Tid Bits

I am now officially back on the radar. Since coming back to Portland (for an extended break from miami, but not permanant yet) life has taken some turns that no one expected. Two days after we returned to Portland on March 17th I was awoken at 4am by my father calling saying that he was on his way with my mom and sisters to my cousin Rebekah's house and that she had passed away in her sleep. It is still hard for me to believe and process as I write this. Bekah was a dear cousin, friend and sister to me and a beloved mother, daughter, wife and sister to her family. We had talked over the phone the day before I returned and had made plans to get together with our kids for a walk and catch up on life over coffee. That walk and talk never came for us, she passed the morning we were going to get together. It seems I have told her story to so many people in the past few weeks and been okay, but writing this the tears are streaming down my face and my heart aches. I miss her so much.





Bekah was only 26 and she leaves behind her wonderful husband David of 4 yrs. and her two children, Joshua 2 1/2 and Nicole 10 months. After waiting 3 weeks for reports of the autopsy they have retuned with no cause of death. Bekah was perfectly healthy and there seemed to be no cause for why she would have died in her sleep. While the family has been grieving the loss of Bekah there is a quite peace that we all have knowing that she is in Heaven with our Creator. Bekah believed that Jesus Christ was her Savior and we know that He wanted her home. We may never know the reason why, but what we do know is that God wanted her now and that one day we will be reunited.


Thanks to everyone for their support and prayers through this time. Tony and I love our friends and family and we appreciate the outpouring of love and concern during this time.

Bekah and Josh in Montana 2006









Some Tid Bits from here and there the past few weeks...





1. Curtis and Curtis catching some rays out in the back yard at grandma and grandpa's
Curtis wanted to help grandpa mow the lawn, as you can tell he was very serious about this. Actually it looks like a scowl if you ask me. Like the nice ear plugs, safety first:)





2. The Duck Boots


So for the past week Curtis has been obsessed with these little duck rain boots. He want them on all the time. And when I say all the time, I mean from the moment he wakes up he goes and finds them on the shelf and makes me or grandma put them on and then he pretty much wears them all day. He does look pretty stinkin cute in them!

3. Annie (my youngest sister) turned the big 1-8!!!
I can't believe my little baby sister is really 18 and graduating from high school! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. I remember being at the hospital and calling my best friend at the time Courtney and she asked if Annie was cute and I replied, "No, she is really funny looking, her faced is so smashed, she is not cute at all, I think she is ugly." So apart from my parents being senior citizens at the time of Annie's birth my first impressions was that she looked like funk....but she turned out okay:) She has turned out to be a beautiful woman inside and out and I am so proud to be her older sister.





We took Annie out to breakfast the morning of her birthday. We totally made her skip her first two period classes so that we didn't have to wake up that early, Lo and I really like our sleep.


It is a good thing that my mom doesn't read this blog all that often or we would probably be in trouble for corrupting our little sister.









That night we had a little birthday dinner out on my parents deck. It was so beautiful, I love the northwest sunsets.





4.



So one of my sister Nikki's childhood friends just opened her very own cafe down on NE Broadway in Portland. Her name is Angela Snow and she had lived a good majority of her life in New York dancing with ABS (American Ballet School). Lets just say the girl is raw when it comes to ballet and she was highly recruited at a very young age. Anyway she wanted to come back to Portland and follow her dream of running her own cafe and now she has. So, basically I am giving a big shout out to Manhattan Cafe and our local hometown (Damascus) girl Angela (who is an absolute joy and almost always behind the counter). They have delicious specialty coffee, gourmet pastries, panini sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts. Very yummy and there is free wi-fi always a bonus.
http://www.manhattancafe.us/

Noshing at the cafe after church

5. And finally....

Yes, its true, boo #2 is on his/her way. Curtis (the original boo) will give up his only child status Oct. 5th and we couldn't be more thrilled. Tony and I are truly blessed and we joyfully await the arrival of our little one.

Well thats all for right now. I actually have more pics and random tid bits from our time home,(like hanging out with Curtis's auntie Carissa) but I have all those photos on a different camera that is not at my location right now. So more will be coming. I head back to Miami on Friday for a month and then return home for good on May 17th!!!!! Wahoo....let me say it again Wah freakn' hoo!!!!! We look forward to catching up with all those friends when we return and for those that we had planned to get together with and it didn't happen life was pretty crazy for us this time home and so we very much look forward to hooking up when we return.