Moved to Washington and Adopted Dustin

Greetings!

We are a long time from the last posts. And a long ways. This summer the family moved to Washington as I took a new job at Fort Lewis, though I'm still an Army defense counsel. It is a great place to be, and our new home in Steilacoom is great. Wonderful views of puget sound. The best part is that we are a complete, legal family. We finished adopting Dustin! Now Dustin is Dustin Garrett DeWeese forever. A long process that took nearly two years finished picture perfect with a great family. We are so blessed. While the process was tough, and when we thought we'd lose each child at various times we were very depressed, God has been good to us and we give Him thanks.

Pictured are Papa, Melody, Dustin, Grammie, Megan and Me at Dustin's court hearing - just days before we hit the road for Washington.

The trip to Washington was quite an adventure. My Dad and Mom had come up for Dustin's adoption and to help with the move, and we all piled into the Minivan, along with the dog (Caxton) and cat (Talus). We drove North from Anchorage to Tok on Saturday, 8 July, then on the 9th we drove south through Canada's Yukon Territory and British Columbia before coming back into AK and spent the night in Haines. What a beautiful town! Surrounded by mountains and the deep fjords of the northern Inside Passage, it is a place to go back to. We boarded a ferry there on the 10th bound for Bellingham, WA. Melody and the kids and I got a berth curtesy of the Army, my mom and dad set up a tent on the back deck of the boat. They said it was actually no problem (and they could use our private bath and shower which was nice!). It was a great trip. Many whales and beautiful scenery. Caxton and Talus got to stay in the car and had regular visits from us. In Juneau, where we stopped for a brief visit in the middle of the night and I took Caxton for a quick walk. It was also the first time I'd seen the dark night sky in a long time! We safely arrived in Bellingham on the 14th and then drove straight to Steilacoom where we'd already arranged to rent a house. It was a very good trip.

The DeWeese-Fields Family at the Harbor in Haines!

I enjoy the beautiful mountains of the Inside Passage as evening sets in.

My Mom, Barb, enjoys the sunet next to their view room on the boat. They weren't the only ones to camp out and said it was fun, especially given the views in the morning!

Having Mom and Dad on board ment we had babysitters and Melody and I could get away for a dinner on our own in the dinning room. Food wasn't bad! We brought the kids also once or twice. The snack bar food just wasn't as good. Mom and Dad's tent was on the deck just below the window!

Sunset on Old Glory

Our home in Steilacoom is great. It is a bit smaller than our home in Anchorage (which turned into a great investment when we sold it), and the rent is a bit more than our Army housing allowance, but the view is worth it. Steilacoom is a great town - the first incorprated in Washington. It is small and quiet, except for the trains that go along the Sound. It has a small ferry dock where a ferry goes to Anderson Island and another goes to McNeil where there is a state pen. Alcatraz of Puget Sound I guess! This is a town we could live in for a long time - to bad it probably will only be one year. It is very near to Fort Lewis so the commute is short - which is very important to be sure I can come home to Melody and the kids at reasonable hours. And the view!

Sunset from our Deck

One of the good things about moving here was having the chance to be with my Grandma, Doris DeWeese, just before she passed away. She was able to visit with us all and see Melody and the kids on my 35th Birthday, but she broke her hip shorty afterwards and after surgery she caught pnemonia and passed away. She was a wonderful woman who was very proud of her Danish heritage and her family and who prayed for us every day. We all miss her very much. My Grandpa, Joe DeWeese is still going strong at 94 and took the death of his love as well as could be expected. He is quite a guy. Dad had flown back up after Grandma took a turn for the worse and was with her, along with Grandpa, when she passed away. Mom had been in Colorado with Grandma Quick, who has health worries of her own, and flow up from there along with my sister Gini. One of the nice things to come from Grandma's passing on was having nearly the entire family together. It was really good to be with my family as well as my cousins, Kami and her husband Pat, and Mark and his wife Katie, and Kami and Pat's kids Emma Daisy and Stanley. Em and Stan get along great with Dustin and Megan! Family really is the best thing in the world to be surrounded with.

Grandma and Granpa DeWeese at my 35th Birthday!

Grandpa DeWeese came to visit after the funeral and recalled a time when he had visited Steilacoom before with a choir - he is sure he actually even visited the home we are renting!

The kids and I gave Melody a couple of days off and went camping together near Mt. Rainier. For some reason, a lot of people think that is amazing - a dad would camp with his 3 and 4 year old alone! For me, it is awsome. Not to say we wouldn't have had fun with Melody, but I simply enjoy showing Megan and Dustin the beautiful creation God has given us and I want to teach them to love the outdoors as I was taught. Melody and I are dedicated to raising them to love camping, cycling, kayaking, and all the other fun outdoors activities we so enjoy. It was especially fun to take them to see Mt. Rainier because we went to the Sunrise (East) side of the mountain where I'd never been before - it was great to see it for the first time from that side with the kids! We camped in a national forest campground way up into the mountains off the highway just outside the Park, and the next day drove around the south side coming back home via the Paradise side of the Mountain. What a fun trip!

Megan and Dustin enjoying Reflection Lake just south-east of Paradise. What an amazing spot!!!

Ok, so anyone who is reading this who knows us should know by now that in addition to Megan and Dustin, we will soon have two more kids! Yes, Melody and I finally got pregnant (and I deliberately mean both of us go pregnant - it is a team effort all the way from start to finish!). And yes, it was with the aid of medical support and yes, we are having twins. Melody is now at 25 weeks and is big enough that strangers touch her belly (weird!) and ask if it is soon. Twins are usually early and the doctors have said they don't want us going past 38 weeks which puts us at 28 November for a due date. Melody is doing well as can be expected. Megan and Dustin are looking forward to having a brother and a sister (the ideal situation if you ask us), and Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunts and Uncles and cousins are all very excited.

Mommy with Megan and the twins enjoy the sun and the flowers on the balcony. Week 23!

Well, our new internet works faster than the one in Anchorage, we've cleaned up the computer so it also is faster and doesn't have spyware and other stuff causing problems, and so I may actually be able to keep this up regular again. Especially with the twins coming, it will be a nice way to keep friends and family informed on how things are and to post nice pictures of our life. Anyone else reading this, I guess enjoy! More posts to come, I promise!

Geoff - 2 Sept 06