Dear Sophia,

Well, here it is, your 6th birthday. I can hardly believe how quickly this has gone and yet when I think of how quickly it will be until you start driving and dating (10 more years), I am glad it’s going at just the right pace. You have grown so much in beauty, spirit and strength and I am so proud of you and I know that Daddy is as well.

I love that you are such a giving person and love to help others! I know that you want to be a pediatrician (yep, she knows the word) and a nenatologist. I think you will be amazing at both! Don’t let anything or anyone stop you from acheiving your dreams! I love you baby!

Love,

Mommy

Uncle Ed

Dear Uncle Ed,

Since your passing, I have so many things that I want to share with you. Things that you did that touched my life, and my family’s life. You were a bright sun in the world and I love you for that. I miss you so much and I wish I could have more time with you. Thank you for teaching me to love and appreciate classical music, espeically Holst, which I listening to as I write this. You taught me that classical music tells a story and I love that. I have never listened to classical music the same way again! It inspired me to write many short stories and start many novels, which I will one day finish.

I will miss your Easter Egg hiding. Nobody could hide them like you did and I wish that I didn’t grow up, just so I could have you hide them again! You were always so good at hiding them, that it never falied that Dad would run over one with the lawmower during the summer. I have to admit, I do not like pumpkin pie, but I loved yours. It was the only Pumpkin Pie that I would eat and I think I was pretty spoiled that way.

You gave so willingly. Your time, possesions and your love. I miss that. I hope that I can aspire to be the kind of person that you wanted me to grow up to be. I miss your house on Rainbow Lake and your “garage” room where there was always some sort of Jeep part being fixed. I miss riding in your Jeep, it was so much fun to ride in! I remember the time, when I was really little that you babysat me and I remember being left with a jar of pennies. I cannot remember how many of those stupid things I ate, but I think of it everytime one of the girls would grab to eat a coin off the floor!

I miss you. Everytime I watch fireworks, I will miss you. No one could put on a display like yours! I always felt SO proud of you when I told people that you were on the pyrotechnics team for the Fourth of JulIvers on Lake Washington every year! I am glad that you shared that with my friends like Aaron. That was who you were, no glory for yourself, but you shared experiences with those who wanted to learn. I remember you telling me about Jeep engine parts, sorry Uncle, but I suck at car repair. Those lessons never stuck with me, but not because you were a bad teacher, I was just a crappy student in that subject. When I broke my arm, you were there at the house and you helped mom determine that I, yes indeed, broke my arm. You were a volunteer EMT at the time.

Words cannot express how much I miss you and want you back. I will have to know that I will see you again. Until then, I will always love you and I will miss you.

Krisy

We’ll upload pictures when we get back home.

The girls and I are all SUPER excited to be getting ready for our vacation at the end of this week. It’s going to be an exciting trip with all the girls, Odin and I all packed up in the truck for a week of road tripping and camping. This will be our first family camping trip with Sarah and Odin, so it should be fun for both of them. We are planning on making several stops along the Oregon Coast, and then venturing up Hwy 101 through Washington and traveling around the top of the Olympic Peninsula. I’m not sure where all we will stop yet, but I know we want to visit Coos bay, Tillamook, Portland, Westport, Ocean Shores, Port Angeles, and Deception Pass. The last day of our trip will be traveling through Skagit County to see the tulips at the tulip festival then a few relaxing days around the house before I get back to work!

It should be a very exciting trip! This will be my first REAL vacation in about 4 years so Krisy has decreed it a non working time even on my phone… I do not know how I will do it, but I am sure I will survive somehow! I am hoping to get a little surf fishing in, and maybe some cod fishing up in the Westport area. Other than that it is going to be fun times with the girls and a few good books. I can not wait!

Since I am not allowed to work I’ll be bringing my laptop, video camera, and still camera so Krisy and I can blog the entire adventure. We have a vision of this being a bit of a life streaming experience with several posts per day, but that will really be reliant on our ability to get internet connectivity or a cell signal.

I am really excited to go though.. We got a new tent, Ice chest, camp stove, and lantern today so we should be all set for the BIG family adventure wish us luck on Friday and keep checking in for the latest news!

-Brad

I have some concerns about our upcoming road trip to Coos Bay, Oregon and then up Highway 101 home. Sophia got car sick the WHOLE way home from North Bend, Washington which is only a couple of hours away. I am hoping that this is a fluke thing, because she has never done this before. If it’s not a fluke thing, our road trip is going to be real interesting! Especially considering that it is over 9 hours to get to Coos Bay (that includes pit stops and etc). We will be blogging from the road, so keep reading and see what happens, let’s hope that there is nothing to report in regards to car sickness, if there is, I will keep it to a minimum!