April Showers

Where have the days gone? April is over half over already! Life has been really good. Time flies when you are on the run!

And…I am still running…literally running. I have now run up to 5 miles straight without stopping. Mike is a good trainer and I’m proud of myself for sticking to it. I have lost about 6 pounds. I want to make running a habit for life. I ran the Tulip Run, a 2 mile race, and came in at a pace of under 10 minutes per mile. Since that race Kelby has taken to running each day on the treadmill. She wants to be in cross-country next year! My first 5K is on May 7.

A sad thing this last month was the loss of a dad from our church congregation. I have been growing closer to Kyla as her husband was losing his battle with leukemia. They have four kids ages 15, 13, 12, and 9. We have been trying to help her however we can. We made a slide show video for the memorial service. It was a beautiful service for a man who is now in heaven. Kyla is so brave and strong. The kids have been amazing through this all too.

Elizabeth, their only daughter, is Kelby’s age. We were lucky enough to get to have her over a couple weeks ago. It was a nice day, so I took all the girls out to Anacortes to the beach park. We stopped at the donut shop out there. (My new favorite snack spot!) They have huge yummy fritters out there!

At the beach park we got to see the resident seal. Apparently he comes any time boats come into the dock…thinking he’ll get some spare fish. He has one bad eye.

The girls thought he was pretty neat and they were given some fish to feed him. They loved playing on the playground and then we went climbing over rocks along the beach to explore. On the way home I made a stop to find our first geocache for the year.

That was the start to our spring break. The next two days were pretty laid back. On Wednesday morning we got to pack up and head down to Oregon for a little mini-vacation! We stayed in Seaside. The first night on the beach it was cloudy, raining, and hailing.

We visited the beach, grabbed dinner at the grocery store, and picked up a movie to watch in the hotel room. After a chance to swim, we snuggled in and watched “Mega Mind”. The next morning we got up and went out to explore.

Isn’t this beautiful!? The sky was clear and blue. It was very chilly, but no rain!

Then, of course, we had to go down to the Tillamook cheese factory!

We had a tasty lunch there and then took a tour. Mike had to stock up on his very favorite snack, cheese curds! Then we snagged some Tillamook ice cream.

When we got back to the hotel it was time to get another swim.

We got the girls out of the pool just in time to see the sun set!

The next morning, Mike and I took a run together (for the first time ever) on the beach! That was a fun moment for me. Can’t believe I can run with him…though he had to run slow.

We went to the Seaside Aquarium. It was a small place, but had some really cute and active seals.

After some more time on the beach, we made our way home again. It took a LONG time to get home through some icky Friday Seattle traffic.

On Saturday was the Tulip Run.

We had a good week last week that just flew by. The weekend was full. I went to my ladies’ brunch and a baby shower. Mike did lots of yard work. Here’s Kelby trying to practice her Girl Scout fire starting skills! I was proud of her for giving it a try. It started, but never really got going. Good job!

On Monday night we noticed that the floor in the office was soaking wet! We hadn’t realized it, but while  Mike was doing yard work he hooked the hose back up and while it ran, it ran into the house! Turns out, we had split the pipe over the winter. Oops! Major oops! George came over on Tuesday morning and figured it all out. We are still trying to dry out the floor.

Kelby had to pack up for a three night stay at Camp Orkila in the San Juan Islands. The sixth graders from all over Sedro-Woolley got to go. They even ride the ferry to get there. She was excited to go, but I am nervous. She’ll be home on Friday.

Here’s a cute snack I made for our last Girl Scout meeting. They are made with butterscotch chips and chow mein noodles!

We had a good day at Girl Scouts with the younger girls and gave out the badges they’ve earned so far.

Well, that’s about all I have pictures of this time. I’m sure more has happened, but if I don’t have a picture of it, I don’t remember it! Hopefully the weather will be getting better around here. There was actual snow on Monday!

Love to you all!

Shawna