Five weeks since my last post! That's embarrassing. My apologies everyone! It's been a busy month, and I've spent most of it fighting off one illness or another, so that's my excuse. What have we been up to? Here are the highlights...
The end of April brought the beginning of our onslaught of visitors. My dear friend Annie made Seattle a stop on her cross country road trip in celebration of kicking cancer's ass! We spent five fun days exploring, chatting, shopping, eating, and drinking. It was so wonderful to be together! Two more college buddies, Abby and Broghan, also ended up bunking with us the very same weekend. They were very busy meeting with chiropractors as part of Broghan's job search, house hunting, and looking at grad schools for Abby. They will be getting married in June and we are very excited to see where their next adventure leads them. We'd love to have them here with us in the northwest!
Annie and Alley
Broghan and Abby
Unfortunately, I experienced a sudden, horrific bout of the stomach flu in the middle of our guests' visit, causing me to vomit repeatedly for two days, spike a fever of 101, and be stuck in bed missing out on work at church Sunday morning and a lot of the fun. I think the highlight was when I puked in the trash can on the ferry.
As if house guests and the stomach flu wasn't enough, this weekend was also the first of two baby showers I helped to organized for Gretchen, Ryan, and Baby Addi. I helped their friend Colleen host a private shower at her home, and the last weekend in April we celebrated at church with over 80 guests and a mountain of gifts.
The Private Shower at Colleen's House
The Church Shower
The mountain of gifts. This might have been half...maybe...
After I recovered from 48 hours of hell, it was back to work. Lent is a super busy time for me at church. I spent six weeks of it coordinating the Flat Friends and Big Buddies Program at St. Matthew. I was inspired by the Flat Stanley book to spice up our annual pen pal program a bit, and it was a huge success. We had 34 child/adult pairs participate, and ended with an awesome party complete with pizza, ice cream, pictures, crafts, and a slide show. I'd love to email all my plans and documents to anyone who thinks they might have a group of kids at church or elsewhere that could would enjoy doing this too!
Each child made themself into a "Flat Friend" which I gave to their secret adult "Big Buddy". The Big Buddy took pictures of their Flat Friend in all sorts of places and sent them along with letters back and forth to the child for six weeks. Here's Annika at the space needle!
Baby Addi is growing so fast and Jon and I are really enjoying the opportunity to be part of her village! We had the great privilege of hosting her birth mother Cassandra and her daughter Chelsea who came from Portland for Addi's baptism at the Holy Saturday service on April 11. Cassandra is one amazing woman, and her presence made the service all the more powerful. Of course Gretchen and Ryan rocked the music too!
Addi and her beautiful birth mother, Cassandra; look at that tongue!
Cassandra and her oldest daughter Chelsea at our house before the baptism.
The stomach flu was just the beginning of my spring sickness and two weeks later I was blessed with a virus that included a horrible sore throat that morphed into ear pain, a cough, congestion, exhaustion, and pink eye that spread into not just one, but both of my eyes. Easter was right in the middle of this debacle, and I led hundreds of children in Sunday's festivities with no voice at all! .jpg)
Easter Sunday. Do I look deathly ill? I was!
After a miserable two weeks, I'm almost better. My right ear continues to be a bit plugged, and my eyes are better, but still red. Jon bought me a new pair of glasses out of the deal, so at least I'm enjoying sporting my new specs! 
Oh there's more...
Last weekend, Jon's good friend Andy and his wife and two children stayed with us for three nights of their Spring Break trip to the Northwest. They are hardcore tourists and kept us busy hiking at the waterfall, visiting the Olympic sculpture park, traveling to the top of the Space Needle, spending hours in Pike Place Market, and playing in the arboretum at the University of Washington. The kids also spent lots of time playing with Alley in our backyard.
The Christensen Family: Andy, AJ, Jen, & Shelby at Snoqualmie Falls
Jon with the kids after our lunch at the Crab Pot. He's holding AJ and Shelby's cousin Ania, who came with her family from Bellingham to explore Pike Place Market with us last Friday.
Speaking of Alley...she's doing well! Look how big she is! Over 40 lbs now! I really hated her for awhile, but the I believe the worst is over and I really have fallen in love with our adorable dog. She graduated from puppy kindergarten a few weeks ago, and we just made her first trip to the off leash dog park, where she did remarkably well. She's also learned to jump over her baby gate that holds her in our laundry room at night and when we are away. Alley really seems to listen and respond to Jon and I most of the time...now we are just working on getting her to get along with Oscar Meyer and not pounce every guest who comes to our home.
I think I can leave you at that for now. I promise to make an effort to avoid epic updates in the near future and post much more frequently. Our love to you from Seattle always!!!
I miss Mama and Papa so much when they are gone. I sit at the door to the garage and wait. Sometimes when I get too lonely, I just chew a little bit on the door frame.
I've also chewed a bit on the cabinets. YUM! Rental houses are extra tasty.
Saturday I woke up at 4am. I really had to go potty and I was feeling really lonely again. My Papa was nice enough to let me outside, but when he put me back into my room because he wanted to go back to sleep, I was not happy. I wanted to play with them! I was sad, so I chewed a huge hole in the wall, and then I pawed at the doorknob until I had locked myself into the bathroom. Mom had to use a butter knife to get the door open and was mad when she found me.
This is my new crate. My new doggy babysitter gave it to me. Theresa is a lifesaver! Mom took me to meet her yesterday. She runs a dog sitting company out of her home. http://www.lepetconcierge.com/ She has an awesome backyard and was so much fun to play with! I can't wait to visit her again. I get to stay with her when Mama and Papa go on vacation and maybe some other times too. I'm not sure why Mama and Papa didn't buy this crate for me sooner. I like it so much that I go in there and sleep even when they are home! I also get to sleep in my crate in their bedroom at night now and I am MUCH happier.
Last night, we all watched the movie Marley & Me together. I was really well behaved and took a long nap on the floor. Mama and Papa cried a lot at the end. I think they have forgiven me for now.
