Our Sponsor Kids via Unbound

Our family sponsors two children through Unbound (previously known as CFCA - Christian Foundation for Children & Aging). The first child we began sponsoring almost right after we moved to Illinois in the fall of 2010. A couple years later, a priest with CFCA was at the church again and we decided to sponsor one more child.

The kids holding pictures of our sponsor children.

We always get letters from our sponsor children and we love to read what they write to us. We have not been good about writing letters back to them so I decided a few weeks ago that I'd have the older two write the letter. I told them to write about what our family has been up to and what kinds of things they like to do.

Madison & Noah working on the letter.

Summer & Mason working on pictures to include w/the letters.

We also included a family picture to send with each letter so they could put faces with our names and know exactly who they are writing to when they send us letters, Christmas cards, etc.

One thing I love about their program is that over 93% of the money they receive goes to program support. And it's been a great way to sit down once in awhile to have some great discussions with the kids about what struggles others are going through, overseas and here in the U.S., and realizing how grateful we should be for the things we have and the opportunities that are here for us.

If this program sounds like something that peaks your interest and you'd like to learn more about it, I encourage you to check out Unbound's website. 

Evergreen Mountain Lookout

Most hikes that we have been on have been somewhat crowded with touristy (is that a word?) types and I told Sean that it would be great to find one that was more off the beaten path. We both were ready for a hike that you didn't constantly meet people on or have them creeping up on you.

Sean definitely pulled through for us and I was actually a little scared during the last 10 miles of the drive there. Our path turned into a one lane road and the distance between the turnouts were further apart than we wanted to see. It didn't help that while Sean was trying to concentrate on driving and I was trying to avoid looking out the window to my right, the kids kept saying "We're going to die!" in their funny voices. It definitely wasn't funny to us.

A few pics on our way up to the trailhead.

Relief waved over all of us once we hit the trailhead. And there were only a few other cars so that meant an uncrowded hike. Yay! Success!

Not sure what the boys are searching for at the edge of the parking lot. 

The highlight of the day for the smaller kids: playing with sticks/rocks
from a leftover campfire of some sort. Imagine that :)

After making sure our backpacks were filled with the usual of snacks, plenty of water and jackets (the higher we climb, the cooler it gets), it was time to take off.

Evergreen Mountain Lookout: 3 miles roundtrip, elevation gain of 1425 feet

Sean registering us at the trailhead so the park rangers
know to look for us if we don't make it back :(

And we're off!

Although it was a steep climb, it scored many points for how beautiful it was! God really knew what He was doing when He created this earth.

As we headed up, I turned back to take a pic of part of our trail and the mountains all around us. Completely amazing!

Cue the "Sound of Music" songs :)

And we made it!

After filling our tummies with a mini snack and some extra water, it was time to make our way back down the mountain.

Bye bye lookout area.

The kids led the way as we moved down the mountain and they were very talkative. Topic of conversation: Harry Potter. 

I had the kids do a little celebration jump once we made it back to the parking lot by the trailhead!

Hooray! We made it!

Mixed bag of emotions

So many changes have happened in such a short time for our family. We have been through enough moves that we are used to knowing that there is always the typical adjustment period and such. This one just happens to be one of the toughest ones to date. The majority of our moves happened while our family was young and we really hadn't been involved in too many things. This one has been much different.

While living in IL, we really plugged ourselves into everything. Initially with the school and church and then even more so with the sports and activities our kids were involved in. We made so many amazing friends that we had fun hanging out with and we could count on to help us with kids when needed. That is a truly great thing when you don't have family around to help and you have to run kids in multiple directions!

Now that we are in WA, I miss my friends so much! I knew this move would be different for us, but I didn't realize how deeply impacted I would be with it all. It's been rough. Most of the things attributing to this are temporary so I'm really hoping in a month or two, things will shape up a bit.

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." - Mother Teresa

First of all, I've already mentioned the factor of having to move away from so many awesome friends. I miss my coffee dates, our run/walk group on Saturday mornings during the summer and following our kids to all of their sporting events.

Bright side: I've been able to keep in touch with a few closer friends through text messages and actual phone calls. I always seem to be in a much better mood after finishing a phone call with a friend. It really does keep my spirits up and it makes me feel like I can take on anything. It's amazing what a simple thing like a phone call with a friend can do for a person!

Secondly, we are in a three bedroom apartment. Yes, you heard me. And the crazy thing is that it was MY idea to find something like this so we'd have time to get to know the area before deciding where to live. What I thought was a great idea at the time was really not such a great idea in hindsight. We went from a 4BR house with around 2300 sq. ft. and a nice sized yard to a 3BR apartment with around 1100-1200 sq. ft. on the 3rd floor. Sure we have a couple of pools to use, a couple parks close by and a trail right behind us, but we have a living space that feels like you're trapped and stepping all over each other. Not quite ideal for a family of six.

Bright side: We are currently viewing rental houses and just seeing the space we'll have in a month or so makes me happy! And the kids are pretty excited about a bigger place.

I miss my house (this was taken when we first moved in) :( 

Thirdly, we have had a hard time finding a Catholic church that really speaks to us. I'd like to blame Monsignor Powell and Father Gifford for being so wonderful and giving such great sermons. We were truly spoiled. I really loved our church in Normal. We've gone to three different churches and have tried going at different times to check things out (sermons, choirs, etc). I think we've found the one finally.

Bright side: Now that we found a church we'll become members of, this will definitely help us get to know more people as we typically get pretty involved with church activities and some volunteer things. And the kids will meet more kids once religious education starts up in the next month. Madison even recognized kids that she volunteered with at VBS and that made her happy.

Our family w/Monsignor Powell

and with Father Gifford

The fourth change is one of our biggest changes and that is that we have decided to homeschool the kids this year. I never thought in a million years I'd actually be homeschooling. We were all set to sign the kids up at St. Brendan Catholic School in Bothell once the school offices opened on August 11, but Sean and I kept having conversations about homeschooling. Or should I say Sean kept bringing up the homeschooling conversation ;) I was not too open to it at first, but the more we talked about the pros and cons with our current situation, the more we felt it was the best thing to do for the kids temporarily.

Many things factored into our decision. There are just too many unknowns right now and we don't want the kids having to hop in and out of schools. We'll reevaluate down the road, but for now, homeschooling it is. The three younger ones are very excited to do school at home, but Madison is not quite as thrilled. I don't really blame her. I do believe she has been warming up to it a bit though. She knows it's temporary for her so that helps.

I have to tell you, I do have some fears that I will fail and I won't be patient enough with the kids, but we'll see how it goes. So far it's going okay. The most overwhelming thing for me is that we have four kids so we have to deal with four different sets of curriculum :( Ugh! This would be soooo much easier if I was starting with one.

Sean or I will probably continue to blog about our homeschooling adventures as we really get into it and see how it is working for our family. We are very thankful that we know of many homeschoolers from Epiphany and Sean was able to pick a friend's brain about where to start regarding curriculum, etc. It helps to know what has worked/hasn't worked for some and just to talk things through.

Bright side: We are having a good time being able to do activities during the day while everyone else is at school :) And many of the kids' sporting activities have kicked into gear (softball, soccer, gymnastics, religious ed, etc.) so we'll have a lot more social interaction with others. 

The kids & I at Evergreen Mountain Lookout
a.k.a. Weekend field trip :)

So that's my latest "feel sorry for me" rant. I know that I need to make the choice to make the best of things when I'm in a mode and choose to put a different spin on things to make myself happy, which in turn makes life better for myself and everyone around me. As each day passes, we seem to get into more of a routine and have our typical activities starting to fill the calendar. This is making things feel more real and like we have a purpose again, which has been good for me.

I just read the following quote from an article a friend shared on Facebook today and it really hits home for me:

"Negativity only breeds more negativity. It is a happiness riptide. It will carry you away from shore and if you don’t swim away from it, will pull you under." - Tim Hoch

So to end on a more positive note, I'll talk about some of the fun things we've been doing as a family. We've gone on many hikes, enjoyed a Mariners game, hit Pike Place Market, taken a ferry to explore, went to the Woodland Park Zoo, the Pacific Science Center and the Seattle Aquarium (I think I have blog posts about many of these things if you want to peek at some pics). It's almost like we're on this mini vacation that won't end!

I also feel like I'm growing a little closer with Noah as we are able to make time for bike rides on the trail once in awhile and we've just gotten along much better than we used to. Almost like we're understanding each other more. It's been really nice.

Sean and I have been getting out to sample many different wines and beer from the tasting rooms and restaurants located in Woodinville. That's always a plus :) Many are only just over a mile away from us so it's almost too "easy access" for us!

Red Hook Brewery

Kids join in on taste testing (with the soda that is) at Fremont Brewing

Only wine tasting picture I have.
Sean taking photo of wine list for the day.

Dirty Bucket beer sampling

We have had many other outings. I probably should be working out more to keep up with the junk I've been putting into my body. It's all so yummy though! I'm trying to post about quite a few things going on so check in once in awhile as I'll be working on a few more posts that involve things we've been doing lately or have done throughout the summer.

If anyone gets an itch to come out and enjoy some of the fine pleasures and outdoor adventures that Washington has to offer, we will gladly welcome you!