Alex turns 25 - Twilight Style

Ben told me dress up and took me to a surprise location - turned out to be my folks' house that was filled with fog, lights, and when I turned around he had fangs in with a werewolf cake! A Twilight themed party - I was so excited!

Shortly after we arrived friends from all over joined us. What a party it was! Complete with twilight paraphernalia! Thanks to Heather and Dave in their Twilight t-shirts.

Erin and Andrew stayed the night and we had a blast playing games. I couldn't quite figure out how come they stayed, not that I wasn't thrilled. :)

The next morning it all came into focus. Joined by Erik, Janet, and Mitchell we all headed to Forks, WA for camping and geocaching!

My model husband in his "camping attire."

We ended up in La Push, WA no really meaning to us and quite lost, see faces below!

But eventually were able to see the sights!

Bella's truck.

The Swan House - home to Bella and Charlie.

Forks High School where Bella meets Edward.

Then off to the hospital where Dr. Cullen works... see his parking space!

Then to Charlie's workplace - the police department.




Next stop - the Cullen Home where we got to read a note from Esme herself.

Finished the weekend with dinner athe site of Edward and Bella's first date. They were such good sports humoring me all weekend long!

And it truly was a birthday to remember. Thanks Ben-Jamin!

April 24th - Alex's birthDAY!

For my birthday, I recieved a song from my husband Ben. And not just any "Happy Birthday Song." "Together Now" - by Ben Jacobson

Just had to share, this morning Ben made me breakfast and drove me to school so he could “give me” my birthday gift.

As we headed to work, he put a cd in and played MY song for me! He did all the instruments except the drums. I married one incredible man!

Then I was welcomed by 14 first graders who think my birthday is a National Holiday. :) Much to their delight the sun was shinging and we ate outside to celebrate.

Thanks for praying for him, God will do a miracle in his body and God is going to use his incredible gifts!
Alex

Spring 2009

This Spring we did a photoshoot of the Jacobson kids in downtown Poulsbo. It was really special for Alex to be included in this time.

The Jacobson four!

Pyramind attempt #1 - this was a self timed photo.

Pyramind attempt #2 - again self-timed.

What blast! I'm lucky to have such great siblings.

We celebrated Janice's birthday and presented her with a series of these photos, as her gift. You should see her awesome photo wall! Credit is given to Emily for the brilliant idea.

The men, celebrating Janice's birthday

Miss Northwest 2009

Tonie was chosen Miss Northwest 2009 as a part of the Sweeper pageant this year. Because she was Miss Pierce County's first runner up she was eligible for this pageant just a short while later.

We were so proud when they announced her as the new Miss Northwest 2009. She'll be competing for the title of Miss Washington this July and will be a great representative for our state! Here she is with Cole one of the Children's Miracle Network champions that was a special guest at her dance-a-thon! He was so excited!

After the pageant we celebrated Tonie's big win and Momma's birthday. Tonie recieved a letter form an old high school teacher (written by herself 5 years earlier and she shared it with the family.) It was cool to hear that many of her goals were being actualized.

This will also be a birthday that goes down in infamy for Momma. Tonie and Alex really couldn't afford to do much for Momma this year so they got her lotto tickets. She scratched them right there at the table. They were BIG winners - $10,000! Micheale and Wendy started to make plans to head to Ireland when Tonie and Alex couldn't take it anymore. They were fake and they had to break the news, and quickly before she scratched the other BIG winner of $20,000. They made the announcement ... You should have seen their faces when she won, and then when they were told they were fake. I think we are finally off the hook but she'll never let us forget we almost gave her a heart attack.

WHAT A DAY!

Diabetes Diagnosis - March 23rd 2009

Ben was diagnosed, at age 20, on March 23 with diabetes. He had to go the emergency room on March 22;

In the E.R. where he was diagnosed with diabetes. It felt like a very scary diagnosis and we still were not sure if it was Type 1 or 2.

Later in early April he was more specifically diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and we are working towards changing our lifestyle to be more diabetic friendly. Thanks to Dave and Heather for the fabulous Better Homes and Garden cookbook. They brought it the day of Ben's diagnosis. Pretty wonderful friends.


The most scary and serious health issue in Ben's life, diabetes, is not covered at all by our insurance for 9 months. But the great news is we were referred to the Benaroya Institute to be a part of a Type 1 Diabetes study, researching the drug called GAD. After a month or so of tests he was welcomed into the study by the incredible team of doctors at Virginia Mason - Benaroya Institute. We feel so blessed to benefit from their wealth of knowledge and are praying that we are part of making a change for diabetics everywhere. If the drug GAD does what they think it does then it may prevent Ben's health from deteriorating. It is believed to help Type 1 diabetics keep their insulin producing cells.

Here we are in Pike Place Market after a day at the hospital.

We go quite frequently for monitoring and for the GAD drug to be administered (although it is possible that he is just getting a placebo - we are praying for the real deal.)

There is so much going on in the area of diabetic research we are honored to be a part of it!

Thanks to the doctors, nurses, and dietician at Virginia Mason. Dr. Sanda, Dr. Hefty and Research Study Coordinator Marli McCulloch-Olson you are truly a blessing from the Lord. We feel so lucky and blessed to have your team as a part of our life!

Ben is pictured here with "stinging nettle" cheese! Good thing he didn't have to give up cheese post diagnosis. :)

Dance Through The Decades - fundraiser for CMN

Tonie, our sister, is competing in the Miss America Scholarship Organization this year and her community service platform is Children's Miracle Network.

The event raised over $3,000 far exceeding Tonie's goal. She was so overwhelmed. Ben and I raised the second most money, only second to the Seattle University Baseball Team boys.

Here Tonie is with 2 Chlidren's Miracle Champions. Jenea and Cole. The proceeds go to help kids like them and their families.

We are so proud to be helping her as she supports this great cause. In February she put on a Dance Through the Decades Dance-a-thon. People raised money for Children's Hospital in Seattle and their efforts were rewarded with this great celebration.

Dave and Heather Raley came along as the official event photographers. People loved having their photos taken in front of this giant mural I helped created.

What blast!

The dancing was so much fun, with DJ Jim Oas there to play fabulous music from all the decades. You can see my Dad and Ben really let loose and had a blast!

The event was well attended and the Duchemin family came out in carloads!

Congratulations Tonie on a job well done!