These Dodd Days

California dreamin'

2011-08-24T05:40:00.003-07:00

Jonathan, Shepherd and I took off last weekend to the Bay Area for a visit with my family. It was the weekend of my Nana's memorial service and I am so glad we were able to attend. Thank you so much to GranJan for coming back and staying with Charlotte & TJ! We stayed at my dad's place and just spent lots of great time with him and the rest of my family.

Look at these 2...my favorite guys :)

(that's my brother, Paul, with Jonathan)

I had to try on Paul's sunglasses...we were all doing it...don't think they're 'me'
Driving in G-Pa's truck. Look at those cheeks! Ahh!!

With my dad & Shep at a beach in SF - nice background, eh?

Same spot...with my 2 guys :)

I love this - taken out of the sunroof of my dad's truck. Touristy? yes. You'd never guess I grew up just 45 minutes from here, based on the pix I was taking :)

Tried to get the bridge in the background...you can see the tip

Sunday was the memorial service at the country club where my grandparents were members forever. Our whole family was there and it was a very special day. I was able to speak as part of the 'line-up' in the service, and it was a blessing to do so. We had lots of fun taking pictures afterwards...who knows when we'll all be together again, as we live scattered all over the country.

My youngest cousin, Kimberly, holding her youngest 'cousin' (or whatever Shep is in relation to her - 2nd cousin?)

The 10 Cilker grandchildren...our first photo all together since 2004. It was great being together again.

The girls...some are very short, some are very tall!

The boy cousins (+ Jonathan). They are just so silly.

One last shot of my brother & me. I always love spending time with Paul!

A Shepherd in our Fold

2011-08-18T10:30:00.005-07:00

Welcome to the family!

Shepherd Cilker Dodd

born July 7, 2011 ~ 12:59pm

7 lbs. 5 oz. ~ 20 inches

'born to be cool'

After 9 months of waiting and guessing, we welcomed a BOY and are so excited! Although he's now 6 weeks old, it feels like he was born yesterday. He's such a joy and a relatively easy baby, as long as those basic needs are met. He is so accommodating, putting me into labor on July 3rd, but not insisting he arrive until after the 4th, Charlotte's bday on the 5th, and my bday on the 6th. What a good child...hope that continues :) He's gaining weight rapidly and can hold his head up pretty well already...smiles are slowly starting and are so cute. Big sister and brother love him to death and would sit by him & sing & tell him stories all day long if they could. We couldn't ask for 3 more wonderful children!

*****

This is the last non-hospital preggo picture of me (by me), taken July 5th at the zoo in a mirror...check out that huge belly!
Last picture of me preggo...ready to get this baby out!

He came out SCREAMING...it was insane!

First kiss!

We love our #3!

Latched on and goin' to town

Jonathan introducing TJ & Charlotte to Shep...TJ's not too interested

Sleeping angel

Sweet cozy thing!

First (kind of) smile :)

Charlotte's first time holding him...she's trying to shield him from the paparazzi

Family pix

2011-01-04T07:50:00.005-08:00

October stuff

2010-11-26T18:43:00.005-08:00

Here are some random shots from October...we have been doing more than just farming! :)

We had a family day at the Brevard Zoo, just 15 minutes away. If you look hard, you can see a giraffe off in the distance.

You can get sticks with birdseed on them to feed the birds in the aviary. The kids love this!
There is an area with turtle shell 'backpacks' to pretend what it's like to crawl in the sand with a shell.

Charlotte's favorite part of our zoo is the great water park area! It's just some pools and fountains, but the kids just love it on a hot day!

The kids and me as a sea turtle family

Aaliyah, Ms. Robertson, Charlotte, and Mrs. Cichetti on 'decade day' during homecoming week - it's so fun having Charlotte go to a PK-12 school that has homecoming - the preschoolers get to participate in all of the festivities, too!

Our first family outing on the boat - we were going fast!

Little man loves 'driving'

All of that boating tired this boy out!

Charlotte and some friends at a park after school one day

Okay, I had to put in one pic of veggies - this was our very first harvesting, around 1 month ago. And it's been non-stop since then! Veggie madness!

September work...

2010-10-06T18:51:00.006-07:00

Here I go again, playing catch-up. Here are pix from September - the work day as well as other shots throughout the month of what's been developing on the farm :)

The babies! Tomatoes, tomatillos and eggplants shot up last month

Within 3 hours of posting our Local Harvest page, this angel, Marguerite, called and came over to meet us! She is a wealth of gardening knowledge, is super encouraging, and has the sweetest spirit of almost anyone I've ever known. (She also helps wash my dishes if my sink is overflowing - she has completely won me over!) Here she is 'starting' zucchini and cucumber seeds in early September.
Ah, yes, a scarecrow butt-grab (that's not me, but I won't tell you who it is). It's standing right next to our first corn area - this was right after Lindsay and Allie rowed out those beautiful rows - they then planted corn and pole bean seeds together. It's a great planting pair (beans give nitrogen, which the corn needs - corn gives height and support, which the beans need!)

Lindsay on her way to get more compost. Cucumbers lined up, ready to be transplanted!

Skyler thoughtfully planting the cucumbers along the fenceline.

My boys!

And my girl, gathering small sticks to 'cook' with :) Yes, she's wearing a princess dress.

Checkin' out the work going on beyond the gate. Like his camo boots? They're his new favorite accessory :)

Ethan, Juan, Christian, and Jonathan taking a break after putting up poles for our pole bean trellises. This was one of the hottest days of the year and these guys were dying!

A pumpkin sprout! (just wait until you see these on the next post - you will not believe your eyes - I think pumpkins are the fastest-growing plants in the world)

Cassie and Eva, sisters who were just here on vacation visiting family - they heard about our place through a mutual friend and decided to spend an afternoon working with us! Eva (left) works on a tomato/potato farm in Washington state, therefore, we put her to work transplanting the baby tomatoes into bigger pots and into the ground.

He looks zonked, but loves 'helping' with the potted plants

On big work days, I wear ankle socks under my knee-high boots. This is what my legs looked like after spending over 10 hours outside this day.

How the land goes...

2010-08-23T13:23:00.011-07:00

Well, we are progressing in the formation of our 'farm', prepping the soil, building fences, digging wells for irrigatioin...it is a never-ending process! A gift from our friend (who owns a local nursery and the tractor we've been using) were 2 grape plants, which we decided should be the first things we planted on our land. The Bible verse shaping our vision for this project is in Deuteronomy: "When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not pick it over again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow." We felt it appropriate and symbolic that our first plant in the ground would be a grape plant. With this said, we have decided to take this project onto a new level, forming ourselves as a CSA (community-supported-agriculture) farm. Check out more about this here: http://www.localharvest.org/the-dodd-ranch-M39476

Here is our white grape plant...see the tiny cluster of fruit at the bottom?

Taxi enjoying a swim
We had a semi full of organic mushroom compost delivered - 50 cubic yards!!!
Jonathan on our friend's tractor spreading out the compost over our planting areas

When we first got the compost, the pile was taller than the stable!

Look who likes climbing around :)

The amazing humongous bell pepper from one of our potted plants!

Charlotte got to pick it

Here it is!

The first two peppers we got from our pots. Delicious!

A Purple Russian tomato...finally starting to ripen

Here are my seedling flats of various tomatoes, eggplants and tomatillos

So cute!

Planting area #4, the longest skinniest plot we have prepared

Areas #1, #2, #3...all rectangular plots that we'll use for alternating seasons. In total we have around 1/4 acre of prepped land. If it goes well, we'll add more!

We were also given 2 native Florida cherry tomato plants, so those were planted to test out the soil and area...turns out they are in an area that gets severly water-logged when it rains, so they might not last very long!

The bonfire pit we've built with rocks and broken slabs. This was taken the day after our last monthly bonfire.

Guess what we found around 10 feet from the pond? Turtle eggs!

A hawk got one of our chicks on Saturday from the grassy area behind Jonathan :( So Sunday afternoon we promptly built this scarehawk (as we are fondly calling it). Yes, we know it looks like a double amputee, but hopefully it'll do the job and save the lives of our remaining 29 chickens.

Birthday Girls!

2010-08-15T12:07:00.011-07:00

Last month we spent the girls' bdays (Charlotte's 7/5 and Catherine's 7/6) at DisneyWorld. We hit Magic Kingdom on the 5th for Charlotte, then spent a day relaxing at our hotel on the 6th, and then visited Epcot on the 7th. We had a total blast, despite the July heat. I never thought I'd love Disney parks this much as an adult, but I have to admit I can't wait to go back! It was a fantastic way to spend our birthdays and it's now one of our favorite memories as a family.

Just as we entered MK - Charlotte is showing us she's 4 today!

The spinning teacups - first ride of the day
She got to meet 3 princesses! Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)...

...Cinderella...

...and Belle!

It's a Small World was way better than I remember from DLand

The night of the 6th (my bday) we got a babysitter and went out for dinner, ice cream, and playing at Downtown Disney - we had SO much fun just being 'kids'

Mmm...the San Francisco treat

Charlotte is convinced these next pix are real...

'Mommy and Daddy met Buzz and Mr. Potato Head!!!'

Epcot was great...but we won't take kids next time

Shades from the shop

On Charlotte's bday we surprised her with a trip to the 'Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique', in the castle, where they transform girls into princesses...it was so much fun to watch!

This was her 'fairy godmother', who was very patient when Charlotte got demanding with the hairpieces

Charlotte wants to move into the castle and live with the princesses. Seriously.

We managed to find a bakery on Main St. with awesome cupcakes...this was her bday cake this year

Cold milk and warm cookies were waiting for us when we got back from MK! Hey, it doesn't hurt telling the front desk your kid's having a birthday :)

Fun time in the pool on my bday

Girl time!

Ready for paddle boating

This lasted around 10 minutes before both kids wanted to go back

Inside the scary shark in Nemo's World at Epcot

We even visited Canada! The 360 degree CircleVision movie made J and me both cry! We miss B.C. so much :( I think it was the aerial shots of the gulf islands/Whistler/Stanley Park that did it.

Charlotte was picked to be a part of a game show about velcro

We had an awesome meal at a moroccan restaurant at Epcot...there was even a belly dancer and live music! The waiter let me wear his hat

He wrote this in arabic for us on our paper table cover - cool!

One for TJ, too :)

First day of school!

2010-08-13T08:21:00.002-07:00

Charlotte started school on Monday! Yes, it was August 9th, an insanely early day to start school, but boy were we ready. Charlotte is in a class with 11 other children and they have 2 teachers - what a ratio! She was worried that she wouldn't have any friends in her class from last year, but it turns out that her favorite friend, Zehra, is in her class! This made the first day so wonderful for both girls. Charlotte goes Monday-Friday from 8:30-12, which is just wonderful. I get some nice time with TJ and use his morning naptime to get things done with no distractions. TJ is also attending 'Mother's Day Out' on Thursdays from 8:30-12, in the building right next to Charlotte's classroom. He started yesterday and had a blast! We are excited about what this school year holds and can't wait for Charlotte to start reading - the teachers say the children will be reading words by Christmas!

Just before heading in for her first day!

Ms. Robertson, the head teacher. She is so great! We really like her and are thrilled she is Charlotte's teacher!
Mrs. Cicchetti, the assistant teacher. Charlotte REALLY likes her :)

Chicks!!!

2010-08-07T11:27:00.004-07:00

Here you go...pictures everyone has been waiting for...our chicks! We got 21 (the hatchery gave us an extra) 3-day-old chicks on July 12th and kept them in 2 brooders in our garage for 3 weeks. During that time we had to keep them at certain temperatures (hot!) and refill their water/food a zillion times a day. Jonathan worked on the stable, converting 2 of the stalls into chicken areas. He built new doors and swinging windows on the whole stable, as well as a huge roost/laying component. He also installed an automatic watering system as well as a huge feeder which can feed 30 chickens for over 3 days without being refilled. 2 weeks ago we moved our babies out of the garage and into the coop. Our friends had 5 chicks and after one died, they asked us to 'take over' their remaining 4. We also acquired 5 pullets (juvenile hens) so that our egg production can begin sooner than December (when the chicks will start laying). Yes, this means that we have 30 chickens! The pullets are living in the 'roost' side of the stable and we'll move the chicks over in another 2 months. We look forward to fresh eggs starting in the first week of September!

The day we got them -

The 2 brooders with heat lamps on...the plywood kept the cat from getting in

The feeder and waterer

So cute! Playtime on the grass

The camera intrigued them

Kisses

The roost! Jonathan built it! What a guy! (we have hay all over and in the roosts now)

See that nice door? Jonathan built it :) It's covered with 2 layers of chicken wire - we can't have racoons reaching through to grab the chicks' heads!

Working on the other door with Jimmy, a guy who's been helping us

Right when we put the chicks in their coop! The small red thing is the waterer; the big one is the feeder - it hands from the ceiling

Some of the pullets - they are very sweet. We cut their flight feathers the other day...but they can still get up pretty high!

Omaha Ordination

2010-07-18T08:25:00.005-07:00

We went to Omaha for a week after Father's Day to visit Jonathan's family and because Jonathan was getting ordained into Christian ministry! He had a meeting with the ordination council early in the week and then preached all 3 services on Sunday the 21st at his dad's church (Westside) and was ordained in the 2nd service. It was a moving and special time - as you can see, both of us were at the front of the church, Jonathan on his knees. All ordained men at the service came forward and laid hands on us, each praying out loud over Jonathan, me, and our ministry together. At the end his dad, the head pastor, prayed a final prayer of ordination over Jonathan and it was just incredible. What a blessing over us! The rest of the week was spent just relaxing and enjoying time with Jonathan's parents and sister, Britni, who had just moved back to the States from a year in Japan. We spent an afternoon at the lake house of old friends from our 'newly married' Sunday school class days - our oldest and youngest kids are each 6 months apart and we had a blast together out on the boat. Jonathan's mom took Britni and me to the Michael Buble concert, too! We had amazing seats and it was SO much fun! Thanks for a wonderful week!

The ordination ceremony

Charlotte and Papa mowing the lawn!
Jonathan, Joe, Charlotte, and Jack on the paddle boat

Julie, Anna, Charlotte, and me - yummy cupcakes!

Ginger, me and Britni before the concert!

Jonathan wakeboarding

Charlotte and Jack

Naturally 7 - Buble's opening act. They're incredible!

The concert

The Burnaby-ite

Family & Animal Kingdom!

2010-07-14T19:25:00.006-07:00

Over Father's Day weekend we spent a day at Disney's Animal Kingdom with Jonathan's grandparents, aunt & uncle, and his cousins. They then spent 2 nights at our house with us - all 6 of them! It was SO much fun to spend all of that time together - it is a hilarious group of people and we were constantly laughing and having a blast together. I think Animal Kingdom is one of the most fun places I've ever been - can't wait to go back!!

Riding the tram from the parking lot to the entrance
The kids LOVED dinosaur world!

This fun play area kept us busy for a whole hour

Even though it was almost 100 degrees, they were still troopers!

Ready for the Bugs Life 4D movie!

These are some of the cool animals we saw on the safari:

Rhino butt

Flamingos turn the color of the food they eat; cool!

Rocco (8), TJ and River (10) - J's cousins - they loved TJ!

Charlotte and Poppy (her great-grandfather); TJ and Aunt Edye (J's aunt)

These guys are SO much fun and super silly

The fam w/the Yeti roller coaster behind us

Charlotte and Oma (J's grandma) on the dinosaur ride

Mmmm...pick a good one, TJ

Pluto hugs! TJ screamed and ran away crying, thus the solo child pic

We spent the evening at Hollywood Studios - can't wait to go back for a whole day!

The four 2nd-cousins! So cute!

Nicaragua

2010-06-30T13:38:00.013-07:00

(Please forgive the awful spacing! I don't know why it's so gaping!) From June 5-12 I was finally able to take a trip I'd been dreaming about for 5 years - to Nicaragua with WEGO, the ministry with which we work. Jonathan's life was transformed there around 7 years ago and he has been several times since. We have supported WEGO in many ways and now work for the organization. It was finally 'my time' to travel down and see the place that is so important to my husband and to so many of our friends. I was on the medical team, playing 'pharmacist' for the week, which was a lot of fun. Our team was so much fun to work with and we were blessed by the amazing people we met throughout the week - 650 patients, to be exact. Another team on the trip was the teacher education team, leading training sessions for local teachers and supplying them with Christian curriculum. Our third team was the VBS team, which led day-long VBS programs at the schools we visited each day. Our medical team met our patients in a classroom at whichever school we were at on that given day. We were able to watch the VBS games and fun from the windows of our 'offices' and it was awesome watching our team and amazing interpreters work with the children! My friend, Allie, also went on the trip with me, and we had a great time getting to know each other more. Her husband, Skyler, is our coffee company graphic designer and was in Nica with Jonathan in March. One of my favorite days was spent at the WEGO orphanage 'Hogar de Gloria'. Allie and I painted some of the girls' fingernails and we ate some delicious mangoes picked off the trees by some of the girls. We had so much laughter and fun together! What I didn't expect was that we were able to feed anyone who was nearby with the food we had for lunch each day. We often had long waiting lines to see our doctors/nurses after lunch, so we would feed those waiting, sometimes close to 100 people, with whatever food we had. We always had enough!! It was amazing to see God provide food for all of those people, whether there were 100 or just 20. I loved my time there and look forward to the next visit, whenever that may be!

J turned 30!!! (2 months ago)

2010-06-16T05:56:00.008-07:00

Well, Jonathan turned 30 two months ago...yeah yeah, give me a hard time about this. It's been busy, okay?? Anyways, I planned a fun surprise weekend for him including his parents and my brother & dad flying in (he had no idea) a nice dinner out, golfing, a surprise party the day after his bday, and a deep-sea fishing trip with the guys. I also compiled a book of letters/photos from family, friends & professors written to Jonathan in honor of his 30th - it's the best present I've ever made! Thanks to the 40+ of you who sent things in for the book! I wish I had more photos, but I wasn't present at the golf course or on the boat, so you can just use your imagination.

Launches

2010-05-28T08:34:00.006-07:00

(I apologize for the weird spacing of this post. Something went wrong and I don't know what). There have been 2 shuttle launches since we moved here...and there are only 2 left in the history of this space program. We watched this first one in early April (at 6:20am) from the beach at our condo. We had drinks & cinnamon rolls while we waited, then played on the beach until sunrise. It is one of my favorite times we've ever had as a family!

The sonic boom left this shimmery spot of gasses

And THIS was the aftermath of that entire launch - the exhaust & gasses paired with the rising sun made it an amazing glowing dragon head!

The kids playing at the waters edge awaiting the sunrise

The last launch was 2 weeks ago at 2:20pm. We parked by the Indian River (along with half the population of this area) to watch the launch. It wasn't as spectacular as the early-morning launch, but it was cool to see!

Take-off from Kennedy Space Center

Sorry it's sideways
5 minutes after takeoff, it was halfway across the Atlantic!!! It's so crazy how fast it flies!

The homestead

2010-05-26T11:39:00.009-07:00

So here you go - finally, pictures of our new place! Thanks for bearing with me and waiting for ages for this post. After this, I'll catch up on the last 2 months.

Our house and front yard! And riding mower #1...the kids love 'helping' in the trailer...this lasted one cut then we got our money back to get a 'real' machine...

My view to the backyard from the kitchen counter. Our property goes all the way to those huge trees way in the distance.
And this is the 'real' machine...a John Deere! A 90's classic, it still runs great.
We couldn't leave the hammock in a box for long! It's now a daily routine for Charlotte and me to have a swing in it.

Look at that little hiney! This has to happen almost every time he comes inside after playing.

Climbing the fence into the stable yard.

Our dining room, complete with friends Liam and Estella. We love these guys!

The 4 munchkins watching a move while the adults ate dinner

The newest addition to our family - Tiger Willy! This is right when we brought him home. He now loves sleeping under the mower, even though we bought him a cozy bed. We bought him to be an outdoor/barn cat, since there are mice & snakes around. He is already killing roaches, so he's on his way to being a master hunter :)

His first morning at our house right after church. Can you tell he's not starved for attention?

This was typical for the first 48 hours. Now, they could care less about each other.

Charlotte's first time fishing with Daddy in our pond...I snuck up on them to take this.

This lovely crane-type bird is here every morning from around 7-9:00 and we love watching him catch fish while we eat breakfast!

The stable and end of pond. We will be raising our chickens in there and building an enclosure on the attached grass for them to roam. Jonathan built the bench on the left for bonfire nights.

The other end of the pond and our street

Our immediate fenced-in backyard + storage shed. Taxi wants to be in the picture :)

Charlotte on our patio, posing next to the cilantro & basil corner (love how she coordinates her socks with her pj shorts?)

Our porch and some of our tomatoes, peppers & herbs

Where Charlotte and I spend almost every morning while TJ naps and where J and I spend almost every evening after the kids are in bed.

April update...

2010-04-19T12:11:00.001-07:00

Our April update for WEGO/coffee is up - check it out!
http://andwego.wordpress.com

Thanks for keeping up with us :)

Our time thus far (Part II)

2010-04-11T05:28:00.005-07:00

Let's finish getting up to date with pics:

Our first morning in Florida at the condo we're staying in -
recovering from the month-long voyage here
Charlotte started school March 1st and loves it!
This was her first day

Charlotte's class performing at the spring concert -

some of the kids are really moved by the Spirit! :)
You'd expect Charlotte to join in with the raised arms,
but I guess she's more reserved in her worshiping style

The entire P3 group (3 classes) singing songs in Spanish

The girls in Charlotte's class with Mrs. Slansky, her teacher

L-R: Jonathan, Denny (our videographer),
Skyler (our web/media designer),
Rich (our photographer)
These are the guys who went to Nicaragua in March

And we are the wives of those guys!
L-R: Elly (wife of Rich - growing to be a dear friend,
esp. since they have kids!), Lindsay (fiancee of Denny),
me, Allie (wife of Skyler, twin of Lindsay)

Our time thus far (Part I)

2010-03-14T08:14:00.007-07:00

Yes, I have gone missing for a month. So I'm attempting to catch you up via pics and captions:

The view from our balcony (living and master) -
Don't you feel sorry for us?

These feet pics are the same footprints,
just taken from opposite sides.
Crazy how different they look! One set looks
indented, the other looks built up.

At Riverside Park, along the Indian River in Cocoa Village

TJ playing at the Toyota service center
waiting for our AC to be fixed

It's been 2 weeks now...

2010-03-06T19:14:00.002-08:00

...and I'm finally remembering to post our new blog site on here. So here it is: http://andwego.wordpress.com. Our internet has been down for the past 3 days until just a few minutes ago - so thank you, Lord, for hearing my desperate prayers for repair! I can now blog away when the kids are in bed and post pics. But for now, I must sleep. Sunday morning is coming and Jonathan is gone - that means getting us ready for church by myself, a feat I'm not sure I can conquer. Therefore, I bid you adieu.

andwego...

2010-02-20T14:00:00.002-08:00

...EVERYWHERE. From Vancouver to Idaho to Nebraska to Texas and soon to Florida, it feels like we've truly been everywhere these past 3 weeks. It's hard to believe that we drove away from Acadia Park on the UBC campus in Vancouver just 3 weeks ago. The place where we made our closest friends. The place we brought TJ (our little Canadian) home from the hospital. The place where we spent our first white Christmas. The place where we truly became 'us' - away from our parents and comforts of 'home'. The place we came to love for all of its diversity of people, activities, religions, classes, views, etc. This move is hard. Watching the Olympics every night is almost torture. Seeing the aerial footage of that beautiful city, realizing we don't live there anymore, makes us feel like outsiders, like we're missing out on something that could have been ours. But we chose this, this move. And it's okay. And we are enjoying each other and this relaxing time before we jump into our new life in Florida. We will be in Florida next Friday night, for good, staying at some friends' condo until we find our own home. The work we're setting out to do requires us to raise support for the meantime, and we'll be posting our support letter on here in the next few days. We're also starting a new blog devoted solely to our work, revealed in the next few days. Thank you for keeping up with our lives on here. I will definitely be more 'regular' about it, as I'll be updating both blogs every Tuesday (my work day once we're in FL). Please pray for a safe drive to Florida next week and for rest until then!

Where we are now...

2010-01-12T12:33:00.002-08:00

I still have so much catching up to do and it seems somewhat overwhelming, in the shadow of the upcoming move we must make by the 31st. Jonathan and I are sitting in the Seattle airport at the moment, awaiting the glorious non-stop flight to Orlando to which we were switched due to a possible delay. I say 'glorious' because it will be my first time on an airplane without kids since Charlotte was born. It is definitely time! Why Orlando? We are probably moving to Florida next month to start working with WEGO, a friend's ministry based in Cocoa Beach. There are too many details to write here, but we will both be involved in both local ministry (starting a church, counseling at the local womens' home, cooking meals for people in the community in need) as well as the foreign mission field (trips to Nicaragua, Vietnam, Amazon?). It is exciting. It is scary. There is no salary and the only 'benefits' will be those of a spiritual bent. Health insurance? Not even close to what we have in Canada. Mortgage for a home? Impossible w/o a paystub of a 'real' job. But we feel God breathing life into us as we process the possibilities for how He can use us in the network we have in Florida, and in most moments that helps assuage the fears. We need...prayer. For this week away. That we will be able to be still and listen and know when God is speaking and when our fears are speaking. That discernment will be in our hearts and sin will not block our ears. It's the biggest decision we've ever had to make, the most trusting we've ever had to do. We'll be needing so much from all of you. So we thank you for praying for our family as we set out. More to come...

Happy Thanksgiving! (although it's January)

2010-01-11T11:32:00.003-08:00

Since it's now 2010 I figure I should wrap up 2009 :) We spent Thanksgiving in Medford, OR with my grandparents, mom, brother, and our friend 'Mr. Marc'. We had so much fun eating, napping, playing team Pictionary (really fun since my team won!) with lots of my grandparents' friends, and just being family.

Charlotte loved this motorcycle at Best Buy :)

TJ hitchin' a ride on Grandma's walker - Charlotte did this when she was tiny, too!
2 of my favorite guys! Grandpa & TJ

Mim and sweet Charlotte

Hanging out at Grandma & Grandpa's

Jonathan got the drumstick!

My brother Paul (w/his scary L'Abri beard) and Grandma

Charlotte taking a turn at Pictionary - she drew a Christmas tree!

Marc and Grandma racing against the clock to draw the perfect cacti

4 generations of girls! I love this!

Little Dude Turns 1!!!

2009-12-10T21:19:00.004-08:00

Sorry for the lapse in posting...it's been a busy few weeks! On November 18th we celebrated TJ's 1st birthday! It was a fun day with cupcakes (decorated by Charlotte and Clay), presents (dump truck, cymbals, dinosaurs, & a toy Blackberry!) and fun family time. We love you, Thaddaeus!

Family helps...

2009-11-17T09:38:00.004-08:00

This past Thursday my family lost the first of his generation - my grandfather. The youngest of 4, he was the first to leave us, my first grandparent to pass. It still is quite surreal and a strange thing to wrap my mind around, probably because we live so far away and haven't been involved in the happenings of the last few days in California. However, my dad still decided to come up for a visit, which was probably the best thing for all of us. A quick visit, it was full of fun meals, a trip to the aquarium, time on the playground, hot cocoa, movies, and snuggles. I think we all needed it - when you're mourning the loss of someone you loved, family helps.

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-08T08:41:00.009-08:00

Halloween this year was so much fun! We spent the day doing fun things with great friends. The day started out at the Botanical Gardens, where they have a kids' scavenger hunt to find the 'spooky' plants and the helpers passing out candy. After lunch we hit the Fall Fair at our church, which was lots of fun and had indoor and outdoor activities. To top it off was trick-or-treating which, in a neighbourhood where kids are required for residency, was absolutely crazy!! We heard there were around 400 kids that night...we definitely ran out of candy! Charlotte loved her first trick-or-treating experience and is already talking about her costume for next year!The 3 Musketeers: 2 fairies and a dragon

Clay has become such a huge fan of TJ!

Our families walking through the gardens

Charlotte was terrified of this girl's skeleton hand!

TJ managed to open a box of Nerds, which the kids picked off his lap and shoved in his mouth

Clay admiring the snowberries

Little Farmer Dodd!

The scary spooky tunnel through the gardens

Our friends' daughter, Lilly - such a cutie!

Clay and Justin in the jump house at church

Construction worker Sara and park ranger Jesse took the kids on a nature walk on the trails behind church

My cutie butterfly girl!

One of my dear friends, Polly, who was about 37 weeks pregnant here - like her pumpkin?

2 of Polly's boys - Micah and Caleb - I love these guys!!

'Our 3' right when I opened the door for them. They were so excited!

Applebarn!

2009-11-02T07:08:00.005-08:00

Last weekend we headed out to Abbotsford to the Applebarn, a fun pumpkin-patchy, hayride-y, apple farm-y, kid friendly family farm. We got our pumpkins, went on a hayride, visited the petting zoo, drank fresh pressed apple juice, did the zipline, rode a pony...it was so much fun!

Arm Update

2009-10-25T16:27:00.004-07:00

Since the last post, Jonathan had a revisit to the ER for what looked like the beginning of an infection in his arm OR a possible allergy to the metal. After a round of antibiotics, he is back on the mend and got the staples (all 43) removed on Friday. He is diligently doing his rehab - good, since proper use of one's arm is pretty important! Here are the before and after shots of the xrays. The bottom one was taken just before the staples were removed - you can see them on both sides of the arm. Thank you for your prayers and care for us during this time!

Brokenness

2009-10-09T14:08:00.008-07:00

This past Monday Jonathan was in a golf tournament at the UBC Golf Course and after finishing his round at around 7pm he went to return his golf cart. Unfortunately, he never made it there, for the sun's glare in the windshield caused him to 'miss' seeing a tree root that has pushed up part of the cart path - he tried to swerve out of the way and also tried to slow down, but stepped on the emergency brake by accident. This caused the cart to swing around and then flip over to the left. Jonathan put his arm out to break his fall, resulting in his arm taking the full weight of both his body and the golf cart. His ulna and radius both broke completely through, resulting in his arm taking on an 'S' shape. He was taken by ambulance (precautionary) to Vancouver General, where I met him after receiving word of the accident from his boss. 2 orthopaedic doctors pulled on his arm from opposite ends in order to straighten it as much as possible for the overnight wait until surgery. Tuesday afternoon J had surgery in which a long plate was attached with screws to each the ulna and the radius, involving 2 incisions. He spent 3 nights in the hospital and then came home on Thursday. The recovery is going well - his hand and elbow are still quite swollen but he is going for longer and longer time between taking his meds, which is great. We are doing all right - this event has caused us to look at our near future with different eyes and has forced everything to slow down (esp. the rate at which I wash dishes!!) We have seen areas in our relationship that were broken a long time ago and never got 'fixed', J has seen broken areas in his life with a new lens, I am more aware than ever of broken areas in my attitude/heart...so this injury has brought out all of this brokenness and we are already seeing God's gracious love as He draws us near to Him and we allow Him to gently mend our hearts and lives. I will write another post tomorrow of God's amazing provision during this time - it would take up too much space here, but I MUST brag on my friends a little!

Of all the times to not have my camera!! Thank goodness for camera phones and obliging ER Trauma nurses :)

The view out of J's hospital window as he awaited surgery

Beautiful trees in front of the hospital!

Maybe this recovery waiting area hosts some incredibly tall people at times

Early morning visit with Daddy the day after surgery (no, that's not a tattoo -it's the Dr's initials to make sure they operated on the correct arm)

The meds had just kicked in - smiles for a little while!

Visit from 'Mr. Matt' - what a great friend he is to JD!

Hmmm...looks a little swollen...

It's so Frankenstein-y! The longer incision has 15 staples and the shorter one has 28...don't know how that really works...they'll come out in 2 weeks

Please pray for quick healing!! Thank you all!

Mayne Island

2009-10-01T13:16:00.007-07:00

We spent 2 days/nights on Mayne Island (off the Vancouver coast) this past weekend at the retreat home of a couple from church. We were there with the objective of looking at some property/estate for sale (wondering if we could turn it into some kind of retreat centre), but also managed to fit in some great family time looking for seashells, starfish, picking apples, going for walks, watching spiders catch bugs in their webs, playing at the park, and all sorts of other relaxing things. To top it off, we had a great visit with our friends Micah, Sarah, Charis and Chaia. They used to live in Vancouver but moved to Mayne Island several months ago. Micah is at Regent and Sarah was in my spouses' group for 1 1/2 years. What a nice getaway! (by the way, I left out camera's battery at home and so all these pics were taken with disposable cameras - some are pretty bad, but some look cool!)Enjoying the sunny side on the ferry

TJ enjoying the front lawn of where we stayed

The view from our place

There is an awesome park on the island with a zipline! Charlotte did it all by herself!

The caretakers' house on the property we viewed

The front entrance of the B&B

We picked lots of apples from the gardens

My favorite room of all 12 suites in the place

Heading down the steep steps to the property's beach

The view from the main level of the house

It's hard to see, but Charlotte is holding a starfish Jonathan got for her - she named it 'Grass'

Sunset from the lighthouse

Sarah and Micah prepared a wonderful breakfast for us Saturday morning, replete with homemade bread, homemade jams, homemade granola & homemade yogurt!! (and lots of other goodies, too!)

For some reason, I love a neatly stacked wood pile, so I had to take a pic

Taking a family walk through the small orchard on their property

Charlotte and Charis trying to pick some apples

It was so wonderful to see our friends!!!

The Fun Outdoors

2009-09-29T11:55:00.005-07:00

We've had a lot of fun outside lately, enjoying the end of summer!

We tried our first (and last) bubble tea at a place on campus before heading to the park
Charlotte can now slide down the pole all by herself!

Spinning around and around and around...

A shot inside our neighbourhood

I took the kids jogging on the trails behind our house the other day - I was apparently going too slow, for Charlotte kept yelling "go faster, Mommy! Run faster!!!"

Dana and I had all the kids at the playground one day after school. Clay gave TJ his first 'under doggie' on the swing - he loved it!!

Cora, doing the 'Supergirl'

My crawling man on a mission

Clay has taught Charlotte the art of fence climbing - good thing to know. Now she just needs to learn how to climb down...

See ya!

Black, White & Purple Party

2009-09-28T15:01:00.002-07:00

Last weekend was a 'black, white & purple' party to celebrate the 30th birthday of our associate pastor, Christina. Dana and I went as each others' dates and we had so much fun dressing up and partying (adult-style :) with friends from church. There were people of all ages there and it was a blast seeing everyone dressed up way more than we would on any given Sunday at our casual church.

I wore my sophomore year homecoming dress (from high school!)
With Dana and Susan

With Christina, the birthday girl!!

Geoff, our head pastor (L) and some other church friends

Enjoying the new deck!

Autumn funnies...

2009-09-23T21:07:00.003-07:00

Here's a random smattering of sillies I've shot over the past 2 weeks...

'Driving' the shopping cart at our new local grocery store
Our couch is a little slippery and you can easily lose half your body in it! (sorry it's sideways - I can't fix it!)

Do you think this is funny or something??

Of course, big sister has to try, too

Mmm...hummus...

Mmm...applesauce...

Not terribly funny, just really cute first experience with a hose

I LOVE this! I snuck up on her and found her dancing in the living room - grabbed my camera and took this shot. Great arms & nice pointed toe!

Little dude is now crawling and pulling up on EVERYTHING

Visit from Cali Cousins

2009-09-23T20:51:00.003-07:00

Sorry to be so behind on posts. I've forced myself to NOT get online while Charlotte is at school, allowing me time to tackle the to-do list that's grown frighteningly large since summer.
A week-and-a-half ago my cousin, Karyn, and her husband, Justin, were up here visiting Vancouver, and we got to spend an evening together - just grown-ups! We ate at The Keg and then walked around Granville Island, enjoying the night lights dancing on the water. It was so fun to see Karyn pregnant again, as she is due with #2 in December! Before dinner and bedtime Charlotte and TJ were able to play with their 'aunt' and 'uncle' which was such a treat, since Charlotte hadn't seen them since she was 16 months old and TJ had never met them. Thanks for the great visit guys!!

First Week of School!!

2009-09-17T20:52:00.005-07:00

This week was Charlotte's first week of preschool! She is attending Lluvia Preschool here on the UBC campus, just 3 blocks from our home. Her 2 best friends, Cora and Clay, are in the same class. The class has 20 3-and-4-year-old children, led by 2 brave teachers, Miss Krista and Miss Danielle (what I have Charlotte call them - they insist on being called by their first names only, but I can't bear to hear 3-year-olds call their teachers by their first names w/o a proper title!! Canada is WAY too relaxed about that!) Monday through Thursday from 9-11:30 the kids are creating, exploring, playing, singing, reading, and having fun! And this affords me some beautiful time to myself every morning while TJ naps. It's heavenly!!! Our 3 families have created a 'preschool co-op' where we all take turns dropping off and picking up, to ensure the greatest amount of 'free time' for each other as possible. Charlotte's first week would have gone off w/o a hitch, were it not for the unfortunate biting incident prompted by Charlotte digging her teeth into poor Cora's hand. At pickup time yesterday I was asked to 'stay after class so we can tell you about an incident that happened today.' Yes, my kid has already behaved so badly that I've already had to have a parent-teacher meeting. God is teaching me patience and humility with this one, that's for sure! Aside from this unfortunate incident, the week ended on a positive note, with Charlotte enjoying the playground and picking carrots from the class garden to eat at snacktime. Fabulous!!

Charlotte and TJ ready for the walk to school!Clay and Charlotte before entering the Lluvia doors

She's ready to go in!

Dana and I took the kids for a celebratory drink at Starbucks after school

Cora, Charlotte and another classmate outside their classroom

She has her own cubby - makes her feel so special!

Two of their favorite things are the kid-sized potties and kid-sized sink

We're looking forward to a wonderful year at Lluvia!

Just remembered: roadtrip take-aways

2009-08-30T14:14:00.005-07:00

Although we tried to protest, people along our journey just insisted that we bring back all sorts of things with us. "You have a big car - it'll fit!" "This way we won't have to ship your birthday gifts to you"...the reasons were endless. As you can see, things ranged from a rug to picture frames to crystal vases to a life jacket to duffel bags to beach bags to plastic cups to books to dolls to a cooler to puzzles to a kids' computer to golf balls to movies to stuffed animals...seriously...

People also thought we each needed a new wardrobe...including hats, shoes, belts, purses, sport coats, pajamas, dress-up fairy wings...

and an extra golf bag, of course.

VBS

2009-08-19T16:17:00.009-07:00

Our church hosted VBS this past week and we had over 90 kids attend, which is pretty good for a church of just 250 people. Over 50% of them were not affiliated with our church, which was very exciting, and over 70 kids live right here on campus! We are praying that they will continue to come to UC even now that VBS is over. Our theme was Veggie Tales' "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" - Calling All Heroes!! We looked at how God used ordinary people to do big things in the Bible. I was very involved in the week, playing Bumpo the pirate in our daily skits as well as leading preschool songs & games for 45 kiddos. It was exhausting but, at the same time, so much fun. Charlotte had a blast and is so sad it's over - the only part she didn't like was my skit on Day 1 when another pirate put a bucket on my head - she freaked out and ran up on the stage sobbing 'Mommy! Mommy!' Good to know she's got my back :) I was 'interviewed' at the end of the week and asked the question, 'what did you learn this week?' At first I thought, 'it's the kids who were supposed to be learning, not me!' But then it hit me - I learned that the simplest truths of God's word are just as applicable to me as an adult as they were to me as a child, and that I need to let them indwell every part of my life. Looking at God's Word through a child's eyes opens you up to new things all the time, and I'm glad I was reminded of that last week.

My friend, Karen, helped me lead preschool songs & games time - I was Captain Connie and we had a blast! I learned a lot about improv during those times...

Building 'Nebuchadnezzar's statue' in Bible time - Charlotte and Clay were in the same group, which was a lot of fun!

Dana (left) and our friend Rachael (with the baby hanging on her) were in charge of the preschool 'free play' and craft area - thanks, girls, for making Charlotte's VBS experience awesome!

My friend Marnie was in charge of preschool Bible story time - here she is Gideon, about to have her troops defeat the Midianites

Yes, that's me in the middle as Bumpo the pirate...part of what I did all week...skits 2x/day, every day - to my left is Bones the pirate and to my right, the Commodore

We had the audience mesmerized :)

Charlotte absolutely LOVED VBS!

It was so much fun doing this with Dana :)

Visit from Paul

2009-08-19T14:44:00.008-07:00

Paul, my brother, came to visit at the end of July. He came with quite an agenda and we managed to do everything on the list! Play golf: check. The beach: check. Chicken masala: check. Scrabble: check. Fireworks: check. Stanley Park: check. We had SO much fun and Charlotte has taken completely to her 'ankle Paul'. Thanks for coming, Mid!

Backyard Friends

2009-08-19T13:09:00.002-07:00

Something I love about where we live is that 2 of my closest friends share our backyard! Megan and her family just moved onto 'our grass' 2 weeks ago so now the 3 kiddos can see each other (and us adults) whenever they want! We had a family lunch together just before our roadtrip and that's what these pictures are from. There was an old tire lying on the grass for some reason and the kids were absolutely enthralled with rolling it down the hill at us parental targets. I am so grateful for friends like these and that our families have grown so close!

Megan, Dana and me

Cora, Charlotte and Clay aiming at their target

Watching as the tire hit one of us at the bottom of the hill

(L-R) Cora, David, Charlotte, Megan Hannah, Justin, Dana, Clay, TJ, me, Jonathan

Hanging Out

2009-08-16T23:04:00.012-07:00

Here's a huge posting of pix from the last 2 months - just 'hanging out'

Our friends Amin and Ismael (and their sweet parents Ali and Hind) moved back to Paris last week - Charlotte wanted to go with them!

Charlotte loves picking blueberries off of our bushes

Teaching TJ how to swing

Charlotte is learning how to do puzzles - apparently it takes patience...we're learning

Yes, that's 5 raccoons on our patio

At the beach with Matt and Ramie for a picnic and fireworks!

Hot day in the pool with Jaeden

Learning how to relax

Sprinkler fun with Cora and Clay

Learning how to ride his 'car'

Kisses from Amin

Body painting on me - fun for them, messy for me

Fun with Amin and Jaeden

Peekaboo

All done!

First bath together - Charlotte loves it, TJ's not so sure

The 3 Musketeers

Snuggle time!

Trying to escape the pool enclosure during our pool outing with the Jenkins

Apparently, Hannah's not shy

We need a chaperone and they're not even 1 yet???

Cora and Charlotte tea party-ing

Charlotte and Jaeden - next door buddies!

TJ loves his Jolly Jumper - look at that maniacal face!

Charlotte and Clay after a day at the pool/beach - how much longer can they do this?

Beach day with Clay and Dana

Abigail and TJ meeting for the first time - Jonathan and Travis as chaperones

Charlotte's Birthday Party

2009-08-16T21:43:00.005-07:00

We had Charlotte's Dora the Explorer birthday party on July 12th with most of her best buds. Deciding to make it as simple as possible, it was just 2 hours long with only watermelon, pink lemonade and cake - easy! We had a bouncy castle, which was a total hit with these wiggly kiddos! I also did some face-painting, which turned some boys into cats and girls into butterflies...I managed to do an unfortunate pink sheep on Charlotte's cheek and a strange blue dolphin on Clay -oh well, at least there were no mirrors! Charlotte had a blast with her friends and is already planning her party for next year!

Kiss for the birthday girl from Clay!

Cora with her butterfly face

TJ sat still long enough to get his initials on his cheek!

I think they were having fun :)

Charlotte's 3rd Birthday

2009-08-16T21:30:00.002-07:00

Now that I've caught up on our roadtrip, it's time to catch up on life that's been happening since we got back...so here we go. Charlotte turned 3 on July 5th! She loves so proud of how she can ride her pink bike - she's becoming a big kid!

Jasper, AB: June 23-26 - The Final Leg!

2009-08-12T17:15:00.008-07:00

Our final leg of the Dodd Family "Long Way" was purposely planned to be the most relaxing and enjoyable of the entire trip, and it was! We drove from Banff to Jasper, through Lake Louise, and it was the most gorgeous drive! Our final destination was the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and we were truly surprised at the setup/accommodations. It seemed as if an old national park had been transformed into high-class 'adult camp', along with all types of outdoorsy amenities: boating, swimming, golf, horseback riding, volleyball, tennis, basketball...they had everything, along with the spa/salon typical of a resort like this. Jonathan had booked the 'unlimited golf package' which was just slightly more than the regular room rate but included unlimited golf. He played 5 rounds in the 3 days we were there, usually starting at 7am so that we could have the entire middle part of the day as a family and then another tee time after dinner (since it was light until almost 11pm!!) I took Charlotte horseback riding one morning, which she absolutely LOVED - it made me so happy! We also attempted paddle boating but something turned out to be wrong with our boat and we spun in circles and couldn't steer...so the boating attendant had to come 'rescue' us with her canoe! It was pretty hilarious. We got a babysitter twice, once so I could ride with J on one of his golf rounds and the other time so that I could have a morning at the spa - it was fantastic and she was so great! We left Friday afternoon, refreshed and ready to get home. We drove the entire way back to Vancouver in around 11 hours and got home just before midnight. What a wonderful trip!!!

We walked a bit around Lake Louise

There were warnings everywhere but we never saw any bears!

Our room had this patio on it...we pulled out the camping cookware so we could eat the food we had bought for the camping we never did! All other guests wanted us to cook them breakfast :)

Charlotte's first time horseback riding - so much fun for each of us!

Ready for the boat...TJ didn't like that life jacket too much

This was taken around 5 minutes before we realized we weren't going anywhere!

TJ's first bath sitting up! He obviously thinks it's great!

My little punkins watching CNN's coverage of Michael Jackson's death - didn't last too long!

The view from the Lodge deck

Charlotte 'won' this crown & wand from the concierge for doing a scavenger hunt

Someone's excited to get home

My toes, heading home! The final shot of our trip...

Banff, AB: June 21-23

2009-08-12T16:43:00.007-07:00

We left Montana early and hit Albertson's for a grocery run before crossing the border. We loaded up on food for camping and then crossed the international border. Unfortunately, as the day went on, Jonathan started feeling sick and by the time we got to Banff, he was feeling pretty bad. We decided to get a hotel for one night and postpone the camping for a day so he could rest up. The hot springs were beckoning so we headed up there for a few hours which was quite relaxing, but didn't make J feel any better. We had Father's Day dinner at the Keg in our hotel and took turns in the spa. Well, the weather turned sour and J got sicker the next day, so we spent ANOTHER night in Banff at the hotel!! I honestly didn't mind :) Charlotte and I had a 'girl date' with a bus ride, hot cocoa, shopping, exploring...it was so much fun! By the morning of the 23rd, J was feeling better but the weather was just getting colder and we decided to completely forego our camping plans for Lake Louise, which was a bummer since we'd been carrying camping gear on our roof for the entire roadtrip! We also had all of the food we'd bought for camping...at least we were able to eat that during our Banff stay so it didn't go to waste!

We were questioned for 10 minutes before they'd let us through! Do we look suspicious?

Didn't know Dutch Elm Disease was so rampant in Alberta

Don't bring in your knapweed...just bring us the good stuff!

There's a T-Rex at their visitor center - what does that mean?

The Olympic ski jumping park in Alberta

We spent our first afternoon at the hot springs - we all loved it!

Since J was sick, Charlotte and I spent a few hours on a 'date' in town - C waiting for the bus

Mmmm...hot cocoa

We went to this awesome toy store where we got Charlotte her cute pink butterfly crocs!

Yellowstone: June 20

2009-08-12T16:05:00.007-07:00

Yellowstone was spectacular! Although we were disappointed by not seeing any bears or bighorns, we saw several buffalo, elk, deer, and a few female moose. We spent the whole day driving around the park...we wish we could have gotten out and done some hikes, but having kids in carseats makes the whole 'getting in & out' factor a bit difficult. We figure we'll take them back when they're older and spent a few days exploring. But for now, we'll take what we can get!

The crowd waiting for Old Faithful...we got there just 15 minutes before it did it's thing!

The beginning...

...and it's full glory!

Jonathan spooked this sleeping buffalo and got it to roll over...

...stand up, and walk away. It's shedding - that's why it looks so funny

The firepots - they were incredible!

Buffalo right out our car window!!!

The petrified tree...we honestly thought it would be a bit more impressive...

The Roosevelt arch right before the Montana border

It started pouring rain just before we crossed the border and didn't stop until we went to bed!

Road trip CO-WY: June 19

2009-08-12T15:03:00.006-07:00

After breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and Charlotte's choice of Pop Rocks for her 'treat' from their store, we headed north to Wyoming. It was absolutely GORGEOUS! Who knew Wyoming had such a varied landscape? We made the decision to change our route and head to Yellowstone, since neither of us had ever been. We ended up spending the night at Junction Lake in the Grand Teton National Forest in a 'tent cabin' - you can see it in the pictures. Charlotte loved it!

Springs, Denver & Greeley, CO - June 18-19

2009-08-11T22:03:00.007-07:00

We left Pueblo and drove straight north, taking a small loop through Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It had been several years since either of us was there and we were there on the most glorious day! We then headed to Denver, where we decided to catch an afternoon Rockies game...Charlotte even got a ball! We had 2nd row seats and even though the sun was blazing, we all had a great time - no sunburns and no fussy kids! We then met up with Jonathan's 2 best friends from high school, Jared and Lenny, and Jared's daughter, Lily, who were also at the game. A kid-friendly dinner at Red Robbin wrapped up the day before we headed to Jared's house for the night. Charlotte and Lily were like long-lost friends! Actually, they met when they were just 5 months old when we got stuck in Denver on a Christmas Eve flight...it was fun to see them play and crack each other up!

Texas to Pueblo, CO: June 16-18

2009-08-02T14:11:00.009-07:00

Leaving Galveston meant heading up on the 3rd leg of our journey and we suddenly felt like we were headed 'home'. We spent a whole day driving across Texas and stayed in a very small town...I can't even remember the name of it. The next morning we were on the road at 6:30am and were an hour gone when we realized we'd left our soft, fluffy, amazing pillows at the hotel. Amazingly, they found our pillows and shipped them home for us, which was wonderful, except that meant we'd actually have to sleep on hotel/borrowed pillows the rest of our trip. Charlotte, lucky girl, still had hers - it's hard to miss the Minnie Mouse pillow case :) That day we crossed back into New Mexico then into Colorado where we got to drive through Trinidad, where Jonathan went to junior college. We then headed to Pueblo, where the Dodds moved when Jonathan was in high school to start a church. Jonathan took us to their old homes, school, church, workplace, etc. and it was a fun trip down memory lane for him. We spent the night with Chris, Molly and Colter Borgstat which was fun. The guys golfed together while the kids splashed in the kiddie pool and played. We dined at J's old restaurant, Rosario's, and enjoyed a delicious meal together. I'm glad I've now seen the setting for that part of J's past - lots of memories there.

J's high school

The church J's dad started...still going strong!

Dodd's 1st CO home (it was a different color back then!)

Dodd's 2nd CO home

Dodd's 3rd CO home

The restaurant J managed

J with Chris, Molly and Colter

Galveston Island, TX: June 11-16

2009-07-23T09:18:00.008-07:00

We spent a glorious 5 days at the beach in a wonderful home lent to us by friends of the Bisagnos (J's grandparents). We were there with J's sister, parents, grandparents, aunt & uncle and 3 cousins. We had so much fun, including fishing, Rainforest Cafe (and their Build-a-Bear Workshop), the beach, birthday celebrations, anniversary celebrations, shopping, etc. The kids just LOVED the water and couldn't get enough, which thrilled us. Charlotte isn't too keen on our Vancouver water, as it's almost freezing year-round! Since there are so many pictures, I'll let them speak for themselves!

Houston, TX: June 9-11

2009-07-22T21:45:00.003-07:00

The drive to Houston was quick and we spent our first night there enjoying a fish fry and eating dinner outside with J's sister, parents and grandparents. J was able to golf with Curt (his dad) the next day while Charlotte had a fun 'date' out for ice cream with her Aunt B and her Poppy - she even wore her ice cream tank top :) That night J, his dad, Pops, and myself all went out for dinner and to the Astros baseball game - and we had front row seats directly behind the Astros dugout - it was incredible!!! Unfortunately, we did not take our camera to the game, and we are still kicking ourselves for that, as we would have had some pretty incredible shots, including one of Astros 3rd base coach (former player) Jose Cruz signing and handing a ball to Curt right over the dugout!! To top it off, they even won the game, which is a rare thing these days. That was one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time!

Charlotte holding her headphones on her head while watching a Dora movie

Look at that cute little!

TJ and his Great Grans just hanging out in their pj's

Breakfast in the jolly jumper! Feeding a jumping baby is quite an art

Snuggling in hot towels straight out of the dryer!

Austin & Round Rock, TX: June 7-9

2009-07-22T21:26:00.005-07:00

One part of our trip was checking out Hill Country Bible Church in Austin and the possibility of doing a church plant program out of there. We attended service there and spent time over the 3 days with J's dad's former associate pastor, who heads up the church planting program at HCBC. We stayed with the Peytons, a family the Dodds knew in Houston who now lives in Round Rock, just north of Austin. Their son and Jonathan hadn't seen each other since they were 12, and now they both have 2 kids! Their family was so generous and provided us with so much, from a place to stay to amazing homemade chocolates to t-shirts to grocery store gift cards to a great Mexican dinner out - thank you guys!! We spent one afternoon at Zilker park, riding the train around and wading/swimming in the river - so much fun! We also got to meet up with one of Jonathan's friends, Brad, from his Colorado days and his girlfriend as well as the Jones family with their darling 3 kids. You know you're really into the 'family years' when the idea of a great time is hanging out at Chick-fil-A just so the kids can occupy themselves in the playhouse! Austin was all right - we're not sure if God is leading us there, but at least we had great visits with some great people!

Boerne, TX: June 6

2009-07-22T09:23:00.005-07:00

We spent the day/night at our friends the Jennings' home in Boerne (pronounced Bernie). Gary and Patsy Jennings are longtime friends of the Dodds from their Houston days and now live a bit west of Austin. Miss Patsy is battling Alzheimers and Gary has recently moved her into a residential care facility. We were able to spend a few hours with her there and were honestly shocked by the change in her since we saw them last May. Watching Gary go through this and transition into living in their home by himself was quite sobering, although it brought forward some deep and meaningful conversation between Gary, Jonathan and me. We spent the afternoon driving around their 1,000 acre ranch on the cart, showing the kids the cattle and several deer. As you can see, this 'ride' coincided with nap time! That night we had a wonderful dinner out with Gary and the Harkwriters, another couple who was at Jonathan's dad's church back in Houston and who now pastor First Baptist Boerne.

Pure Roadtrip Day: June 5

2009-07-22T08:29:00.005-07:00

We drove all day, leaving Tucson, crossing New Mexico, and heading into Texas. Lunch was at La Posta in La Mesilla –Charlotte had a freakout and threw a basket of chips on the floor before rubbing salt and pepper into her eyes. Oh yes, it was quite memorable. We drove through the biggest dust storm I’ve ever seen and we hit rain for the first time on our trip. The kids were great (aside from the restaurant mishap) and the only complaint we got all day was “Oh no – my foot is not working!” C’s foot had apparently fallen asleep and she kept asking for medicine to make it better. We couldn’t stop laughing – it was so funny, and she was so worried! We made it to Ozona, TX, where we had our best night of sleep to date at the Best Western - who knew a BW would have such awesome beds??

Tucson: June 4-5

2009-07-22T08:01:00.006-07:00

We left SD and headed east towards Tucson, Arizona. When we were about to cross into AZ we decided we should up the ‘wow factor’ of our trip and cross the Mexican border. So we did J We drove in (they didn’t even check our passports), drove through the tiny town, and then drove back into the US. So we can now officially say we’ve been in 3 countries on this trip! We drove around 430 miles from SD to Tucson and spent the night with some Dodd family friends, Doug and Francis Cochran. Doug had become a sort of ‘surrogate father’ to J’s dad when he was a young boy, and J was thereby named Jonathan Douglas after him. I’m so glad I finally got to meet them, as they’ve been so influential in the lives of both J and his dad.

This was one of the most bizarre landscapes we've ever seen!

We drove right along the border!

Hahaha

San Diego: June 2-4

2009-07-17T08:49:00.006-07:00

Since we were already so far south, we HAD to hit San Diego and visit my aunt, cousins, the beach, Torrey Pines, and the zoo. We took the kids to the beach as soon as we got there, followed by a delicious Mexican dinner. Wednesday morning, Jonathan was at Torrey Pines Golf Course at 4:30 and was the first person to tee off at 6:57am on the South Course, something he’s always dreamed of. That afternoon we went to the SD Zoo, one of our favorite times together as a family. We had so much fun riding the bus and watching Charlotte in the Children’s Zoo – she wasn’t even afraid to pet the goats! (she’s quite proud of herself). That evening we met up with my cousin Kyle for pizza dinner at a playground overlooking the beach in Del Mar. He is so much fun and was able to laugh with us through Charlotte peeing in the bushes, Jonathan accidentally killing a chipmunk with his sandal, and a crazy blindfolded guy doing strange dance/karate moves on the grass. It was a lot of fun. Thursday, we checked out of our hotel and headed over to Aunt Wee Wee’s house to hang out and let Charlotte play in the yard before we hit the road again. I’m so glad we were there at a time when she was feeling well and strong enough to have some time with the kids. It was a sweet time together.

Pomona, CA: June 1-2

2009-07-17T08:02:00.003-07:00

This road trip wouldn’t have been complete without a visit with Jay, Katty and James Wolf. We got to SoCal Monday afternoon and, after checking in to our ghetto motel, headed over to the Wolfs’ house at Casa Colina Rehabilitation Center. Most of our readers know that Katty suffered an AVM rupture in her brain last year and has been on the long road to recovery the past 13 months. We had no idea how far she has come!!! She greeted us with a loud ‘Hey guys!’ and, honestly, didn’t stop talking until we left! (Katty, that is a GOOD thing!) It was unbelievable – we were in shock. We had no idea we’d be able to hear/understand her at all, and to sit and have conversations with my best friend (something I haven’t done since March of last year) was mind-boggling and such a blessing. To top it off, that girl can eat now! We all went to ’21 Choices’ before dinner, an awesome version of Marble Slab/ Cold Stone, and all had delicious concoctions of frozen yumminess. Charlotte even shared her ice cream with James. We then got the boys to sleep and had a nice adult dinner (w/C running around) of rice, zucchini and chicken – and Katty ate all of it! I didn’t know she could eat these things and it was so great to share a meal together. Tuesday morning I was able to ‘do’ therapy with her, which was quite intense. She is obviously in a wonderful place with great therapists who push her to her limit. That, combined with her own unwavering determination to get well and her family’s tremendous support, is pushing her towards a complete recovery. My only sadness about the time was how short it was. At least I know that I can now talk to my friend on the phone, regardless of how far apart we live! What a great visit!

Bay Area: May 27-June 1

2009-06-08T22:02:00.009-07:00

What prompted this huge road trip in the first place was the wedding of my friend Magda. We arrived in Los Gatos just in time for the wedding weekend festivities to begin. I spent Friday with the bridesmaids and Magda, having our nails done, lunching, doing last-minute errands for Magda, rehearsing at the church and then coming together for a big rehearsal dinner. Jonathan and I loved the opportunity to dress up and enjoy a night out w/o the kids J Saturday was the wedding and it really was one of the most fun wedding days I’ve experienced. Magda and Travis were stunning and I was so honored to stand by them as they entered into marriage. The reception was at Testarossa Vineyards in Los Gatos – we danced and partied late into the night. Thanks for the great time Magda, Travis, Margaret, and Tibor!!! We were also able to spend time with my dad and my other grandparents, which was very special

Oregon: May 26-27

2009-06-08T21:54:00.004-07:00

We left Seattle on the 26^th and drove 445 miles to Medford, OR for a quick visit with my grandparents. Although our visit was short, we were able to share some meals together and they got to watch Charlotte swim in the hotel pool! It’s always special coming together, especially since we don’t see each other that often. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

New York - May 19-25

2009-06-08T21:30:00.007-07:00

Well, we're not dead...just terribly lacking in internet connections in our stopovers. I am posting a bunch of updates right here that I've been saving in Word over the past 2 weeks - here we go...

We spent our week in NY at my aunt Claudia’s home in Brooklyn just 1 block from the river. With family time (cousin Alex’s choral performance, dinners together, lunch with C, A and cousin Laura), touristy-time (Statue of Liberty, Wall St, Times Sq, Museum of Natural History, Central Park, Little Italy) and relaxing time (Brooklyn Tabernacle for church, walks along the river, sipping coffee while strolling Union Square), our trip was comprised of all the ‘good stuff’. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together with TJ – Charlotte stayed home with her GranJan, who flew out to stay with her during our week away. It was a much-needed respite from toddler life. But it was a happy reunion J