i miss you HOME!

Once upon a time there lived a family called the Israel's. They were pretty much the best family on earth.

They lived in a beautiful house in the woods. Unfortunately, the youngest daughter married a man who joined the Air Force and moved them ALLLLLLLLL the way to North Carolina! She loved the man very much, but then she couldn't spend time with her family like she wished she could. :(
One day Rachel decided she couldn't live another day without seeing her sister Sarah, and she bought her a ticket to come home to Washington!
After a year away, the beautiful city was a welcome sight! They were priviledged to get ahold of some amazing baseball tickets [[with front row seating!]] for game one of the State Championship Tournament! Pictured above are the Cardinals, who are blessed to have one of the state's best short stops, Zachary Israel! After the baseball game, the girls got to spend an afternoon roaming the city of Seattle, & we even got to stop in and say hi to the Pike Place Piggy! He's pretty famous, you know! Then on to the fish market...use caution! Here in Seattle the fish fly overhead!
There was lots of cool stuff to see, including this beautiful display of fruits and veggies!
Next on their list of adventures was a shopping spree funded by grandma, where Sarah was overwhelmed by fun times, great food, & amazing generosity! Sarah decided to give back by giving a few nice back massages.Family dinners were among the favorite events, full of good eats, yummy treats & goofy peeps.Isn't this what it's all about?Mom & Sarah got to ride around town and visit all of their favorite haunts together, which was a blast! They sure know how to fit a lot in to a short time! C'est la vie!Friday night the family got a little spiffed up and we headed out for a wedding feast and celebration for Susi, the PK. There's always a little sassiness from the children, but it never gets out of hand, of course!

On Sunday 3/5 of the family got to sing in the annual summer concert @ Grace Church! Sarah was so blessed by the lyrics and music that glorified God!One beautiful summer evening the family decided a game of baseball was needed. Dad was the catcher, Zac was pitching, Mom was in left field, and Rach was up to bat.

They all enjoyed a goofy, rowdy game of ball with lots of home runs by Dad and Zac.

The girls provided lots of laughs and bad plays and hiddeous pitching, but fun was had by all. They even made it thru the game with almost no injuries! Only a minor hit in the temple by the wiffle ball, which only caused minor dizziness for Sarah. :DThey didn't have a chance for the usual game of bball, much to their dismay. Surely this lovely court will receive more attention during the family's next reunion @ Christmas!Later in the week Sarah and Mom went out for a long-expected visit with the Massingale's! Gram always shared prayer requests from her prayer partner at church, and thru her Sarah and the rest of the family met Lance and Jen. They gave birth to their twin girls in August of 2007 but the girls weren't supposed to make their debut until December! All year this family has been in the Israel's and Dickinson's prayers, and it was a JOY to meet this beautiful family! Pictured above is Sarah with GRACE [[left]] and FAITH.Sarah was DELIGHTED to spend time with her lovely dear friends, Kris [[above]] and Am [[below]]. So much to do and talk about, so little time...Next stop, the Christensen's house! [[AKA my home away from home]]

Sarah spent two WONDERFUL years as a nanny for their family, and doing so became a part of it! Sophie [[left]] was just ONE YEAR old when Sarah first started with their family, and Ava joined us all a year after that! What beautiful, sweet, smart and charming girls these are! Sarah was devastated to leave them, and misses them EVERY DAY!

[[p.s. I LOVE YOU!]]

More adventures and more friends! And of course Sarah couldn't stay away from Starbucks! [[Who can?]] The girls got to chat with April Peters and her sweet sister Jenny who was visiting from South Carolina! What fun!Though Sarah had a lovely break from work, she just couldn't stop being a barista. Each moring they enjoyed delicious latte's with beautiful foam! Mmmmmm!The baby of the family, Zac, is quite frankly the miracle child.Sarah was pretty stoked that Zac didn't have anywhere to be so she got to spend TONS of time with him...on the computer, playing "scrabble", listening to music, talking, watching movies, shopping, eating, etc...Sarah thinks her brother is pretty amazing, and she loves him sooooo much!

to be continued...