BFF (Best Friends Forever)

Here we are, together again! Yikes!! My Loa (and her other half, Hanno) finally came to visit me last weekend. We painted the town red and I think we completely wore our husbands out. Good thing we chose well with them for they put up with us without complaint-with beer yes, but without complaint;) We went here, there and everywhere. We tried to convince Hanno that Seattle really is the place to be and the sun even cooperated and shone the whole time they were here. Unbelievable!



We showed them the ocean, the lakes, the locks, the glass, the market, the island. We toured Kirkland, Bellevue, Fremont and even checked out some open houses in Mercer Island and Queen Anne. How fun is that?! I LOVE checking out other people's homes. I lurk on Windermere just to dream sometimes. I highly recommend taking your friends from California on driving tours with you so that you have a good excuse to tour open houses in ritzy neighborhoods. The only problem we found with one of the houses is that you'd never have to go on vacation again.



Since Seattle is known for it's music we decided we must go to the Triple Door. Our favorite musical venue did not disappoint even with an unknown artist. We pigged out and drank cosmos. I decided Loa might be my favorite person to drink cosmos with. Probably because the first cosmo I ever drank was with her (and Michelle who convinced us that we'd get underage service at Boston Pizza in Vernon...and she was right!!).





Speaking of bars, we ended up at the Jarju's favorite hotspot a little later that night. Disregarding my usual paranoia I will even divulge to you where we went, Amber in Belltown. Why this sudden disregard for privacy you ask? Because the bouncer SCANNED OUR DRIVERS LICENCE when we entered the club. I was aghast. Royden thought it was a good idea. I thought it was 1984.



Deep in conversation reminiscing about our history with barbies, the book Forever, summer camp on Thetis Island, our first trip to Disneyland in grade 9, shopping for bar shirts, fighting over counter space in the bathroom of our first apartment, our careers as nurses, marriage and moving to America.



Unfortunately we never did get a picture of the four of us as Royden was in his rightful place behind the camera. As he said "I wasn't about to hand it off to someone just standing there!". So I guess we'll have to take the tripod next time.



So now instead of living together we live with our husbands. As much as Loa and I love each other I think we both agree that they are much easier to live with. It's much fun hanging out with your BF and the man who loves her just as much as you do. We love you guys and hope to crash at your place sometime soon!!

The Patriarch

I love the drive through the mountains whenever we go home.

There's always a period during the drive as you enter Hope, the hills begin to jut into the sky and disappear behind curtains of clouds. Shortly after that, you yourself begin ascending on the highway that takes you far from civilization, far from gas stations and rest stops, towards the toll at the summit.

And as the car climbs, your ears begin to plug and the air outside gets colder. The trees get skinnier with less oxygen and the clouds hang off of their tips like cobwebs being pulled from a dusty trophy.

It's breathtaking and it's all I can do to keep the car on the road. There's so much to look at.




Sometimes it's good to just pull over and take it in.

Eventually you start the slow descent into Merritt and Kamloops as your ears pop, your bladder nags, and the purpose of your trip comes back to you. Ruth and I have traveled this pass so many times.

There were two very important reasons to go home last weekend. They can really only be blogged separately so we'll start with this one...



Last Wednesday night George Henry Lepp fell asleep. When he woke up he was somewhere else, but he was no longer with us.




There are 80 family members that either call George Father, Grandfather, or great Grandfather. We got together to honour grandpa, and put his tired old body to rest. At 88 he lived to see things I can barely imagine.



He was born in Russia, present day Ukraine. His family left their home looking for peace and prosperity in Canada. They found it, but George lost two brothers on the journey here. One in Latvia, one in Canada soon after arriving. Farming was in the bloodlines. It carried on from my grandpa's Dad, to my Grandpa, to my own Dad.

Wheat was his favorite crop.



Soon after being married to Mary, George heard a radio program that changed his life. He turned to Christ and never looked back. He opened his Bible everyday. He lived to serve his family and his saviour.

He was an extremely hard worker, suffering from a heart attack at 36. He worked with his hands and made use of what he was given. He did the work that God put in front of him.

I know he wasn't perfect.






I don't open my Bible everyday.

Sometimes I have a hard time being a servant. I know he wasn't perfect. I know I'm not perfect either. But at times like these it's good to evaluate things.

Sometimes when I'm on the treadmill at the gym, I feel a tightness in my chest. I think about grandpa and I slow down.



At the end of the graveside service, a time for sharing was opened. There was silence for a minute. I'll never forget watching my Dad walk across the grass to the bundle of wheat next to the coffin. He used his hook to break open the twine as he announced, "It's time for harvest!" He began handing out wheat. I raised my camera to steal that scene forever but I decided instead to just remember it.

It is harvest time. Some extended family couldn't make it because harvest has started in Manitoba. And it was harvest for time for Grandpa. What God had been sowing in the soil of his life was ready to be collected.



I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
Revelation 14: 14-16

What is with the squirrels in my yard?

Well hello there...

We recently had the pleasure of spending a week with David, Ruth's biological Dad who lives in Ottawa. Ottawa is on the other side of Canada, so needless to say we don't get to see him very often at all. The last time we had a chance to visit was at our wedding.

It was great of Dad to take a whole week off from his job and come experience Seattle in true Lepp fashion. And oh did we experience the city! Seattle is a great place to live and play and we wanted to show Dad as much of it as possible.

Alright now...where to begin...



...Ah Yes! Coffee!

Dad adjusted to our caffeine habits rather quickly. Pretty soon he was the one suggesting, "how about we grab a latte first!"

Okay. Now that we got that out of the way, first things first. Pike Place Market.



Good times. Beautiful flowers. Next up was Seattle Center. And we did the space needle in a whole new way for me and Ruth. We didn't just go up to the observation deck...



...Dad took us out for dinner! It was a stunning way to eat, and a highly recommended way to see the city.






The floor of the restaurant rotates as you eat, giving you a full 360 degree view. Very cool. And the food was excellent.

In Redmond we decided to visit the Velodrome!



The Velodrome is a race track for cyclists. We were there during training and it was pretty neat to watch. I had never seen a velodrome before.



Zoom!

A trip to Seattle is never complete without a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo! This time I was armed with a 300mm lens. Much more fun!





I never get tired of the zoo. We got to witness grizzly bear feeding time which was pretty cool. It is me and Ruth's opinion, that a trip to Seattle is now longer complete without a walk-on ferry trip to Bainbridge island. Thanks to the Millers for tipping us onto this great little summer evening experience.



We had some halibut and frys at Ivor's, walked onto a ferry at pier 52 and then walked across downtown Bainbridge for...what else?




That's right.

Dad happened to visit on the week of the Fourth of July! Good timing! Our great friends Bill and Addie invited us out onto their parents boat to see the fireworks from Lake Union. That was a first for us all. What a great night!



Well, that's all for now. We actually saw many more things while Dad was here but didn't photograph them all. It was a busy week of site seeing and visiting and eating great food. Thanks for the visit Dad! It was great to see you. Come back soon!