Here Comes Santa Claus...right down Duluth Street!

Our Christmas decorating began on Black Friday. Here are some of our first attempts at making our home a place to enjoy the Christmas Spirit!

Bound 4 The North

In October, Katrina took a weekend visit to B.C. She saw one of her girlfriends, Treena get married. You will also see Scott and Janet's beautiful daughter Olivia and son Carter.

A Spokane Thanksgiving

Here are some of our favorite digi pics during last week's turkey fest!

The Pre Holiday Days

It's fully November now. I've used the Toro lawnmower 3 times this fall to "rake-up" the leaves. My pumpkin with "Jesus" carved into the front burns nightly. My candle is seriously into endurance. I blow it out in the morning before biking to work. Biking to and from work has been one of my favorite changes in my daily routine. It's kinda like an adventure that begins different each morning. Some days it's cold and I feel like my forehead is going to freeze off! Other days like Sunday morning I bike with dress clothes and it go to be about 71'F by the afternoon. Yesterday I biked to Costco in Kennewick along a new nature path on the 240/Yakima River delta area. Really enjoyed myself.

Saturday Katrina and I picked up our new bench for the living room entry way. We had it made to match our entry way coat hanger and organizer. We found items at Costco for Christmas decor that got us both excited to get into the spirit of Christmas. ya baby Jesus!

Katrina is in the beginning madness of report cards for her 72 students and I have just finished working with Pastor Wes to finalize my portfolio as the Family Life Pastor. Our stress levels have been up and down and Katrina and I have been praying together for her work team to be less divisive and more enjoyable. But, my baby Katrina is getting it done and I'm so proud of her. I am a blessed husband!

I tell friends often how blessed we are to be in our first home and have friends who pray for us and love both of us. God is good during this new time in our marriage...when we are both working full time. We look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break because that means time with family in Spokane and Canada.

until next time. M

Retreat!

Looking northwest near Diamond Lake, WA. Katrina and I would love to introduce you to our new friends Creighton & Karli Knight. They are responsible for blessing us with two nights away at their parents lake house. This picture was taken on Friday morning as we hiked for 2 hours near the lake. This property includes 200 acres and one day will be fore sale. I hope the Knight's purchase it! Creighton and I agreed that it would be prime paint ball territory for the young adults at our church. As you can see, the fall weather was near perfect for getaway. We played lots of board games, ate yummy barbecue steaks, and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Both couples had their separate bedrooms. They let us take the master suite with full bath over looking Diamond Lake. Creighton & Karli are those special type of friends that come into your life with encouragement, peace, wisdom, and fun. Their daughter "Allie" brightens up each room she enters. Katrina and I slept in two days in a row which was needed. Katrina has been putting in extra hours at school to get a new 5Th grade rotation model up and running. Of course the wood fireplace in the great room gave a rustic flare to our atmosphere. I was able to spend Friday morning typing out most of my sermon for Sunday. God spoke to me in fluid ways that helped me preach on Sunday with a deeper sense of peace and ease of communication. What a setting to work on a sermon! We are grateful for our new friends Creighton & Karli! Here they are followed by a picture of us at the lake.

Birthday Weekend Continues

Katrina wanted a birthday to remember so I enjoyed spoiling her. I did some small projects around the house, bought her a new bike and gift certificate for the Aveda Spa. She is so worth it. On the night of her special day we gathered at the King and I for excellent

Thai food. We ate family style with Creighton & Karli, Ryan & Ellie, and Ismo & Christina. What great friends. To say the least I was stuffed. We drove back to our house and ate ice cream cake, a Spencer family tradition. I am so proud of Katrina and am so glad God sent her to me as gift from Him. God is good.

Another part of Katrina's weekend was surprising her at our small group by including her in a 30Th birthday party for 5 people: Katrina, Ellie, Ismo, Justin, and Christina. They got our their walker just in case vertigo sets in early.

Katrina Jumps @ 12,000 feet elevation!

What a way to begin your 30th birthday weekend! After two false and disappointing attempts, Katrina finally experienced her wedding present from me, her beloved husband of 1 year 3 months and 6 days. Here is a shot of pre-jump conditioning.

Once all the crew (pilot, camera man, tandem master, and crazy skydiver extra, plus beautiful Katrina) were ready they boarded the small plane at Richland airport. The peanut gallery included Ryan, Ellie, Aidan, Ismo, and Christina. Rock on guys, rock on! Thankfully i was excluded from that group due to my marital status with the jumper.

Yes, i was nervous about my wife jumping out of plane at 12,000ft. I prayed and said to myself, "well Lord, here she goes." Watching her fall for several minutes was exciting. She spun around once her parachute opened after a 40sec free fall. Katrina's parachute is the tiny green dot. Katrina spoke loud enough for us to hear her conversations nearer the ground. The landing is a rush for the observer at ground level. The tandem enters the last 50 feet at speeds of 20-30+ mph. The cool part was how soft Katrina landed with he instructor on their bums in nice grassy field. The birthday weekend had began. Will will try to upload the DVD to You Tube in the next few weeks.
And without further delay, here is the last sighting of a middle east crazy man. Katrina was forced to watch this 1980s VHS in Davenport, WA... somebody call Home Land Security.