When you're a little behind on blogging it can seem a little daunting to catch up. While chronologically I should do our spring break trip next, it seemed like a big post that I couldn't quite manage at the moment, so instead you get to see what's been up with each of us since April and next time you get to hear all about Vancouver, BC!
Let's catch up with Alex first! Alex is nearing the end of 8th grade and has found a lot of things to enjoy here in Washington. While school isn't his favorite place, he has straight A's!
He finally had his first in-person band concert since Covid! I'm excited for him to continue music in high school with his brother and have some more fun experiences.
He has continued his bake sales here in Washington. He has sold M&M cookies, snickerdoodles, brookies, red velvet cream cheese sandwich cookies, fudge, sugar cookie bars, cupcakes, mini pumpkin breads and his best selling Brookies!
He has used the money from his bake sales to fuel his retro video game obsession, and save up for an awesome 3D printer! (this is actually his first 3D printer that spawned interest in getting a better one) I took this video of my Silhouette going at the same time, look how crafty we are!
He's also found a good group of friends at church that love all the nerdy things he does! Here they are playing a game while eating pizza and listening to some music. They regularly get together to work through their D&D campaign. Funnily enough Spencer is the brother of Cade's girlfriend, and Noah and Heidi are cousins of Spencer's. Where would we be without the Cornwalls?
Alex also just got braces!
Now how about Cade? He is finishing his sophomore year with mostly A's, and has probably found something here in Washington we least expected. A girlfriend! Mackenzie (also a Cornwall) is a beautiful girl inside and out and probably has more in common with Cade than anyone on the Earth. They're both band nerds and get to share a lot of those experiences together. They've been dating nearly 6 months now!
He has since cut his hair, but I love this picture of them! Cade also has a good friend Moroni and the three of them often hang out. He also has a good cohort of friends at school, and he had them all over for his 16th birthday. That's right, he's 16!!
And he has his license! Here he is washing 'his' car. It's a glorious PT cruiser (have you seen how expensive used cars these days???) We've nicknamed it the Chick Magnet and it is our family's 3rd car.
Cade participated in track in the spring and of course did as many music things as possible. He does jazz band after school, and recently started playing with a group called SOGO, the student orchestra of greater olympia. A lot of the school programs don't have strings, and the band programs often lack, so this is a community group they can audition for and join. This weekend he's participating in another musical experience down in Portland called Music in May! Soak it all in Cade! (he sounds so good!)
Now for the man of the house- Dan! Since the mask mandate lifted in Washington, the band has finally been able to play again! I have to imagine that having a purpose to rehearsal makes a huge difference. There will always be things about the other duties he has at work that aren't the best, but getting to play and perform is why he does it all!
We all kind of went into hibernation from all the construction of the winter, but Dan has been instrumental in continuing to get this house into shape! He finished painting the ceilings and he worked with Alex to put up a fence on the side of the house that was missing since we moved in.
All we have left are 2 bathrooms and a laundry room to fix up before saving up for a full kitchen remodel! Dan also loves getting out on his motorcycle whenever he can (that darn rain!), because there really is some beautiful country around here.
And then there's me! How about a quick health update? It's been a saga just to get consistent health care here, but I think I've finally got a primary care doc that will be sticking around, the kids have a place to go, and all referrals are in tact. Only took 8 months. My pulmonologist has taken me off the 3 antibiotics that were treating my lung infections because he feels it has improved. We will do another CT scan in a few months to see if anything has gotten worse since being off the meds. My fatigue has improved overall since my time in San Antonio, but it has gotten worse in the last few months, probably related to pushing myself too hard at times. Still trying to figure out how to manage it and see if we can find the root cause. I deal with a lot of chronic pain as well, and when fatigue gets real bad, so does the pain. I see a rheumatologist in June so maybe some more answers to come my way? We'll see!
I feel blessed that I've been able to find a lot of accompanist work in the short time we've lived here. We need every penny to help survive the inflation, gas prices, (and braces, and teenage care insurance) and overall cost of living in WA! I've played for several middle school choirs, solo and ensembles, and most recently the high school musical! This summer I even got a job playing piano for a kids theatre company.
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| Ready for another Cornwall in our life? That's Kelly Cornwall, pianist extraordinaire, and mother of Mackenzie and Spencer! Oh, and her husband is a percussionist and our Bishop! |
In late April, Amy and I were able to meet up with our good friend Janel on the other side of Washington for a TOFW conference. It's a religious 'retreat' where there's speakers for a few days and gals just get together for a spiritual boost and a good time hanging out.
I've tried to do my part around the house, keeping it up and clean as well as with the construction. I even planted some flowers, and they're not dead yet! This is a big deal for me. Probably helps that it rains here all the time.
I also got to start playing some percussion in the area! South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) plays a big role here in the area, and they have several performing groups. Bishop let them know of my skills and I received an invite to help out with their orchestra. This is actually how we found out about SOGO for Cade, because so many SOGO staff are part of the orchestra. They even asked me to be a Teaching Assistant for the percussion of SOGO next year! More and more musical opportunities, yay!
And of course I'm trying to keep upping my game with Calligraphy so I practice and come up with ideas for my Etsy shop. I recently re-designed my shop page and added some new items so feel free to check it out! https://www.etsy.com/shop/laurashandlettering
That is what we're up to! Spring has definitely sprung here, and now at the end of May we are thinking we 'might' be getting out of the rainy season. The extended forecasts have had a lot less raindrop pictures in them! Spring was just lovely here with so much green and blossoming trees.
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| This tree is in our front yard |
We've done a few fun things with the Bennetts. We got together for Easter and had an EPIC easter egg hunt! And by epic we mean that we hid the eggs way too well and it hailed and rained on the kids while they were looking for them. Not sure how much fun they had, lol. But we did have good food and made some lasting memories.
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| playing some minute to win it games- easter style |
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| decorating the yearly bunny cake |
And then for Joe's birthday we went on a fun double date. Amy got tickets for the American Car Museum and we had dinner at a nice restaurant on the Sound.
We've also tried to get out and about a little bit as time and weather have permitted. When Dan's sister Kristina visited for a weekend we went up to Port Townsend and found ourselves some sea glass!
Now the only thing you don't know about us is what our trip to Vancouver was like! Next time :)
