Where Are All the Trees?

Sorry I've been lax on the blogging lately. Two weeks ago I started my new job and although it's only four hours a day, it seems like I have so little time anymore. Sigh....oh to be a stay-at-home wife.... :)

Then last week we were in Washington state visiting Isaiah's family. More on that in a minute. Then since we got home on Sunday night, I've been battling horrible allergies and it doesn't help that the wind has been blowing on and off all week. So hello, sore throat, congestion and headaches! Why don't you go back where you came from?!?!

Work is going well. I've completed several stories, but all are still waiting to be published. I wrote 3 for the Nov./Dec. issue of the magazine, but we ran out of room, so they'll all be used in the paper or later issues. Then yesterday I started coming up with ideas for the Jan./Feb. magazine, which is weird. It seems so far away! Oh well, the whole issue is going to be bridal themed, so at least I'll have fun writing it.

So, back to our Washington trip. I love heading west, especially this time of year. The weather was perfect and we had a great time visiting family as usual. It was a difficult time also though, because we found out Isaiah's Uncle Darrell is in the final stages of a blood disease he was diagnosed with in 2007. (Darrell has been paralyzed from the waist down for almost 30 years from a car accident and has battled horrific pain almost every day since then. But this blood disease, myelofibrosis, threw a wrench in things when they diagnosed it two years ago.) He'd been in the hospital for four of the last five weeks and they gave him the news on the Tuesday we were there. Thankfully he got to go home the next day and he's been set up for hospice care as long as he needs it. I'm just really glad we were there to be with family and spend time with Darrell and his wife Joanie.

A huge influx of family descended on us that week, as all his brothers and sisters made the trip (from other parts of Washington, California, Wisconsin and Mississippi), as well as Darrell and Joanie's kids, grandkids, nieces & nephews, cousins, etc. So although the reason they were all there was very sad, it was really nice to get to spend time with everybody. It was tough to leave on Saturday night, as we knew we may have been telling Darrell goodbye for the last time. He's such a sweetheart and has always been so good to Isaiah and me. We love him a lot!


Isaiah & Uncle Darrell:



Isaiah & Ed playing with a chainsaw....eek!

Grandma, Aunt Judy, Isaiah, Uncle Pat & Grandpa:

Aunt Judy, Jessica, Uncle Darrell & Grandpa:

Zeek and me taking a ride on the quad:

We did have some time to have a little fun while we were there as well. On the Saturday we arrived, we attended our nephew Zeek's 7th birthday party, which was great fun. It's not every day your nephew turns 7!

Then on Sunday we went with family from Isaiah's mom's side (the Kings) to ride the Route of the Hiawatha, a 13-mile bike trip through the mountains of Idaho and Montana. The route used to be an old railroad, but was revamped for bicycles back a few years ago after the railway went defunct in the 1980s. Let me just say that it was one of the best things I have ever done! The weather was perfect and we had such a great time. I would do it every year if I could.

You ride through several tunnels going through the mountains and also over several high trestles that span gorges between peaks. The tunnels vary in length and the longest and first one we came to is 1.7 miles. Of course it's pitch black in there and all you have to light the way is a light clipped on to the front of your bike. It's very surreal. Also, there are ditches on either side of the tunnel to catch the spring water that runs down the walls, so it's important to stay in the middle of the trail!

The end of the first tunnel, 1.7 miles long, and all the bike lights shining in the dark:

Menicia, me & Jessica:

Isn't Idaho gorgeous?!?!

Isaiah & me taking a quick photo break:

Following the trail around the mountain:

Late afternoon...

Let me just say that although Isaiah and I are happy to be in Texas and near several of my family members, we are wishing we lived in a place as gorgeous as Washington, Idaho or Montana. It's not that we don't like Lubbock, but you have to understand that after a week in some of what I consider the most beautiful parts of the country, coming back to the plains is kinda depressing. As Isaiah and I were saying on our drive home on Sunday, where are all the trees? And I mused outloud, "If God can make such gorgeous places, why would He make Lubbock?!?!" (Sorry to all you Lubbock lovers out there.) I do love me a West Texas sunset though. Ah well, we'll make the best of wherever we live.

Just to prove my point, here's a pic of Deer Lake, just a three-minute drive on the 4-wheelers from Grandma and Grandpa's house:

Better get to bed. I stayed up late watching the last two weeks of Glee that I missed. If you haven't watched it yet, I'm going to keep nagging. Might as well just give in.... :)