Glenn Ingraham

My Grandpa Ingraham passed away this evening. He was a man who loved Jesus and told everyone he met about Him. Even last week while at the hospital, he asked a nurse, "Do you know Jesus?"

We were able to see him this evening at his hospice care facility, to say goodbye before he passed.

This is from Christmas Day. It's Grandma and Grandpa with 8 of their 15 great-grandchildren.


Please keep my dad, his 2 brothers, and my grandma in your prayers this week as they deal with the loss of their father and husband of 65 years, but also rejoice in the fact that Grandpa is now with Jesus and pain free.

Sunny Day

Dan started his new job on Tuesday, and it's been a fantastic week! He loves the job, and we both love that it's work from home. He probably puts in more hours, but they're flexible hours, so it works really well for us. We get to have breakfast together, which upgraded from cold cereal to eggs, and we get to have little lunch dates (cause Hazel is napping). I was nervous that Hazel would pester him while he worked, but she's done really well at leaving him be...and I have too! I love having him here and I love the flexibility he has. He can break from work and watch Hazel while I make dinner, (which for some reason is the only time of day that Haze is clingy and wants to be held). Yesterday for lunch we ate and watched LOST. Today I got to go shopping while Hazel napped. And this afternoon, which was absolutely GORGEOUS, we went for a little walk in the sun. Seriously, 59 degrees and sunny in February? I'll take it!


This is from yesterday...Hazel and I were going through the ads. Her face just kills me. If you click to enlarge the picture, you can see that she was saying, "ooooooohhhh!" It was super cute.

Average Day

This face brings me so much joy! Hazel is talking more, eating more, napping more, and doing quite well! Here's an average day in our house. Hazel and I wake up between 8:30am-9:00am, we both brush our teeth and head upstairs for breakfast (which now includes Dan since he started his new job yesterday)! We all have eggs: Haze gets 2 fried eggs and some fruit, and Dan and I have eggs over-easy or a fritatta or something. Then we play in the living room for a while (Hazel with her toys, me with the Internet). We head down for me to get ready for the day, then we usually leave the house on some sort of errand (on Monday's it's Gymboree class at 11:15am). We come home, I nurse Haze and then she goes down for her nap (somewhere between 12:15-1:00) and she naps for 2 hours. During her nap I have lunch (which now is with Dan)!!! I also do my bible study, return emails, clean up, etc. When she wakes up, she eats lunch and then we head out again (sometimes to Gymboree for open play gym. We come home and when Dan is done with work, he takes over Hazel watching and I make dinner for the three of us. The evenings vary (Mondays is movie night, Tuesdays is Bible Study with Church, Thursdays I have Bible Study with my cousin, and Dan volunteers at the church with the tech group. Wednesdays or Fridays we usually have someone over for dinner. When we're free for an evening we all play in the living room...Hazel gets super silly between 7pm-8pm before bed, so it usually involves a lot of laughing from all three of us. Then at 8pm I nurse Haze, put her to bed, and Dan and I usually catch up on our recorded TV shows or watch a Netflix movie. And that's our average day.

This is the face of pure joy:

Bosom Buddy

My neighbor as a child, is my "Bosom Buddy" to quote Anne of Green Gables, (which we watched together as kids). She moved to Eastern Washington when we were going into 4th grade, but we have remained dear friends over the years. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and even lived with us 2 years ago for a few months while she started her new job at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Her name? Carrie Pauls, aka: Carebear.

2008

2004

This weekend we went out to her parents house in Colfax, WA and all the "kids" came home for the weekend too. We had such a wonderful time. Janice, Carrie's mom, makes amazing country home cooking, so we literally ate ALL weekend long. We celebrated Jeff's 25th Birthday, played Pictionary-Down-The-Line, Hazel played with Addison, Deanna's 2 year daughter, we ate and laughed and ate some more.

Jeff

Addison and HazelDeannaDaddyMommy

Janice had brought out all of Deanna, Carrie, and Jeff's old toys; the toys I had also played with as a kid. It was so fun to see Hazel playing with them too. She LOVED the mini Pound Puppies, and the Little People.

Does anyone remember Pound Puppies? I had a stuffed animal, and there was a cartoon too. And my oh my, Little People have changed a lot over the years.

They've gone from this (image source):

To this (image source):

Addison got a Barbie Jeep for Christmas so the girls had fun with that in the Church Gym, while the boys played a killer variation of Dodge Ball...as in they almost killed Norm, Carrie's dad.


It was so fun to relax on the farm. Dan and I try to go every year, but we hadn't made it the last three years. I'm so thankful to have such a dear friend and family whom I share so many childhood memories with.

Wonderful Weekend, and Quite Productive

Last night was delightful! We left Hazel in good hands...


We headed to Jak's all gussied up. We got there at 5pm only to find an hour and a half wait, but we passed the time by chatting, sipping a gin and tonic, and playing games together on the iPhone.


Then came dinner...I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again, I love this restaurant! It was so delicious, as always. I got the blue cheese salad, top sirloin with a side of Gorgonzola cheese sauce, potato pancakes, and an nice glass of red wine to wash it down. Dan has been wanting to try their burger for quite some time. It was rated 3rd best burger in Seattle Magazine. The bun made it stand out, and Dan says the beef was hands down the best he's had in a burger. Then we shared Creme Brulee for dessert!

We exchanged our Valentine's gifts when we got home...I got him Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries, and he got me Amaretto Truffles! It was a Happy Valentine's Day for sure!


Today we continued our painting quest. The kitchen is now finished. It took forever, with all it's little nooks and crannies. We still have to do the bathroom, perhaps Wednesday night....

Then we went to Church, and headed home to watch our recorded Superbowl. Hazel gets super silly in the evenings before bed. Giggly, fearless, bouncy, and spastic...Tonight was no exception. I stood her up and let go to see if she'd "walk" towards me (which is really more of a lunge/falling motion. Instead she just stood there for like 5 seconds. It was SHOCKING since she's never stood up by herself before. Then as the evening progressed and she got more crazy, she actually took a few steps. What's more amazing is that we caught it on video! Anyways, I'm by no means saying that Hazel is walking now, but she did take her first step last night, stood alone for the first time tonight, and took some more steps this evening. Exciting times ahead!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day! Well, not to most people, but for Dan and I it is. Grandpa Dale and Nana are going to watch Hazel tonight while Dan and I go out for dinner. We're going to Jak's, our favorite restaurant.

We're celebrating today for a few reasons...
- We have a gift card that expires tomorrow
- Next weekend we'll be out of town visiting friends in Colfax, Wa
- We have a sitter!

Last night, we continued our painting project. We did the entry and dining room. All we have left is the bathroom and kitchen, which we can hopefully finish tomorrow. Here's some pictures of the process: Hazel's quarantine area, Dan painting, me cutting in, halfway through wine break, and finished project.


This is Hazel's new face...it comes with a monkey noise.


A family that wears converse together, stays together...that's how the saying goes right?

My Thoughts Are All Over The Place

My thought have been all over the place. Mostly dreaming of Scotland, trying not to worry about our condo, and thinking about de-cluttering, organizing, and home repairs.

Hazel is helping Dan fix the dishwasher

Step one...dealing with our Condo. We're praying for God's wisdom and guidance in selling or renting it out. Ideally we'd like to sell it, but the market is crummy so we're prayerfully considering what to do. We're going through our stuff and selling/Goodwilling a lot of it. The idea of living more simply is so refreshing. I like that we're gonna downsize a bit. We've got boxes that we've moved at least 3 times, that have never been unpacked...verdict: whatever is inside is not really needed. Most places are rented furnished in Scotland, so we really don't have to bring much, plus electronics don't work there, and things like bed sizes are even different, so we don't need to bring bedding. All we really need is clothes, and then Hazel's toys and stroller.

I had a nasty head cold this weekend, but we still managed to get our office painted. We are painting most of our upstairs, and we're planning on doing it here and there as time and Hazel allows. On Saturday, one of us would watch Hazel who was quarantined in the living room, and the other would paint. We managed to finish it off during her nap. I'm proud to say, not a drop of paint got on Hazel!


In other news, January came and went...

- We managed to see TWO movies (note: in 2009 we only saw 2 movies all year). Avatar 3-D IMAX and Sherlock Holmes. Both were enjoyable.
- Dan and Hazel were sick a few weeks ago, and I had it this last weekend, but we're all feeling healthy now!
- We spent at least a week celebrating Hazel's first birthday.
- I'm really enjoying this season of Chuck!
- We celebrated Finn's 3rd birthday on Sunday!
- Hazel got her 4th tooth...I have no idea when. It was just there one day! I think two more are coming soon.
- We finally had movie night on Monday again. Groundhog Day...Fantastic! I love our movie night group.
- New job, new dreams

...and that's what I was up to over the last month.