The Great Storm(s) of 2012

So it turns out the snow did stick around…  In fact, we experienced a sequence of storms that caused a lot of damage throughout Western Washington.  We started with a couple days of snow and it looked like it was going to be fun.  The boys played outside, school started a bit late, and all was good.  After a few inches of snow, everything turned to freezing rain, which built up on the plants, cars, roads, house, and pretty much anything else.  And the wind blew.  About 300,000 homes and businesses lost power, including us.  Our electricity was off from Thursday morning at 6:30 to Saturday noon.  Life changes without electricity and with limited mobility.  And mobility was not all that useful since none of the restaurants or anything else had power.  We largely stayed home, read, and played board games and with non-electric toys like Lego’s.  It was a very good time for the boys to exercise these skills.  When it was all over (hopefully, it’s all over), Randy spent some time removing tree branches that had broken (mostly) off.  Then we ventured out and took some pictures of the damage.  Some places (as in one street over) looked as if a hurricane had struck.  Our old home had a tree completely uprooted.

We’re grateful to have our power back, but the close family time was also nice.  The boys were fantastic through it all.  Daniel had some glasses with a built-in flashlight (in case you’re wondering what he’s wearing in some of the pictures).  He used the glasses to build his Lego chopper in the dark.

Note: we combined the new pictures in the same slideshow with the previous snow pictures, so both this post and the one right below use the same slideshow.

Snow!

We got some snow last night and today.  David made a snow-sheriff and the boys had a pretty good snowball fight.  It looks like the snow will stick around for a couple more days so we don’t know if school will be canceled yet.  We took a few pictures and a little video today.  Enjoy.

Pacific Science Center

Sarah & Kyle gave us a membership to the Pacific Science Center for Christmas.  When the girls were younger we loved going there, so it was gratifying that she (they) got this gift for us.  We took the boys for our first visit and, knowing we will go back with some regularity, we took our time with a few exhibits rather than trying to take in the whole thing.  We watched an IMAX movie (The Adventures of Tintin – 3D); you’ve gotta love the glasses!  We all enjoyed the day tremendously.

Disco Ball

The other day David started joking that he throws “disco parties” when he is left at home alone.  Mind you, he is never home alone more than five minutes and this happens once a month when Sary-Jo has to take Daniel to school early.  Nevertheless, he apparently “pushes a button” and a disco ball appears for the big party he throws.  He had us in stitches as he told this story.  So today Sarah went shopping and brought home a disco ball for him.  Here is a little video of Sarita dancing with the boys.

Snow Boarding / Skiing

On Thursday (12/29) we took Daniel and David up to the snow.  In another car, Sarah took her exchange student, Sara, Stefano (our past exchange student) and Chiara (Stefano’s girlfriend), and Felix (Julie & Cindy’s exchange student).  So, if you’re keeping score we had two Italians, two Ethiopians, a Spaniard, a German and a Puerto Rican – it’s hard to imagine more national diversity in two carloads!

The boys took snowboarding lessons for a couple hours.  Sarah and Sara took skiing lessons.  Then, after lunch, it was on to the slopes!  Click the picture above to see more; watch the video below.

Ice Skating

David, Sarita, Stefano, Chiara

We took Daniel, David, Stefano, Chiara and Sara ice skating on Wednesday, 12/28/11.  Along with the kids, Randy was out on the ice but somehow didn’t make it into any of the final video.  That must be because the kids are pretty good skaters and, well, Randy is not.

Safeco Field Tour

Press Conference

With Stefano and Ryan both in town, it seemed like a good idea to take the Safeco Field tour.  We’ve toured it before – back when Sarah was a tour guide – but it was still fun and informational.  David enjoyed calling the bullpen from the dugout… until the phone in the bullpen would not stop ringing and we thought our poor guide was going to have to go out there (in the rain) to lift it off the hook.

Zoolights

At the "beach"

What a busy December we have had!  Steve and Carrie got sick and had to cancel our plans for the “final” family Christmas gathering planned for the 26th.  Not to worry about boredom – we went to Zoolights at Point Defiance.  The lights were beautiful and the weather was a bit warmer than prior years (still very cold).  We especially enjoyed the aquarium as the sea life was quite active.  After Zoolights we had dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  We took lots of pictures (surprise!).  Click the one above to see more.

The Christmas Story – 2011 Version

One of our family traditions is having the children memorize the Christmas story from Luke 2.  Before we open gifts we take a few moments to focus on the true meaning of Christmas – that God Himself took on human form to reconcile us to Him.  The boys memorized the story last year and then brushed up on it this year.  Since Sarah and Janel were home for Christmas, they helped with the recitation (which they had not done for a while) and it was awesome.  Enjoy the video.

Christmas Day 2011

In keeping with our tradition, we stayed home on Christmas Day.  Daniel, David, Sarah, Sara, Stefano and Chiara all spent the night at Margie’s house (thank you so much, Margie), but they got up early to come over and begin the festivities.  Janel and Ryan stayed with us.  As we always do, we started with a discussion about the true meaning of Christmas; they kids (all 4) recited the Christmas story from Luke 2.  Randy prepared a devotional from Matthew 2 about the gifts of the wise men being an act of worship – our tradition of giving gifts should also be done out of love and reverence for our Savior.  We then opened stockings and paused for breakfast (bagels & lox).

After breakfast, we spent several hours opening and enjoying gifts.  With so many people we took our time so we could savor each gift and the joy of giving and receiving.  Along the way we cooked a nice turkey for dinner.  Randy’s parents came over and visited for quite a while as well.  And, as you might imagine, we took a few pictures.  Click on the one shown to see more.