Care2Share

I realize I already posted once today, but I wanted to share an experience that happened to us on Sunday. Our church has started a program recently called Care2Share. It's basic purpose is to bring evangelism more the forefront of our minds. It is equipping us to share our faith in everyday life and look for opportunities that God brings our way. Sunday, we had our second outreach event. We were all supposed to take a picnic lunch to different local parks and just be available to talk to people. The church had printed up over 500 frisbees that had the church name and website on the front and the steps to salvation on the back. Tyler and I took 4 frisbees and went to a park. We were both a little nervous and didn't really know what to expect. We ate our lunch and decided to walk around the park. We found a court for a sport that we had never seen before. So, we talked about what it might be, and finally saw a sign that indicated it was for "bocce." We still had no idea how to play, but decided to go on our way. As we were walking off, a guy came up and asked us if we know what the courts are for. We said no, we didn't really know. He then proceeds to tell us how to play bocce ball! He was very friendly, and he and Tyler started talking about other things. Come to find out, this guy grew up in Africa near where Tyler grew up! They had so much to talk about concerning the differences between life in Africa and the US. Then, we found out that he's in school learning how to be an engineer! So, they talked about that for a while also. Tyler did actually get a chance to give him a frisbee and share the gospel with him at one point, but he didn't make any declarations. He had grown up catholic and most recently had been attending a LDS church. We're pretty sure he is not a Christian, just based on the answers he gave us to the questions we asked him, but anytime the gospel is shared, a seed is planted. As our pastors said, if we hadn't been able to talk to even one person, they would still count the outing as a success because we were available to be used! It's almost that decision to be available that is so hard and scary. Anyway, just wanted to share how proud I am of Tyler for stepping out there. It was also really cool to see who God brought our way and how much he and Tyler "just happened" to have in common. Amazing...

Snack Pictures

Here are pictures from KTC that I haven't taken the time to post until now. I think they all turned out pretty well!

This is Samson's face with a pretzel dumbbell.

This is Hezekiah's Crown and the Belt of Truth.

These are the "Shoes of Peace."

This is the Fiery Furnace.

This is the "He is Risen Doughnut."

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Today is my wonderful husband's 24th birthday! He is such a great guy, and he's all mine! :) I also wanted to brag a little bit, and let you all know that he got a promotion!! He is now a "level 2" employee at Boeing. We're not totally sure what all this entails, but it does come with a raise, and a bump in seniority. A level 2 employee is supposed to have 2-5 years of experience, and Tyler has almost 2 (his anniversary with Boeing is the 18th of August). Obviously, he has shown himself to be a good worker and of value to the company (not that I ever expected anything else...). Go, Tyler!! :)

Catch-up blog

Wow, this has been an incredibly busy few weeks! July 14-18 brought KTC (Kid's Town Camp, or in layman's terms, vbs). As you all know, I was in charge of the snacks, so of course, that week kept me on my toes! We ended up having about 360 kids each day, plus leaders. The snacks went over pretty well, as far as I know. My parents flew in on the morning of the 18th, so they got to experience a little bit of KTC themselves. I think they were quite impressed! Our church is fairly large (about 1000 people each Sunday) so they go all out. We had black light puppet shows (like a little-kids' rock concert feel), skits, fun games, crafts, and of course snacks.

That brings us to the next segment of the catching-up: the Baker visit of 2008! :) We started off their trip with a bang. We went right from the airport to church to finish up KTC. Then, as soon as Tyler got home from work, we made the 3 hour trip to Pacific Beach, WA to stay in a little cabin owned by some friends of ours. It was a great weekend! We played games, read books, flew a kite (which was actually really fun!!), browsed through the stores of "downtown," ate at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant which turned out to have some excellent food, built a bonfire on the beach to roast hotdogs (although, it was incredibly windy and the sand at the beach is very fine, so it got into everything and I could not force myself to eat my hotdog!), and just enjoyed spending time in such a beautiful and laid-back place. We came home Sunday night and stopped at an air show that was going on, so we got to see a flying demonstration. Throughout the week, we took it easy, just making small trips to places like the Pike fish market and IKEA. Then, Saturday, we drove up to Salish Lodge for breakfast and to hike down to the falls. We spent the morning there, grabbed some golf-ball-sized rainier cherries for the rest of the ride, and drove down to Mt. Rainier. We spent the afternoon hiking around some trails there and enjoying the crisp mountain air, then headed back home. All total, we drove about 200 miles that day. Sunday brought church, and then......ETHIOPIAN FOOD!! My parents had never been to an ethi restaurant, so we wanted to make sure they experienced it. The food was really good (Tyler still says nothing is quite authentic enough for him, but it tastes great to me), and my parents had a good time. We visited the Ballard Locks after lunch, which was fun and relaxing. That signalled the end of the trip, which was sad, of course, but we are going home for Christmas, so our parting was made much easier knowing we have a plan to see each other again soon. They flew out on Monday morning, and had to be at the airport at 4am, so we were up at 3am. That brings us to my next adventure (after some pictures)....

Monday morning at 6am, I left home and drove to Maple Valley to begin my week of watching 2 darling kiddos for a friend while she was in New Zealand visiting family. I arrived at 6:30 each day (I was up by 5am each day this week, which, if you know me at all, is not my forte), and stayed until 6:30-7pm each night until their dad got home from work. We filled our days with trips to the park, playing outside, playing at the playplace in the supermall, and watching a few episodes of Curious George. :) It really was a great week, and the kids are so well-behaved that it made my job easy. I have also discovered yet again how hilarious kids are, and kept track of a few of the funnier things they said. Here is a sample:

While eating waffles for breakfast, Zach says: "You have to cut my waffle into little pieces, but you don't have to cut your waffle into little pieces because you have a huge mouth!"


While changing Molly's diaper and trying to be careful of her diaper rash, Molly says: "Kiss it make it better" ....mmmm, sorry girlie, not gonna happen! :D

White looking at pictures of me and my siblings all dressed up at my sister's wedding, Zach says: "Why are you all cuted up?"

So, those were definitely some funny moments! Now, I'm looking forward to a week off and catching up from all the excitement!

God has a sense of humor

After my last post yesterday, and my remark about assuming we wouldn't have another thunderstorm for a while, God decided to show me up! Last night as I was lying in bed, lo and behold, what do I see? That's right, lightning! And this time, we actually got the whole experience! Rain, thunder, wind, everything! It was amazing! Just had to let all you faithful readers that I really have no idea what I'm talking about :)

Lovin' the weather

The weather around here has been WONDERFUL this last week! It was sunny with nice breezes, and highs were in the mid- to upper-80's. It was lovely!! Tyler said it was too hot, but he's already become a Northwest wussy :) We not only got to enjoy the warm weather, we also got experience our very first Northwest thunderstorm this weekend!! I cannot even express how happy it made me to see the flashes of lightning and hear the rumbles of thunder! The storm was about 15-20 miles away from our house, so we didn't get any rain, but it was still amazing. I have missed the midwest storms, and this gave me a little taste of home. I assume that it will not happen again for some time, as this is the first storm we've experienced in the 22 months we've lived here, but it was fun while it lasted. I tried to watch as long as I could, but ended up falling asleep to the show :)

Time flies...

I can't believe how fast the time is going! June is almost over...where did the month go??! We have been keeping busy. Tyler has been working LOTS of overtime as he prepares for a big design review. I have been readying myself for KTC coming up in less than a month. I've gotta get someone to donate 400 glazed donuts and 400 glazed donut holes... :)



We have not been diving again since we got back from the cruise, but that will all change in the next few days!! We have been gradually acquiring our own gear, and in less than 2 weeks, we should have everything we need to go diving once again! :) We are really looking forward to owning our own stuff so we can take a splash whenever we feel the urge.



We have finally gotten some sunshine around here, and it has been lovely!! It's still pretty cool (mid-upper 60's), but at least the sun makes it feel more like summer! :) I must admit, I really miss the thunderstorms of the mid-west. It just doesn't seem like summer without having to watch the skies for tornadoes!



We have a new little nephew, born May 28th. Marshal and Rachel (Tyler's brother and his wife) have added Ryan Caleb to their family and from what I hear, he is a great baby!

Danny and Ryan playing together...so cute!!

And last, but certainly not least, we have company coming next month!! I get to see my parents after being apart for nearly a year! :) I'm really excited to get to hang out with them. So that's what's new with us, what about you?