Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Blogging Friends

As you can see, we changed our blog up a little and when we did it accidentally deleted my Blog Friends List. So...I am in the process of updating all of the info! If you don't see your blog on the list anymore, please dont be offended! :) If you will email me your blog site again I'll make sure to add it! I'm having trouble finding some of them because the only link I had to them was off my blog!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sunday drive

Yesterday (Sunday) we decided we really needed a "family fun" day! So we headed north to Lynden for their annual Raspberry festival. We got all the way up there and found out that the festival was Friday & Saturday only!!!! Instead of panicking though and getting completely frustrated with one another that we didn't check before we left :) we went to plan B which I have to say made for an incredible day! We quickly called our emergency travel planner (Lindsay!) who is very familiar with that area and got directions to Birch Bay.

It was beautiful and the girls had so much fun. Actually I should say Rylie & Madison had so much fun. Taitlyn would not even put her feet down in the sand or the water which is a little surprising because she is usually our little adventurer. Anyway...the big girls had lots of fun playing in the sand and wading through the water. There was also a little arts & crafts fair across the street that we strolled through for a little while.

We then called Lindsay again :) and got instructions on taking Chuckanut Dr.! This is a must-drive for anyone living in the Seattle area. The views are absolutely amazing! We made several stops along the way, played a little and took lots of pictures!

We ended the day with dinner at Denny's! Daddy was very excited! It turned out to be a great day!

The big girls walking towards the beach





Taitlyn decided to try eating the flowers! She is very into eating naturally!


The first picture of the girls being sweet & smiling!


Then we asked them to make silly faces. Madison went to town. Rylie looked at her like she was crazy and Taitlyn smiled for the first time!

This was one of the amazing views from Chuckanut Dr.

Extra block party

I just found a few more block party pictures that were really cute! Enjoy!





It looks like Reid is about to kick this little boy down the slide!!!

Summer fun!

The Coles come over once a week for dinner together and then...after the kids go to bed we have a meeting/prayer time. This past week the kids played in the water outside before bed and had lots of fun! It was one of the first times this summer we had played in the water. It has either been too cold or we have been busy with sports camp or block parties. The kids loved it!

Rylie singing a little tune while she takes a break from the pool!



Madison had to sing a little too!


For some reason Taitlyn decided it was a little too cool outside so she went in by herself, found her winter gear and put it on...all by herself!!! It was too cute!

Baxter's Visit

We have been dog-sitting for the past week and it has been so fun! Baxter (the dog) is such a great dog! I am convinced that Jen needs to be a dog trainer! The girls have loved having him play this week! We are all sad that he has to go home tomorrow. Jen...be ready because I'm sure the girls are going to want to come over more often now to see Baxter!!!!

I love this picture because it makes him look so mean but he really is such a sweet dog!



Madison & Baxter bonding under the slide


Madison in action...throwing Baxter's toy


Rylie perfecting her photography skills on Baxter

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Hearing the cries

I was at the doctor recently having some bloodwork done (nothing crazy...just normal yearly check-up stuff) and there was another mother in there with her son. I don't really know what was wrong with him, but it was very evident he had serious medical conditions. I found out he was 3 years old but he laid in his stroller/chair without moving or making a sound. I am not a medical expert in any way but he was hooked up to some kind of trach device that went into his neck and it seemed like it was helping him breathe. He went back before me to get his blood drawn and I could see him from where I was sitting. The nurse pricked his heel to get the blood and he didn't make a sound or move a muscle but his mother knew he didn't like it. She gently reached down and wiped the tears from his eyes...the only sign that he knew something hurt. Then she said something that changed my life. She said, "I can't even remember the last time he cried. I know it was over 2 years ago. I would give anything just to hear him cry again." I could hardly hold back the tears at that point. I hope that I will always remember that moment...especially when all 3 of my girls are screaming at the same time...and simply be thankful that I can at least hear their cries!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Taitlyn is 2!!!!!

My baby just turned 2!!!! I know we say this all the time, but I seriously cannot believe it! Her actual birthday was the 13th but since we were finishing Sports Camp then and it was also the same day as our Preview Service we decided to postpone her party...especially since she didn't know one way or another! We had a little family celebration on the 13th but we had her party today. We just had several families (who we love so much!) come over to celebrate with us! It was lots of fun!

For our family celebration, we had an ice cream cake. It was so frozen it was hard to get a piece!


If all else fails, just eat the whole thing!


Madison (aka Little Helper) making sure Taitlyn got all the help she needed




Taitlyn followed in the tradition of the other Corbin girls and did not enjoy everyone singing Happy Birthday to her!

Sports Camp 08

We just finished our Sports Camp and it was an incredible week! Last year we had about 70 kids participate and this year we had 160!!! It all went great and we all had so much fun! We had 2 churches (one from Southaven MS and one from Little Rock AR) come up to help and they were incredible! We couldn't have done it without them! There are way too many photos to post so you can go to our church website to see them: www.discoverthecommons.com!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Block Party - Parts 3-8

Believe it or not, we have now done 8 block parties!!!! Now you all know why I haven't updated my blog lately! Here is a brief breakdown of the parties:

Party # 3 - Navy housing community - It was a great night of ministry to the navy families. There were TONS of kids at the party and they loved getting to play and enjoy treats. I think I have always been aware of the sacrifice that military families make for our country but this night made it much more personal. To meet the families who are the ones left behind while their husbands and fathers serve overseas was very emotional. I can't imagine dealing with all that they deal with on a daily basis.

Party # 4 - Park in the downtown Arlington area. This is the area where the school is that we meet in but it is also an area where we haven't really any connections. It was a great night! We met lots of new families and lots of fun!

Party #5 & #6 - We did these parties on the same night...one in our neighborhood and one in Jason & Becky's neighborhood. Both went really well and allowed us to meet even more new neighbors. We also got to reconnect with neighbors we hadn't seen in a while.

Party # 7 - This one was in a "park" in a neighborhood not too far from ours. I say "park" because that is what it is technically but it is pretty much just a field at the entrance to some houses. This party started off slow but after some of the teams walked through the neighborhoods inviting people it really picked up. We ended up probably having close to 100 people by the end of the night and...once again...met lots of new families!

Party #8 - Sports Camp Celebration Night - We ended the week of sports camp with a family night celebration. We estimate that we had about 300 people there that night! In addition to our usual block party elements (bounce house, super slide, obstacle course, cotton candy, popcorn & snow cones) we also served hot dogs, baked beans & chips. It was a great way to end a wonderful week of sports camp!

Here are a few pictures from various parties throughout the week!






4th of July

We lived through it again this year! :) In fact, we decided to participate in the chaos a little more this year. If you haven't read our blog from last year, you need to go back to July 07 and do so. To summarize it though, 4th of July is HUGE here! Not only do cities, etc. do large fireworks displays, but it is legal for anyone to shoot fireworks. Well...I should say not all of them are "legal" but they get shot off anyway! This year, we got lots of little ones that the kids like to "help" with but we also got some big ones that Jay could do! We had no idea how BIG even the legal fireworks were. He started with one and I can't even describe to you the sound it made when it went off! We don't have many good pics but Tim got some video I will try to post later. Here are a few other pics of the day though.

This year was extra special also because my cousin and her family just moved to the Seattle area so they came up for the day also! Even though they are about an hour away from us, it is so wonderful to have family near! The second picture is of my cousin's daughter with Madison & Taitlyn.