Spokane, Washington

Steve needed a place to train his replacement to finish his last week of work, so he asked for some input on Facebook for places to accomplish that.  One of the responses included an offer to stay in Spokane with an old friend from summer camp & college.  It had been years since they last saw each other, but we decided to give it a whirl.  We want this trip to be more about saying "yes" than "no" and putting relationships above things.

Apparently I had briefly met Rebecca and her husband Matt and first child nearly 14 years ago, but I had no recollection.  Nonetheless, we took her up on the offer and were blown away by their family's hospitality!  Their 11 year-old daughter Abbi got along fabulously with our 10 and 8 year-old daughters, and their 15 year-old son Lucas had a soft spot for Jake that was apparently mutual.  Even Genna fit right in, playing with toys, and sucking Rebecca's husband Matt into grandiose imaginative play.  Steve was able to talk for hours a day on the phone to train his replacement while the kids were otherwise engrossed in play elsewhere.

Alyssa, Abbi, and Shanan

Rebecca gave me a much needed break and took all the girls to pick raspberries at her parent's place while Steve went mountain biking with Matt.  Even though I still had Jake, I was reminded that sometimes you just need enough quiet and space to hear yourself think & sort things out a bit.  That's certainly more challenging to accomplish in this way of life, but I am realizing it is important to find a way to make that happen.

Rebecca also insisted that we let her & her family watch all our kids, so we could go out on a date completely childless!!  Wow!  What a treat!  We totally needed that.  Thank you, thank you for making that happen!  We went to Riverfront Park in Spokane, fabulous place to walk around, with or without kids.

Spokane Falls

A big thanks to the Bartholomews for loaning an extra bike for me and a bike trailer for the little ones and for suggesting the perfect spot to go biking as a family.  We managed an eight-mile bike ride on the Centennial Trail.  It was absolutely beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the kids did awesome.  The river was so clear that nearly everyone took a dip in it before biking back to the truck.

Floaters down the Spokane river as seen from the Centennial Trail

We have really enjoyed all of the free parks here in Spokane.  They are everywhere!  After church, we took an afternoon to explore the perennial, rose, & Japanese gardens at Manito Park per Rebecca's suggestion.  There was so much there that we didn't even see, but we so enjoyed our time there.

Just prior to leaving here, thanks once again to Facebook, we had a chance to meet up with an old friend of mine from camp 18 years ago, as well!  Wow, how time flies!  It is so fun to reconnect with friends and see evidence of God's blessing in their lives.  I also love that our kids are getting so much better & faster at making new friends!

Spice and Renee Welch and kiddos

We're so grateful that we have had time here to rekindle old friendships and make new ones!  Thanks Rebecca, Matt, Luc, and Abbi for making us feel at home, for letting us invade your space, for loving our kids, and for showing us what to see & do in Spokane!  Our time here has been priceless!

Luc, Jake and Rebecca

We drove from Washington to Idaho and went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner