Fruit

Hi everyone! It's been a while (sorry about that). Since the last time I've posted anything, a lot has happened, but the biggest change is that we moved. No, not back to the south, but just down the road to a different house. But we love it! Pictures of the new place to come soon!

But on another note, Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm a couple days behind, but it's better late than never. We had a wonderful time visiting with friends, cooking incredible food, doing Black Friday shopping, and decorating the house for Christmas.

We had a game night on Tuesday.

We had a little bit of fun.

We played Cranium...

...and a new game where we put pillows on our heads to look like an Egyptian Pharaoh.

I'm sure you all had wonderful food over the weekend. Turkey is the primary food in the Thanksgiving meal, but at least to me, it's the sides that make the meal go from good to amazing, like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, green beans, pumpkin pie, etc. I was reading a verse about fruit, which made me think of the holidays since sweets are so prevalent in holiday baking...

"When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." -John 15:8

Plants are designed with a purpose in mind. God sends the rain and sunshine to make crops grow and constantly nurtures every plant so it can blossom and produce fruit. When a pumpkin vine bears much fruit, God is glorified. He made it all happen, so He is glorified when a plant fulfills its purpose. We are also designed with a purpose in mind. When we bear much fruit (i.e. have a relationship with Him and act on our faith), God is glorified. If we're not producing fruit in our lives, then we're not where we should be with God. But what's so awesome is that He will help you get there! God meets you where you are. So ask God for help, and He'll come to you.

March Visitors

We LOVE having visitors! At the beginning of March my parents came to visit, and last weekend some of our Georgia friends came to visit.

We went to the Space Needle, and it was clear enough to see Mt. Rainier. I know it's tough to see from the picture because of the clouds, but it's behind the stadiums and to the right of the skyscrapers.

My parents and me on top of the Space Needle

The first car wash in America.

We went on a tour of Theo's Chocolate Factory. This is the roaster.

My dad and me at Whidbey Island.

We went to Coupeville on Whidbey Island.

We drove all the way through Whidbey Island and made it to Deception Pass.

The water is a beautiful green under the bridge.

We went on Seattle's Underground Tour. This is an old toilet (obviously).

Underground Seattle--The oldest part of Seattle is Pioneer Square. This is the original part of Seattle. During high tide, the city would be covered in water. After the city burnt to the ground, there was a chance to build a better, more efficient city. So the city was eventually built 10-30 feet above ground. What you see here would be considered the basement of a shop. There are actually doors down there that are used to enter into shops. And above this are sidewalks and the street.

As the sign says, this was Seattle's original water system, hollow logs placed above ground. Pretty disgusting if you ask me...It was a blessing in disguise that the city burnt to the ground. This allowed everyone to design a more efficient city without sewage in the streets.

We went gray whale watching and saw a whale. Notice the heart shaped water from the blowhole.

We also saw California sea lions. Aren't they cute?

Our guide told us it's good luck to see a whale tail, and we did.

Steven, Rebekah, Me, and Christopher

They are moving from Anchorage, Alaska back to Atlanta, Georgia and decided to stop and visit us along the way. We went to Kerry Park to get some photos of the city. Of course it was sunny about 10 minutes after we took pictures.

Our beautiful city

Steven and Christopher at Pike Place Market. We had a lot of fun with them! We went shopping, ate lots of good food, and enjoyed visiting with great friends.

We love being tour guides, so come visit us!

Houston

Things have been crazy around here due to family issues. Last Monday I left for Houston, TX so I could visit with my family. In case you don't know, I am from there so my extended family lives there, and my parents just moved back there. My grandparents (mom's parents) are both sick now, and I wanted to visit them before anything was too bad. My grandpa has bladder cancer, but doctors think he will be fine after surgery. Yesterday he went in to get another biopsy with an oncologist specializing in the procedure recommended for him. They found out he had blood poisoning due to his catheter, so the biopsy won't be done until tomorrow. My grandma has Alzheimer's, so that adds more stress to the situation. Please keep them and my family in your prayers. But all in all, it was a good visit. I saw family, friends, and ate some good Mexican food and Barbecue! If you ever go to Houston and want to know about some places to eat, I'll give you a list.

Here are some pictures from the visit...

My mom with her parents

Me with my grandpa and grandma

Jean, Mary Jane, and me at Beth Moore's Bible Study on James. They're some of my mimi's friends.

Bible Study was packed! Kari Jobe was the worship leader for the night. It was an amazing night!

Jimmy, Grandpa and Elmer

They love music and have frequent polka jam sessions.

Welcome to Texas (and the Greers' home)...haha!

I was able to visit with Shannon, my best friend growing up. We grew up across the street from each other. And she has family in Atlanta, Huntsville, and up north. We've always been connected even when we're living far away from each other, and it seems as if it's going to stay that way!

Apparently we stalk TLC reality TV stars, but this house was easy to find...look at it! It's very unique! This is Bill and Jen's house from The Little Couple.

The color and the dolphin weather vane gave it away! It's huge!

2010 Year in Review Part 2

We spent a couple days in Vancouver, BC, which is only about 3 1/2 hours from Seattle.

We biked 10 miles or so around Stanley Park.

Chris found a hotdog place he really loved!! Japadog serves hotdogs Japanese style with toppings like seaweed, edamame, japanese mayo, etc.

We took a day trip to Victoria, BC. We visited Butchart Gardens and later went whale watching.

We went whale watching in the San Juan Islands. Don't you love my stylish outfit? It was necessary...the water was wet and cold.

We saw a baby orca whale and its mother.

In July, we went to Charleston with my parents for my birthday. This was taken on the boat heading to Ft. Sumter.

Look at the table behind us (not at Chris's blurry face). I was being a papparazzi so I could get a picture of Dwayne Wade (great basketball player for the Miami Heat) and his girlfriend, Gabrielle Union (she was in Bring It On).

Shelley and David got married in June.

We went to Alabama Football games.

Gorgeous sunset at Bryant-Denny!

We had a going away volleyball party at our house. It was so much fun! I miss all of y'all!

Kendal, Me, Heidi, Nikki, and Elisa (in back saluting someone?? Haha) at another party. I miss all of my Building Church girls so much! Love you!

The toughest and most exciting part of 2010: moving to Seattle!

If you've been following our blog, you already know we drove to Seattle. On our 8 day roadtrip, we went through Lubbock, TX to visit the Potters (or as Chris calls them, the Pottys).

We also made it to the Grand Canyon and hiked around the park.

Jenny Lake at Grand Teton National Park

Snake River in Wyoming

If you come to visit Seattle, you'll definitely go here...great food, fun shopping, and it's close to everything.

The Public Market has gorgeous flowers year round (they're even better in summer), and each bouquet is generally less than $10.

Public Market decorated for Christmas

This is taken in Mukilteo, which is where we live. The photo on our blog header was taken at this same location by Christopher.

We went to Roloff Farms on October 30th and met Amy Roloff,

Molly Roloff,

and Matt Roloff.

If you've watched Little People Big World on TLC, you recognize this sign.

We spent Thanksgiving in Tuscaloosa, AL because the Bama/Auburn game was the following day.

We spent Christmas in Alpharetta, GA...

...and had our first White Christmas! We also built our first snowman.

This is the last photo we have of 2010. We had a Christmas party and visited our Bama friends in Birmingham. It was so much fun! And the group is growing! The first and last picture I had from 2010 was of these people. I love my friends!

2010 was a great year, and I'm looking forward to all that will come from 2011!