Christmas Snapshots

Over six weeks have past since my last post, and in that duration of time a whole lot has transpired. It makes picking up this online journal all the more difficult as detailed recounting seems a task much too great.

A short, simplified list would look something like this:

Birthdays celebrated

Extended visit of my mother-in-law

Several visits from Olivia, plus an extended winter break

Holiday meals and traditions shared

College semester completed

Decorations and creativity
Gatherings with groups, and quiet times too

Enduring friendships nurtured, new friendships begun

Tearful good-byes to dear friends and comrades 

Culinary triumphs and flops: tons of baking, roasting, and simmering

Family laughs, reminiscing, games, exploration (and irritations too!)

A family getaway

New experiences 

Good news from afar

New beginnings, peace, and hope

Especially HOPE, because Christ will never fail us.

The six of us took a leisurely drive and walk on the beach in the afternoon on the 25th. I have failed miserably to take family pictures this year (again), but we did take a few quick shots with my camera timer just as the rain began to fall. Our normal Christmas traditions were tweaked a bit this year, but the result was some fabulous family downtime together. It was one of the sweetest days we can recall.

The last several weeks had me pondering the lunacy that we call the Christmas season, left me praying for sincerity of worship, and longing to apprehend the magnitude and implications of EMMANUEL. I've thought about the many things that have come to pass in a decade of time, and wondered at all the probabilities and possibilities for the next. How I wish I had time and freedom to write more here!

I am so grateful at the culmination of another year but even more eager to forge ahead. Onward. I have no new resolutions except to continue keeping on, pressing ahead in the faith and steadfastness won for me through Christ. 

~Katherine

Donut Dip 2019

School has been underway for two weeks now, but as tradition would have it we started off the year with another Donut Dip morning. It's what we do on a morning of orientations and book pickup, just as the school year begins. We set out first thing in the morning, pick up a box of donuts, and run into the surf. There really is no time for lingering, but the moments together are savored. Knowing that each school year will bring new opportunities, challenges, and change, we dive into it and revel in the sweet moment of now. Our donut dip is a fun way to do it...

Bedheads are encouraged on this one morning.

Total simplicity is how we do it.

Michael didn't wait for the rest of us. He was too fast for my capture; his leg can been seen in the surf below...

We got one single shot on my camera's timer. Too bad for the guy with the silly run!!

One of my favorite summer activities is playing in the waves with my kids. I'm happy Jon captured the memory for me. I love the fact that this is us- all of us. Together. There is so much bound up in that one word, and gratitude is just one of them. I have much reason for rejoicing!

We moved Olivia into her dorm on Monday (more about that some other time). It's no joke that time goes by quickly. As for the school year, we now have university included to a lineup of community college, public charter, independent study, online classes, and homeschool. In addition to a plethora of other commitments, I feel I have a few too many balls to juggle. Experience has taught me, however, to just keep juggling and picking up the inevitable dropped balls. I'll be better at it when October comes around.

Happy September, friends!


~Katherine

A Summer Summation

I'm just briefly dropping in to declare how thoroughly I am enjoying the summer. I will never pretend to have a perfect life (how boring that would be anyway!), but there are noteworthy things that make me grateful at every bend. Even the hot, sultry heat we had is worthy of thanksgiving; there's something so wonderful about stripping off a few items of clothing after an arduous and sweaty run and taking a plunge in the pool. I'll admit it's slightly indecent, and I never would have broken so many rules of proper conduct before, but - ah! - how freeing! And then when the temps change and cool down, how appreciative we are for restful nights once more.

My kids are all at such fun stages! Okay, it's true I've always said this, but I've always meant it with the utmost sincerity. Every stage has been my favorite. Here are just a few things that have stood out recently:

*There is an added hilarity to a boy's jokes when his voice is changing and cracking. I look at him and marvel at the person he is morphing into. Also, I am frequently alarmed by the sound of a man's voice coming from the boys' bedroom! Oh yeah, it's just my Andrew.

*I white-knuckled my first few rides as the passenger in a vehicle driven by Michael. I'm pretty proud of myself, though, for maintaining normal speaking and breathing patterns despite my distress. Teen drivers make me feel super young with adrenaline, and super old for having teen drivers.

*I had a late night talk with my boys about girls and crushes that made me gush with joy! Wait, what?! He's telling me this? What a privilege.

*A text that reads "I love you" from a son sailing way out in the Pacific while I'm way up in the Rockies is something worth savoring.

*Kitchen work is most pleasant with my girl who cracks jokes and makes me laugh because life is so good and funny.

*Kids that say, "Thanks, Mom, for doing this for us," when in truth I am equally loving all the trips to the beach, sleepovers, ice cream stops, and get-togethers.

*Reuniting. And lingering conversations around the barn wood table long after plates are cleared, while the setting sun and balmy ocean breeze amplify the magical ambiance of the moment.

*Watching a brother-sister bear hug after a time away is pretty rad.

And marriage? Well, I'm pretty sure it just gets better with time. Seasoned. And in many ways we get to relive our younger years before our babies came because we are too young to have kids beginning to fly the coup. We'll ring in 21 years tomorrow, the age of adulthood. For the record, I plan on us living a bit like we're in our twenties for the the next decade!

Jon and I sat across from each other on our overnight getaway and marveled, a bit teary eyed, at the goodness of God expressed in the people he has blessed us with through this marriage. We don't take this gift casually, this gift of raising and loving our children. It has all been so wonderful.

Tonight we are all back under one roof again, now that my boys are back from New Mexico. They clocked their ride from door to door at about 26 hours each way, mainly by bus. But by all accounts it was entirely worth it, and it is a thrill to hear them tell of the things they enjoyed the most. A testimony of God's saving work and the resulting transformation in the life of their small group leader seemed to have made an enormous impact. How grateful I am. I prayed fervently for God to give them sensitive spirits that are open to His love and transforming power, and eager for His forgiveness and invitation to relationship. This, I am sure, will be a life-long prayer, but it will always be marked with thanksgiving to a God who delights to save.

Olivia wrapped up an amazing 6-month internship today at a marketing firm, and we are now transitioning to getting her ready to move into a dorm in a few short weeks. The days we have left will all be savored in their entirety, even though I can only aspire to fully enter her joy and excitement.


~Katherine

Last Summer Monday

Here I am seated in a quaint little market and coffee shop in La Jolla. I am pampered, and very aware I enjoy a luxurious life by many standards. Olivia is taking a surfing class she was gifted last spring, and my younger boys and a friend are snorkeling just south of the Shores. It's the spot where (docile) leopard sharks congregate to have their young, so I am looking forward to hearing about their sightings. They keep thanking me for taking them to do fun things at amazing places, but they don't yet realize I get to do it.

Summer days are wrapping up quickly. That lump in my throat hasn't formed yet - a nice surprise - but as per usual I am soaking up every last minute with my kids and making the most of our opportunities. This summer has been grand. Wonderful, really. The Lord has been so kind in answering prayer and showing me in distinct ways that he has not left us to our own. The activities and events of our summer break have been really special, but I am leaving this season with such gratefulness for the frequent ways God has allowed me to see maturity, tenderness, growth, and relationship shine forth in new ways. There have been excellent conversations, improved bonds of relationship, and wordless moments and gestures that convey, "We're together." Then through those moments I feel the Spirit remind me, "I've always been there. Press on."

I have prayed long and hard for certain things (and will continue to do so). God is faithful, eager to meet me. The regularity and fervency of my prayers are not that which will produce any good, but only the faithfulness and goodness of God. It's all him.

~Katherine

Spring Break (the last part)

Family trips. They are a mixture of good and bad, wonderful and terrible, contentment and annoyance, relaxation and work... all rolled into one memory. That's obviously because we are all human, living in a fallen world, and the good and the bad all combine together. There were plenty of moments I wished we could have hit the pause button on time. Other times, I'm sure of it, we each thought to ourselves, "Get me out of here now!"

I am also sure that the fond memories are the ones that will come to mind with greater force and frequency, and the less pleasant ones will become memories we will laugh at. We work hard to attain to the good stuff, and we take life with all it's different facets and temperaments knowing that all those kinks and quirks help to bind us together in a way that is unique to the collective "us." We learn to laugh and to be in acceptance of what makes us family.

This isn't just a description of family trips, but also of real family life.

We are not seasoned road trippers. We have certainly frequented the American skies, but that's an entirely different way to travel. I think I would do better to have a few road tripping tricks up my sleeves. Games we can play, maybe? Music we can all agree on? A better audio book? A way to keep the boys from stinking up the car?

Yes, there were bad smells and sometimes bad attitudes. Sometimes, "lame-o" jokes were not at all funny but kept on going. Michael got poison oak real bad on his face and neck, and he looked like a grotesque giant just in time for Easter. The kids had arguments about the middle seat and about who would have to share a bed with Jacob. Some of us wanted to bop to loud music in the car, while others wanted silence or music of another style. Then there was the part about where we ended up staying (see Spring Break Part 3)...

Left-over motels. Oh, how un-luxurious they were! It was either the ghetto motels or no trip at all, so we decided to make motels part of the "adventure" and something that would hopefully make us laugh one day. Jon is still not laughing. He may never.

So we stayed away from them as much as possible and spent our waking hours exploring the parks or the towns.

Truth:

Michael picked me a giant calla lily from the edge of a creek; Jon suggested a picture, but Michael didn't want one. He did a pretty good faking a smile...

I was surprised to learn something new about my husband: He really likes driftwood.

After Jon's "trick" in Santa Barbara (see Spring Break part 1), I decided to do my own little stunt, too.

I'm nowhere near being as flexible as I used to be, and I forgot to point my toes. That's all I've got these days.

Then the boys wanted a trick so I suggested this...

Michael's trick was to imitate a funny yoga pose we saw on the cover of a book in an art store in Santa Barbara. I didn't get a picture of him, though. The man on the book cover was wearing a loin cloth. Just sayin'. 

This is normal business for Olivia, and it wouldn't be considered a trick, but I think it's pretty cool that she doesn't go screaming about things like bugs and reptiles. Maybe she could use this skill to play tricks on people.

Andrew's driftwood raven.

(So much burnt wood from last summer's fire.)

Jacob's duck

More little paths...

Despite some less pleasant realities of family trips, we love being together. One night we brought our dinner out onto the beach and this game happened...

Kung Fu tag

It might be considered inappropriate, or too rough, or just plain ridiculous. No matter, the belly laughs were worth it.

Jon says he used Andrew to knock the others down. You have to be a boy or have lots of boys around to understand this is perfectly normal and fair in Kung Fu tag.

I'm smiling still now.


~Katherine

Spring Break (part 4)

"Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

    the world and those who dwell in it!

Let the rivers clap their hands;

    let the hills sing for joy together

before the Lord, for he comes

    to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

    and the peoples with equity."

Ps. 98

My pictures surely did not capture the grandeur of this place...

Banana slugs. One gross thing is never enough...

He and I tried so hard to capture the massive size and the breathtaking beauty...

Am I posting too many pictures?

Yeah, I know...


~Katherine