I got the best Christmas gift I could have wanted from my husband this past year--a trip to Spokane, Washington to see my sister, Valencia, and her family. I hadn't seen Valencia since my wedding almost 5 years ago, so we were long overdue for a trip out West.
We left on Thursday, January 22, very early in the morning. Getting us Damsgards up and out of the house by 6 AM is a great accomplishment, and we succeeded! We even made it to the airport and through security with 2 hours to spare.
I wasn't sure how the flight would be. Three hours is a long time for 2 little kids to be stuck in a seat with almost 0 squirm space, but they did great! Seth sat on my lap, but Eliana is old enough 
now that she gets to have her own chair. The kids kept busy with coloring books, a Veggie Tale movie, and a box of Teddy Grahams. I was actually surprised at how smooth the trip went. To top it off, we loitered in the plane after landing until all the other passengers gotten off and then asked the pilot if we could take the kids into the cockpit. He was very kind and obliging and even let us take a few pictures. The kids were fascinated by all the switches and buttons. Unfortunately, the pictures turned out dark, but they'll still serve as good memories of Seth's first plane ride.
Spokane was beautiful. Ken and Valencia live in a valley surrounded by gorgeous snow-capped mountains. The scenery reminded me very much of Chris's and my honeymoon in Oregon, espcially on one road that we often drove on that paralleled a river on one side and shouldered a mountain ridge on the other.
Here is a picture of the Peters family with Eliana and Seth. We teased Ken and Valencia that this is what their family would really look like in a few years since they are expecting their 3rd child in June and would like to have at least one more. After 8 years of not having a baby in the house, our kids were a good reminder of what it's like to have toddlers around.
Our first afternoon and evening in Spokane were spent getting acquainted with Ken and the kids. Ken and Chris had never met each other and our kids had never met, so there was a lot of "getting to know you" going on. Chris and Ken hit it off almost immediately and found that they had a lot of interests in common--college basketball, bowling (the wii version), and talking theology to name a few. They spent a lot of time playing virtual sports and video games and doing some "shoulder-to-shoulder" bonding (as Emmerson Eggerich calls it in his book Love and Respect) while tracking the stock market on their laptops.
now that she gets to have her own chair. The kids kept busy with coloring books, a Veggie Tale movie, and a box of Teddy Grahams. I was actually surprised at how smooth the trip went. To top it off, we loitered in the plane after landing until all the other passengers gotten off and then asked the pilot if we could take the kids into the cockpit. He was very kind and obliging and even let us take a few pictures. The kids were fascinated by all the switches and buttons. Unfortunately, the pictures turned out dark, but they'll still serve as good memories of Seth's first plane ride.
Spokane was beautiful. Ken and Valencia live in a valley surrounded by gorgeous snow-capped mountains. The scenery reminded me very much of Chris's and my honeymoon in Oregon, espcially on one road that we often drove on that paralleled a river on one side and shouldered a mountain ridge on the other.
Here is a picture of the Peters family with Eliana and Seth. We teased Ken and Valencia that this is what their family would really look like in a few years since they are expecting their 3rd child in June and would like to have at least one more. After 8 years of not having a baby in the house, our kids were a good reminder of what it's like to have toddlers around.
Our first afternoon and evening in Spokane were spent getting acquainted with Ken and the kids. Ken and Chris had never met each other and our kids had never met, so there was a lot of "getting to know you" going on. Chris and Ken hit it off almost immediately and found that they had a lot of interests in common--college basketball, bowling (the wii version), and talking theology to name a few. They spent a lot of time playing virtual sports and video games and doing some "shoulder-to-shoulder" bonding (as Emmerson Eggerich calls it in his book Love and Respect) while tracking the stock market on their laptops. Valencia had been at a conference in Texas and didn't fly in until late Thursday night. It was great to see my sis again, but we didn't chat too much that night. We were both exhausted from traveling and adjusting to a new time zone.
On Friday, the men drove across the border into Idaho and did 
some skiing, while the rest of us ran some errands and visited an indoor kiddie playground. Valencia and I got to do a lot of sister catch-up and chatting while the kids played and got to know each other better. Eliana adored her big cousins and got such special treatment from Karis whose main focus the whole time we were there was to entertain Eliana and do whatever she could to make her happy. She read stories to Eliana, dressed her up in all kinds of costumes, and shared her elaborate My Littlest Pet Shop village. She will make a wonderful big sister!
some skiing, while the rest of us ran some errands and visited an indoor kiddie playground. Valencia and I got to do a lot of sister catch-up and chatting while the kids played and got to know each other better. Eliana adored her big cousins and got such special treatment from Karis whose main focus the whole time we were there was to entertain Eliana and do whatever she could to make her happy. She read stories to Eliana, dressed her up in all kinds of costumes, and shared her elaborate My Littlest Pet Shop village. She will make a wonderful big sister!
On Satuday, most of the day was spent watching Micah and Karis at their Upwards games. Upwards is a national Christian sports organization for kids who want to play basketball and soccer. They also have cheerleading for the girls. It is intended to be an outreach for the community, and they have someone share testimony during each half time. Micah and Karis have been in Upwards for a few years. Micah plays basketball, and Ken coaches his team, and Karis does cheerleading. I was bummed that I didn't get any good pictures of Micah while 
he was playing. The setting on my camera got messed up, so all the basketball pictures turned out blurry. I did get some cute ones of the Karis cheerleading, though. When we got home that evening, Karis dressed Eliana up in on of her old cheerleading outfits and the two of them danced around the house making up cheers and shaking their pompoms. Their favorite chant was, "Logan the tomato! Logan the tomato!" I think Eliana mostly came up with this one--a combo slogan to honor her cousin back in Minnesota and her favorite Veggie Tale hero. 
Micah and Seth did some dressin up too. Here is Seth in his Cowboy had. He also got dressed up as a green M&M with a clown hat!
Micah introduced Chris and I to the sport of Speed Stacking. I'd never heard of it before, but I guess it's something that's gotten quite populare and has been highly recommended for increasing coordination, dexterity, and sport and music abilities. I can see why! It requires an incredible amount of concentration and is a great excercise for training the right and left hands to synchronize 
with each other. I was terribly slow and clumsy at this, even after watching the training video, but Micah and Valencia were quite the duo. In this picture they are racing to see who can do a combination of stacking sequences the fastest. I think Valencia beat this time. She's always been very quick with her hans. When we were in college we worked in a shipping department together, and she was usually on the list as one of the fastest workers.
with each other. I was terribly slow and clumsy at this, even after watching the training video, but Micah and Valencia were quite the duo. In this picture they are racing to see who can do a combination of stacking sequences the fastest. I think Valencia beat this time. She's always been very quick with her hans. When we were in college we worked in a shipping department together, and she was usually on the list as one of the fastest workers.Sunday was spent with Ken and Valencia's congregation at the church they pastor. They have a wonderful group of people that they work with, and I really enjoyed worshipping and fellowshipping with them. Ken is a very fiery and inspiring preacher. Even after sitting through both services, I felt like I learned new things in both. He really has a gift for keeping one's attention and being able to give the same message twice without seeming monotonous.
Valencia leads the singing for their services and invited me to join the worship team which I was very excited to do. Singing was one of our favorite pass times growing up. We spent hours singing with soundtracks and composing our own songs and arrangements. Valencia is a very talented singer and worship leader, and I loved getting the chance to be her backup again :)
Our last full day in Spokane found us as a children's museum. We thought it would be a good outing for the kids, but discovered that there was just as much excitement for adults. Valencia and I were thrilled to see that the museum had a special display of a Filippino village. There was a true-to-life nipa hut (very common Filippino housing), little stores, shops, and a fishing boat that the kids could go and play in. Everything was so authentic, from the canned sardines on the shelves of the store to the sungka board hanging on the wall of the hut. It was almost like going back in time.
While we reminisced about our childhood in the Philippines, the guys used their engineering minds to create a speedway on the water table. They probably worked on this for an hour, trying to see how quickly they could get the toy boats to flow downstream. The highlight for the kids at the museum was all the outfits there were to dress up in . They dressed up as police, bikers, monkeys, Cookie Monster, and doctors. My favorite costume was the firefighter one. It fit Eliana perfectly, which was neat because she's been saying for awhile now that she wants to be a firefighter when 
she grows up.
she grows up.And then Tuesday came, and it was time to head home. As always, it was sad to say good-bye. We had such a wonderful trip. Chris and I were both so happy we had taken the time to go out there. It's so easy to get wrapped up in our own lives and schedules, but this trip was a good reminder of the importance of staying in touch with family, even when you have small kids and live a thousand miles away and (as in Chris's case) have never even met your brother-in-law and niece and nephew.
Our flight home was turbulent most of the way, but I got used to it after the first hour. The kids did very well again, thanks to more snacks and some special airplane toys from Karis.
Thanks, Valencia and family, for hosting a wonderful vacation time for us. And thanks, Chris, for the great Christmas surprise!
