up' on lost sleep from his trip to Utah with the teens and World Changers, so he spent the first couple of days resting in the cabin and trying to kick the pesky fever he gets when he's overtired. We enjoyed some quiet evenings of reading while the kids were in bed - that was very relaxing.

The weather was great - upper 80's - exactly what you want when spending a week at the lake! The kids enjoyed splashing in/around the water, (canoe-ing & kayaking) and riding bikes along the trails. Blaire Rose became quite proficient on her 2-wheeler and Paige didn't 'bottom out' too often with her training wheels. A few skinned knees and banged up elbows, but no major injuries.

We took a quick day-trip to the nearby town of Black Diamond -

checking out the local museum and original bakery.

We did a lot of swinging

Cardboard Boat Races

Posing with our *new* friends Shawn & Joanna Newberry and all the kids.

Ping Pong Race

For more participants, visit WW.

4th of July

We had a great visit with family and friends on the 4th of July. We got to see lots of cousins and spend time getting our nails painted red/white/blue, riding bikes, splashing around in the sprinkler and eating a good amount of delicious food.

Fathers Day Picnic

After church, we took our packed picnic lunch and headed to Port Gamble for a Civil War Re-enactment. We love Port Gamble and all it's historic charm.





In the 4 years we've been here, this is the first time we've stayed for one of the battle re-enactments - we had a good time sitting in the grass across the street and watching the battle. The cannon was quite the high-light.



I enjoyed using my new {birthday present} camera and had a blast doing some photo editing when we got home. We lasted 6 years on our last digital camera and it was literally dead.

Happy Birthday Duncan

Your ever-present take-charge personality is so charming....

To the best husband and father I know....
I love you and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.

Happy Mother's Day

We have been planning to do some raised planting beds along our back and side fence. On Friday we purchased everything we {thought} we needed and got right to work on Saturday morning.

Only 2 trips to Home Depot & one stop @ McDonald's later and we were finished with the back fence portion. Working together as a family was a great Mother's Day present.

All 3 kids were excited and willing to help out.

They had a great time assisting in clearing the 'trench' area and
they loved helping move the landscape timbers.