Mark Scandrette

While in Seattle I’ve been in search of the best coffee. Today we went to Cafe Vivace. I had espresso and Lisa had a macchiato. It was really quite fabulous. I think from now on I might only drink espresso.

Today we also went to REI’s flagship store in Seattle. Hailey had a chance to climb a 5.7 route on the 65 foot freestanding pinnacle inside of the store. It was fun to watch her manuever up the face and from the top she had a spectacular view of downtown Seattle including the space needle. I hope we can do some climbing together back in San Francisco. She definately has the agility and confidence to be a great climber.

Today we went to the Seattle Glass blowing studio http://www.seattleglassblowing.com and watched Aaron Than Tate and several assistance work on a piece of glass sculpture. It was utterly amazing to watch the teamwork of these artisans work so elegantly with molten glass. No one wore gloves. They invited us right into the studio and we were able to stand within several feet of the work table and furnace. Hailey, Noah and Isaiah were quite mesmerized and were dissapointed when we had to drag them away after an hour. We watched the artist create a cracked silver leaf full-scale theatre mask. It was poetry in motion, with the glass workers carefully spinning the cone of molten glass at 2,000 degrees. Watching them made me want to work more with my hands. There is great dignity is such work and craftsmanship.

We are up in Seattle visiting my sister and her family for Christmas ( Jen and Dave Laird). We are having a great time seeing different neighborhoods and relaxing. I had breakfast this morning with Dwight Friesen from Mars Hill Graduate School. Dwight is a fascinating guy– and the more we talk the more similarities we find between our life stories. Dwight is a gifted teacher, writer, guide and facilitator with a particular passion for reconciliation.

1. Listening to the kids learning to create music in our house.
2. Teaching a homeschool poetry class.
3. Watching our kids develop into the people that God created them to be. They are great gifts to me.
4. Spending time developing relationships within SEVEN and the Jesus Dojo.
5. Continuing to expand my creative pursuits in various fiber arts.
6. Weekly dates walking and talking with Mark, who is still my best friend.
7. Enjoying a rich web of friendships!
8. Relaxing in Palm Springs as a family and exploring together.
9. Discovering the wonders of cave exploration at Lava Beds Nat’l Monument.
10. A wonderful visit from my mom this fall. I admire her for trying new things still and braving the flight alone to come and see us. I love showing her where we live.
(Can I do 11?) I am so thankful for the way that God so richly gives to our family—in terms of relationships, contentment, opportunities and all things that we need. We have certainly been made wealthy!

1. I started Nature Studies this year & enjoy being outside with my friends there, learning about nature.
2. I played in my first violin recital. I was nervous, but my family says I did a good job. I like my violin.
3. I turned a double digit (10!) and celebrated by playing lots of tag with my friends.
4. Building a tree house at a fri
end’s birthday sleepover.
5. Spelunking (a fun word for exploring caves) at Lava Beds & finding cool patterns in the lava flow.
6. Swimming in the hotel pool in Palm Springs.
7. Watching antlions & splashing in a creek at an oasis in Palm Springs.
8. Going to the dollar theater in Palm Springs to see “RV” and “Over the Hedge”. I laughed so hard that my family was laughing because I was!
9. Enjoying my comics—“Calvin and Hobbes”, “Garfield” & “Astro Boy”—as well as drawing and writing some of my own.
10. Cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating it! I love having a Christmas tree in the house!

1. I started learning to play the cello in January and really enjoy it.
2. I went on my first camping trip away from my family to a Wilderness Area with Riekes Center & jumped off a 35 foot cliff into a river!
3. Waiting for and receiving a Lego Mindstorms NXT robot. I earned the money pet sitting and refinishing our deck.
4. Adventuring through Catacombs cave at Lava Beds National Monument.
5. Sleepovers with Jonah, Ada and Mattea.
6. I’m thankful for my reading glasses and reading good books.
7. Nature Studies—being a barefoot barbarian, learning to throw an atlatl (an primitive spear) and succeeding at my first bowdrill fire.
8. Seeing a desert bighorn sheep up close and personal while hiking at Joshua Tree National Park.
9. Watching antlions attack their prey at an oasis in Palm Springs.
10. Celebrating my eleventh birthday with a Pirate party on China Beach, complete with swashbuckling, & digging for treasure.

1. Nature Studies: making new friends, camping trips, eating huckleberries and lighting my first bow-drill fire (think fancy way to rub two sticks together).
2. Belly crawling in the dark through Catacombs cave at Lava Beds National Monument.
3. Spending time with my older friends in SEVEN.
4. Having sleepovers, laughing and hanging out with my friends.
5. Singing and playing the guitar.
6. Turning up the music for dance parties with my friends.
7. Learning Spanish.
8. Seeing “Eyes of a Child” at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and seeing the friends I worked with on that movie.
9. Earning my Girl Scout Bronze Award. (This involved a major service project and LOTS of work!)
10. Having an entire pirate filled day dressing up, visiting friends and watching “Pirates of the Carribbean” on my birthday.