Burlington, WA: Denham Family

After Portland, we kept driving north to see another good friend from high school (that I talked about in the Birth Blessing entry) named Becky Denham. We not only lived close growing up, we played basketball together in high school…and being on a team of girls can bond you like nothing else! Becky and I also went to Calvin together. Several years ago (was it six?) I got a mass e-mail from my friend named Jason…and I thought to myself “Becky would really like this guy.” Without thinking about it too much (or getting his permission!), I forwarded his e-mail to Becky and said “why don’t you e-mail him?” Well, several e-mails, calls, and visits later…they were engaged, married, and now the proud parents of almost-2 year old identical twin girls. They are living north of Seattle in Burlington, WA, and are expecting their 3rd child in December, just a few weeks before we are due.


I’ve had it in the back of my head to get up to WA to see Beck during our year in CA, as I had only met her daughters once in MI when they were babies. So I was really looking forward to an extended visit with Becky and her family! Rowan and I arrived on Sunday night and got to spend a few hours with Rachel and Anna (the twins) before they went to bed. On Monday the girls had daycare, so we took advantage of only having a 3 year old and went to Deception Pass. Rowan loved playing on the beach and climbing the rocks (couldn’t get enough of that!) and we enjoyed the beautiful views on Whidbey Island and the whole area. Joe’s parents lived on Whidbey Island during the first part of their marriage because Joe’s dad was stationed there, so it was fun to get to see it. After Deception Pass, we had lunch at a great little deli, then I convinced Becky that we should get pedicures! Becky couldn’t quite believe that Rowan would patiently wait while we got our nails done (with the help of a portable DVD player and Aladdin)...but life is different with an independent 3 year old as compared to two 2 year olds! Rowan even got her nails painted when we were finished with our feet.

We enjoyed the afternoon at home in the backyard with lots of bubbles and laughing, then a yummy dinner when Jason got back from work. It was easy to slip back into conversation and life with Becky--isn't it great to have friends like that? On Tuesday after lunch Rowan and I drove down to Seattle to visit another friend (I'll post a separate blog about that) and returned on Wednesday afternoon for more hanging out with the Denhams.

I burned through most of my tank of veggie oil getting to Burlington, so I had to collect some oil during the week. Turns out that there is a big bio-diesel company up in those parts....and everywhere I went, the tanks had their company sticker on them. I felt weird about taking oil from someone already doing bio-diesel...but I really needed oil! Lots of the tanks had just been emptied...I asked at one and was denied...and finally found an unmarked barrel with over 50 gallons of great oil. It took a bit more effort this time in the looking phase (I maybe looked for an hour?) but even so....got about $250 worth of fuel in less than a few hours total! I felt very independent and self-sufficient to collect oil on the road like that (with a kid in tow, no less)


Wednesday we took some family pics of the Denhams, had another lovely meal, put kids to bed, and worked on sewing some maternity skirts. I do not sew. I have tried. Fabric and sewing machines do not like me. But Becky has gotten into it (how does she have time?) and wanted us to have matching maternity skirts. I helped measure and cut fabric, then provided moral support and good conversation while Becky sewed.

Thursday we spent another day playing with the girls, taking walks, blowing bubbles...it was fun to get to know Becky's kids so well, and have her spend time with Rowan. Rowan was very sweet with the twins, taking on the role of mature older sister effortlessly. It was neat to see the Denham family in action. Becky and Jason are a great team....they deal so well with the stress of having 2 toddlers underfoot and all the demands that entails. They are both patient, loving, dole out good discipline, and did I mention patient? It was fun to watch them in action, loving the girls and loving each other even when it wasn't easy.

I realize how special it is to have friends that I have known for over half my life...there is s different level of comfortability and feeling "known" when a friend went through the 9th grade with you, you know? I mean--the 9th grade! But it's also special to know each other as adults, and to continue to dig deeper and understand each other as wives, mothers, professionals.

To see more photos of our time together, click here.