Blake + Rachel

Blake and Rachel, we wish you many, many years!

This weekend we returned to Bellingham and Camp Firwood to celebrate with some of our closest friends. Blake was instrumental in getting Brian and me together and stood by our side in *both* of our weddings. Since then, he has been a constant friend -- the only non-family member to stay in all of our houses, including Beijing. We are just getting to know Rachel, but our family has already grown fond of her.

Brian was excited to give a toast to his friend. 

The quote of the night: "talked him off the monastic ledge"

I enjoyed catching up with dear friends throughout the entire weekend. 

The girls played and danced and got a first glimpse at the special place where their parents' relationship began. 

A Year in Unpublished Pictures - 2011: Part 2

Part 2 saw us in 5 different living locations, 4 flights, 3 states, 1 wedding, and 1 graduation. There was much rejoicing and much turmoil. Here you will see more of the rejoicing. If you want to read about the turmoil, check out the post: Not the way I thought it would be.

July in California: 

We flew to California the day before Kaleia's 2nd birthday to take advantage of one last free flight. We joined Brian at Azusa Pacific University for his graduate exhibition and graduation. Nana flew with us, and Grandpa Gracey and Grandma and Grandpa Rush joined us later in the week. We managed to fit in birthday celebrations for Kaleia and Brian in the midst of frantic art show preparations. Make sure to click read more. 

Breakfast at SeaTac airport, on our way to join Brian in California. This is one of Maggie's favorite pictures. 

A Year in Unpublished Pictures - 2011: Part 1

2011 was filled with many Rushcapades. Much is missing from our blog archive - like all of May through August. So this year's unpublished picture list grew to more than just the one or two per month I like to keep it to. I decided we needed a three part installment. Part 1 - The Lead Up. Part 2 - Travels, or Insanity. Part 3 - Intro to China. There are many more pictures on our flickr site if you are interested. Hope you enjoy! Make sure to click Read More to see the whole post.

January: 

Sisters love each other. 

Brian goes to California for his last Jan term and begins the final stretch to graduation. 

Shannon has her first skype interviews for international school jobs.

The Little Things: Wedding Photography

Yet another thing you probably won't find in a travel guide: young Chinese couples are crazy about wedding photography.  All the photos below were taken in the span of little more than an hour on a sunny September day in Chaoyang Park.  You couldn't turn a corner without stumbling upon another costumed couple or three.  Photographer friends, if business ever gets slow in North America, take note. Click "Read More" to see all the photos.

I should mention, it's not any of their actual wedding days.  Apparently they take these images well in advance to display them at their reception.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Recently, I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for my little sister, Allison.

Significant women from every stage of her life gathered to celebrate her upcoming wedding to her college sweetheart.

Alli loves tradition but she's also fashionable. So our party for her was themed around the old saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." She was s good sport, and wore my mom's heavy veil the entire day. We borrowed tea cups from many faithful friends and served traditional and trendy shower fare. There were several games that drew out information about Alli and Taylor as well as solicited advice for the new couple. But the most memorable activity was our Love themed sing off. See for yourself:

If you are interested in seeing all the pictures from the event, visit my flickr site. 

Growing Up, or The Babysat Babysits the Babysitter's Babies (and Gets Married!)

Every few pages, I pause and hope for silence. The little voices in this dark tent have been seriously debating critical choices for over an hour now. Should we go down that abandoned mine shaft? Or not? Now, after a long, fun day with my little buddies I'm ready to leave the world of children and return to the adults. As a teen whose parents' friends all have younger kids, I find myself straddling these two worlds often.

Now, after waiting a few moments to make sure their sleep is sound, I tiptoe over sleeping bags and do my best to silence the obnoxiously loud tent zipper. The river rushes nearby and I successfully escape to the nearby cabin where the Clark parents, whom we’re vacationing with, and my parents, are playing cards.

My teen years, like most people’s, weren’t always the best of times, but I get nostalgic for those summer nights in the tent and cabin. The Clark kids—Sarah, Peter, Becky and Daniel—who made many memories with us at my Grandpa’s river cabin are all grown up now.

The youngest, Sarah, the one I call Little Fred, just graduated from high school. Are those little hands that could barely help make the solar system mural on the back fence during my self-run summer camp, really off to Gonzaga this fall?

Peter, or Pedro -- a nickname I gave him because he always wanted to help with my Spanish homework -- is now a junior at SPU, my alma mater, and a Peer Advisor, just like I was.

Becky, who loved the Pocahontas sound track and candy salad just graduated from Pepperdine and married a Brian of her own!

And I can still see the eldest, Daniel, trying out his favorite Power Ranger moves, a show he made me watch more times than I'd like to admit. Now he lives on his own with his new puppy and works as a bartender and server. I guess it shouldn't surprise me so much...He is 24.

But this summer I have been surprised by how much they all have grown up as I've attended a graduation party, a shower and a wedding. On a couple of occasions these kids also babysat my kids. It all brought so many memories flooding back.

Clark kids, you all have a very special place in my heart. I sure wish we could find that time capsule we buried at Grandpa's cabin. I bet it would bring back even more memories....

In Which My Family Creates Their Own Dance Party at Becky's Wedding

James and Katherine Moes

January was a busy month for Brian and me. Now that I am done working and just sitting around waiting for our baby to come, I am catching up on some blogging.

One of the highlights of January was attending our friend James's wedding. Brian went to Trinity Western University with James. They were both art majors and put on their first non-school related art show collaboratively.

Although this was the 27th wedding Brian and I have attended together(!), it was our first Orthodox wedding. Separate from our own journey, James and Katherine recently joined the Orthodox church. You can read more about Orthodox weddings on our other blog, Liminal Incense.

Congratulations James and Katherine!

May God grant you many years, health and salvation!

Estie and Joel Parris

This weekend Brian and I braved the flood damaged I-5 (which ended up not being that bad) to head to Portland for our 26th wedding. Our friend Estie worked at Camp Firwood with us for the three summers we were there and we were excited to receive an invitation and an opportunity to reconnect.

We love going to weddings.

There were some similarities between Estie and Joel's wedding and ours. They too had a flower TEAM, though theirs was much larger than ours. There were 12 little kids coming down the various aisles, and instead of throwing petals they were ringing bells. Super cute! Also similar to us they do not like cake. They had a dessert buffet with a chocolate fondue fountain, but the big treat was homemade icecream sandwiches--hundreds of cookies all baked by her mom!

Congratulations Estie and Joel!

Congratulations Lach and Kari!

Tonight we attended Lachlan and Kari's wedding. It was a fun evening wedding complete with dessert bar and photo booth. Throughout their relationship they have had a running joke with red balloons, so between the ceremony and reception everyone went outside to release a red balloon. It looked really cool, but our camera battery died right as the balloons were released, so you will have to use your imagination.

Congratulations Steve and Brittany!

Today, Brian was privileged to be a groomsman in his childhood friend, Steve Bentley's wedding. The dogs and I played on the beach while the wedding party took pictures. It turned out to be a great day for an outdoor wedding.