Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving this year was much quieter than most - only 5 of us gathered around the table, which is a departure from the usual for my family. But it was a wonderful, relaxing, thankful time together. Ryan worked the whole weekend but had each evening off to come home, which was nice. Ryan's friend Steven, whose family is on Kauai, came over, and Paige drove down from Tacoma to spend the weekend with us. I love having her around! She is a breath of fresh air and so much fun to be around.


Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with Paige & Steven

After eating (at 7:00 because Ryan didn't get off work until then), everyone was too full for pie. Instead we watched Miracle on 34th St. - a tradition Colleen and I started back in high school and have kept fairly well. No one else will usually watch it with us, though, so I was surprised when Ryan, Steven and my mom joined in and stayed awake better than I did! :)


Kayaking on the river with Paige - gorgeous and warm day






We invited the Smith's and Adam over for an afternoon of games and hanging out. Dawn loves games, as do I, but John is not a fan. He spent most of the time ridiculing whatever we were playing. The rest of us had fun though: we played Whoonu and Imaginif, ate Thanksgiving leftovers and my mom's caramel popcorn, and we laughed a ton. Ephraim completely attached himself to Blake, and spent several hours chasing him around house and doing whatever he did. Blake seemed to enjoy it too.


Blake and Ephraim playing the piano :)


Look at Paige and Forrest at the end of the table! They cheated through several rounds before we picked up on it.



Sliding contest!


Paige's friend Nicole came over Saturday and Sunday before they drove back to PLU. It was fun meeting and hanging out with her! She is a literature genius and it was so great to stay up late and talk about books. :0)


Complete! It took us three days, probably 10 collective hours, and help from Amy, Steven, my mom, and Nicole, but we finally finished this 1000-piece puzzle on Saturday night.

Track Retreat to Twin Rocks

This past weekend the track team went on our annual fall retreat - this time to Rockaway Beach. We left early Saturday morning, drove through a tumult of rain and a lightning storm before arriving at the Cheese Factory in Tillamook. You'd be surprised how many people are willing to eat ice cream before noon. (Including Dawn and the kids!)



The house we rented from Twin Rocks Friends Camp was perfect - just enough beds for 20+ people, plus a large living space with ocean views that allowed everyone to hang out together inside when it was storming outside. We knew the surf was going to be huge (29 ft swells), and it did not disappoint. The waves were crazy! I wish my camera could have captured just how big they were. For an idea of how crazy it was, understand that the Twin Rocks rise 80 ft above the water, and the waves that hit them were sometimes spraying over them. WOW!




David and Davis

The weather didn't seem to bother the team at all. This was perhaps the most game-happy group I've been with since my growing up days and trips to Lake Powell. I loved it! We sat cozy inside playing Scategories, Settlers, Yahtzee, cribbage, Alhambra, spoons, 4-on-a-couch, charades, and cards. Everyone had a great time! We even ate relatively healthy food (since I was doing the shopping and cooking).


Scategories with the whole group right after lunch


Charades - Dak being a mermaid


Doug sleeping through charades :)


Alyssa and Jared stacking a tower of dominoes while trying to earn a blizzard from John

When the rain let up, we explored outside but found the ocean kept us from venturing out too far. I had never seen the waves so wild or the surf so high. The sea also kicked up a ton of foam, and the tide was in for most of the afternoon - meaning no walking on the beach. The water was coming all the way up to the bluff and in some places pushing past it.





Right after dinner we had some excitement: Adam was helping Blake 'fly' and unfortunately he flew right into the chandelier. Pieces of glass came raining down, and most of them seemed to land on Jaci. Blake was absolutely fine, but Jaci went to the emergency room and came back with stitches in her head and foot. She's such a trooper! She didn't cry once. Anja and Adam ended up with cuts too but were fine - Adam was more shaken that he had endangered two Smith kids than anything else. Davis and Blake spent the evening (staying up until 11!) with us while John and Dawn were at the hospital, and they seemed to really enjoy being members of the boys' club (especially when they were winning 4-on-a-couch).





Sunday morning we did group devotions: John spoke a little about how desperately we need to be in God's word and know the truth for ourselves, without letting people lead us astray by twisting or ignoring what the word says; he lead a few old-school worship songs; I talked about how as a team, we have a huge opportunity to grow and build each other up but we can't do that if people aren't in the word and growing up into Christ individually as well. We need each other, and we need each other to be seeking Christ wholeheartedly; we are a body and family that can encourage and uplift one another, but we need the help of the Spirit to fully serve each other and pull each other up. It was pretty cool that without planning it, what John and I had to say complemented each other perfectly.

All in all it was an awesome weekend and I'm so glad I have gotten to know the track team members a little better. At least I know all the freshmen's names now! Plus my volleyball girls won their last playoff game and are headed to the state tournament later today - icing on the cake.

Top Five Highlights of Halloween weekend

1. Our volleyball team came in second at districts and qualified to host a state playoff game.
2. Seeing Tori and Victor back together after a rough few months.
3. Dressing up and hanging out with family and friends at Bushwacker's: dancing, laughing, reliving old times.
4. Our six-person Wizard of Oz crew came in third in the applause-based costume contest, earning free food that night and what amounted to about $3 each after subtracting the cover charge we paid to get in.
5. I accomplished possibly my silliest life goal that night, but if you want to know what it is you must ask me in person. :)

Pictures coming!

The Hazards of Working in a Library

Part of my new job involves supervising the library for a couple of periods a day. That means helping kids with homework, checking books in and out, and keeping the peace. It is not that exciting unless the students need help; most of the time they do not, although one of the classes has way too many students in it and they would rather throw things at each other than do work. A few weeks ago our librarian resigned. Until they hire someone to replace her, I am filling most of the time slots. It is nice to be working more, but there are more than a few problems associated with me working 5 hours a day in a room full of books.

First off, there is the temptation problem. I am constantly faced with the choice to teach or get lost in a book: unfortunately for the students and the people who are paying me, reading often wins.

Second, there is the boredom problem. While one or two periods have students that need a lot of supervision, most of the periods are host to members of the AP English club who ask me to proofread their essays once in a while but don't need me on a daily basis. And not having anything to do, encourages problem A.

Third, since when has anyone thought I would be good at crowd control? When things get crazy, you try telling three teenage boys to quiet down and respond in a strong but controlled manner when they tell you to "stop getting all up in my grill." (What does that really mean anyway?)

Fourth, what are we letting kids read these days? I have taken the liberty of pulling some of the books off the shelves, because there are quite a few that are just not appropriate for youth. We've got books that I would be embarrased to read. I'm kind of disappointed in authors of teenage books right now.

And finally, reading during the day leads to me being caught up in some novel or another and just wanting to find the ending out; which means that I have lost a lot of sleep to words on the page. The internal struggle within me at night goes something like this:
You should put that down and give in to sleep - you are really tired and have to do this all over again tomorrow.
But there's only 200 pages left and you could just skim through it and find out what happens.
You are terrible at skimming and so tired! Be responsible and put it down.
Just 10 more minutes...
Its been an hour already.

Hopefully by the end of the week we will have hired someone and I will be back to spending two hours in there a day. Trust me, it will be better for all involved.

Snapshots of September

Ultimate Frisbee with the track team



Playing Apples to Apples with the volleyball team in The Dalles



Janet Hodgin (Emily's mom) and my mom wearing the exact same outfit without realizing it



Wakeboarding in the rain



Visiting Tori in Baker City



Hmmm...... :)



"Lifting" on a Friday afternoon: Lizzie, Cindy and I skipping practice to engage in more important activities

October 1

In so many ways the past two years have flown by. So much has happened since the world flipped on its head and I said goodbye to my dad for what turned out to be the last time. Two wonderful new additions, Sadie Pearl and Ephraim Alvis, joined our small clan, and two more are on the way. Ryan and Emily finished their track careers, graduated from college, and found full time jobs. My mom moved to Oregon, learned how to be a florist, and now helps lead a Grief-Share group. Colleen started working as a nurse again. Amy hasn't slept a full night in over a year. I spent one summer in Europe and one in Jackson, lost a teaching job and found a new one, started coaching high school volleyball and started working with my church youth group. The whole family took a trip to Hawaii together last August, and then were together again this summer for the Willcox-Godfrey wedding.

Yet equally striking is what hasn't happened: my dad never walks through the door of his dream home. He never drives Grace down the Willamette or teaches eager track stars how to waterski. The good people of Newberg have never known what an incredible orthopaedic they almost had, and GFU athletes have been hurt countless times without someone there to take care of them. Ephraim and Sadie never met their Boppa, and none of the grandparents want to stay up late playing Mario-Kart on New Year's Eve.

I miss my dad the most at times when I feel he should be there, and isn't. Times like this past summer at Bailey and Alfred's wedding; I remember how much he loved teasing them when they first began hanging out. Times when one of my athletes goes down and I know he could have fixed it, or provided them care when they couldn't afford it. Times when I want to crawl into his lap on that big lounge chair and be a little girl again for a few minutes. Times when my mom is alone and he should be by her side. Times when strange silences fill the space where he would be laughing, and making us laugh too.

Other times I don't miss him anymore - at least not in the physical, heart-wrenching sense. I always miss him in that soft, wish-you-were-here way, in that place where sweet memories are just beneath the surface and echoes of what is lost don't have to hurt. But now the times when I ache for him to be with us are fewer, and the moments when I am thankful for where he is now come more easily and more often.

Being together this October 1st was mostly being thankful. Thankful that we could again be together (although poor Colleen was stuck in a 13 hour shift at St. John's); thankful that it was a beautiful day; thankful that we had all of these great memories of being places and enjoying things with him; thankful for all the prayers sent heavenwards for us; and incredibly thankful that God still provides and heals two years later.

At the cemetery, early morning:





At the beach, outside Lincoln City:












At Mo's, eating my dad's favorite clam chowder:








Evening sun on the river: