Sacred Marriage Seminar

Ryan and I have been planning, along with our pastor, a one-day marriage seminar. Awhile back Ryan and I heard the speaker for this event, Gary Thomas, on Family Life Today (a popular Christian radio program). We enjoyed his message very much and proceeded to buy and read his best-selling book entitled, "Sacred Marriage". The counter-cultural subtitle of the book is, "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than happy?" It's a highly refreshing and encouraging message.

We discovered that Gary offered a marriage conference based on this book and that he lives right here in Washington. Healthy marriages don't just happen....they take work! If any of you live near this area and would like to gain practical tools for a stable, growing marriage, Please Come!!

The seminar will be held at His Place Church on Sat., May 19th. Doors will open at 8:45 am and we'll conclude around 3:30pm. There will be two snack breaks and an hour and 15 min. "on your own" lunch. The cost is $40/couple or $20/individual. Click on this link for a printable brochure with more information and how to register. We'd love to see our friends there with us!!

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Tons of Tulips

Last Thursday I took my class out to the tulips for a field trip to help them for a descriptive writing assignment. We had a great time. There are about 5 students that weren't able to make it. I have a wonderful class with people from all over the world including Taiwan, Japan, Ukraine, Mexico, Iran, and Columbia. For those who may not know, I teach English as a Second Language.

I think these are called Parrot Tulips. I like how they look fuzzy.

Whenever a tulip of a different kind grows, they make sure to get that bulb out so that it doesn't affect the specific color that they are trying to grow and sell. I think it makes for a creative picture.

On Saturday evening, Ryan and I ran out to the fields while there was a bit of sunshine. I, of course, took even more pictures of the tulips. So many colors and varieties!
I thought that this little girl was adorable!! I wanted to keep her!

Soon the tulips will be gone. Hopefully we'll get to visit them one more time if the rain will hold off.

An Evening in the Tulips

On Tuesday evening we went out to the tulips after most of the tulip traffic was gone. We got some sun, though some pictures were getting a little dark. I plan to take my students out to the fields soon also. About half of my class has never been. We've been working on writing descriptive paragraphs to build vocabulary. We will use a tulip "field trip" for an event to write descriptively about afterwards. So, you'll probably be seeing more tulip pictures. Plus, Ryan and I will likely go to one of the tulip garden places soon too. : )

This little yellow one got lost from his field.

As we were heading back home we noticed that it was going to be a glorious sunset, so we stopped at a park to enjoy God's show.

Weekend Overview

This was the sunset we saw as we drove to church for a Good Friday service. It was a great time of worship and reflection on Jesus.

On Saturday, we went to a barrel wine tasting as listed in the tulip festival pamphlet. We'd never tried red apple or black currant wine. We each got a glass of our favorite wine after the tasting and sat outside by the vineyard for some time to relax and enjoy being outdoors.

We also went on Samish Bay Cheese's cheese-making tour. It was interesting, but if others are considering it, it's not worth the $4 per person. Here is our guide starting to explain the cheese-making process. I liked his straw hat.

This is where they make the cheese.The organic fed cows and Ryan.

Inside the barn where the cows are milked. I was more interested in the silhouette of the barn with the mountains in the background.

After church on Sunday, Ryan began his long awaited herb/veggie/flower garden. He'd love to have a large garden, but until we settle down someday and have a house with land, this patio garden will suffice. : )

Sunshine on Saturday

On Saturday, we went for a walk at the little airport near our home. It's nice to see that spring is in the air. I am so ready for some warmer weather!!! Since the sun was out, we also decided to see the daffodils again before they're gone for the year. Afterwards, we ended our outing at the Co-op for a snack.

Not our best shot since the sun was in our eyes....but we had a nice time!