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Ski 2 Sea 2010

Tim's 2010 Ski 2 Sea team:

Mark (downhill boarder), Eric (road biker), Kristy (XC skier), Tanja (kayaker), Mike (mountain biker), Carin (co-canoeist), and Josh (runner); not pictured: Tim (canoe anchor).

Our Ski 2 Sea team performed very well, finishing in the top half of well over 400 teams.

They guessed their times to within about 10 minutes, which is amazing considering the race has 7 legs and is over 90 miles long.  Kristy's leg was first, beginning at 8AM on Mt. Baker, and Tanja finished the kayak leg just after 5PM on the shores of Bellingham Bay.

We were able to watch the end of Eric's ride, in Everson, where he handed off to Tim & Carin for the canoe leg.  We tried to cheer for them at 3 different bridges along the route, but just didn't catch them.

Seeing their finish, and the hand off to Mike on the mountain bike was exciting, though.

The feast hosted by Tim's & Eric's parents after the finish was fit for kings, and queens.

Another great S2S event behind us.

Chilly Parade

Yes, it was a cold, wet afternoon for a Ski 2 Sea parade, but fun none the less.

We perched on "our corner," which we found staked out by our good friends (and fellow S2S participants)with whom we have shared almost every Ski 2 Sea parade.

The pirates were in full swing, as were the belly dancers and the high school marching bands.

We knew many marching musicians, from youth group and Scouts.

We heckled 2 of them (good fun) to try to get their attention, but they showed great discipline staying in formation .

Our team has arrived, and the expected finish times are posted on the white board.  High hopes!

Having to fill 2 vacated canoe spots just one week before race day made for some added drama this year.

Just his luck, Tim is back in the canoe, having swapped out of mountain bike, since it's an easier leg to sell.

Let's hope he doesn't end up swamped & stranded on an island again; that was his worst S2S ever.

Flashback Friday

Denmark 1995

Born fascinated by the written word, Zachary studies the Danish sign in downtown Copenhagen.

Known for his powerful lungs (ie. screaming talent) and his strength of will, Zachary refused to accept confinement the pram with docility.

An official world traveller before age 1; here's Zachary's first passport photo.

Our journey to Denmark when Zachary was 11 months old centered around celebrating the marriage of our friends Mike and Anne (pronounced anNuh).

We travelled with three of Tim's groomsmen and life-long buddies, Eric, Sean and Dave; two of whom were wise enough to pay a little extra not to have to sleep in the same flat as Iron Lungs (Zac). 

We were hard-core "lay the child down and let him cry himself to sleep" parents, and as such, the 5+ hours of screaming (what were we thinking?) on night one, convinced the other friend to switch accommodations immediately, at any cost.

Mike and Anne had made arrangements for us to take over her sister's apartment for the first week, a friend's apartment for another week, and our 3rd week was split between a bed & breakfast and a cruise to Sweden & Norway.

 

While there, we met up with Linnea, a Finnish exchange student who had lived with my family in 1981-2.

We saw many amazing sights and spent many wonderful days enjoying the journey with our friends.

Fine print:  Paying off our VISA bill took many months (or was it years?) after that adventure!

 

 

Fixer Upper

The problem: leaky pipe; prevents use of backyard hose.

The solution: most of a Saturday; blow torch; muliple trips to the hardware store for parts;

consultation with Grandpa Cliff; and a piece of bread (to hold up a slow drip long enough to torch the pipe).

The result: a happy lad, able to use the backyard hose to supply water to birds and plants.

(First use blasted out the mushy bread bits.)

The fine print:

A few hours of total chaos; a gigantic mess;

water shut off during final hours of preparation for hosting a gathering at our house

when baking & cleaning had to be put on hold for the completion

of what turned out to be a challenging project.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely.

Thank you to Tim, Peter and Cliff for fixing the leaking pipe!

Breaking Out

Janell, Alain, Bridget & Tim @ Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference

Bridget, Renee, Karen, Janell & Robin

Sometimes you just have to get away. 

This opportunity was too good to be passed up,

and we are so grateful to Renee for giving us the details for registration.

"Celebrating Families: Recognizing the Power of Relationships"

was the them for this year's Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference.

The keynote speaker, Bishop Vasa, from Baker, Oregon, encouraged us in our primary vocation of

personal holiness and the salvation of souls (as in leading souls to Christ, who won our salvation). 
As Catholic parents and homeschool teachers, we should strive to become reservoirs of holiness,
rather than conduits.

He highly recommended The Soul of the Apostolate by Jean-Baptiste Chautard (which I just ordered for $10 through half.com).

Bishop Vasa encouraged us to be marriage centered families,

rather than child centered, which leads to disorder.

He compelled us to constantly grow in virtue, citing scientific evidence that parents' virtuous behavior has actual positive physical effects in the development of our children's brains. 

And visa versa to the detrimental effects on their brains for poor parental (sinful) behavior.

Yikes.  That's one of those "I wish I had known sooner!" tidbits of information ~

though it seems quite intuitive, doesn't it?

We also heard a fun presentation on Flexing our Communication Muscles.

Each of us felt the hot seat when our type of communication style (direct, narrative, logical, or empathetic) was outlined for it's strengths and weaknesses.  Our goal as parents/home educators is to teach our children (and learn ourselves) how to strengthen our weaker styles of communication, and understand each other's styles so as to communicate most effectively in our families.  Great stuff.

The conference was super inspiring, and the fellowship with our comrades in this journey was equally fulfilling.  Add in the bonus of time away with Tim, and it was a get-away for the record books.

The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

~2 Timothy 2: 24-26

PENTECOST

"Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory."

- St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.


R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

May your Pentecost be truly blessed...

Confirmation 2010

Bishop Eusebio Elizondo anointed our confirmandi with sacred chrism oil last night at confirmation, bestowing upon them the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

 Bishop Eusebio Elizondo has celebrated many (over 40?) confirmation Masses in this Easter season...

and he's still on FIRE!

We were so blessed by his presence, by his witness, by his exuberance in service to our Lord.

Zachary had the privilege of serving at confirmation, where many of his peers received this sacrament of initiation, including Daniel (white shirt), Kevin (center back), Matt (red hair) and Matt (tallest).

Friends Taylor and Ezra were on hand to celebrate with the guys.

It was a truly amazing liturgy, and the fruits of this sacrament

shall be a blessing to our Church for many years to come.

Congratulations to all of our newly confirmed Catholic adults.