Wednesday, Thursday & Friday

Wednesday was a good day. We drove through southern Oregon & most of Califonia.


We hit a little bit of snow in the mountains and in Yreka where we stopped for lunch. Here is Josiah trying to catch some snow on his tongue.



Alex avioding the Camera as usual



Here is a site you don't want to see driving down I-5



Lucky for us it was being towed.

Thursday started out simple enough, we headed out of our hotel around 8:00 in the morning. we stopped by the studio lot to have some fun. This was my dad's first look at a Hollywood studio, now there isn't much to see but it's still fun to say you have been on one. The highlight was this... what I believe to be part of the Black Pearl from Pirates.



There is also a corner called "Pluto's corner" on the lot that has the famous street sign that has been there since the begining. It has a fire hydrant on it, and I am sad to say that Alex had to point out he connection between the name and the fire hydrant (Get it, dog's love fire Hydrant's).


We did some shopping at the studio store then headed off to anaheim. We arrived shortly after 12:00 and waited for my sister Kim, her husband Luke, and her two boys, Chris & Gunnar.

Once they showed up it was off to the park!
Chris & Josiah looking at the map while we wait for Space Mountian


Everyone on the Jungle Cruise


Cool dude, Josiah
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Another cool Josiah Shot



And this shot is one Josiah has been hoping for... he was FINALLY tall enough to ride Indiana Jones... by a fraction of an inch. When the cast member told him he was tall enough we all clapped & cheered! It was a very exciting moment for him, up until we got into the scary line. He didn't want to go but we talked him into it and he loved it!



We had dinner at Goofy's kitchen thursday night. Since My mom, Kim & I were all celebrating our big birthday's this year we got the royal treatment... did I
mention that I am the youngest? Kim turns 40, my mom turns 60 and I am only turning 30.



Not s smart chipmunk... he was asking David if he got the plate for him... he needs to learn that David will smack your hand away if you try and touch his food, I was worried dale may lose his life.

Saturday

Saturday was another day in the park, only today the park was PACKED. I don't remember the last time that many people were in the park. We managed to ride a few more rides and enjoy our time. More shopping and of course Jedi Training (See post above).
Saturday night we enjoyed the Dreams Come True Fireworks display.



I tried really hard to get everyone in a photo, but Gunnar & Alex weren't too cooperative... Christopher is the one in front & Gunnar is hiding in his hood.



Luke is my brother in law... he's the one with his arms crossed probably watching the crowd control they have in Disneyland... let's just say it isn't good crowd control.


Here's Kim posing with Josiah before the fireworks starts-



The fireworks were great, the show starts out with Mary Poppins (Yes I know, it is really Julie Andrews), talking about "One man's dream", what a fantastic show. And what an amazing dream that has come true.

Here is Josiah & David enjoy the spectacular fireworks display and laser show... I can't wait to go back!!!

Sunday & Monday

No pictures for Sunday or Monday. The days were full of driving. We left Anaheim at 8:00 Sunday Morning, we stopped for lunch between Bakersfield & Stockon. Had dinner in Redding and made it to Medford by 9:00 pm. We made really good time and stayed reasonably close to the speed limit. Mount Shasta still wasn't peaking through, but it was a beautiful drive.
Monday we left Medford and went through the beautiful Oregon. I never really noticed how many shades of green there are.

We dropped off my parents at 5:00pm Monday night and made our way home... it was so nice to be home.

Easter

Easter snuck up on us this year. With Baseball season in full swing our lives revolve around that, so much so that we were at WalMart last night at 9:30 buying chocolate bunnies. I never wait that long!

However, I realized today how much I love Easter, and how much my boys are growing. First, it is absolutley wonderful that my three boys dress up. I am so in love with all three of them and it's so neat to see them in their ties and suffering just for me. Second, Church. The songs, the little girls in dresses, the joy I have in my life because of what GOD did for me and all of us. It's just so amazing. I teach kids about the fabulous gift of life we have received every week, but it's not until a morning like this one that I feel refreshed and truly greatful for the life I live.

After church we headed to my moms for the annual egg hunt. A few things I learned: 1- Alex is too old for this and it will probably be the last one he ever does- I know I am sad too. 2-I should figure out my mom's new camera BEFORE I start shooting pictures. I had a great one of the three boys, but it ended up being video, so I will try and get a photo from it.



One of the things I appreciate most about the three guys in my life... they deal with my need for the family photo...I think this was the only decent one out of 12...


Overall it was a nice relaxing day. Rejoicing in the Lord, enjoying the boys and then taking a nap... there is no better Sunday than that.

Baby Branley

I don't know how many of you know this, but my little brother is having a baby with his wife. It is so hard to believe that he is old enough to be married, let alone be a dad, but since he is only 11 months younger I guess he is. They both live in Las Vegas and his wife, Ali, fly up here this weekend for a shower. I forgot my camera, but I thought I would share (or show off) the quilt I made for the new little addition. The doctor is guessing it's a girl, so once we know for sure I will be making a more detailed and beatiful quilt for her- The truth really is I am dying for an excuse to get pink, purple and flowery fabric to make a beatiful girly quilt.



Her nursery theme is fish.

Palm Sunday

Josiah sang in church again this Sunday. This time he told us why he didn't like doing it... because we sit in the balcony and it's too far away, so this time we sat front and center. The video is off my digital camera, so it's not that great and I can't zoom in. Josiah is the one behind the kid in the striped shirt- you can't miss him- he's the one that can't sit still.


Here he is after his preformance with a hot chocolat (An Espresso stand is a new addition in our church, it's a great ministry and really helps out, plus I get to fulfill a long time dream of being a Java Diva without having to drink the stuff).


Mikayla... Keith's Daughter. I just adore her. the best part of taking her photo is as soon as she see's the camera she poses. She is a DOLL.


What's Palm Sunday without Palm Branches?


And wait... is that Alex trying to dodge the camera... I think so!

How long til we leave....

Free Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com

It's BASEBALL SEASON!
Yahoo!

Well Alex started playing baseball on the 17th of this month. As you read earlier, he had his first homerun that day. On friday night I sat in the POURING down rain for two hours and enjoyed him playing again. Now being a true Seattlite- I don't own an umbrella so I was SOAKED to the bone. But I got a few pictures.



On Saturday we chose a dryer way to enjoy the game, we parked the van on the hill behind the outfield and let Josiah & Mikayla (My best friends daughter who spent the day with us) watch a movie so we could enjoy the game.

Josiah is a little silly....

A few days ago he begged me to draw a happy face on his belly so he could make it talk. I don't know where he gets his sense of humor.

What a Crazy week!

Ok first, I went on our bi-annual women's retreat with my church, it was so fantastic! I am already looking foward to the next one. Below is a picture of my room mates- Kim, Stacie & Jennifer. We stayed up lated playing spoons & pranks.



While I was at Women's Retreat Alex had his opening game for baseball. He called me saturday afternoon to tell me he hit a HOMERUN!?!?!?!!! I couldn't believe I missed his first one! Sorry no pictures of baseball yet, since the last two games have been rained out. I am hoping to see him hit another home run soon! I am so glad he has a sport he really enjoys!

Alex's Weekend!

This was a busy weekend for us. Alex was asked to be on the AWANA Games again this year. This will be his last year in AWANA so these games were special to watch.


After 10 different games his team came out on top, first place! what an exciting day. The games involve running around the AWANA cirlce, tossing the bean bag & my favorite the 4 way tug of war.


On Sunday Alex had a Baseball Jamboree. It was a good practice game for the boys. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures. As I was sitting there under four blankets, and bundled up to avoid the wind & rain, I decided that pulling my camera out of my pocket envolved exposing myself to the conditions. Hopefully at the start of baseball season next week the weather will be a little nicer, or I will find a better parking spot that will allow me to watch from the car.

New Addition!

We got a new addition in our house. For those of you who may not know here is the background: David and I have always had one car, for seven years, we have juggled schedules, waited around and begged other people for rides when needed. well this week marks a huge milestone in the Lewis household... a second car. It's hard to see in this photo cause of the snow, but it's there behind Alex. It's a Kia Sedona, and we love it. Yes it's a minivan, but I don't think I could handle another baseball season with one car. What a huge blessing it is for us, we are already enjoying the benefits of the second car!

Snow!

We got 6" of snow last night! It was an interesting storm, Mukilteo and Everett got hit hard and everyone else around us got 2-3" and just 5 miles south of us didn't get anything. For fear of freezing, I stayed in the house while david took the boys out. That was my excuse anyways, I have 3 quilts that need to be finished sooner or later. :-)




My little snow angel- which can be deceiving... he came in bouncing off the walls so I am not sure if 'angel' is a good description. :-)

Here is the picture that is worth a THOUSAND words... Mikayla's first look at the castle in Disneyland.



For more great shots and stories or our adventure look below & check out Kim's blog (Link on the right!)

Disneyland!!!

We were so lucky this last week to be given the opportunity for a 3 day getaway to Disneyland, my favorite place (David really came along to make me happy).

After a two hour flight delay, my best friend, Kim and her family picked us up at the Orange County airport for a day of fun at the Magic Kingdom. This was a dream come true for me. Mikayla, Keith's daughter, was coming with us. A 5 year old girl, who still believes in all that Magic. I got her a Cinderella dress to wear for the day & Cinderella even sent Mikayla a crown & an invitation for lunch with the Princesses.

Our first stop was to show her the Castle. The look on her face was priceless. I love seeing a child's first response to such a wonderful site.



It really was a blast. After they left on Thursday we spent Friday & Saturday Morning just by ourselves. It was a great time together wandering around and enjoying each other's company. We kept thinking of the boys and how much fun they would be having too.



Saturday Morning we got into the park an hour early. The park was great, we managed to get a photo infront of the empty castle. Also, here is a photo of main street. I guess not to many people wanted to get up that early in the morning to enjoy the park :-).


Overall it was very relaxing and tiring, but we had a great time & I can't wait to go back in April with the boys.
here are a couple of more pictures that I really liked.

If I had to guess this quilt has been in production for almost a year and a half. This quilt started when my dear friend was going through a devasting time in her life. At that time she chose a project, makeover her bedroom. So her, her mom & myself headed for Joann's to find exactly what she wanted.

Her mom cut all the fabric up and had it ready for us to come over and work on it. Well life got in the way of that plan and in March of last year I took the bucket of cut up fabric home and began work.

This quilt was a huge challenge for me. It really tested my patience and taught me a lot about quilting. This quilt was also the "back burner" quilt, I only pulled it out when I had absolutly no other project to work on. But after many months it is complete. I will be sending it off to MO to have it professionally quilted and in two weeks when it's time to had the quilt over to my dear friend's mom to bind it, it will feel complete. I will try and grab snap shots of her room when it is complete, cause I am pretty sure this is the final piece to her beautiful bedroom.

BTW, the quilt is huge, David is holding it up the best he could.

I couldn't resist posting this for all to see.

Important Safety Bulletin


The American Medical Association has announced a new national symbol for choking. Please inform all of the people in your safety department.

OLD SYMBOL





NEW SYMBOL

Another quilt for the books. I bought some of the fabric for this on ebay several months back and I have been drawing out the different ways I was going to complete it. I chose to pick the satin fabric for the pink ribbon in the middle. I offically started working on it on Thursday and finished it today. This is just the top, now I need to decide if I should machine quilt it (Stitch in the ditch of the pink ribbon), send in to a couple in MO who will long arm it for very cheap or... I just can't wait to get it finished off.

Go Seahawks!!!

If you don't already know David was given the gift of Seahawks tickets last year, and one of the benefits to these tickets are Playoff games... Well last night we got enjoy the Wild Card game against the Cowboys... It was cold... it was loud... it was stressful... and it was a BLAST! I LOVE football!! We enjoyed the game with another couple from our Sunday School class/bible study, Ben and Cassandra.

Quilts! Quilts! Quilts!

For those of you who don't already know... I love to quilt. I finished this quilt tonight for a coworker who had her first baby last week. It's the first time I did a nine patch by strip quilting. I had loads of fun with this (don't look to closely at my corners) :-). I even got to use my new sewing maching... I sewed little ducks in the corner.
It is so hard to give these quilts away, but I know she will get lots of use out of it. Now on to the next project....