Friends.

One of the great things about the military sending you all over is making new friends and meeting up with old friends in new places. We really hit the old friends made new again jackpot with our latest move. It's fun to meet new additions to families and amazing to see those we knew as toddlers and itty bitty babies all grown up! Some of you may recongnize some of our friends below:

From Hawaii we were lucky to have Eden (left), Kinley and Mya (right) join us in the Pacific Northwest.

Those we last knew on the East Coast include:

Aubrey, Lincoln(left) and Baby Jace (below)

Olivia (right) and the twins - Tenison and Henry (below)

Addyson and Kaitlin.

Zoe, Fischer and Bronwyn (as a mummy, a very cute mummy).

I'm kicking myself for not getting a better picture of the Spackman kids - Lila (pink jacket) and Jude (red striped polo).

(Above) Damaris and Baby Sam.

Some of the gals - April, Sarah and Melissa.

Ward (s)Hopping

Often, one of the saddest things about moving is leaving the ward* family, (aka congregation) (unless you are escaping a calling in the nursery). Such has been the case for us our last two moves especially. Although we are optimistic that we will again "land" in a particularly awesome ward, a perk of being new to an area and not having a permanent home is pretending like we actually have a choice in the matter of deciding which ward we attend (you don't, I tried once). Ward hopping.

We have been doing it for the last few weeks and sensing that the end to this freedom is eminent we made a particularly bold move this Sunday and attended three different wards. I know, you're adding up the commitment in your head and coming up with a whopping nine hours of devoted worship from the Westbrook family. I wish we had the stamina for a Sabbath day marathon like that, but it was Fast Sunday ( I'll let you determine why that would be an impossibly long day, albeit a great opportunity to really get the pulse and flavor of a ward). We did the abbreviated version and went to the three different wards that share a building. One of Ben's favorite jokes when we are introduced as visitors in Sunday School is to say that we just moved to the area and we are shopping for the ward with the least tithing (I could hear all of his jokes a million times and still giggle my head off heehee). So with ammunition like that why not start of our day with Sunday School?!

We actually arrived intending to attend the 11 o'clock services but when we arrived at 11:10 and knowing that Ben refuses to go into the chapel late. I suggested we catch the last hour of the ward we most likely would be attending. And we were right on time for that. After that they dismissed and left the building so we went to Sunday School (in a ward with particularly talented SS teachers - score) and capped off the day with Sacrament Meeting from the third and final ward. Not wanting to disturb the children's play and learning (wink wink), we left them in their primary and nursery classes - with the help of the eagle-eye watch of a friend, should Miles try to betray us with a necessary diaper change - and we attended sans kiddos!

Next week we will be responsible and settle into the ward we are obligated to attend by way of the map and we will do so with a glad spirit. But in the meantime, we enjoyed our visits.

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Definition of Ward (via Wikipedia):
A ward typically consists of 200 to 500 active church members within an area that is within a reasonable travel time of the meetinghouse. ("Reasonable" will vary between countries and regions.) A stake may be organized if there are at least three ward-sized branches in adjacent areas. Once the stake has been organized, the ward-sized branches are organized into wards. If there are not sufficient congregations in an area to form a stake, a district (analogous to but smaller than a stake) is formed to oversee local congregations. In areas where there are greater numbers of active church members (such as Utah), the area of a ward can be as small as one-fourth or one-fifth of a square mile.

When a ward(s) become of a greater size, the ward will divide geographically. Generally, if both geographic divisions are in a reasonable time of the meetinghouse, then they will meet at the same building, but at different times. Most ward buildings are designed to house up to three or four wards.
Individuals can find out what ward they reside in by either talking to a local LDS leader or by using the meetinghouse locator tool on the church's webpage.

Historical Orgin - The term ward originally referred to the political subdivision of some of the municipalities in the Mid-western United States where members of the LDS Church resided, and in particular the political organization of Nauvoo, Illinois in the 1840's. Bishops were assigned duties and responsibility over specific ward boundaries in these cities, and over time individual congregations were defined by these boundaries. After the Mormon Exodus to Utah, this same terminology was preserved in the establishment of communities throughout the western USA. Indeed, voting districts of several Utah communities still follow the historical boundaries of their original LDS congregations. Due to the religious connection of this term, traditional Mormon pioneer communities generally do not use the term ward to define voting districts for political purposes.

Brrrrrrr....

It must be like 70 here or something. On the night we got here we could see our breath it was so cold, and we were so underdressed. So alas, we have arrived in Washington. For those of you counting types, yes, we have been here a few weeks. In fact we are in our fourth temporary residence since we have arrived. This one we will call home for at least the next six months as we figure out what our more permanent arrangements will be.

The new picture above is of the south slope of Mt. Rainer - which April reminded me is called Paradise. Hence us still being "just another day in..." I like that thought. And we like it here. That being said, I was never so happy to see fleece as I was when we were unpacking. That box I had labeled and set aside of "Fall/Winter" clothes for the family, just got opened.

There's really no need to make a list of the things I'll miss in Hawaii (although I still have a few thoughts on our previous life that I'll have to get out I'm sure). I'm following the advice of inspirational cards, motivational plaques and dear john letters everywhere - if you love something, set it free, if it was meant to be, it'll come back to you. We love the islands. We will go back. But this is our home now and we are going to love it. Am I trying to convince myself of that? Maybe.

One thing I do love about Washington that I need no convincing of is the friends we have here. But they deserve an entire post and pictures so more on that later. But have they made the transition easier for me and for Avery. Absolutely.

All right so what else do I love about Washington so far:

- Loooonnnngggg summer days. We flew in at 10pm and it was still not quite completely dark. Although it gives you plenty of time to do fun stuff and it's nice for B. to come home in the daylight, it makes it tough to adjust to a new time zone. It will start getting dark and that is an indication to us that it's dinner time. Only it's 9pm. I realize to that there is a flip side to these long days known as winter.

- No frizzy hair. No sweating.

- The mosquitoes here are bigger and slower. Not only did living in HI make me an expert mosquito squisher, I got bit so many times that I became immune - this is completely true. The ones here must have diluted juice cause I don't even feel the slightest itch.

- The grass is softer and unlikely to have thorns in it. Not that you are likely to be barefoot in it.

- Greater variety of fresh produce and bread.

- Good Mexican food. There's also bad mexican food here, but we have found at least two places that are legit. I think Ben has tried every one. If it has Los or El, any reference to a location in Mexico or any form of 'berto in the name he's there - He even braved a place with Tijuana in the name. Never again.

And for good measure - a few things I'm going to have to get over:

- What seems like nearly 10% sales tax. Double what we paid in Hawaii. Where we live it's around 8.8% but enough to discourage me from shopping anywhere but on base. (Why doth I love the military - let me count the ways...) Okay, so there's no state income tax - we weren't affected by that anyway.

- Wearing shoes. This mostly applies to A.

- People not driving with Aloha. I could write a whole post about this. And I just might.

- Pineapples are expensive.

- Butter takes longer to soften.

- The music. I'm not sure exactly which category to put this one in, because although it's fun to hear bands that remind me of high school - Candlebox, Soundgarden, Nirvana etc. On continuous loop it loses some of it's charm. Not that I liked Reggae any better.

The best news about us moving to Washington for all of you (since you just lost your free vacation home in the tropics - need I remind you) is that you are no longer subject to pictures of me in my bathing suit or Ben shirtless. Although, I can't guarantee the latter. Oh wait, yes I can. It's July and it's freezing.

Aloha Oe

Until we meet again...

For Sale SOLD

'94 Honda Accord - Immaculate and Loaded. $4,600. Any Takers?