Traditions and More.......

I know you have all been waiting for me to post more of my Christmas memories...
For the past 16 or so years we have a special little tree that we set up in a corner on December 1st. Around it are 24 wrapped Christmas books and each night in December(before Christmas) the kids choose a book to unwrap and we read it together. Each year I add a new book and the kids always try to find it right away. Of course, it isn't such an easy thing to do because the books are put away the rest of the year and one tends to forget which book is which after a year has gone by. When all the kids were at home they would take turns opening one....searching hard to find the newest addition. Now it is just Josh....but still he loves opening the books...and true to form he only took about a week to find this years book..... Josies Gift...a sweet story about a girl, a blue sweater, and the true meaning of Christmas. All in all we have over 60 books. Santa books, nativity stories....paperbacks and hardbacks alike are always fun to read together as a family.
I love this plate. I have it proudly displayed in my kitchen...it was made with love by my missionary when he was 8 years old.
And THIS is my husband sporting his very special sweatshirt, made especially for him by my Aunt Adele. You see cousin Jane made all the women in our family red sweatshirts like this and we have been known to wear them to our annual "Esther Drew Memorial Scrabble Tournament" in December. Apparently Richard was whining last year how HE didn't have a sweatshirt.....Santa didn't bring HIM one. The other day Aunt Adele brought a package over....apparently Santa wanted him to have one after all. Thanks Aunt Adele....you are amazing!

Christmas Memories

Okay....so here's the thing. I have always admired a beautifully decorated tree that looks like it came from the cover of a decorating magazine.....you know the ones they have at the festival of the trees that they auction off for charity. Well....this is OUR tree. We go each year and cut one down at Thorntons Tree Farm. Though I have always dreamed of having a perfectly coiffed tree....this tree is full of memories and love.We've done different things...beads, tinsel, garland....This year Josh wanted to put this gold ribbon on it. Now I want to share some of our dozens of ornaments that have special meaning to us...please indulge me for a moment as I go down memory lane.
This is from the year I was expecting Josh and we traveled to Texas to spend Christmas with my sister Debi and her family. Jenny got the chicken pox while we were there...for the 2nd time and we weren't sure we would be able to fly home on time. Jenny made this for us in 1st grade....sweet and toothless.
LaDena made us this one year along with a little stocking made of felt.
My friend Melanie made us quite a few of these needlepoint ornaments our first Christmas in 1983.
I got this from my Grandma Drew many years ago...I think she told me it was made by my Great Grandmother Robb....it's 3 dimensional.
One year a sister in Relief Society made these for everyone...and she taught a class on how to make them....it's a lightbulb!
I bought this at the National Archives in Washington DC when Josh marched in the Inaugural Parade.
We bought several ornaments on our Church history trip.....this one has the Nauvoo Temple on it.
Grandma Drew was famous for her snowflakes and other creations. We have ALOT of these on our tree and love thinking of her each time we put them on...she is missed!!
I was working in Josh's class the year he did this...I put the kits together.
Jon's in the 2nd or 3rd grade here. The pretzels are getting fragile.... we haven't eaten them yet!
Aunt Adele made this very fun Santa and suprised us with it one year....many years ago.

And what would our tree be without paper ornaments given to us by the grandkids...Maralee has grown alot since this was made!
Thanks for hanging (no pun intended) in there with me...STAY TUNED as I will post some more Christmas memories soon:)

Blessings

We never know what direction our lives will take. This is the week I should have been in Utah with my family........................ INSTEAD.........they came to me!!! And though I was not up to doing alot, we did manage to make a memory at BIZI Farms for Sadie and Jenny's first ever trip to a pumpkin patch. Uncle Josh came along too!
Mostly I sat around loving on Sadie while being pampered by my family. I picked up this little walker at a garage sale this summer and it came in very handy for feedings. Sadie is such a happy girl:)
I received lots of beautiful flowers during my hospital stay for Ventricular Tachycardia, where it was determined my heart is healthy and strong....I just have an electrical short somewhere..... I'm a mystery. I've had lots of cards, visitors and get well wishes from friends and family alike...... I feel very blessed. Yesterday I got this super cute happy face vase and minature rose bush from my niece Kristie and her family in Kentucky. It made my day!! Thanks everyone!!

The Burnt Bridge Trail

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to a beautiful day. We had it all planned. We put on our walking shoes, packed a few snacks and filled our water bottles. We wanted to take our camera, but the battery was dead. Oh, how I wish we had the camera.

It was the day we were doing a 20 miler with Josh for scouts. He only needed this one last thing to get his hiking merit badge and there were no plans to do it with his troop. Richard researched it out and chose the Burnt Bridge Trail....8 miles across Vancouver one way and 8 miles back....then continuing on the last 4 miles to home.



Like I said....it was a beautiful day. I chose to walk the first leg with Josh. Winding through Vancouver amidst the fall foilage and evergreens, the water from the creek splashing along side us as we walked....eventually leading us to Vancouver Lake. It was a day to recognize the beauty of the earth. There was a chill in the air and the sun shone intermittently through the trees. Richard met us at various stops along the way, cheering us on. We were going to switch off, but I wanted to see all of it and not miss a thing. In the span of the walk we went under a highway and over Interstate 5. The mountains were visible in the distance. As we walked I recalled memories of the places we passed...Leverich Park where we played with Grandma and Grandpa Drew as little girls and Kiggins Bowl, where I atttended many of my high school football games. Josh talked of the future....finishing high school, college and his mission. We passed many people...joggers, bikers, people walking their dogs. We listened to music which helped us keep up the pace.

When all was said and done We each walked 10 miles with Josh.....we encouraged him along the way. Not exactly what a 16 year old would prefer to do on a Saturday, but his eye was on the goal. Walking from one end of Vancouver to the other, I felt like a pioneer....exploring the beauty and nature that Heavenly Father meant for us to enjoy.

Beautiful Pacific Northwest

Before school got started again, Richard and I took a little trip to the coast for the weekend. It had been too long since we had taken a trip....just the 2 of us.We decided on Lincoln City Oregon. We love all the beaches, but our very favorite place to stay is just overlooking the ocean. We can see it from our window and our hotel has stairs going down to the beach. Our first day there was beautiful!! We walked along the beach for several miles and there was the most beautiful sunset!! I didn't have my camera...but the 2nd night I did and though there were alot of clouds it was still very pretty!It was a very relaxing weekend. We played games at our little table and looked out at the view, shopped at the outlet mall, ate at our favorite restaurants, and watched movies late into the night. We drove around scouting out houses to rent and making plans for the day we will have all our kids and families with us for a reunion. Won't that be fun?
I love driving through the coast range...could anybody doubt the reason why we love living in the northwest??? Even the seagulls add beauty and splendor as they ride the wind over the water and land on the beach looking for food.

11 Year Journey

I Love this kid!! So sweet and innocent. This is Joshua's first day of kindergarten way back in 1999.He LOVED playing legos and K'NEX, and climbing his tree.
Here he is 11 years later. Now he's driving and is old enough to date. It's hard to believe my baby only has 2 years of high school left. And by the way....11 years have passed and he's STILL sweet and innocent...(though maybe a little sassy at times)
Have a great Junior year Josh!!!

Girls Camp Adventure

A night in the tent at Camp Nisqually sounded something like this:
POP POP POP POP....BOOM....POP POP POP.....BOOM BOOM BOOM.....SWOOSH SWOOSH (HELICOPTER DIRECTLY OVERHEAD) WHOO WHOO WHOO (OWL DIRECTLY OVERHEAD)....RRRRRR..SCREECH (CAT FIGHT)....POP POP POP....BOOM!!! Then there are the critters outside the tent rustling the grass...oh and did I mention the artillery shells and bombs and helicopters doing night maneuvers at Fort Lewis Army Base at 1:00am??? POP POP BOOM!!!Raccoons were an everyday occurrence. I did NOT see any of the rats we were told were running rampant at the camp (thank goodness), though I did get a picture of a raccoon.
We were VERY careful not to leave any food out anywhere...but on our last night we had some chocolates in a heart shaped box that we forgot to put away during campfire. When I remembered it Ericka and I ran back to our camp and this is what we found. Our raccoon friend had so very carefully opened up the kisses we had in the box (footprints found in box) and we are sure he had one BAD tummy ache that night!!
We were very busy each day, but we did get a chance to walk down to archery...I wanted to earn my bullseye bead, but after 10 shots, I didn't make it and we had to get back. I did however have a nice huge bruise on my arm that is just now about gone 2 weeks later.
Everyone asks me what my job is at camp...well....since I'm there as part of the Stake YW Presidency I begged for something to do a few years ago so I could tell people I really do work at camp. I am Ericka's assistant (she's over the unit leaders and also my tent mate and one of my closest friends) and we have tons of fun doing all the stuff for our unit (the stakies). This year I also set up the camp store each day that the 4th year girls run. Here Ericka and I are cutting up snacks and bagging them for the girls to "buy" with the points they get each day. Don't you LOVE the hats...after all we were the "Queens of Heart" Each night the stake leaders would have fun sitting by the fire talking and getting crafts ready for the next day.... and I must say we would get a bit giggly....(more like hysterical).....One day I got to our tent and there was this huge rock on my air mattress. To weed out who did it I mentioned to everyone I saw that someone had put a HUGE rock on my bed and it had popped my air mattress (it didn't really) Sis. Van Epps.... our fearless leader said "we put it on so carefully"!! HA!! I caught her. She had actually assigned Bro. Nuffer the job of finding a good rock for me....and it took 2 of us to carry it. It was all in fun! Richard sprayed it for me so I now have it outside in my rose bed out front. Camp was fun and spiritual and just a great time....in spite of all the critters and noise.

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

When I saw this it made me think of Jonathan as he labors in the mission field.

Claim Your Kingdom

I LOVE the Gospel! I LOVE the Church!! I LOVE the programs of the church. They are SO inspired.
Girls Camp.....This is my 3rd year of being involved with girls camp. This year we were at a church owned camp in Nisqually WA...near Olympia, about 2 1/2 hours away. Never experienced it as a girl and never really appreciated it as my daughter was going... as much as I COULD have, having now experienced it myself. There is nowhere in the world a finer place to be. It's not just a camp. As I was on my drive home today I had the thought that if all the young women world over could have been at girls camp with our stake this year, many lives would have been changed. Many were. It's not just any camp. Not only do the girls learn and grow and stretch themselves....not only do they learn to serve and lead and overcome.....they feel the Spirit. I can't even begin to tell all the wonderful things that happened at girls camp. There were some challenges of course...with over 100 girls of various ages and personalities, but it was spiritual and FUN and refreshing to get away from the things of the world for the week. We had around 30 girls who have been planning camp since January. They are AWESOME girls! Our theme this year was "Claim Your Kingdom" The 6 units of girls were able to choose their name. All of the adult leaders (of which I'm a part) were "The Queens of Heart". We walked around camp with our little foam crowns and sang our fun little songs. Monday the leaders and Youth leaders went up to set up the camp. There was a ropes course the girls did...and some adults. We had a spiritual program Tuesday night called "The Parable of the Princesses." Friday night was the most awesome program. The girls went down a path in camp and along the way there were places they would come to that represented things in their lives that might be difficult for them. There were quotes to read and if it was something they felt was difficult for them they would pick up a lava rock. Lava rocks have holes that represented The Savior and his lightening our burdens. At the end of the path there was a projector set up (this was an evening program) with a huge picture of the Savior. The girls would cast their burdens they had collected (rocks) at the Saviors feet as they contemplated all their Savior has done for them. Then they walked out into the staging area where it was decorated with a huge white temple lit up and white luminaries lighting up the benches. All the adults were waiting for them. It was so cool! Like I said...Girls Camp is AWESOME!!! I have some stories to tell and pictures to post, but this is too long already so I'll do it soon:)

Summer.....So Far

The past few months have been busy busy....June took us to Utah for the Egan Family reunion and Sadie Mae's Blessing Day.....
Youth Conference and Dance Festival with 2,ooo kids!! Josh is the couple waltzing in the very middle.
Jenny and Sadie Mae came to visit. I miss those girls SOOOOO...much!!
Sadie Mae LOVES her Uncle Josh.... We've been empty nesters all summer with Josh gone to EFY, Idaho and now he's gone back to Utah with Jenny for a few weeks.
I had a baby shower for Sadie with over 30 women in my living room! It was cozy but fun....
The annual July picnic for the Drew Family at my cousin Tom's in Oregon....Jenny and Sadie arrived just in time!
Four generation picture with our baby and Great Grandma Cameron
At my sister Elizabeths house in Seattle with Great Grandma Rose and Brother Henry.....
With Grandpa Bill in Edmonds (near Seattle).....
Richard and his sisters on the day of our nephew Todds funeral.

Good Things to Come

Check out this video....it gives us hope for good things to come:)
Good Things to Come

Celebrate the Music

This week we are having a band auction to raise money for our band program. People get donations and then we have a silent auction during our final concert of the year. It is very fun! In years past it has been VERY successful....I end up spending a bit of money myself and have got some really cool stuff:) This year I decided I wanted to make a rag quilt to auction off. I had a blast choosing the fabric. It is full of musical instruments of all kinds.
I made a matching pillowcase too!! Even though I've made alot of pillowcases, I found some really good instructions on how to make a seamless case.... on You Tube!!
I found this plastic wrapper from a bedspread we bought years ago just laying around....so I put the blanket in it and it had a handy pocket to put the pillowcase in too. I made a little card to display it with. I hope it makes some money.... And this post would not be complete without me sharing another picture of me with Sadie Mae. I'll get to hold her again in just 10 days!! I can't wait!