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She is one of the Sweetest girls we know. They are so happy. and this is a great holiday for the two of them.

Christmas Vacation Dec 28

* * * HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BILL * * *

Melanie Flew out today. She is heading to Utah to celibrate her Grandmother's 80th birthday.

Christmas Vacation Dec 27

Today we celibratied Bill's Birthday. We did this because Melanie is flying out in the morning and would have missed it.

We decided on a dinner pary (Just family) Shiloh was at work so he missed it.

We cooked Steamed Crab (My first time to cook this - it was so easy.) We got a little 4" cake because we still have a ton of sweets around from all the holiday stuff. We also fixed a big salad.

I thought that it was perfect.

Oh Yes and Happy Birthday to SPENCER FINCH

Christmas Vacation Dec 26

Today we went to Seattle and did a little window shopping at "Pike's Place Market".

Melanie got a T-shirt.

We went down to the Pier and did more window shopping. We ate at a real nice restaurant. Ben had Oysters, I had Crab and Melanie had Crab Raviolli. It was all good.

We did not ridw the Ferry because it was way to cold.

Christmas Vacation Dec 25

****CHRISTMAS DAY****

Poor Melanie she got up so so early and had to wait till the rest of us woke up. I told her she should have come in and jumped on the bed and yelled "Get up, get up, It's Christmas morning and you will miss it if you stay in bed!" But she said she could never do that.

Christmas Vacation Dec 24

Christmas Eve Day -


Today we just stayed close to home. We traveled to a local beach park on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. "Kayak Point"









Christmas Eve night the tradition is to open one gift before all go to bed.

This year Melanie made us all little stockings stuffed with candies and goodies. Each stocking reflected our personality, mine have a bird house sewn on it, Bils had UK on his.

Christmas Vacation Dec 23

Today we went in search of snow. Of course, being new to the area we drove to a sight that was very far away, because we did not know that there was something closer.

We drove up to Mt Baker. It was snowing (Well really it was sleet) and it was very wet. but we enjoyed ourselves - untill we were cold and wet plum through.

The drive up and down the Mountain was a pretty drive. We saw EAGLES flying and fishing and perched in the trees. We unfortunately were not able to get any of that on camera. :(

Christmas Vacation Dec 22

Her Bill is looking very excited (LOL) for Ben & Melanie to come off the plane. They started their day at 3:30 am EST and arrived in Washington at 11:30 PST (2:30 EST).

We left the Airport and srove straight to Lunch then to the Space Needle.

The weather did its best to behave. We did have a great view of the City and the Sound. It was very windy up at the top and with that it was very cold.

The Pacific Northwest; According To Jeff Foxworthy:

The Pacific Northwest; According To Jeff Foxworthy:

1. You know the state flower (Mildew).
2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.
3. Use the statement "sun break" and know what it means.
4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
5. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" Signal.
8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, is not a real mountain.
9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks & Seattle's Best.
10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye Salmon.
11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima, and Willamette.
12. You consider swimming an indoor sport.
13.You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food.
14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark-while only working eight hour days.
15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
16. You are not fazed by "Today's forecast : showers followed by rain," and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers."
17. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
18 You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.
19. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.
20. You announce, "The mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.
21. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
22. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.
23. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
24. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.
25. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.
26. You measure distance in hours.
27. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.
28. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
29. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer & Elk Season (Fall).
30. You actually understood these jokes and will probably forward them.

Finch Family Christmas update 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Spencer & Amber (Corbin 5y, Miles 3y, Ella-marie 19m & Hunter 6m) are still in Bristol TN – he now has 4 children the youngest being born in June of 2007. I truly miss my grandchildren. I hope that we will be able to visit them or they visit us a lot. Corbin started Head start this year and loves it. Amber takes the children to the library at least once a week. The children loved to be read to. They are growing up so fast.

***************

Benjamin & Melanie are still in Knoxville TN – they both graduated this year from UT. Ben is now working with a company in downtown Knoxville.

Melanie is doing a lot of traveling with her family (visits back and forth). She also was able to visit Guatemala this summer with her college class. What a wonderful experience for her.

We are expecting them to come for a visit this Christmas. (Can’t wait) - We get to do a lot of sight seeing when they are here! --- Bill graduated too!!!

***************

Jacob & Sara (Emma 16m) have moved to Orem UT – he is working hard providing for his family. Sara has been working too. Sara is a great mother and Emma is blessed to have great parents.

Emma is growning up too fast she is walking and talking and just getting into everything.

Their dog Link passed away this year. It will be a sad Christmas for them when they think about him. My heart is with them. ***************

Shiloh is back with us. He returned home from his 2 year mission in Utah. He stayed home for about a month then returned to Utah to go to school. When mom passed away he thought that we might get lonely with out any children and mom at home so he said he would fill the gap for a while. It is really great to have him here. And he is right I think that I need him around to keep my mind on happy times.

**********************************************

Here are the ins and outs of the past year:

This year has not been a year that I would wish on my worst enemy much less my dear friends.

The year started out bad because in Oct 2006 we found out that my sister Robin was dying of pancreatic cancer, the same cancer that killed my aunt Jan, mom’s sister (My sister’s 2nd mom) in 2004, then in Nov 2006 we find out that my uncle Ray, mom’s brother is dying of the same cancer. So Christmas was not very good for mom and my family. But we made it through.

Robin tried the chemo but it made her very tired and sick. My aunt Jan did not use the chemo. Jan died with in 5 months of being told that she had the cancer. Robin and Ray died with in 6 months. Robin in April 2007 and Ray in April 2007.

In April, Bill, mom and I traveled to Alaska to spend some time with Robin. We were there for about 3 days before she died. And mom and Robin’s mother-in-law were with her when she left this world.

We stayed for the funeral. My brother Russel and my Uncle Dave and aunt Alice came up to Alaska for the Funeral.

We then returned home. Mom was not doing well, but I caulked it up to all the stress of the events of the last few months.

We were home for a little over a week then mom said she wanted to go and she her brother before he passed away. So off we go, Bill, mom & I, to Washington. The day before we left, to fly out to WA, I got a call from my cousin saying that her mother (my aunt Erma, dad’s sister) had just passed away from leukemia. So we also attended a funeral on this visit too.

We spent a week with mom’s older brother David, and we were able to see Ray once before we had to return home. I know that mom really loved this trip, a chance to say “Good-Bye”.

We returned home on a Tuesday and mom was tired but doing okay. Even the next morning she seemed to be doing great. But a little before 11:00 am, she could no longer walk. She refused to talk to me. She just stared at me. She would not eat or drink anything. I called a friend with my concerns and she suggested that I take her to the ER. The ER doctor said he thought that she had a Stroke but all test were negative. They would not even keep her for test. So I took her home. Still mom would not talk to me. She talked to everyone else in short sentences but not me. I was getting very upset, I could not figure out what I had done to make her mad at me.

I finally took her to her doctor and made him do more testing and the results came back that said she had several small strokes, the doctor placed her into rehab (It was an hour and a half drive from my home, so I could only get up to see her every other day or so). It took 5 weeks before she could walk but she did and she was getting better, and released to come back home. This is about the time that Raymond passed away. And she started to get worse. The doctor said she probably had some more mini strokes.

Then I get this sliver of wood stuck in my arm and needed to have it cut out. And so the doctor said I needed a brake from lifting and turning mom and had her admitted to the hospital for a few days. But while there she progressively got worse. She need blood transfusion. So they transferred her to a rehab closer to my home. Being as she was close to the house I visited her two to three times a day. But now her mind was going. And her will power to survive was totally gone. She stopped eating for over a week almost two. And would only drink about 8 oz of water a day, other than what they gave her to take her meds. She got so week and kept saying that she wanted to go to see dad – it was time and if she had to starve herself to get there then she would.

Bill got a job in Washington State during all of this and was in Washington. I tried to get mom’s spirits up for the move but she was done.

My uncle Dave and Aunt Alice came out to visit me in Oct 2007 and they were with me when mom passed away. (THANK YOU) I do not know what I would have done if they were not there.

Bill was able to travel home for the viewing in VA and I left with him to get things ready for the funeral in Oregon. It was a very nice funeral – lots of family came.

I stayed out in WA for about a month with Bill. Then returned home to pack up all of our goods and permanently move out to WA.

So as of today I am in the midst of unpacking, and learning my new surroundings.

The ward that we have moved into is a very nice one and everyone seems to be very friendly. The plus side to this move is that we are close to Bill’s brother, Danny and his wife, Trisha. We live about an hour to 3 hours away depending on traffic.

LOVE THE FINCH FAMILY
Bill & Kathy

Our new Home

This is our new house - picture taken in Aug 2007

It is a beautiful 3 bedroom home.






This picture was taken Dec 1 2007

It was our first snow in our new house.
The view from our home is beautiful.

Katie, Bill & I had a wonderful weekend.

We did the sightseeing thing. Here we are at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle.

The weather was very coopertive - WHAT A CLEAR DAY!

We went to Pike's Market and ate lunch in the same resturant that Tom Hanks and Rob Riner ate in it "Sleepless in Seattle" then of course we came home and watched the movie to see if we could recognize any of it and WOW we did.

We took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island and back again as we came back the sun was going down and we got to see Seattle lit up in lights .

The wind was very cold but the view and the experience was great.

Visitors from far away

I am so excited cause one of my favorite Missionary Sisters is coming to visit me. We are going to had a ton of fun.

It is a great thing to be able to stay in touch with the great missionaies that have served in my area.

We are going to explore the Great Northwest. If it does not get too cold.

New to the Blogging thing

Hi to everyone that takes the time to read this.

A lot has happened this year. Nov 2006 my sister and uncle were both diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Well in April 2007 both passed on to be with their Father in Heaven. This was very hard on our family especially my mother.

We were able to visit with my sister in April. In fact we were there when she passed. I feel it was a blessing and helped us (Mom and Me) to have been there during all of the pre and post things around her death.

We returned home and were there a little over a week then Mom said she needed to see her brother (My Uncle) so we flew out and spent a week in Washington. We had a very nice visit with Uncle Ray . We were also blessed with spending time with other family members.

The only sad thing about the trip was that the day before we left to come to Washington my Aunt (Dad's sister Erma) died. But we did get the opportunity to attend her funeral and visit with family members. Being able to attend was also a big blessing to my mother.

Here is where life gets even worse. We returned home on a Tuesday. Wednesday morning my mother suffered a STROKE. I took her to the ER and they said yes it looked like a stroke but nothing showed up on any of the tests so she probably did not have one. I kept taking her back to the Doctors and ER until they finally found out that she really did have a stroke.

They put her in a rehab hospital to help her learn to walk again. It worked. She was doing great then she just gave up. She got a Blood Clot in her leg muscle and it hurt really badly and she could not walk again. The doctor said he would give me a little time off (Taking care of her) and put her in the hospital for a couple of days. Well days stretched to weeks then to months. She needed a blood transfusion. She was so weak. They were working with her to walk again but by this time she just wanted to go home to heaven. She quit eating only drank a glass a day for two weeks.

Something in her changed and she wanted to live again but she had become so weak that she never bounced back. She passed on OCTOBER 8, 2007.

Now on a brighter note, Bill and I have moved to Washington State. He is now working for an aero-space company in Marysville Washington. He seems to like it very much. He is working way too hard. But I guess that is expected when you are new and trying to make a place for yourself at work. We bought a house here in Arlington Washington.

Shiloh thought that we would be lonely so he has moved back in with us here. He seems to like it well enough.

We miss our family and friends back east but have told them to come visit anytime.

I pray that the New Year brings a little sunshine to our lives.

My Parents

Burton Erikson
April 1929 - June 2001
Died From an Infection

Joyce Siemssen Erikson
Dec 1935 - Oct 2007
Died From a Stroke



My Nephew

Aaron Peters
Aug 1964 - Sep 2007
Died of Heart Attact







My Uncle


Raymond Siemssen
Jan 1944 - April 2007
Died of Cancer






My Aunt

Erma Erikson Nash
Oct 1925 - April 2007
Died of Lukemia







My Sister

Robin Joy Erikson Peterson
Jun 1959 - April 2007
Died of Cancer







My Cousin

Georgette Murry
May 1946 - 2007
Died of Cancer

My Cousin

Frank Andrew Nash (ANDY)
Nov 1955 - Sep 2006
Died of Cancer