A Fabulous Father's Day

Now it seems to me that for a father the ideal father's day would go something like this: sleep in, awake to breakfast made, all family members leave the house, a whole day spent alone doing whatever you want, family comes back home for good "meat" dinner, given just the perfect/needed gift...and call it Fathers Day. While ideal for many that was not ours, but Jon assures me that our fathers day was great. Jack had been plotting all week that he wanted to take Jon breakfast in bed. He had the menu and delivery planned down to the last detail. On Sunday morning he approached my side of the bed at 5:30 and asked if it was time. I escorted him back to his room and he and I camped out till 6:30, then the festivities could begin. Jack delivered breakfast and his gift to Jon and Jon was a great sport. The two of them sat in bed and ate old fashioned doughnuts and chatted. When Max awoke I brought him to join the bed party. They then began reading some of the new books Max gave Jon. After the bed had been amply covered in doughnut crumbs it was off to getting ready and heading to church. After church we had lunch with the MCLYONS crew (mcnabb and lyons families joined) at my parents house. kabobs, tasty salads, man beverages and dessert. We took a break from father festivities to celebrate our niece Madison's third birthday. I got to make her a ridiculously girl cake, and she opened all manner of pink things. After dessert and more family, our family packed up and came home, with one thing on the mind of Jon and Jack : XBOX. Jack had given Jon the "Lego Indiana Jones" game for fathers day and they were both excited to play. So they played, we gave children a bath..and called it a day. At the end of it all we are one very lucky family to have Jon as our daddy. He loves his boys so much, he is such a great example to them of what a man of God is. It is my sincere prayer that our boys follow in their father's footsteps. Thanks Jon. We love you! (even if the post is a day or two late)

Roadtrip Countdown

The boys and I have begun our countdown for the roadtrip we will embark on next week. We plan to once again drive with my mom down to California to visit her friend, but most importantly for the kids we will visit : the pool, the turtle, the dog and the pet chicken. Jack wakes every morning asking if this is california day, and his whole concept of summer is based on whether something happens before or after california. I will admit that I am a little more nervous about the trip this go 'round because,put very simply, we have Max. He is very much a physical kid, and I don't know how well he will do being "contained" for such a long time. So prayers are welcome on that subject. But more than being a little nervous, I am very excited. I check the weather today and it looks like we are in for some sunshine, which sound great to me. Here is to lazy days in and out of the pool...and early bedtimes for throughly warn out children. Bring it on!

God's Hand of Protection

At 1:30 in the morning Jack appeared in our room and was crying. I got up and asked him what was wrong. " My blanket is stuck in my lamp, my blanket is stuck in his lamp". A little confused by his statement I started to follow him back to his room. As soon as we got into the hallway I could smell that something was burning. We rushed into his room. There we discovered that during the night his lamp (which is usually turned off) had tipped off the shelf and landed on his much beloved lightning mcqueen blanket. The blanket, the plastic of his lamp and his pillow were a large melty mess of fire danger. We quickly unplugged the lamp, rushed the pile into the bathroom and this is what we saw:



We immediately work Jon up, brought him into the the bathroom and showed him the mess. Then right there in the bathroom we prayed and thanked God for his hand of protection on Jack and our family. Jack was obviously shaken, having awoken to the smell of burning...but even more than that he was so distraught that the beloved blanket that mormor gave him is not salvageable, that brought a whole new round of tears. After we go the crying under control, Jack was not a big fan of sleeping by himself (understandable) and his room smelled awful, so we grabbed his sleeping back and Mom and Jack had a camp out on the floor down in the living room. So there it is, the recap of our exciting midnight happenings...and thank God, that that was all we had to deal with.

Highlight of our Year

This weekend Jon and I attended our favorite event of the year , the :20 Funny Festival. It is a comedy show featuring several comedians sponsored by our local radio stations. For the last four years we have attended in honor of our anniversary. Once again this year our Saturday night was a hit and worth the wait. Good food, Good laughs and much fun. We started with a fantastic dinner at great resturant in Seattle, LoLa. The food was amazing and the resturant had a great ambiance. Then we walked around the city a bit and then off to the show.At the show we met up with our friend Jeff and Erinn. This year there were three comedians scheduled, the headliner whom we are a big fan of but also they promised that there would be a "special guest". It was our lucky night because the special guest was a hugely popular comedian named Mike Birbiglia. He is hysterical and this was the first chance we had to see him live. It was great. We drew the evening to a close with some tasty desert and then home we went. All ready the countdown has begun for next years show.

Here is a little highlight reel:

check out www.tomdouglas.com to make yourself a reservation at Lola


Our excitment 5 minutes prior to the show could not adequetly be captured on the terrible camera phone.

Settle in and Check out Mike Birbiglia


Funny Lady Kathleen Madigan

New Friends: of the fish variety

Sadly last week our dear goldfish, Tom Riley, passed away. While his passing was tragic, for all of 30 seconds, Jack none the less began to ask for a new fish. Well, he was in luck. Our church's pastoral intern Sarah is done with her time and is driving home to Chicago. When she learned of our tragedy she offered up her office fish tank. She was convinced that the could not survive the roadtrip and that our house would be a good and loving place for them. So today we welcomed into our humble abode : Tom (part2), Jerry, Isaac and Samuel. Jack is thrilled and insisted that we rearrange his room to accomadate them and the new take. Thanks Sarah!

Forts, Frogs & Fishing

To draw our busy weekend to a close we participated in our church's annual Forts, Frogs and Fishing. Thanks to a family a church and their excellent property following church we enjoyed a great picnic and a day spent outside. We enjoyed hanging with livestock, trying our hand at fishing and doing all things boy.There is no better combination than boys and dirt. It was great and left the boys adequately tired, which meant mommy and daddy could put them to bed early and enjoy take out on the couch. Excellent!

FAMILY FUN TIME: All the hub-bub of the weekend it was great to have a day to just hang with the family and to spend some one on one time with the boys.




FISHING FUN : Jack was easily bored with trying his had at fishing, while Max insisted that he get to hold his own pole. Long after Mom and Jack headed to find more fun, Max and Daddy could still be found lakeside.





TRACTOR RIDES: Both boys loved riding in the hay wagon up and down the long driveway. Thanks Ben.



GOATS: By far the most time spent anywhere was Max hanging out with the Goats. He loved them and was fearless. He was content to follow them all around the pasture.



FORTS: Jack enjoyed some time with the big kids constructing forts in the woods and riding the rope swing.

Party Part Two: Family

Shortly after the last guest left from the friends party on Friday, I began cooking and preperations for our family party on Saturday. Saturday was a very full day for us: our final t-ball game and trophies, our good friend Paula's Med School Graduation Celebration in Seattle and finally Max's party with family. We back pulled into our drive way at 4:30 Saturday afternoon,scurried about and welcomed the first guests at 5:01. Whew! Max had a blast once again with friends, opening presents and eating cake. Here is a little photo montage recap.



Friends & Family arrived and we settled into chatting with drinks and then sharing in a Lyons favorite: Tacos for dinner.



Then Max took quiet naturally to the place of prominance: the birthday chair for the opening of gifts. He really got into it. He appropriately "oohhed and awed" after each one. The kid is set as far as cute clothes, fun activities and playmobile guys go.




Then came cake. At this celebration we had the "american funfetti cake" in the shape of a soccer ball, as well as the traditional Guatemalan birthday cake : Tres Leche,(thanks mormor) after one bite of Tres Leche..."yeah, we will be having THAT again" so tasty.



Now mixed into the family birthday crowd were some of our favorite friends. These are my dear friend Gretchen and Jenny, who were so kind as to join me last year at Max's first birthday party that we held at the local mcdonalds...were we cried and sipped milkshakes because he was still in Guatemala. So of course they had to be here this year as we celebrated.


And here are our friends Benton and Judy, whom we love so much. Benton lived for a time in Guatemala and has been our translator when we have written to and talked to Max's foster mom. What a gift, and Judy, always the grandma has prayed so much for us and made Max his very special blue blanket that he sleeps with nightly. We were so excited that they joined in the fun.


At the end of the evening we had one happy and tired little boy. We are so blessed to have Max in our family. He brings us such joy.

Party Part One : Friends

This morning we celebrated Max's birthday with all his little buddies from church. The kids played outside & bounced in the bounce house while the mom's sat around the kitchen table, chatted and ate. Let's be honest a birthday party for a two year old is really just a glorified excuse for mom's to get together. Max loved his party though. Happy to be with his friends. He had no problem getting into opening presents and was thrilled with his baseball cake. It was a great way to spend a friday. Thanks friends.

What a difference a year makes. One year ago to day this mama sat sipping her coffee and fighting back tears because her boy was in Guatemala and not here at home for his birthday. Last year friends rallied around me and we celebrated the day anyways. This year though, I have poured three cups of coffee and have had maybe one sip since 6:30 this morning. I am rushing around putting the finishing touches on the "ball" themed party that will take place with all of Max's friends later this morning..then tomorrow we do it all again with family. How sweet is that. Two parties for our little two year old. Stay tuned for photos of all the mayhem.