As I anticipated in the last blog entry, the activities in Seattle did indeed slow just a bit. It was a tough 6.5 weeks for Noe (and for us, but more for him) to be apart from us. Harder for him because he was out here in Michigan working and coming home to a very quiet apartment, whereas we were surrounded by family and friends, having a blast! But we sure did miss him too! Below, I will detail the rest of our time in Seattle. But in brief… I drove out to the airport around midnight on July 9th to pick up Noe, whose plane had been delayed 2 hours. We had a very happy reunion, followed by a jam-packed (why do we say this?) 1.5 weeks of visiting family, friends, and developing relationships at two Churches here whom we consider our home Churches. We had the blessing of sharing about our current status and plans with both Churches.
First time bathing together! |
We arrived back to NTBI around midnight on July 20th, and quite promptly were able to begin moving into our new apartment! The family that was here has moved down to Missouri to begin their training at the Missionary Training Center (MTC). Lord-willing, that will be us a year from now! Wow! Our new apartment has two bedrooms (yes, the girls are learning to sleep in the same room!), an office, a private full bathroom with a washer/dryer (that we purchased from that family), running water (!) in the kitchen, WINDOWS in the spacious living room, a dining area, and a dishwasher that we also obtained from that family. Noe and I have never had a dishwasher… as I use it almost daily, I am in awe of how greatly I under-estimated the “wonderfulness” (as I put it yesterday) of the dishwasher– it really does save a lot of time and energy (especially when you love to cook, as I do)! We will post pictures of the new apartment as soon as we are settled. We’re close to that point.
We also have a few more hours of cleaning to do in the old apartment. We try and snag those moments when the girls are napping to do some scrubbing. We are very thankful that we didn’t have a drastic deadline for when that apartment needed to be finished, as the new family won’t arrive until sometime in mid-August, probably. That has allowed us to ‘relax’ a little in the midst of the move, and simply enjoy this time before the grind begins.
Ahh, here we go- the grind! No, we’re not dreading it, but it was a fitting word for the upcoming scheduled days.
On August 11th, we will join several other students and staff for 10 days of intensive Student Leadership training. The details are somewhat vague at this point, but we we do know is that it will be a wonderful 10 days of Bible studies, and seeing God work in our own lives as we anticipate the opportunity to serve others this coming year. Part of that 10 days includes a 4 or 5 day camping trip.
The student training ends on August 21st. We will have the 22nd to rest, and then registration begins on the 23rd. Before we know it, classes will begin, which we are VERY much looking forward to! Naya will be delighted to go to “Hallway” (Child Care) again! And Jocellyn… our little firecracker! She will enjoy interacting with the other babies, right? Yeah, what do you really say about a baby? 🙂 (of course, you get those moms who say “my 4-month-old baby loves the color purple! she refuses to wear anything else!” ok…. really?!?!?!? haha)
We will update you again in August, probably once school has started up. We’ll share about the student leadership training, and our class schedule. Please keep us in your prayers, that we will enter this school year refreshed and ready to learn from the LORD. Pray also for the 92 or so freshmen that are coming in, including some families. Please also pray for us as we continue with our Partnership Development (building relationships with our Churches, friends, and of course, family), and that He will provide for all of our needs, as He always has! If you’d like to know how you can partner with us as we continue on this journey, feel free to contact us. “Like it or not”, you are just as much a part of this process of taking the Gospel to the unreached as we are! The Body of Christ is intricately connected in every way. This is not the Martinez’ taking the Gospel out while you sit on your couch. You play just as big a role, in whatever capacity you’re able and willing to.
We hope for the opportunity to visit Seattle for our Christmas break. If not, we look forward to next summer!
NOW, for a detailed account of the rest of our time in Seattle! Thank you for reading our blogs. We love reading your comments, or hearing from you by email or phone…. it really encourages us to hear from you! Oh– and in case you were wondering, it is an average of 80-85 degrees here in the summer, and very humid. We get strong thunderstorms every few days, and the occasional tornado warning. We love the 4 distinct, beautiful seasons here! We hope to get out into His creation more this year to take it all in! We also hope to visit Niagara Falls before we leave Michigan, as it is only about 6 hours from here!
With our love,
Noe, Lisa, Adannaya (turns 3 in September) and Jocellyn (9 months on August 2nd, crawling, and with 4 teeth!)
On our way back to MI. farewell WA. |
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(this is VERY long and detailed… don’t feel pressured to read it!)
Seattle! I left off in mid-June, when I had visited several graduation parties. One of those beautiful young ladies is heading off to a Christian university in August to pursue a degree in Children’s Ministry! Glory to God!
Father’s Day! It was such a joy to be in Seattle WITH my dad on Father’s Day! over the last 7 years, it was quite hit-and-miss, since we lived in Oregon for 5 of those years, and MI for one.
On the 21st of June, I enjoyed a tradition of joining my dad for lunch near his office. Special memories!
On the 22nd, it was such a joy to meet my friend (“sister”) for a picnic and play-time at Lincoln Park! she and their 4 children rode the ferry over from Port Orchard to spend a few hours with us. her oldest, Sam, was one of our ring-bearers. It was a blessing to catch up with her after such a long time.
On the 23rd, the girls and I spent the day with my mom. I believe this is the day we headed out to Edmonds to a cute kids store called “Kinderbritches”. we enjoyed window shopping through the town, and we had a lovely outdoor lunch by the waterfront. The girls and I went to Marina’s house for dinner that night, along with other Martinez families.
The 24th was a busy day for me- happily so! I took the girls to spend the day at Marina’s house, and I first had coffee with Janis Lemert, and a wonderful chat! Later on, I met with Hannah Sasaki, and loved hearing about her heart for the Lord, her plans for the future, etc… what a beautiful young lady she is! I first met Hannah when she was an infant, babysat her over the years, taught her piano, and now she is close to graduating high school! What a joy she is! In the evening, I took the girls to my mom’s house for dinner and bedtime, and I had the pleasure of taking Tiffany Hatheway out for dinner, to say ‘congrats’ on her high school graduation. We discovered that the Mayflower of China restaurant on Southcenter Pkwy has the most wonderful Chinese food…. the reviews were accurate! 🙂 We ended up driving around for an hour or two afterward, just chatting, and ultimately finding an open Starbucks. 🙂
On the 25th, my mom took the girls and I to U. Village, where we window-shopped, and enjoyed “Great Grandma Hippy” joining us for lunch at Pallino’s.
Saturday, my parents went with us to the Woodland Park Zoo! we powered our way through the zoo, and accomplished seeing the WHOLE thing. crazy… it was a great time! No butterfly exhibit though… Naya would love that.
On Sunday, I had the honor of playing piano at Grace. It was wonderful to be there! My parents were gracious to take the girls all morning, including taking them to Boulevard, and then home for lunch and naps. After the service, I headed to a barbeque in honor of Ken and Cathy Reimer. It was wonderful to reconnect with them, and learn about their ministry, and their upcoming final 3 years in Zambia. I had met their daughter Megan growing up, when they would come home for furloughs.
On the 28th, the girls and I spent a lovely day with Marina, and Tuesday was just a relaxing, quiet day at home (just the girls and I). On Wednesday, I dropped off the girls at Marina’s, and enjoyed a quiet day alone, visiting the mall. I believe that day I also randomly met a couple friends for lunch at the mall.
On Thursday, the girls and I drove to Tacoma, where we met my good friend Autumn for a few hours of catching up. It was wonderful to see her! Her husband returns from deployment in Iraq in just a few weeks! That night, my parents took the girls, and I drove down to Tacoma again to have dinner with Jason and Chelsea at the Spaghetti Factory. Yum! Great to be with them! 🙂
Friday morning, July 2nd, my parents, myself, and the girls drove down to Lincoln City, OR for a wonderful week of R&R! We had a lovely, quiet, sunny week with Bruce & Lynda Russell, and Steve & Eloise Hockett. The girls were very easy-going, and I felt quite refreshed, as I always do after a week down there! That took us to July 8th. That morning, we had a yummy breakfast at the Wildflower Grill on our way out of L.C., and drove up to Cannon Beach for a day! We had the pleasure of staying with Harold and Cathy, who were so gracious to host all 5 of us for the night! I had the joy of seeing several friends in CB, and it was lovely to walk from midtown to downtown, remembering so much of a great 5 years!
Then the 9th… drove back to Seattle, and picked up Noe that night!
As tired as he was, we didn’t have any time to ‘waste’. Saturday morning, we slept in, then got busy preparing a couple presentations for Grace on Sunday. That afternoon, we went to Marina’s house and he got to see all the family, as we had dinner together! After a wonderful morning at Grace on Sunday, we enjoyed our traditional dim sum lunch at Ocean City in Chinatown! That evening, I surprised Noe with a date to hear Steve Tyrell at Jazz Alley. It was such a lovely evening for the two of us! 🙂
On Monday morning, we visited my dad’s office, then headed out to North Seattle to have lunch with the Great Grandmas. In the evening, Noe joined my dad and Jason for a Round Table Pizza dinner and discussion through Boulevard. I joined Chelsea and my mom for dinner at the Bluwater Bistro on Lake Union, including the wonderful “Tollhouse Magic” dessert- a fresh Tollhouse cookie baked to order in a cast-iron skillet! Mmmm… Marina was gracious to take the girls for that evening.
We spent the entirety of Tuesday the 13th with the Martinez family, including a wonderful Pupusa dinner!
On the 14th, we left the girls with Marina, and Noe and I enjoyed the day together, including lunch at Geno’s, Bubble Tea, and dinner at Pho Tai in Burien. Mmm!! Culinary delights! 🙂 That night, my parents kept the girls for dinner and bedtime, and we headed over to Aarron Aramburu’s for dessert and a movie. Fun times!
On the 15th, haha, I honestly can’t remember what we did during the day! Hmm… I think Marina had the girls, Noe did some things on his own, including working on an outdoor project for my dad. That evening, though, we had put together a picnic at Lincoln Park with some dear friends from Grace. It turned out to be a LOVELY evening, both with Friends and with great weather! 🙂
On Friday, Marina babysat the girls in the afternoon/evening, and my parents took us out to an elegant dinner at Ponti, where we enjoyed sitting on the porch and eating a lovely meal. After bringing the girls home and putting them to bed, I drove off to spend time with a good friend, Susan, and Noe spent some quality time with Chayo and others.
Saturday was a relatively relaxing day. We slept in, and then went out to dim sum AGAIN (yay!), with Tony & Mary Beth Aramburu, and Matt and Aria Davis. We had the pleasure of seeing the Davis’ new house as well. We’re so happy for them! We had a late dinner with my parents.
Sunday the 18th, it was an honor for us to share at Boulevard, and connect with more people there, including seeing a friend I grew up with- Laura Santie, who also has a huge heart for the Lord! We drove over to Grace afterward to meet Drayton and Janis Lemert, whom we had lunch with. That evening was our ‘2nd Annual Roe-Martinez family dinner’- we called it our “Farewell Again” dinner. 🙂 Almost the whole family came, which was just delightful! As wonderful as this day was, it was also the real beginning of the goodbye’s.
Monday morning, I got to spend a couple hours with Tiffany again, which was great! We spent much of Monday packing, had tacos for lunch at Marina’s (!), then took the kids and met Jason and Chelsea for dinner at Famous Dave’s at Southcenter.
And that brought us to the 20th, when my parents took us to the airport in the morning, and we had an uneventful trip back to Michigan.
PHEW!! Did you make it to the end of that? Remember, I wrote it for my own documentation, really… But I hope you enjoyed it. 🙂 You can see we were ridiculously busy during our time in Seattle! It was such a blessing! Hard to say goodbye to Friends and loved ones. But glad to be back in Michigan, and eager to see all that the Lord has in store for us in this next year.
love hearing what's going on for you! Sounds like a fun, busy time in Seattle, and all about the NW.
Have a lovely fall!!
Your chronicle is fun to read, enhanced by the great photos, and rich with written details. I have re-lived our wonderful days together and am still appreciative that you spent as much time with us as you did, given your vast network of family and friends. Here's hoping for a December visit!!
love,
Mom R
Phew! What a long haul! Haha, so many people to see and so much to do! I'm so glad we got to catch up for a while with the girls! Long overdue! Looking forward to our next get together! 🙂