Birthday Weekend

I had such a wonderful weekend celebrating my 32nd birthday.  32 years old!  I can hardly believe it.  Remember when you were a kid and 32 seemed so old?  Well here it is already.  My actual birthday was Monday, but we did most of the celebrating over the weekend.

Saturday started out with a very special coffee date with my dear friend Hillary who was visiting from Texas.  Hillary and I have the same birthday so it was really fun to be able to celebrate together in person this year!  She and I have been friends since 1st grade which translates into about 25 years.  It was so great getting to see her and catching up just the two of us.

The rest of the day was spent wine tasting in Woodinville with both James' and my families.  10 of us visited 4 wineries and it was so much fun.  We had never done the Woodinville wine tasting thing in all the years we've lived here.  If you live in this area and haven't done it, we highly recommend it.  We went to JM Cellars, Isenhower, Brian Carter, and Efeste.  I think everyone's favorite was Brian Carter.  It was such a fun activity though because it was low key and everyone could have good conversation.  Plus having good wine doesn't hurt.  The guys really loved the atmosphere of the Efeste winery because they had a TV so we didn't have to miss the Husky game.  Lots of laughs, stories, and fun all afternoon. 

Then the 10 of us headed to Purple Cafe in Woodinville for dinner.  We all sat around a huge table and continued our good conversations over great food.  Everyone surprised me with a cake and sang "Happy Birthday!"  It was one of the most meaningful and rich days I've ever had.  Thank you to the Warners, Spauldings and Antis' for making it so wonderful!

On Sunday night I got to share birthday time with my husband.  We went to a fantastic restaurant called La Rustica in West Seattle.  It's been there a long time and we've never tried it.  We were impressed!  Another strong recommendation if you've never been there before.  Thank you honey for making my birthday so special! 

All in all it was a great way to usher in my 32nd year.  It's gonna be a good one and I look forward to what's to come!



The Warner family

James' parents Barb and Jay

Isenhower winery

The boys bellying up to the bar at Brian Carter

James' sister Jacky and brother-in-law Johnathin with Meg's mom

Meg's brother Ryan and his girlfriend Tracey

The whole gang

Dinner at Purple Cafe

Awesome cake from Hoffman's bakery

Meaningful Weekend

This past weekend was packed with some meaningful and emotionally powerful events. 

On Friday we attended the BENefit for the Ben Towne Foundation.  Our good friend Kristen's nephew passed away almost 3 years ago after bravely battling Neuroblastoma cancer for over a year.  He was just 3 years old.  In his memory, his parents and family established the Ben Towne Foundation to help support pediatric cancer research so other parents don't have to go through what they did.  We went to the launch of the Foundation last year and this year we learned how much has already been accomplished from the Foundation's efforts.  The Foundation helps to support the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Research Institute.  The Center is trying to change how pediatric cancer is treated.  Ben's parents spoke along with some of the researchers who are leading the way with this innovative research.  It was a very moving and special evening.  We encourage you to visit the website to learn more.  While you're there, be sure to watch the special edition of The Soup that was created just for the BENefit.


Then on Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to the Seattle AIDS Walk on Capitol Hill in Seattle.  We joined a team with fellow church members and walked with our good friends, Heidi and Jesse.  It was a fun neighborhood walk and a beautiful day.  They had an AIDS Memorial Tent where they displayed parts of the AIDS Quilt which was cool to see.  They also had an eye opening timeline of how AIDS has progressed in the last 3 decades. 


Finally, on Sunday morning our church launched 2 new campuses.  The main campus is in Bothell and this past weekend they started campuses in Sammamish and Seattle.  We are helping to launch the Sammamish campus by serving as usher captains.  Church is being held at Skyline High School which is an awesome facility.  The kids that go there are lucky!  We had a strong turnout for the very first Sunday and we're excited to see how many new people on the Eastside develop a relationship with Christ and find a new church home.  The Seattle campus is taking place on UW's campus in Kane Hall.  If any of you are looking for a dynamic, non-judgmental church that really "walks its talk" then we encourage you to check out one of the campuses.  

Whew!  Weekends are busy in the fall, but there's lots to look forward to.  Happy Fall everyone! 

Raise the Woof

We were definitely star struck last Friday night when we had the fortunate opportunity to attend the University of Washington Raise the Woof event. It's basically a fundraiser for the football team and a time for boosters and fans to get excited for the new season. My brother and his friend purchased a table and had other friends buy tickets. Two of his friends backed out so James and I got free tickets! Now let me preface this by saying my brother and husband LOVE Husky football. I'm not talking love like you love ice cream. I'm talking love like they know all the stats, talk about it every time they're together, sleep, eat and breathe this stuff during the season. So you can imagine how pumped they were.

Sporting our husky gear, we eagerly checked in and walked through the tunnel that the players come out of and down on to the field. I had never been on the field before. Some of the major players like Chris Polk, Jermaine Kearse, Devin Aguilar, and Keith Price (the new quarterback) were taking pictures with fans. The band was playing and cheerleaders were cheering. They had a couple of open bars and it was just fun to walk around. You could even take a picture with Dubs, the mascot husky. We also saw Jason from the Bachelor! Of course I didn't really know any of the players, but I for sure could pick out the Bachelor in a crowd. :) I made the guys sneak some pictures for me.

Then we went behind the stadium where they had tables and a stage set up. We got in the buffet line to get dinner and all the sudden we saw Joe Montana right behind us! He was there with his son who is on the team. We sneakily snagged a picture of him too. We couldn't believe we were that close to him! But of course we acted cool and suave like it was no big deal. The dinner was excellent and then during the program coach Sarkisian got up to speak about the season and introduced all the players. It was a really fun night. I think we are definitely ready for Husky football to start. There goes our Saturdays....

Happy Birthday James!

Today is James' birthday!  Happy 37th to the love of my life!  We had a really fun weekend and did lots of celebrating.  Dinner together on Friday night with ice cream cake, James golfed on Saturday, Blue Angels, Pike Place, and Spaulding family dinner on Sunday.  Whew!

Yummy dinner at Brunello by our house.  We relived our Italy trip all over again!

B&R ice cream cake with oreo ice cream and chocolate cake

Wonderful Sunday morning eating Top Pot doughnuts, drinking coffee and reading the paper.  Do you like my artsy picture?  I was pretty proud of it--with the iPhone no less!

Found a great spot on the grass by Leschi to catch the Blue Angels show.  As many times as we've seen them, they never cease to amaze us.  I think this might become a tradition every year!

Afternoon at Pike Place Market.  We hadn't been here in ages.  We acted like tourists taking tons of pictures and trying all the goodies along the way.  I'm starting to notice that we ate A LOT this weekend! 

The cake that James' dad made--yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  The sugar rush continues... 

James and Papa Spaulding

We finally got a shot of the whole family!

Such a fun summer weekend celebrating my very special husband.  We all love you James!!