Merry Christmas!!!

Santa came by on his firetruck the other night to wish the kids a Merry Christmas. And guess what? He told Joshua that he's coming again Christmas Eve. He is so excited! We hope you all sleep well and wake up to a wonderful Christmas morning!

My kids are excited to celebrate! To hear stories and sing songs of Jesus' birth, watch their siblings open the presents they especially picked out for them, eat a scrumptuous crepe breakfast in their pajamas, and have a fun day with friends and family!


Merry Christmas from Hunter, Rachel, Rebekah, Joshua, Levi, Adam & Karin!

Sledding at Paradise

It was a relatively warm day in DuPont; no snow to be found anywhere. With Adam off of work we decided to head to the mountains for some white stuff to play in.









We headed to Paradise on Mt. Rainier and found lots of white, deep, powdery snow. We had a really good time sledding, climbing huge snow mounds, making snow caves, and enjoying the company of great friends. We even made a fox friend on the drive up.



Rebekah: Liked the snow at first but wasn't so sure about the sledding. She enjoyed going down and had a smile on her face when we reached the bottom but didn't enjoy the powder blowing into her eyes. As the day went on she preferred to be held and watch from the sidelines.








Joshua: All over the place and never stopped; we even had to literally force him off the snow mounds when it was time to go. He loved climbing the snow mound and going down on his bum. He loved all the sledding and continuously went up and down the hills, even braving the big one multiple times. He built a snow cave and from the perma-grin on his face, he had a super snow day!

Levi: Spent the entire day making his snow cave. Can't find Levi when counting kids? He was DEEP within the depths of his snow cave. It wasn't until the last 20 minutes that he decided to sled.





Hunter: Non-stop sledding, making and throwing snowballs, helping the little ones, and lots of runs down the big hill.

Rachel: Sledding with friends, making a snow cave, crashing...getting crashed into. A good sport with a smile on her face, even after a hard day.




Friends: Sledding has its thrill but is always better with awesome friends!

First Snowfall

Could it be? Yes, it really is so!

And so exciting!!

The snowflakes started falling and my kids were the first to enjoy the beautiful white flakes. They gathered snow from the sidewalks to form snowballs. The boys, their friends Chase, Micah and Cameron all gathered down the street for a snowball fight.

Rebekah squealed with delight as the snowflakes fell and she gathered snow in her tiny hands. So fun to walk in this stuff! Her bright eyes matched the glistening snow.

Later in the evening, Joshua and his neighbor Christian played in the snow together while the dads hung Christmas lights.


The following morning when all their friends went off to school my kids got to sled for a few hours before the snow melted.

Christmas Piano Recital

Rachel and Levi have been practicing hard for their piano lessons. They have been taking lessons from Brother Robertson since September. They enjoy playing, learning and memorizing new songs. I love to hear piano music playing throughout our home, especially all this beautiful Christmas music. They just had their first Christmas recital and did very well, remembering the piano pieces they memorized. All the children did such a great job and it was inspiring to hear their pieces. What a wondeful thing to have such lovely music playing in each of our homes during this holiday season.

Levi plays with expression and great care. He strives to make his songs sound beautiful, using the pedal and everything. Rachel memorizes her pieces quickly also and learns as much as she can. She played 3 songs for the recital but had memorized others that she didn't play. Such fun to see the fruits of their hard work!

Rachel's Beautiful Baptism Day

Rachel's baptism day was so special. She is such a sweet girl and was so excited for every aspect of it. We planned out what songs we would sing, who she wanted to give the talks, prayer, play the piano, etc. She made a list of all the friends and family she wanted to invite and I made a bunch of phone calls. We prepared by getting her a new white dress to wear after her baptism and talked together about the symbolism behind it all--being pure and holy before the Lord, following Christ's example and taking upon His name, doing our best to keep the commandments but allowing the Atonement to take away the stains of the sins we commit throughout our lives, the purpose of taking the sacrament each week, and so forth. She wrote in her journal her testimony. Adam talked to her about his day previously at his uncle's baptism, how he so enjoys being in the temple or at family baptisms, where he knows he can feel the spirit and can be that much closer to the veil. He knows that his mother is close by at these special occasions and rejoices on the other side. I spoke of my and her grandmother Betty's day at the temple performing the temple work for my grandmother Augusta and Oma. That each of them was baptized and could continue to progress on the other side if they chose to accept the ordinances. What a special experience that was to bring so many into the gospel fold this weekend!
Rachel has become a really great reader and is very diligent in reading her scriptures during family scripture study. She got a hymn book for her baptism and was so excited to use it. She was so excited to bring her baptism towel she got from the Ft. Lewis Primary Presidency and had all of her clothes laid out and prepared. This was a day she had really looked forward to.



Throughout Rachel's baptism, I was deeply touched. So many of our family and friends attended the baptism which was so kind and supportive. I felt so grateful for those who have impacted our lives for good and who have helped us get to this magnificent point in our lives. As my prior college roommate led the opening primary song, tears filled my eyes and gratitude filled my heart for her direct influence on my life, who I married and the life I have now. I was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for my Heavenly Father, for His love for me and my little family. I thought of struggling family members and how the gospel can fill us, make us whole, and help us overcome our struggles and weaknesses. I really wished that every member of my family could have joined us for those sweet moments. The primary songs we sang brought the spirit so strongly into the room; the talks, the music, the atmosphere of love, warmth and joy fit all together so perfectly. It was such a beautiful baptism. I am so grateful for our kind bishop, for a wonderful husband, for such wonderful family and friends, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. It is such a blessing to have my children walking in light and truth; to have them know that they are treasured and have a divine purpose to fulfill on earth.

Trip to Todd's

We headed down to Vancouver again for our bi-yearly dental cleanings. What a blast visiting Todd, Julie and their two adorable boys! We played games, had a wonderful dinner and pumpkin pancake breakfast, talked about life and work, watched the kids play, and went out for yummy frozen yogurt.




The kids love him and don't even mind getting their teeth worked on! But how could they not love the friendly staff, watching movies and playing video games, and getting lots of attention at Todd's Pediatric Dental office? Plus, we always get an added bonus of playing at Todd's house, visiting his awesome family, eating scrumptuous food, and petting his two dogs Sumo and Muchi! All for free!
(It's funny: in college Adam was trying to decide what he should go into for his career. All his friends were going to be dentists, doctors, professors..maybe even the next President of the United States. Adam decided it's not what you do in life, but who you know that will make the biggest difference. It continues to prove true. So, even though the Conservation Biology career path never worked out and he became a doctor anyway, it sure is nice to have wonderful friends and great connections!Thanks Todd!!)