All posts by KME

Marriage

Happy Anniversary–14 Years!!

Today Tim and I celebrated our 14th anniversary! What an amazing thing.

Wedding Couple
The happy couple! May 23, 1992

Of course, falling, as it did, on a week day, we were rather busy and distracted for most of the day. The children and I did school, had lunch and then went to homeschooling PE at the YMCA. In the afternoon Rachel and Daniel had friends over to play and my sitter/helper came over to work on the house. All in all it was a typical day in the life of the Edgrens.

And yet, in the midst of it all there was this sense of wonder and joy that Tim and I have been married for fourteen years and have created this beautiful family together. What a precious and delightful gift. Even the routine and familiar work of laundry and dishes and child care took on a deeper significance in the awareness of our anniversary–fourteen years together. Wow!

In 2002 we flew to Michigan for a family vacation and celebrated our anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony. We arrived in Michigan on the 22nd of May and were able to have the ceremony on the actual day of our 10th anniversary. I was VERY pregnant, which narrowed my selection of formal wear to a more casual look. Ha! We had a lovely celebration, put together by my parents, at Trinity Presbyterian (my father’s church) where we were married 10 years before.

Kiddos at our 10th anniversary/renewal
Joshua, Rachel, Daniel and toddler David at the renewing of our vows on our 10th anniversary–in the same sanctuary where we were first married.

It was very meaningful to repeat those vows again, this time with ten years of experience and reality under our belts. I was moved by the depth of the words we had written for each other as an engaged couple, chastened to see where I have fallen short of living those promises out to the fullest, and delighted to still be so in love with my husband.

Happy to renew our vows!
Here we are after renewing our vows. Kathy is obviously very pregnant with Sarah.

Today I had many well wishers. The older children wished me Happy Anniversary several times. My in-laws called and sang to me over the phone. They also brought news of anniversary gifts (the best one being some grandparent babysitting time–hooray!). I spoke to my parents (who are flying to Washington as I type this) and received more glad tidings.

Tim and I had planned to celebrate this year’s anniversary with a romantic dinner here at home. The children love to eat out in the garage (watching movies) while we stay inside and enjoy a quiet dinner alone. We’ve had these Home Style dates several times in the last few months. Sometimes we order out (the Outback Steakhouse is a favorite) and other times we fix dinner ourselves. Either way it is a pleasure to dine in the comfort of our own home and focus our attention on each other, without the distractions of our noisy chillen (to borrow a phrase from my Nana).

While the children were playing I had steaks marinating and ready to grill. I put potatoes in the oven to cook and planned to make a fresh green salad. Rachel and Daniel’s guests invited them out to a pizza dinner. How lovely! Two children who will be off, fed and entertained with playmates. When their mother, my dear friend, heard that it was our anniversary (and we planned to have dinner at home) she secretly arranged with Joshua to take all five children out for pizza. What a delightful treat!

I was totally surprised! J. called and spoke to Joshua (under the guise of talking to him about some yard work) and had him get the little ones ready to go. When J. arrived with her dh they came in two cars and told me they were taking all five children with them and would be back in two hours. I thought she was joking. My goodness! Shannon was still here cleaning so I had her finish up and drove her home. When I came back Tim had the griddle all ready for the steaks and was basking in the quietness of an empty home.

We had a lovely anniversary dinner. The steaks were delicious, the potatoes hot and crisp and the salad perfect. The meal was served on our beautiful wedding china (which I still LOVE) and all was just perfect.

J. kept the kids almost three hours. They went to McDonalds after their pizza dinner and had ice cream sundaes. Afterward they went to her house and made anniversary cards for us. You know you are well loved when your friends will take your five children out to dinner in order to give you the gift of time. What a blessing! Joshua wrote up a touching acrostic for the word FOURTEEN.

F: Fourteen years
O: Outstanding
U: Unity that will never be broken
R: Really great family
T: Tons of years
E: Every one of them great
E: Extremely awesome
N: Never will split up

It is truly stunning to think of how the years add up so quickly and yet at the same time seem to move in slow motion. It does not seem possible that Tim and I have been married for almost a decade and a half (weren’t we just in college?).

W&M Graduates
The William and Mary Graduates with Grandma and Grandpa Edgren. My how time flies!

I am very thankful Tim asked me to marry him all those years ago. I have never met someone (before or since) who has made me laugh as much, shared my passion for reading and thinking and discussing life, challenged me spiritually, and just plain brought joy to my life. He is an excellent husband and father.

Thank you for fourteen wonderful years, Tim!

–Kathy

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Musings

Hot Summer (??) Days

We are having a run of lovely, warm days here in Washington.

Sarah in pink
Sarah finishes her breakfast before church.

Perhaps it’s to make up for the long run of rain we had in the winter. Whatever the reason, I am certainly enjoying it thoroughly. The children love the sunshine and have loaded up the freezer with Otter Pops (a sure sign summer is here).

Daniel and David
Daniel and David enjoy the swing ball set.

Last weekend Tim set up the tent on Saturday evening and let the kids have a little camp out. Somehow (tragedy of all tragedies) we didn’t take ANY pictures of the whole event! I’m not sure how we let such an exciting evening go undocumented. Tim and David put the tent in the back yard while the rest of us were dropping off a friend from a play date. There was so much excitement as the kids ran out to see the little tent. They spent the rest of the evening dragging every pillow and blanket (it seemed) that we have out to the tent.

In the end only Rachel and Joshua actually slept all night in the tent. Tim read the Bible chapter to the kids out in the tent and I joined them for a bit. We were quite, ahem, packed in–it’s not a very big tent, certainly not a family sized one. It didn’t help that Rachel and David/Sarah had brought out several stuffed animals to join in the fun. By the time everyone settled down it was quite late and the little ones were very tired. I took them inside and put them to bed. Daniel came in shortly thereafter. Both Daniel and David changed their minds and tried to go back out into the tent but it was close to (or after) 11 pm and I knew they really needed a good night’s sleep. They fussed some and promptly fell right asleep.

Tim's tomatoes
Tim’s tomato plants–we eat a LOT of tomatoes in this family and hope to grow a few of our own this summer.

The children have already played with water several times. I’m not sure why they haven’t washed my van yet–perhaps the novelty of that runs out fairly quickly. I’ve spoken to several friends who have set up pools in their back yards.

Water fight!
Rachel and Joshua enjoy a friendly game with water.

There is a definite air of summer about. Sadly, I am fairly certain it’s not here to stay. Usually you can count on summer’s arrival by July 4th. Before that time it doesn’t really stay nice and warm here in Washington. We’ll see what this year will hold. I’ve certainly been very thankful for the sunshine and warm days.

We tried to do our school reading outside yesterday. That was a total bust! The children couldn’t pay attention–it’s too hot, it’s too sunny, I need a drink, etc. My goodness! What a girl has to go through just to enjoy a little sunshine. Finally I sent them all off to do some more tablework and sat down to do some weeding. Daniel and Rachel did their work outside near me but we didn’t do our reading. It was a good lesson for me–I can certainly be out in the gorgeous weather but had better plan on doing our school work inside where everyone can focus on the subject at hand. Ah well. I guess that means I can give up the idea of doing school at the pool/club this summer.

Sarah in bathing suit
Doesn’t this girl look like she wants to do some serious school!

Kathy

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Events

Snoqualmie Train Ride

On Thursday, of last week, we went up to Snoqualmie to the Northwest Railway Museum. We joined several other families from our homeschooling co-op. It was a long drive out to Snoqualmie/North Bend. We passed Tim’s office on the highway—we all waved and waved. Tim was on the cell phone and could see us driving past. Nice to see where he works, even if we only got a glimpse from the road. I was amazed, once again, that Tim is willing to drive all the way up towards Seattle every day. I am very thankful for this good job and a cheerful, hard working husband.

Snoqualmie is beautiful. The downtown area was very picturesque. The kids were excited to see the trains along the side the road. We joined up with our group and had a picnic lunch before it was time to begin our program. David was very dismayed to discover there were several activities scheduled before the actual train ride. We had a session on the signs and signals of railroad communication—there were all sorts of different types of devices on hand for the children to see. Next we had a locomotive cab tour.

Rachel
Rachel climbs on the train

Groups of 10 people climbed into an old train cab and looked over the controls and switches. Finally we had a history lesson on the importance of railroads in small town life and Northwest history.

Joshua listening hard
Joshua listens intently

The older children did beautifully in all the teaching sessions—they listened quietly and attentively. David and Sarah, on the other hand, posed for some great pictures. They weren’t exactly captivated by the history lessons. The school train experience is geared toward fourth graders, not preschoolers (no matter how precocious).

David

At long last we were ready to board the train. The train rides about 2 ½ miles and then returns to the depot. The trip takes about 30 or 35 minutes. The scenery was beautiful and we were able to see the new conservation and renovation center that is almost completed.

After our train adventure we drove a little further up the road to see the Snoqualmie Falls. There is a nice parking lot with a bridge across to the visitor center at the falls. The children were stunned and amazed at the breathtaking beauty of the falls. It was clearly one of the highlights of the field trip.

Snoqualmie Falls

Washington is such a beautiful state. I was once again struck by the wonder of God’s creation and delighted to be able to share in some of it.

Our group in front of the falls

Here we are standing by the falls–which you, unfortunately, can’t see at all.

Here are comments from the children:

Joshua—the Snoqualmie Falls was the best part of the trip. The history teaching on the railway was interesting. It was fun being with friends from our homeschooling co-op.

Rachel—I liked seeing the horses while we were on the train. I especially loved seeing the river. It was fun going up into the conductor’s engine room. The Snoqualmie Falls were gorgeous.

River
A view of the river from the train

Daniel—I liked going to see the falls. It was great going with friends! Riding on the train was fun. I liked going into the engine room of an old train—got to flip some switches. I even got to pull the horn/whistle.

Daniel and buddy
Daniel and a friend

David—I liked going over the bridge on the train. I got to sit in my own seat and look out the window as the train moved.

David on the train

Sarah—The water fall was pretty. I sat by David on the train and looked out the window.

Sarah on the train

–Kathy

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Musings

Where do the pictures go??

Tim and I are having the strangest time keeping our pictures up on the blog. For some reason, every few days the pictures seem to disappear. How odd is that!?! Thankfully Tim can always seem to restore them. I suspect he is going to need to put in some time this weekend, digging around, to figure out the problem (and solve it).

Sweet Sarah
Sarah in her pretty butterfly dress

Silly Sarah
Nice close up of Sarah’s teeth!

We went on a fun field trip today and I took a TON of pictures. Of course, these silly ones of Sarah are from earlier this week but I couldn’t resist including them–she’s a character!

I am a bit reluctant to blog about our train field trip if the photos aren’t going to stay in their designated spot. I’ll toss one out there just to keep things interesting. The rest will have to come this weekend.

KathyTrain Kiddos

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Events, Musings

AWANA Award Night

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Last week was the final session of AWANA at church. The program culminated in an award celebration complete with songs, ribbons, prizes, and more. This was Sarah’s first year in AWANA (she and David were both in Cubbies). She spent a good portion of the summer months reminding anyone who would listen that she was “going to be in Cubbies this year with David.” Very exciting! Joshua’s 5th and 6th grade ROCK program (Real Outstanding Christian Kids) also meets on Wednesday nights. All of these wonderful church activities meant that Tim and I often had an hour and a half to ourselves on Wednesday nights.

AWANA Boy!
David and his Cubbies certificate

The children all worked very hard on their Bible studies and memory verses (some of which I hope they will actually remember). Toward the end of the year I began scheduling in some specific AWANA study time in their school work. Rachel, in particular, was very diligent in her AWANA lessons. She enjoyed some healthy competition with another girl in her class (she gets the desire to WIN from Tim–ha) and made excellent progression through her books.

The final part of the award ceremony recognized the children who had completed the most sections of their AWANA book (involving memory verses, doctrine/theology lessons, and other activities and work) during a six week contest period and also for the entire year. To everyone’s surprise and delight, Rachel won first place for both events!! She received a huge kite and a cd player! She was so tickled and thrilled and excited. We all cheered and clapped.

Award Winning!
Hooray for Rachel!

We were very proud of Rachel and all her hard work over the year. She is becoming an amazing godly young woman. She loves the Lord, she studies her Bible every day, she seeks to really understand difficult spiritual concepts, and she is striving to live her life in the light. She is a most excellent daughter and I am proud to be her mother. I was pleased that she received some recognition for her achievements.

My prayer is that she would enjoy these special rewards but understand that they are fleeting and the true value is found in the richness of God’s Word.

Psalm 119:30-32; 35-37

I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.

I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;
do not let me be put to shame.

I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.

Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.

Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.

Kathy

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