Miss Positive throws herself a pity party

I am so looking forward to a visit from my sister Natasha, her husband Reese and their sweet son Lane. I have had a bit of a pity party for myself yesterday and today and believe a visit from their family will be of good cheer and lots of laughs.
First thing this morning I was really down in the dumps and tried to blog about it... but kept losing my internet connection... I think God was telling me that brutal honesty on a "public blog" can be dangerous. So maybe this entry won't be written in haste through tears, but just as a healthy journal entry.
I miss my mom, I miss being someone's daughter. My dad is intelligent, fun and a bit of a comedian. He is a friend to all five of us kids...finally. Many years with him have not been the easiest. It is a blessing to think that at this stage of our lives myself and my four siblings enjoy our dad's company and are glad to have him as a friend. For this I am thankful. The relationship with my dad is tricky. Because when my mom was living she was so approachable, so forgiving, easy to talk to, prayerful, loving, fun.... I really could go on and on. We always went to her. All five of us shared our joys, struggles, challenges and accomplishments with our mom. Our dad was working, our dad was busy, our dad was much less approachable. So, when we lost her it was like losing the involved parent, the parent who had invested so much in us and we in her.
All around me are fabulous relationships between mothers and their adult daughters. Most of the time this makes me happy. I encourage my friends to treasure their sweet, precious gift - their mother. But this week, I am envious, I am sad. I wish my grandma had her daughter. I wish my dad had his wife. I WISH my boys had my mom for a grandma. I wish my siblings had her here. I throw myself a pity party.
I have so much to be grateful for, don't get me wrong. And in general I am a very positive person. But rather than closing this entry with all the things I am thankful for and how great my life is, I will close it with one sentence - I miss my mom.

In flight

Beauty Surrounds Us

I truly love where we live. We are blessed with warm summers and sunshine galore and in the winter we get to enjoy this beautiful white stuff and cold temperatures making us appreciate the cozy indoors. We have four distinct seasons in Moses Lake and for this I am so grateful.
So although I am surrounded by beauty, I feel for all of these truck drivers battling these winter road conditions. The mountain passes, Snoqualmie, White and Stevens have been hit with some wild weather and the pass closures are really affecting the Milky Way drivers. Vance is very busy with work and the boys are really missing him...but we are often hit with these challenges this time of year and know that winter doesn't last forever.

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

THE PLAN WAS to leave for Lynden yesterday morning. Last night was the Christmas Eve celebration at my dads, today would have been the whole family at Stan and Adies, tonight Christmas at my dear Grandma Alma's...and so on. But this state wide storm has really affected the milk hauling business and Vance quickly realized by the evening of the 23rd that a little trip was not in our near future. SO, we are home. Although I am missing family in Lynden, I have tried to have a really good attitude about staying home and our boys have been great about it. It has been a cozy, quiet family day. And the SNOW is absolutely beautiful. I do wish Vance could relax and enjoy it... but the work pressures are evident.

I must say I am sooo thankful for my little family ... I thank God for them, for our health and for this White Christmas.

Comfort and Joy

Last night, my husband and I attended a Christmas concert: Comfort and Joy. The Moses Lake Alliance Church put on this wonderful concert. A very special guest and fabulous pianist, Huntley Brown, joined the talent of the Alliance church and while giving all of the glory to God, a wonderful performance was shared with many.

This picture of Scott and Sam R. is a favorite. Scott Shaw had asked me to get a few pictures of the cast and choir at the end of the evening. The whole group was on stage, but Huntley was in the back signing autographs, the whole group chanted " Huntley, Huntley" and these were Scott and Sammy's expressions when Huntley came running back in!

Mr. Huntley Brown and Mr. Scott Shaw worked together to share the clear message of comfort and joy with the many who attended this awesome concert.

Thanks Aubrey for joining me in photographing the evening! I'll share more pics tomorrow!!

Christmas Dress

My friend Maria called me and asked if I would be willing to take a few shots of her adorable little Jocelynne in a Christmas dress that Maria wore as a girl. :) The dress fit her perfectly and was so sweet, almost a little vintage (Maria, I am not implying that you are old, lol)

Anyway, the adorable dress and this expressive darling child made for a fun little photo opportunity. BUT, when we were almost finished, my camera stopped working. My lense (that I am crazy about) totally stopped functioning. ahhhh I have so many Christmas events to photograph ..... I called my friend Aubrey, another shutterbug, and told her what was going on and we talked about what it might be. I thought maybe my lense motor was shot. I have been forcing my camera to take pictures in low light conditions without the flash which makes my lense work harder and I wondered if I overworked the poor thing. Thankfully -- my camera just lost connection to my lense. For some unknown reason... and it is working, yay!!!!! Maria, sorry the photo shoot was cut a bit short, but we got some fun ones of your little beauty.

COZY CABIN

Cozy cabin.... the coziness of a warm fire in a little cabin is so inviting, especially on these VERY cold winter nights. The snow is falling again too. Vance's work phone is a buzzin' not a fun time of year for the trucking business but he is hanging in there.

I went shopping at Elements here in town last night... BEAUTIFUL Christmas decorations galore! 40% off too... gotta love a sale. :) I will have to share some updated pics of my decorating... it has been really fun.

December Fun

Merit and Willem were soo excited to see the snow on Friday! And although we didn't get much, Merit was sledding like crazy as soon as he could. Even on Saturday, the temp dropped -- it has been sooo cold-- but that didn't stop Merit from sledding! And thanks to a warm winter coat and nice snow pants from JC -- he's been geared up.
This little cabin is such a fun retreat!! More pictures of that tomorrow.

Little Cabin

Our DREAM of building a little cabin is coming TRUE. We all could use a place of respite... a place to relax, reflect and rest. I am so excited that this little cabin is getting close to being done~ I know many hours will be spent there. Vance is down at the cabin now, working at laying the floor -- which isn't as simple as he had hoped. (say a little prayer for him) He really wanted it finished by his birthday (tomorrow!) But it may be another week till completion. Wanted to share...

I'm crazy about Seattle

I am crazy about Seattle. I LOVE visiting there! A few weeks ago, Matt, Vance, Merit and Vance's mom and step dad enjoyed a Seahawks game! Willem and I shopped while the rest of the football fans enjoyed the big game. That night, Matt stayed with our family of four in Seattle. We went for a fun dinner, swam in the hotel pool and the next day we saw the sights! It was a beautiful day for the aquarium.

Merit, Matt, Willem and me

Merit, Vance, Willem and me

Randy and Chris Koon and Family

December Photography

Sharing some fun photos of the Koon family.

Favorite Places

As I continue to go through pictures, I am enjoying "getting back to" some of my favorite places. :) I wanted to share some photos... the first... a beach in Maui

The cabin on Heckman Lake

Our relaxation spot here on Crab Creek

Seattle, WA

Halibut Cove, Alaska