Meet Dosey-Doe!

We added to our clan a new little kitten named Dosey-Doe. Ipa-Mae and Marley-Moe are enamored by her! We have fallen in love with this precious little girl. She won our hearts from the first time we met her.



She is so sweet and playful. She has us in stitches with her antics and all the funny places we find her perched.




Marley-Moe will drench her in slobber; wear her out; and truly has a new buddy.






Ipa-Mae was a little more uncertain when it came to Dosey but they too have found their nitch and have become quite the snuggle buddies.




Our little family feels complete now that we have Dosey. Ben and his girls!

Who's Chopped? Ben - The Birthday Boy

Chopped Jacobson Style

For Ben's 21st birthday we hosted a "Chopped" competition. A cook off where someone teamed with Ben against another couple of chefs. Five courses, ten amazing dishes, with MANY secret ingredients it was a night full of food and fun.



Ben has a new found love for the food channel. Especially the shows "Chopped" and "Top Chef." He had dreamed of coming home to a bag of secret ingredients and a time limit. :)




First Ben teamed with his Dad, Rich, against his sister Emily and friend Brandon. Spam was the most challenging of their 3 secret ingredients.



Course 2 was Benjamin and brother Luke against Tonie, Alex's sister and her friend Brandon. The most challenging of ingredients - a root called Mongala.



In Round 3 Benjamin and James Gunter took on the Bradfords. Secrent ingredients included frest crab, zuccini, and pineapple juice. Two truly incredible dishes were created.




Next to challenge Ben, this time paired with Brent, were Dave and Heather Raley.
Secret ingredients included - bacon, canned crab, chicken, cucumber and coconut milk.




These were truly masterpieces.





The fifth and final round was a head to head between Nate and Courtney Werner and Benjamin and Eric "Trudy" Trudeau. Their feat was to cook with Buddah's hand (a sort of citrus fruit), pomogranate and pie crust.




Happy 21st BenJamin!

This birthday was also a celebration of Ben's many talents. His culinary expertise is developing as are his muscial talents. God has placed a dream in Ben's heart and a call on his life to serve him through music ministry. Ben received from family and friends a new garage door to have installed on his ongoing studio project. The door will keep his instruments and equipment safe and the room warm enough. Thank you to all who contributed. A photo will be coming when it is installed in December!

Breaking and entering... a pumpkin patch tale.

Unbeknownst to us the Pumpkin Patch we headed to on this gorgeous fall day was actually closed.

That didn't stop us.




To be perfectly frank we really didn't know they were closed until we went to pay and an employee who had popped by to pick up his paycheck told us. He let us pay him so we still got to take our family of four pumpkins and a gorgeous bouquet home with us!

First we me up with a scarecrow...




Then Ben selected our pumpkins.



He chose a family of four.


Then off I went with clippers and basket in hand to select our fall time bouquet.
As many flowers as you can fit in a rubber band for $8.00. What a deal!



We had a ball and rolled down the windows for Ipa and Marley on the way home.

Give Ben his dream 21st birthday gift!

Ben has been working on his studio for almost a year now and has made great headway. What's missing you ask? A secure garage door that will allow him to store his equipment in the studio and provide much needed insulation. Help pitch in to give him his dream 21st birthday gift... Thanks for blessing him!

A Wicked Night with Friends!

This past September we headed to see "Wicked" at the Paramount theatre with friends Dave and Heather Raley. www.theraleys.com

It was one incredible who and a wonderful night. Dave surprised us with a limo ride to the theatre, we ate at a favorite spot - PF Changs - and LOVED the show. So much so that our Halloween Costumes this year were inspired by the show!


Here we are at PF Changs. What a meal.






We'd never been to the Paramount - what a beautiful theatre!


The show was unbelievable and truly an experience. We had no previous knowledge of the story line so it was truly magical for us. We've been singining along with the soundtrack ever since!




Our night came to a close with an incredible surprise from Dave! A limo ride to the ferry. We left the show in style and with everyone wondering who "those people" in the limo were. :)








Here are our "Wicked" inspired Halloween Costumes. Complete with Ipa-Mae as Elphaba the Wicked Witch, Marley-Moe as Glenda the Good Witch, Ben as The Scarecrow, Alex as Dorothy and Jasmine as The Cowardly Lion.

Maui in 2009 ~ Friends, Food, and Fun!

We stayed in Kihei, Maui with friends at an incredible Condo just a few feet from the beach.

Thanks to friends Mitchell and Janet we were able to take an incredible vacation this summer to Maui!







Shortly after Miss Washington, and after Alex's Previa van - affectionately named The Silver Bullet - was rendered immobile - we headed off on a much needed vacation.





Ben called it a hiatus from reality.






What a flight we had, complete with mai thais!




DAY ONE

We picked up our rental car, and headed to Costco and the grocery store to pick up our food for the week.





Then we headed to our condo at Maui Parkshore. It was fully furnished and stocked, we felt very at home!






First stop - the beach!

We played for several hours in the waves and on the beach. This is why we came!

We met this dog, who didn't have a name, so we called him 34579 because those were the numbers on his dog tag.

He kept us very busy playing fetch all afternoon. We of course immediately started missing our pups - Ipa and Marley.

It wouldn't be the first day in Maui without a remarkable sunset!

DAY TWO - The next day we went on an adventure via rental car. We ended up on this incredible volcanic stone beach.

After a long walk we were standing in a cove, and what happened? It started to RAIN. Yes we Washingtonians must have brought it with us. But it was incredible and very warm!

Then we headed to a public beach for our picnic lunch. It just so happened to connect to several resort beaches and a wonderful "boardwalk."

After a long walk we stopped at this gorgeous resort for a swim in their pool.

Only to be treated like Kings and Queens! ;) Strawberry mint jello anyone?

We both finished the Twilight series on this trip. Ben much faster then Alex.

That evening, in preparation for our snorkeling day Ben and I headed to the store and ended up with these floatation devises for Janet. Just in case!

DAY 3 Before heading to Lahaina for snorkeling the boys did some buggy boarding and wave jumping!

Here we are in Honolua Bay for some snorkeling. We parked up above and then walked through this incredible "rain forest" to get to the cove.












It was truly remarkable.

Here is the gorgeous cove that we snorkeled in!

This was after two snorkel runs, Alex stayed on the beach to read while the other three headed back out. They were determined to see a Sea Turtle. Much to Alex's dismay they did on that run! So sad.

DAY FOUR- got started nice and early, a bit of a rocky start, when Janet had to make a trip to the doctor. While she was there Ben and Alex had a bit of an adventure of their own. We visited the mall. :)

Here we are standing above the court yard where we drank starbucks and read our books for awhile. As we sat down the market was being set up. The mall hallways were "outdoors" and we were lucky to get to shop before the crowds, more like window shop since it was long before the stores opened.

Then we took a drive and ended up at this incredible Centennial Park. Each people group that immigrated to Hawaii has erected a monument 100 years after their group first came to Hawaii. Portuguese, Japanese, New Englanders, Puerto Ricans and the list went on. Each had a traditional garden. Amazing to learn about the rich history of Hawaii.

In the bamboo garden.

Japanese garden - near the koi pond.

Then we headed further up!

To this incredible rainforest.

There was this huge rock formation (almost pointed) that was used as a lookout for soldiers during war times. We truly could not fathom how they would have scaled it!

Then after picking up Janet from the doctors we lounged around the pool and soaked up the sun!

Later we had a hankerin' for some seafood and had an incredible meal here at eskimo candy.

Alex had a shrimp cocktail and steamer clams, Ben ate a ahi tuna wrap!

Delicious! And a great atmosphere.























Next a walk along the kamaole parks!

DAY FIVE - started off with a trip to Lahaina. We headed back to Honolua Bay for a second snorkeling adventure. Alex was determined to see a sea turtle, and Ben found his new favorite past time!


















Several trips out and a few hours later we had spotted almost everything on our snorkeling guide... including 2 sea turtles. The second one we saw came to the surface and poked he head out of the water less than a foot from Ben's head! Amazing. God is so good.

Two thumbs up for snorkeling!

Then we headed back to downtown Lahaina where we managed to see a show and Ben got asked to come up on stage to do the hula. You've got to see the video to believe it!



















We saved a trip to Bubba Gumps for our final day in town.

We ate SO much seafood and it truly was a the perfect way to finish our trip!

And a gorgeous sunset to boot!

Our sever did a great job and we ate some incredible food! Even got a recipe for a tempura dip.

Ben waited all week and finally found a shaved ice booth that had sugar free options1

He was so excited.

Then everyone had to taste!

DAY SIX - headed home!

This trip was exactly what we needed. To quote Ben it was a "Reality Sabbaticle."