Above Rubies

Above Rubies is a ministry that encourages women in their calling to be the wife and mother God desires them to be.

In February, Dave's close friend Michael, sent Tara, Michael's wife, and me to the Above Rubies retreat in Olympia, Wa. The retreat was held at Black Lake Bible Camp. It was refreshing to be around other women who are in the same boat; with babies on our hips, toddlers at our toes and home school at the kitchen table. But I would say,  I enjoyed deep conversation with my sweet friend Tara most of all. We had a cabin all to ourselves and spent most nights talking and sharing until we could hardly keep our eyes open.

With the Warrens this summer in Lancaster, PA

But I will never forget about the awesome adventure we had before even getting to the camp!!! 

We flew into Seattle on Thursday, late afternoon, and hit the town running! look out two mommas without kids out on the town.

 First we picked up our mustang. YES! MUSTANG!!

After we picked up the car we headed to Thai Fusion for dinner. It was wonderful Thai and I look forward to going back soon! For the atmosphere and food it was reasonable priced. We ate and talked and ate and talked some more!

 After a night of uninterrupted sleep in a comfortable bed and not one child "alarm clock" we got up and hit the town tourist style. With Starbucks in hand we walked down to Pike's Place.

 At one point we walked right past it and right down to the sea side/board walk. Once we found the lovely green sign above we found our way.

the famous "Gum wall" in Seattle

 THIS WALL IS DISGUSTING! It smelled minty fresh but I felt very germy getting anywhere near it. Needless to say I did NOT add a piece of gum!!! It was just GROSS!

 We walked through the market and enjoyed looking at the local art work and while there wasn't any famous BIG fish throwing, we got to see the famous fish fillet throwing. It works.

 After Pikes place we headed to the space needle.

Where is my coffee??

 We made a quick trip to Ikea before heading down to Olympia for our retreat. Our time in Seattle was fun, enjoyable but entirely way to short.

Second day of our retreat

 Cute right? Rustic and woody.

I had a wonderful time and it was refreshing to be with my friend and rest. Tara is a sweet friend who challenges my thinking and encourages me in my stage of life.

Thank you Michael and Tara for blessing me with this trip. Your family is a blessing to ours and we love you all!

Prom???

 If you would have told me in High School that I would get to go the prom later in life with the love of my life I would have laughed. But that is exactly what I got to do!
Dave and I went to prom. I would have to say it was a lot better then high school prom! I did go with a good guy, back in high school, who respected me but I was nervous and uncomfortable. But to go to prom with Dave was amazing! Great conversation, wonderful dancing, goofy dancing and not out to prove anything just enjoy each other!

 We doubled with one of Dave study buddys Nick and Nicks wonderful wife Samantha! We had an enjoyable evening that started with dinner at 5 North. Dave enjoyed a tender steak, Nick had flavorful duck and Samantha and I had Mahi Mahi and it was amazingly seasoned with a creamy sauce. Everything was cooked and presented lovely!

Samantha getting her feet massaged in between dances.

 We arrived at the dance 30 mins late. . . to find only a few people seated around tables. We thought we were in for a dud of an evening so the four of us found a table and began playing Yuker. (It is a card game) Before we new it the room was crowed and the dance floor hoping!

 As I entered the dance floor I felt out of my element. A sweet friend of mine who is a fellow young life leader yelled out "Pretend you are at Young Life!!!!" Say no more, I danced!! I danced like everyone around me was at a young life camp. I suppose this statement only makes sense if you are in Young Life, but I am sure there are a few of you reading this and nodding your head in total agreement with me! HERE IS TO ALL MY YOUNG LIFE!

 AAAWWW I love Nick and Samantha! SO CUTE

It was a masquerade

I sure do love this man!!

Sledding

 Snow does not stick around in Yakima for very long. A sad truth that we will just have to deal with, especially since Anchorage is getting a record snow fall this year.
However, we have decided to make the best of it. SOOOOOO this past weekend we headed towards the mountains and found a wonderful sledding spot. It is a place where the road construction crews keep piles of gravel and dirt. PERFECTION!

 Getting some air!

 Baby was NOT thrilled with the snow at all! He did NOT want to be set down in it and detested the noise the sled made when pulled across the snow/ice. So I held him; but he did go down twice on my lap and he was okay with that.

Notice the blue sky

my snow babies!

JJ catching air

Benn catching air!

Now notice the GRAY sky!

 On the way towards White Pass from Yakima there is an elk reservation so we stopped to see THOUSANDS of ELK!!

Can not tell but there are Elk as far as the eye can see!

NERF

Tonight while preparing dinner I was ambushed by two stealthy little men dressed in super hero costumes. Bullets were flying, I was dodging; I was sure my life had ended. Before I knew it, the war was over. . . my little "enemies" had run out of ammo. I am safe for now, but you better believe me when I said, I am a mama packing heat now.

I love Nerf wars!

Snow in Yakima

We finally got snow in Yakima!! As I blog we have 7 inches!!! It is not the record snow fall that Anchorage got this year, but we are pretty excited about what we have!!

Thank you Jesus for the snow!!