AZ and WA!

Keeping with our tradition of decorating the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving…with the help of Eric and Gustavo, and with snow in the background, the tree went up on November 27:

What fun to have speaking assignments in places where our kids live!  We loved having an opportunity to meet the Down Syndrome Society in Phoenix. Such great parents and truly amazing stories!  There was a mom there who had lost a child as an infant and then had a Down Syndrome child, then another one and then adopted two more all with DS.  Amazing! 

Of course the best part was being in sunny AZ (although it was in the 60’s Brrrr in the morning and evening).  It is always fun to be sucked into the Pothier schedule as we were awakened every morning at 6:45 sharp to hear Elle practicing the piano. Then it was on to scripture reading in the Book of Mormon with special picture books for the kids:

Shawni made the most scrumptious whole wheat pancakes from scratch in the vita mix!  They were to die for (although Max doesn’t seem to be sure here).  Shawni had been up since 6 a.m. with the Px90 (if that’s the right name, it will be a first). 

Dad entertained everybody with his I phone!

It was SOOO fun to go to gymnastics and take Elle and Grace to tennis and to be out there watching them on December 2nd in short sleeves!

How fun to see the amazing things that Lucy has learned since she left us in August.  She is talking in long sentences and has complex thoughts for a three year old!  It was simply a joy to see how far she’s come and so fun to see her get on the bus by herself:

she was running, climbing, jumping and sliding down the slide with the best of them on the school playground:

Always surrounded by a gaggle of sisters and their friends. The kids are simply fabulous with her!

Shawni has done a make-over on their house and it looks spectacular!  I forgot to take pictures of most of it!  Here’s the new shadow box picture wall.  So fun to see! Shawni, post pictures of your house will you? 

Shawni and I launched the I Love Lucy Project while I was there by doing discussion groups at two beautiful boutiques!  The moms were amazing and I think we learned more than they did! But it sure was fun!

 

My darling roommates from college even showed up!  Leone came the first day and Diane her sister the second.

Of course Josh was there to help us with our computers and we made it out to his school twice to see that great class full of energy…and boys!  Twenty boys and ten girls this year…all of whom were adorable.  But it is quite a handful.  We had a chance to meet the new administrators and went back in the evening to see what the plan was for the development of the property. Josh has really been guided on this!  It’s going to be one of the finest schools in Arizona!

 

Josh does NOT like pictures of himself so sorry about this picture Josh. It was the only one I had!  Looks like you just caught a fly!

Shawni has more great pictures but this will give you an idea of our fun days there full of excitement and love! We even got to help pull out the Christmas decorations and left a house full of busyness and cheer!

And then it was on to the grand adventurers in Sequim!  What a delightful place!  It took us just over two hours to get there from the airport but wow, it was well worth the time! The scenery is spectacular!  The huge prime evil forests and mountains rising up and surrounding that little town of Sequim make it a great place to live! 

Their house is…well…amazing!  Those two can make anywhere seem like home!  They’re on the fence trying now to decide whether they should try to fix it up and sell it or burn it and start over. Here’s this new baby:

Side entrance:

Inside is “home”:

 

Art on the wall with the direction of an tutor in art. They also have a Spanish tutor and a piano teacher.

Master bedroom (box springs aka storage boxes)

The other Keeds in an hall closet outside the living area of the house.

And Pinkerton the bunny who lives in the hall.

And of course the necessary information about each chicken posted on the door:

 

 

A live Christmas tree to be planted in the front yard after Christmas. You’ll know they’re home when you see this:

Ana’s horse riding ribbons decorate the master bedroom walls.

Spare room….closed off next to the chicks and a playroom across the hall from that.  (Must wear parkas to play in this room!)  

And of course gorgeous dress-up clothes galore.  No one would ever guess they came from the DI.  Well, maybe if you saw the outside of the house….

We drove to Olympic National Park, ran out of gas (or oil?) just before the top so we turned around which made the gas run to the front and came on home. You can’t quite see the spectacular view behind but it was truly amazing!

Then we drove to the ocean and had a fabulous lunch of Dungeness Crab at the Crab House on the shore.

Then on to the Schoolhouse Christmas tea which has been a tradition for a hundred years.  So fun to meet the sweet people who have rescued and restored it! 

The Olympic Mountains are on the south and Cascade Mountains are to the east. Ocean on the north, couldn’t be a better location!  It snowed a bit last night and it is bitterly cold today but it’s just a cold snap. Soon it will warm up!

We attended the ward Christmas party last night which was so fun!  We decided that the men must have decided on the menu as we had hamburgers and hot dogs and three kinds of onions for our hamburgers.  Lots of interesting people though and we got to hear the primary kids sing AND Ann sang a solo:

We are having a splendid time with these grand adventurers!  How blessed we are to be related to these two truly remarkable families!