Swimming and Snow

Dave is the kind of guy that needs to get "away from it all" occasionally and just be with us.  (love that about him!)  He mentioned a couple of weeks ago that he was in need of some family time.  So I "cashed" in on a Gift Certificate my 3 bosses gave me for Administrative Professionals Appreciation Day...or something like that.  I serve our family ministry pastors/directors, so as a thank you they gave me a certificate for our own family day.  They do practice what they preach ; ) 

One of them has a time share, so she booked it for us at Discovery Bay which is near Port Townsend.  We left with the kids Monday morning telling them we were just on a little adventure.  They got suspicious when Daniel noticed our toothbrushes missing as we were leaving (and I even waited till we were heading out the door to pack them...).  How do you answer "Where are our toothbrushes?"...later Julia said he confided in her he hoped we were spending the night somewhere.  With school the next day though, they were stumped.

Anyway, it ended up being a great day.  The sun actually was shining, though it was still very cold.  Of course we found a beach, this one was on the way to Fort Flagler.  Daniel found lots of crabs, even a hermit crab.

On the way to this beach we gave Julia a new (to us) camera.  We were given a very nice camera that just needed a new battery.  Julia has wanted a camera for a long time and has been saving her money.  She is an aspiring photographer, and now has a camera that can take great shots.  (Think she developed this passion from her cousin Kai)

This is how Julia spent most of the day...off looking for the perfect spot for picture taking.  This is at Fort Flagler and we happened to go on a "Free Day"...guess not too many people go there in January.  We also saw chickens and super-sized geese in this parking lot.  The chickens were begging for food and ran after the van as we drove off.  And this is how Daniel spent most of his day....climbing: on guns, rocks, trees, anything stable.

When we woke up this morning there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground and there was a steady snowfall.  It was so beautiful, we wished we could stay longer.  We made the best of our time though and walked up to the pool, then got some warmer clothes on and walked out to the dock.  It was a little scary trying to get out of the resort, they are down a pretty steep hill.  We had no idea what to expect for the drive home.

The kids were greatly disappointed that school was cancelled because of the snow since they were going to "skip" school today.  They want a do over skip day.  So maybe sometime in the spring we might try this again and let them actually "skip" school. 

When we got to Lakewood, we were really confused since there was hardly any snow.  Apparently it all melted before we got home.  Not to despair though, the weatherman says we'll get 8-10 inches tonight! 

We are so grateful for this time away, we really needed it.  Dave talked to Dr. Senacal's office on the way out yesterday about our "chemo teach".  He goes in Thursday to have the port "installed" and then next week we go in to learn about the chemo.  I'm not sure on a start date, but sometime within the next two weeks.

We are not excited about the next 6 months, but we are thankful.  God has continued to provide for our needs and even our "wants".  Dave is in pain daily (to varying degrees), yet continues to press on.  Thank you for your steadfast faithfulness to stay with us on this road.  More posts later as we begin this next leg of the journey.