January Newsletter

Hey Friends and Family,

I've been silent...but, you know that doesn't last long with me. I guess after we left Korea I didn't think you guys would be all that interested in everything we are doing. Either way, I'm going to share some highlights from my handy-dandy iPhone. I finally transferred some pictures onto the computer AND I have a day off of work...look forward to more regular posts!

AND... We would like to thank Laura Grant for the amazing and bold new header for our blog. We love it!

Okay, onto a photo shoot:

Who is more awesome than Preston?

Derek and his lovely family share really cool Preston "Presty" "P-man" "Mini-Tobin" "Pekkes" with me. He's seriously the coolest 10 year old I have ever met! 

Mt. Baker, the guardian of the Pacific Northwest seen from Derek's little Camano Island. 

The awesome Preston as goalie. I got a taste of what it would be like to cheer for our own kids...I'm going to be embarrassing.

Birds on Camano :)

We walked out on this bridge...probably aren't willing to do it again, but beautiful. 

PEKKES!!! Trying to escape a hug.

Derek is not trying to escape, however. This is Snoqualmie Falls, a beautiful waterfall just outside of Seattle. 

Okay, here is a confession of extra sneakiness on our part. Every year (kindy through senior year) my mom bought me a homecoming mum and she always ensured that it would be embarrassingly HUGE! So, since graduation I have been getting her back each year by supplying her with the biggest and brightest mum. So, a mum for the mumsie! 

At the flagship Starbucks in Seattle. We only waited 45 minutes with half of Korea, Japan and China in line. 

The beautiful and always full of life, Cam Spam at the Olympic hotel in Seattle. 

A picnic at the Gasworks in Seattle. 

Brothers together before the wedding! This view is from Colin's office in downtown Seattle. 

The beach on Camano. 

Most awesome kid! 

Watch out world! 

Bird watching...this is sweetness. 

The handsome Fekkes boys at Colin's wedding! 

I hate that it is blurry, but the Fekkes ladies. 

Meeting Cathleen and Jeremy in Portland. 

I know why it's named "in and out"...uh hum... just saying...

The newly married Lanes' with our uhaul before we left Chico.

This truck made it many miles with the car on the trailer. Here we rested in Thousand Oaks, CA before the long drive East to Texas. Loved the greater LA area. Hated the endless drive through the windy desert. 

Close to Malibu! 

 

Oh man, the beach and Tommy's... which one do you think we enjoyed more?

The best part of all of this is that each moment and each day was shared with my best friend, D. Now, we are gearing up for yet another long haul on the road. We are flying out to GA in Feb and driving back! We are going to finally complete our full lap of America!

The Year in Review

Last year, we started our New Year's Celebration with a double date in Seoul, South Korea. Last year, we lived half way around the world. Last year, we were far away from home...

This year, we celebrated New Year's Eve with a friend from South Korea...tradition maybe? This year, we celebrated in our first American home together. This year, we were still far away from family, but we are MID-land between the two.

What a year it has been. We visited Thailand and Cambodia. We celebrated our first year of marriage. We saw God's favor in providing jobs for BOTH of us that we love. We moved into our first home together. We welcomed the arrival of TWO new nephews. We've taken a cross-country roadtrip visiting friends and family along the way. And, we learned invaluable things about God, his love for us and about how he is working in our marriage to make us stronger.

I'll send out a more substantial update later in the week. While we've been in our apartment for almost a month now, it has been a slow process of moving in. I'll write about the holiday's, my amazing Christmas dinner and our new home. His love and ours, D&A