Snow in Seattle!

Merry Christmas from Seattle!

We have settled in for a long Christmas day rest after a lot of excitement this morning. In spite of all of the help from Mom and Dad, along with a ton of work prior to the move on Amy's part - we were still up until the wee hours wrapping and arranging things under the tree. The unwrapping started in an orderly fashion, but with Hope leading the way it soon broke into a fast paced sprint. Amy and I did our best to capture the stream of hallmark moments on film, and have posted some of the pictures from the morning for you to check out.

As I write this the snow is falling heavily up here on the mountain which reminds me of a wonderful book by Patricia Hermes called "When Snow Lay Softly on the Mountain". It is about a young girl andher father who live on Hairy Bear Mountain. During their walks her father shows her the secrets of the coming spring, and Hallie shares her special wishes for Christmas and her family. Our day has been filled with wishes, laughter, and time together. After the craziness of the past few weeks we have found an oasis of peace, and are content to watch the snow fall outside as we think about family and friends far away.

Just yesterday the kids and I were out on the trail down the street from our house. It was a sunny day, and everyone was eager to break in their new hiking boots from REI. As we hiked up and down the mountain, the burning in my legs was a constant reminder that hiking here vs. hiking in Kentucky is somewhat different. We crossed a gorge, broke through the tree line and looked out over Lake Sammamish. Wow! I don't think I will ever get used to living in such a beautiful place.

We are feeling much more at home, and I hope to have more time soon to post more about the move and our adventures so far. Many friends, family and complete strangers all played a part in making the last three weeks possible. Happy holidays to everyone! Best wishes for an amazing New Year!

Scott, Amy and the Kids + Baby Catherine

Merry Christmas everybody!

Well, very typically, it' now 11:45 UK time and we are now only just at a point where we can goto bed - mind you, not because of a crazy amount of wrapping to be done... oh no... Dawn has been fantastic and, basically, has been wrapping the girls' pressies for some time now and there just aren't any more that need wrapping... tonight, we spent time with our Christmas Eve favorites - Lena and Graham and Lena's parents - up the road from us which is always a good time with lots of silliness and far too much food (which of course you eat - not because you're necessarily hungry, but because it's there... why else?) Needless to say, tonight was no different from other years as I'm feeling rather over full and it's time to try and settle down.

I'm sure that at some point, we will be doing the phoning around thing... it would be great to hear familiar voices during this season which celebrates family, good tidings and far too much chocolate - if, indeed, there is such a thing. we will be heading over to Dawn's parents tomorrow for Christmas dinner which is another time honoured tradition which is lovely and gives you that fab warm fuzzy feeling all over. If, for some reason we don't talk tomorrow, i will be off the rest of the week in the lead up to New Year's eve... so there will be time.

We will be spending this New Year's eve at home... life with two glorious girlies is great, though it does tend to curb the whooping it up on the dance floor - of course at my age, any whooping will probably end with tearing some more cartilage and needing months of physio afterwards... it's better this way... What will be really special about the start of 2008, is that we will have Becky with us for a couple days - from the 31st til the 2nd. It will be nice to have another Davidson on our doorstep as we welcome the New Year.

As per usual, i've added a few more up-to-date pics of us and the girls on the flickr site which you can access by clicking the following link:
from Aug to present

Peace, love and smoochies to all and have a lovely festive season.



todd, dawn and the girls...

Jesame and Kizzy's Dedication Service

Today was Jesame and Kizzy's dedication service. It was a really special occasion as our minister David has been alongside us as a family throughout the past three years and was therefore able to deliver a very touching and personal service. He referred to a devotion that I found online recently which I felt was particularly pertinent:

READ: Job 42:14-15

The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers (Job 42:14-15).

The fascinating thing about this account is that the whole Scripture seems to focus now on the daughters of Job instead of the sons. In chapter 1 it was the sons who were in the forefront. They had a birthday party every year, and they invited their sisters to come and share with them, but here, at the end of the book, it is the daughters of Job. Being the father of four beautiful daughters myself, I know how Job must have felt about them. He was proud of these daughters. In fact, he gave them an inheritance among their brothers, which was unheard of in the culture of that day.

For anyone who is deciding on a name for a baby girl, here are some excellent suggestions: Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-Happuch. The names are significant, and here are their meanings:

Jemimah means "dove." Throughout the Scriptures, and even in our culture today, the dove is the symbol of peace.

Keziah is another spelling of the word cassia, and, you recall, when the wise men brought their gifts to the infant Jesus, they brought gifts of cassia, aloes, and myrrh, all of which were fragrances and incenses that were expensive, rare, and beautiful. Cassia, therefore, is incense or a fragrance. That is the symbolism behind the name.

Keren-Happuch literally means "the horn of adornment" and is a reference, therefore, to the outward beauty that comes from an inward character.

Daughters who represent peace, fragrance, and beauty are the fruits of Job's trials. Surely, as the text says, there were none so fair in all the land as these. The New Testament, in Romans 5, tells us that suffering produces fruit for all those who persevere as the evidence of God's love. "Suffering," Paul says, "produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4). Character produces hope, hope that you are becoming the kind of person you want to be, and "hope does not disappoint us," Paul says (Romans 5:5). It leaves us confident and sure of our God and of the power and resources of the spiritual life. That is the message we have at the close of this book.

Lord, thank You that out of my own brokenness You bring beauty, peace, and a fragrant life that is pleasing to You.

With love to you all,
Dawn, Todd, Kizzy and Jesame x