Winter Wonderland!

Merry Christmas from Naselle, Washington! We are celebrating Christmas with my (Laura's) family for 10 days. It just so happens that during this time we have had the WORST snow storm anyone can remember! We flew in to Portland on Wednesday the 17th but got stuck since Dad couldn't come get us through the freezing rain! We were lucky enough to have wonderful relatives (the Bensons) to take us in! Dad was able to get out on Thursday morning and we made it home. Good thing as the rest of the time we have been snowed in! So far it has been fun filled with lots of game playing, cooking, eating, movie watching, and just hanging out with the fam. Even my grandparents were able to traipse across the driveway and spend some time with us. The snow continues to fall as does the freezing rain! Right now the windows and doors are all covered with sheets of ice and the snow has built up to around a foot and 1/2! It has been a fun change of pace for us, but we just hope and pray that everyone (my sister, cousins, etc) will make it home for Christmas alright. We were forced to sell our tickets to Laura's alumni, Gonzaga's, big game against UConn up in Seattle as a blizzard came through. Other than that everything is going great here in the winter wonderland. We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas filled with blessings and fun times with family. Be safe in this crazy weather we are having! God bless! -Shane & Laura

Fall!!

This fall we have been busy with all sorts of fun things from a retreat for CARES, weddings, my sister visiting, and capping it off with a trip to Lubbock for a Texas Tech game! The weather has been great this fall and I think we're both in agreement that it is our favorite time of year. Shane would say its because of the nonstop Football on TV, the beautiful weather, and the turkey that we we will soon eat. I would say its because of the beautiful weather, the leaves turning color, the wonderful smells and foods (Pumpkin bread anyone??), and of course Starbuck's holiday cups! :) But, we both have enjoyed all the fun things we have experienced this fall in our wonderful second year of marriage! :) Here are a few fun photos from our fun fall times!

CARES retreat:

The beautiful home we stayed in for our retreat.

Karen & BJ's wedding:

SISTERS:
OUR TRIP TO LUBBOCK:

Our friends Roy & Rebecca came with us!

Life, Love, Blessings, & Believing

Wow! These last two months have been so busy and filled with so many up and down moments. Our ministry at the apartments has really taken off and we love every minute of it. The Lord continues to show His hand in everything that we do. He is truly a Lord of love and we get reminded of this when we feel like we can't go through with our busy schedules on our own. He always brings us through with love and excitement!

School has been good, but of course the first few months have been quite trying as we are getting our routine down and all of the children are getting adjusted to all of my rules and expectations! Parent conferences and 6 month assessments have been completed and now we're getting ready for Halloween Parties and Thanksgiving break! The class is doing great now and I finally feel like I'm getting into a groove. Shane is doing well and has been enjoying working with his Dad. He is learning a lot about the construction industry and we both enjoy that we're now on the same schedule!

Other than our ministry, work, and all of our fabulous adventures with our amazing friends, life has thrown some other curve balls our way here and there, but our God who is fully in control always brings us through no matter what. One such curve ball came when a mass was found in my mom's lung. Throughout all of the scare of the situation and the uncertainty of the testing, we had to trust in the Lord that it was all in His hands. Through the amazing power of prayer and the healing of our almighty Father, the tests to determine if the mass was cancerous came back negative and the mass is even shrinking on its own! WOW! We serve a powerful God!

We've Gone Country

To celebrate my (Laura's) birthday, Shane planned a fun evening with great friends. We first went out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant. There were about 15 of us all together. We all had a great time and it was so much fun to be with friends! After dinner two other couples and us went to a country dancing place called "Red River." Shane even bought me a cowboy hat for my birthday present so I would really fit the part. We had a great time doing the "two-step" around and around. It was so much fun and a great birthday!!

Cruisin' the Carribean!!

The first week of August we were lucky enough to go on a beautiful vacation with our great friends, Caleb & Katie Morris. We flew to Puerto Rico on Saturday the 2nd and enjoyed a nice day full of sight seeing in Old San Juan Puerto Rico. It was a neat city with amazing architecture!

We stayed the night at a Marriot there that was quite nice, then left the next day for the marina. We then boarded our boat, the Carnival Destiny. The boat was very nice with a lot of things to do. They had dining rooms, pools, a sundeck with a buffet, hot tubs, a casino, dance club, kareoke bar, piano bar, a large theater, shops, neat glass elevators, a spa, exercise room, and more! We had a great time getting to know the boat and exploring.

That night we took off for our first stop: St. Thomas. St. Thomas was a beautiful island. We had a great time exploring the island, shopping in the downtown area, and then relaxing at the beach for the rest of the day. The beach that we went to was gorgeos and the perfect way to start our vacation.

The next day we went to Dominica. Dominica was very un-touched and rural. We loved the beauty of it. This day we hiked through a rainforest to a waterfall. It was an awesome hike and it rained the whole time, but it was a warm rain and was very refreshing! We then got to see a beautiful waterfall!

That night was formal night on the cruise so we got to dress up for dinner and a show. We had a great time!





Wednesday brought us to the island of Barbados. We learned that a alot of celebrities now vacation in Barbados and we could see why. There were a lot of beautiful and expensive resorts, hotels, and homes. There was also some nice beaches and neat forest areas. We took a landrover tour around this island with an awesome guide who was very entertaining. It was a great way to discover Barbados.

Thursday we landed in St. Lucia. We decided St. Lucia was our overall favorite island. It was a beautiful mix of rainforest and beaches. This day we took a zipline tour through the rainforest. It was incredible and we all had a fantastic time.

The next day we stopped in Antigua. Antigua was another gorgeous island with crystal blue waters. This day we took a Catamaran boat tour around the whole island. We saw incredible homes right on the coast, many of which belonged to celebrities like Oprah and Eric Clapton. We also stopped at a neat, secluded beach where we got to snorkel along a reef. We didn't see a ton of fish, but we saw a few and some jelly fish! Poor Shane got marked by the jelly fish, but luckily it didn't hurt it just left a crazy red mark. We still had a great time though and the boat crew even prepared a great lunch for us there. Then we proceeded to circumnavigate the rest of the island. It was an awesome excursion.

Our final stop brought us to the island of St. Kitts. It was a quiant little island that was also beautiful. We did not have an excursion plan and due to the burns and fatigue that were setting in, we decided to just walk around the shops on our own. We had a great time exploring the shopping and saw a great mix of fancy shops and market-like shops too.

We then got back on the boat for some relaxation and enjoyed our last full day on the boat. Here are a few more pictures of us on the boat throughout the week.

The final day we took our time and relaxed around the boat until we were closed to the last ones off. Then we headed to the airport to wait for a few hours more until our flight. We were all exhausted but happy that we had such an awesome vacation!! Thanks Katie & Caleb for an awesome time and definitely the highlight of our summer!