New Year Profiles

Welcome, 2009! We have many hopes for you, dear infant, and will be disappointed if you don't live up to at least a few of them. 2008, we hope we did you justice in sending you home.

December 31st was filled with good food and fun as we hosted party for our little group of friends. For our cheese and chocolate fondues, the amount of food we ended up with on the table was unbelievable for the size of the group!

The Hippie Game is a favorite group game we introduced a couple years ago: a mix between Catchphrase, Taboo, and Charades with names selected by the group itself. It's interesting to watch different personalities excel and struggle with the different aspects of this game; some people can't do charades on their life... others can only do charades. It's fun and plays to a lot of different strengths. Not to mention providing picture-worthy moments. Meet Mike:

Mike is one of those unique individuals with the craziest life stories you've ever heard. This guy has such a range of experiences from street-racing a sleeper car he tricked out himself to volunteering to assist with autopsies in the morgue in high school, to voice-acting for Russian video games. He's always full of great stories and he is adept at story-telling. Some nights have us almost on the floor laughing.

Mike is smart with a degree in... some biology field. (I don't do science). He also has a heart as wide as the Pacific Ocean and is always volunteering to help someone or other. Would you believe me if I told you he was half Filipino? Yep...We want to find Mike a wife, though, a wife he could entertain all the time.


This is Dave.

Dave also has a heart of gold, always being refined by the Master. We joke that Dave will be a pastor, and he humbly puts up with us, insisting that he wouldn't be any good as a pastor. Maybe he's right, but my track record for predicting who will end up in full-time ministry is pretty good at this point, so he might be wrong. Dave is a sweet, somewhat introverted man who is chock full of surprises as soon as you get to know him. His life-story is pretty amazing too. We only met Dave a few months ago, but it feels much longer considering how much we love and respect him. We're also on the lookout for a wife for Dave.
Now meet Mandy:

Isn't she beautiful? Mandy and I have been best friends since we were five. Mandy is a dreamer, a lover of old movies and musicals, and wants to travel the world. So far she's made it to Iowa, where she suffered through 3 years of school in a very conservative Christian college, and is now living in Wyoming, teaching 5th grade. She's surviving, but I hear it's cold and windy in Wyoming this time of year. She finally made it home to Seattle in the nick of time for Christmas after having an unexpected layover in Denver during our little winter blizzard up here last week. We were so glad to see her and spend time with her.

We're hoping Mandy has a really special year and feels God's special guidance in her life as she makes big life decisions. I would also like to see her settle in with some handsome cowboy who wanted to move to Yakima and ranch.

Cheers, sweet friend!

This is Jordan and his girl, Heather. We have frequented the same social circle as Jordan for the last few years and have enjoyed watching him grow and change. He spent an extended time in the Phillipines on a mission trip, where he met Heather. Heather is only visiting, since she is teaching in the Phillipines still. We found out yesterday that after they left our place, at some point Jordan proposed to Heather, so cheers to the newly engaged couple!

Then there's my dear friend Shelan:

Shelan is married to Ray (who was at the party but I don't have any pictures of him up today) and is seven months pregnant with their first baby. It's a boy and they're naming him Blake. Shelan and I met in college and have been close ever since. She loves people, speaking Spanish, and cooking. I love Shelan, who adds sparkle to every party.

Last, but never least, there's us.




Isn't he adorable? That hat makes me want to hug him every five seconds or so. He puts up with me. Aren't I lucky?

And so, 2009, be good to us. Bring us growth, dreams, fellowship in times of joy and times of suffering, and depth of knowledge and love.