Some pretty wild weather!

This post is coming to you just 24 hours after a pretty nasty storms in the Puget Sound area. The rains and then winds were record breaking and caused a tremendous about of damage in the area. Over 1.5 million were without power this morning and many will be waiting up to a week for it to restored. Thankfully, we were fortunate enough to not lose our power (though we did a couple of days before that)- and count ourselves VERY lucky! As for damage, we found our yard littered with tree branches, some up to 10 feet long, the neighbors fence in our back yard and a few missing shingles...pretty minor to what it could have been. The fence is part way back up and the branches are waiting for us to gather them tomorrow morning and haul them off to the dump (it'll be a good trailer full). The shingles can wait until until things calm down, but unfortunately for a neighbor, they lost nearly half their roof and now are sporting a "stylish" blue tarp until the repairs can be made (they've been told it'll be at least 3 weeks).

Wednesday night Josh, Miranda, and Jayden flew in!! What a treat, it had been just two weeks since we'd seen them and were thrilled to see them again after such a short time! Jayden seemed to remember us and of course we were thrilled about that! They were tired after a long day of flights across the country, but happy to be back in Washington...but maybe not so happy about the rain! Thursday Jessalyn, Miranda and Terri went out for some girl time getting pedicures, manicure, enjoying lunch together and a bit of shopping. Josh took Jayden to visit "Grandpa" at work and then they went to lunch at Jayden's favorite place...McDonalds!! That evening Jess and Sean joined us all for dinner then a night of games...it was a great evening and so nice to have all the kids together...we don't get many times with all of them, so we treasure those we do!

Today (Friday) they headed over to Belfair to spend some time with Miranda's family and I'm sure those grandparents are thrilled to have Jayden there and get their chance to spoil her! We'll see them a couple more times during their visit out here, they fly back on the 27th, and will enjoy the time we have with them!

Christmas...can you believe it's just over a week away? It looks like we're ready, the tree is up, decorations out and shopping nearly done as well as the wrapping. Tuesday the girls will do a bit of baking to finish the preparations for the holiday! Rick's parents, Howard and Jeanette, will drive up from Arizona to spend the holidays with us as well and we are thrilled to have them join us. Terri's cousin, Tara, and her boyfriend, Ivar, will also join us on Christmas Eve. It'll be great to have so many of our family together to share this wonderful day of celebration! Terri's parents will be in Spokane, but it'll be a bit quieter than usual for them since we aren't going over and Terri's brother and his family are going to Peru for Christmas (what a great gift!!). We'll miss them as well as her sisters and their families...but to spend the time with Jayden (and her parents!!) will be priceless!

We hope this finds you all doing well, safe and healthy and looking forward to this season that we celebrate and give thanks for all we've been blessed with. As to whether we write again before Christmas, it all depends on how busy things get this next week...but if not, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!!

Our best wishes,

Rick & Terri

PS...here's a photo of Josh, Miranda and Jayden that Terri took this morning before they left.

It's December already!

Hello again! Well, we've been back home for almost a week and are beginning to gear up for the holidays! Our last few days in Virginia were wonderful... especially our day trip to Outer Banks in North Carolina. The weather was beautiful, clear skies and the temperature was around 60 degrees...quite a bit different than what it was at home in Puyallup...where they got their first snow of the season! We weren't sorry to have missed it...or the snow and ice that came the next couple of days. Our time with Josh, Miranda and Jayden was great...we miss them so much that when we get a chance to spend time with them...we cherish it! Jayden is a DOLL and growing so fast...it's hard to believe that she's 14 months old already...and what a personality! They are coming out here for Christmas and will be here in a little over a week, so we'll get to see them again soon...and be able to share our holidays with them. We can't wait to see Jayden opening the gifts!!

Boy, was someone watching out for us when we came home...first, that we didn't' fly in on Monday evening when the snow and ice was horrible around here and traffic a nightmare. That would have not been a good way to end a great week! So, when we flew in Tuesday evening, everything had settled down and the roads were fairly good...no problems getting home. We flew through Chicago and it was quite nice there Tuesday morning, but if it had been Thursday or Friday, I'm afraid we would have been stranded there for a few days...they got the wintry weather that the Seattle area had on Monday! We were happy to be home...and look forward to getting the house decorated for Christmas. Besides Josh and family, Rick's parents will also be joining us for Christmas, so we'll have a full house. We're hoping that Terri's cousin, Tara, and her boyfriend will also join us...to have a house full of family and friends is exactly what the holidays are all about!

Time to get the house decorated...we got some outside lights put out this morning and this week the tree and decorations will follow. Of course, the shopping, wrapping, cards and baking also will fill the days...so much to do, but all make up the joy of the holiday season!

We're hoping this finds you all staying warm, looking forward to the holiday season and counting your blessings for the the passed year.

The photos are from our trip to Virginia. The lighthouse is Bodie Island Lighthouse and it was a great day to visit...and as you can see, Jayden is "flying" with excitement over the day! The other is a photo Terri took of Jayden at their home. She loves giraffes!!