January (or are you going to Home Depot again?)

Ryan James, Nate and Josh Hamon relaxing during a visit last weekend.

January seems to have sped by. We have been slowly unpacking, planning, fixing the most pressing problems with the house, and for Mary, going back to work. I am working at Kingston Tax Service for the season- a major change after being home, even though I was doing bookkeeping at home, and will continue to do so. We have had enough nice days to replant some veggies we rescued from the rental. (Note to you Californians: kale and spinach can survive 18" of snow.)
Not much rain so far, but this weekend it turned cold again. High of 39 today. We also discovered that we live close enough to the water, that if we drive only a few yards up the hill toward town, there can be snow when we have none at home. This morning driving to church, right above our house, we were surrounded by snow from the storm last night!
We have found a very solid Bible- teaching church, PRAISE GOD! Jim attends the Wed AM men's study, and we just started attending the Fri night small group. So things are falling into place and we are thankful.
We have taken the chance for a few excursions exploring the area, but I think we may save the serious beach-combing for warmer weather. Jim has checked out all sorts of building supply places, from here to Bremerton. He calls it "getting the lay of the land" :) Good thing we are only 8 minutes from Home Depot- I think it will become his 2nd home!

Sunset from the Hood Canal Bridge- 10 min, away!













A Sunday afternoon at the beach

















Some members of the family DO NOT like the Washington cold. Others buy quilt-lined overalls to crawl around under the house. For the Henry fans- he spends hours up in the trees thinking he will catch birds. Cold doesn't seem to permeate that thick coat!

Moving In

Moonset over Hood Canal from our porch.
We are finally into our new house. Yes, there are boxes all over, and we have Cat5 cable running between rooms for the computers and printers (but we are networked and online!). But we praise God for a late, and uneventful move. The house closed on the 19th, but due to massive amounts of snow, we couldn't move until the 28-30th. Yes- it took 3 days, and enough ferry rides to last me awhile. Thanks to all 4 of the kids (sorry, Hazel- maybe next time you will be more help).
We attended a friendly, Bible-believing church yesterday- which happens to meet in the Poulsbo movie theater. Memories of the start-up at Creekside when we had Sunday School in the open courtyard. The kids here have Sunday School in the lobby, redolent with the aroma of popcorn!
Our neighbors are friendly- Henry has met more than we have, I think- he was at the top of a peach tree our next door neighbor was pruning- as Dick was whacking away at it! A new collar and name tags are on order for both the kitties.
It is "interesting" going from 3200 square feet (Moncure Rd), to 2900 sq. ft with a 4 car garage (Brier) to a 1979 sq ft house with a barely 2 car garage. A storage/garden shed is probably on the drawing board soon! And the most often asked question is: "did we leave_______in Ripon?"
We know we left so many of you dear friends in Ripon, but now that we are settled and have a guest room, a gorgeous view of Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains, are only 45 minutes to Seattle, we EXPECT any and all of you to come visit! You might wait until spring- but we especially appreciated Duane and Sue's visit from the 30th to the 2nd. Any friends willing to come to the northwest in January (COLD!), plus arrive the day we move in and slave away helping us get settled, are real troopers. We love you guys!