On Friday morning, April 29, Nathan finally made it from Cordova, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry. He was home by 10:00 and we were all ecstatic to see him. Sean was the only one who wasn't home (he was at school) so Nathan got a pretty good fill of family right away.
Since Nathan is moving to Long Beach, California he was in need of some new duds, having spent the past 2 years in Alaska. So on Saturday the 30th Dylan and I took him to the mall and helped him purchase an entire summer wardrobe. It was a lot of fun for Dylan and me! It was pretty painful for Nathan. He hasn't acquired a taste for trying on lots of clothes and then spending lots of money on said clothes. But in the end he got some great stuff and he's going to look awesome (and be comfortable) in southern California.
We went to church as a family on May 1 and Nathan heard "the best sermon of his life," quite probably because every sermon illustration was hockey-related.
On Wednesday May 4 my parents arrived! They flew into Seattle and rented a car to drive up here. The evening that they arrived we spent a lot of time outside because the weather was nice. We barbequed hamburgers and watched the menfolk assemble to nice porch swing that Don got me for my birthday/Mother's Day.
Thursday was my birthday! I had an early hair appointment with Nati to get my hair highlighted. She ended up doing some pretty dramatic streaks but I've gotten a lot of compliments on it, including hearing that I look 30 years old! That's a 15-year improvement!
After my hair appointment, Mom, Dylan, Nathan, and I all headed to Willowbrook mall to find some clothes for us all to wear for our upcoming family portraits. We were at Payless Shoe Source because Nathan wanted to get running shoes. He and Dylan were up toward the front of the store purchasing the shoes...Mom and I were still browsing...when we heard gun shots, screaming people, and running. Everyone in the store quickly ran into the back storeroom. There were about 20 of us in there, including 2 double strollers and several elderly people. We had a steel door shutting us in, and another steel door separating us from the back entrance. It was scary. I assumed that someone was just randomly shooting people in the mall. The people who worked at the shoe store called the mall to get information and we found out that some people had robbed one of the jewelry stores in the mall, and had shot through the glass display cases to get to the jewelry. No one was shot, although several people were sprayed with Bear Scare. We were in the back room for about 45 minutes and then a security guard led us out to the back loading area. Thankfully Nathan and Dylan were there to carry the double strollers down the stairs.
After that scare, you'd think that we would have just gone home or gone out for a cocktail! But, no, we still had a photo shoot to get clothes for. So we headed over to Old Navy and found lovely clothes for everyone. We were thankful for Mom's employee discount : )
That evening, Dylan babysat for us and Mom, Lee, Don, Nathan, and I drove down to Everson to meet some great friends and family for a delicious steak dinner. Val, Dave, and Hailey joined us as well as Marc, Leslie, and Alex Cutler. So, basically Nathan's favorite people ever : ) We had a wonderful time! Thanks, Nathan, for treating your fan club so well!
When we got home from dinner I was presented with a birthday cake that Dylan and the Littles had made while we were gone! What a great babysitter : )
On Friday May 6 we had another very busy day! We had a birthday party for both Patience and Jordyn! It was a Garden Party theme which would have worked out MUCH better if it hadn't been pouring out! Don Sr. and Waneta drove down to help with the party. Don Sr. took Nathan to Canadian Tire and helped get him outfitted with a basic toolkit. Waneta stayed and helped 8 little girls paint birdhouses!
On Saturday morning our entire family (plus other special people) gathered for family portraits! We hadn't done portraits since long before Nick was born, so we decided to take advantage of having Nathan home and just get them done again. Our favorite photographer, Anita Chapman, took them in a park in Abbotsford. Because it was pouring rain, we used a huge covered picnic area. The shots turned out great. You can see them
here and
here. If you would like a picture, please let me know the image number, which is listed underneath the photo and starts with the word "Murphy." I had the portraits scheduled close enough to my birthday and Mother's Day to ensure cheerful compliance by all involved and it worked great!
After the portraits, my fun and busy week came to a crashing halt. Nathan and Don drove away from that Abbotsford park and headed south to Nathan's new duty station. My parents did drive home with us, but then packed up and left for their time with their other daughter. All I can say is that I'm glad my parents didn't have 6 kids...it's hard enough for Valarie and I to share them evenly. And she usually gets the lion's share of their time in the PNW : )
Dylan and Haley ran to do errands of their own and Sean went to the basement to make up for lost time on his video games. Nick took a much-needed nap and I spent an hour or so reorganizing and cleaning from all the gifts that came with the birthday party.
And that....was the first week of May, 2011. As soon as I post about week 2 you'll be completely caught up.
Cheers!
