Just over a month ago, Dad and Mom Gons made the long trip from OH out to WA to spend a couple of weeks with us. They arrived on Wed. June 18th, and were able to stay with us until Tuesday, July 1. Phil and I still had to work most of the time, but we spent the bulk of our non-work hours exploring the area with them.

There are so many beautiful places to see near our home. With work and Phil’s dissertation, we have not taken much time to explore the area. Having visitors gave us the perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy God’s beautiful creation that is all around us!

The first Saturday we drove down to Deception Pass, near Antacortes, WA, which is about 45 minutes south of Bellingham. Although the skies were grey, it was still very beautiful. We enjoyed walking along the shore, and Dad Gons found many beautiful rocks!

After church on Sunday, we drove up Mt. Baker Highway. (Mt. Baker is the beautiful snow-capped mountain that we are blessed to see outside our home everyday—at least the day’s it’s clear.) The drive was very beautiful, and there were many spots to pull off and take pictures. After we a couple of hours, we finally made it to the top. As we made our last stop before heading back down, we got back in the car—and the car wouldn’t start. The engine wouldn’t even turn over. We hadn’t seen too many other vehicles on the trip, so we knew we were in quite a predicament. It was early evening, starting to get dark and cool on the top of this mountain. The couple of cars that we did see, tried to jump us, but they didn’t have enough power.

Dad and Mom have AAA, so we gave them a jingle. They would be at least a couple of hours, but our options were pretty limited. Not too much longer after we placed our distressed call, a couple from Canada pulled up in their minivan and offered their assistance. This man “happened” to be a part-time mechanic and had tools in his car. After a few moments, we were on our way back down.

God was taking care of us. Not only did he send a well-qualified helper our way, the location that our car died was a blessing. We were stranded in a big parking lot of a chalet, but the previous stop we made, just a minute earlier, was right on the edge of the mountain. It was a massive drop-off with no guard rails, and the pull-off was only big enough for 1 vehicle!! We were so thankful for God’s kindness and protection.

During the week, we visited different parks around Bellingham (Sehome Hill Arboretum, Whatcom Falls Park, Boulevard Park, Maritime Heritage Park). We had such a fun, relaxing time of fellowship together.

We spent the next weekend in British Columbia. On Friday we went up to Grouse Mountain (right outside Vancouver). We had planned to spent some time in Vancouver afterward, but we ran out of time. That night we stayed at Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy’s in Ladner. On Saturday we took a ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island. This was the first time Phil and I had taken a ferry. The view on the way there and back was gorgeous. We enjoyed our time in the city and at the Butchart Gardens—a world renowned flower garden. It was beautiful!

Our time together went by so quickly, but we were thankful that they took time out of their busy schedules to visit us at our new home. We look forward to seeing the rest of the Gons family at Christmas.

See more pictures at our Picasa album.

On May 21st my wonderful husband turned 30!!! I wanted to do something big and exciting, but Phil doesn’t like to be the center of attention and prefers quiet/intimate celebrations—so we opted for some low-key celebrating. :)  We had such a special time together. Since his birthday was during the week, we thought we’d do a little celebrating on the day, and then a little on the weekend. (We like to celebrate special occasions as many times as possible! On his birthday, we got some pizza, had some oatmeal cake (his favorite), opened presents, and just spent the evening relaxing together. (We don’t usually spend much time together during the week after work, so if was fun!)

On Saturday, we played tennis together in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed ourselves. Unfortunately, we felt pretty exhausted when we finished. I had made dinner reservations to a nice restaurant for the evening. The restaurant was on the marina, and the view was beautiful. After dinner, we walked around for a bit on the boardwalk outside the restaurant. We just enjoyed a nice romantic date together. (We should have brought our cameras!) I am so thankful for my sweet, sweet husband. With each day the Lord gives us together, my love and adoration for Phil grows deeper and deeper. The Lord has blessed me more abundantly than I could imagine, and I pray the Lord graciously gives Phil many, many more years to serve Him!

See some pictures at our Picasa site.

Another baby! Our families keep growing!! The Lord has blessed Chad and Sara with a fifth child, Samantha Noel. Samantha was born on Wednesday, February 20th, at 8:52 PM. She weighed 8lbs. 8oz. We praise the Lord that the delivery went well, and Samantha is a healthy baby girl!

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On Wednesday morning Phil’s sister Amy gave birth to their third child, Lyndsey Grace Greenawalt. She was born at 5:29 and measured 7 lbs 6 oz and 21 in.

Doesn’t Amy look great for just giving birth?!

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Well, I suppose it’s time for another post. The lack of posts has not been due to lack of events. I’ll briefly highlight a few of the major events of the last five months.

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It’s hard to believe that I said “I do” to the most amazing man in the world a little over 3 years ago! To celebrate, we went to Charleston for a long weekend. We had SO much fun!!

We strolled along the historical streets, admired some cool, old architecture, and were once again awed by the power and beauty of the ocean. We enjoyed a nice walk and Frisbee at Folly Beach one evening. We also toured Magnolia Plantation (with a petting zoo ), Drayton Hall, and the Calhoun Mansion. It was so wonderful to just relax and be with each other.

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On May 25th I flew up to Minnesota for a quick visit with my family. It had been about a year since the last time Phil and I were there. Unfortunately this time I had to leave my Sweets at home! (This was the first time we had been apart for any length of time, but somehow we survived!) I flew into Minneapolis a little after 11 PM and was so excited to see my Dad and Ryan. That night I spent the night at Dad and Kathy’s house. Kathy prepared a delicious brunch for Ryan, Erin, and me. It was great to be able to catch up with them.

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Tonight Valerie and her fiancé, Jon, had us over to for a cookout. We (Jon actually) grilled turkey dogs, brats, cheeseburgers, pineapple, zucchini, and squash. Valerie also made a delicious pineapple and watermelon salad, and we also enjoyed some Sun Chips (cheddar flavor). To finish off the grand meal, Valerie had also made a strawberry pie, which was also VERY tasty!!

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We’ve had some exciting stuff happening in our family recently! First, Valerie, Phil’s younger sister, just recently got engaged to Jon Adams. We’re very excited for them! They had been dating for exactly a year when they got engaged, and the wedding will be in Findlay, OH on July 28th.

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We spent Christmas this year in Findlay, Ohio with Phil’s family. We hadn’t been to Ohio since Thanksgiving of 2005, and the whole family hadn’t been together since Christmas of 2004! It was nice to have everyone together, and Mom was finally able to get the family picture she’s been wanting! We posted some pictures from our trip, so feel free to check them out.