What a week!

Nicholas Visits WA

July 20-25, 2012

This past week has been absolutely AMAZING and FUN! Come and join with me in our adventures, and hopefully, anchor memories. First, let me introduce my Marine cousin, Sgt. Nicholas St. Onge to you. We love him! Nicholas is currently serving in Washington D.C. guarding the President’s helicopter. Pretty cool job. Nicholas came for a visit in May when Obama came to Seattle. (I will write about at length later). We had lots of fun and thought that would the only time we would be seeing him in this capacity. Well, much to our joyful surprise Nicholas got to come again this past week! The conversation we had when he called to let us know he would be in town went something like this.
   N: Hi, Jeni, this in Nicholas.
    J: Hi! (I was a bit excited) Are you calling to let me know you are coming to Seattle?! (a bit sarcastically)
  N: Actually, I am. (laughing)
   J: (now a little shocked) Are you serious? You’re really coming again? (still not completely believing).
  N: Yes, I will be there sometime around the 20th.
   J: Wow, that is so cool. I am so excited! (I was dancing the jig of excitement in the kitchen)

We were all so excited to be able to hang out with Nicholas again. He arrived the afternoon/evening of the 20th and stayed through the morning of the 24th. We were able to spend LOTS of time with him thanks to his Master Sargent who agreed to take some extra shifts.

I spoke with Nicholas the evening of the 20th, just trying to figure out schedules. I let him know that our family has started hiking different trails up Mt. Rainier. I asked if he would be able to come with us. Sometimes service members have to stay within a certain radius of work in case of emergency. I was really excited when he said he could join us, that he was basically on vacation the next few days.

(little tangent) You see, I LOVE Mt. Rainier, and I love to share Mt. Rainier when I can. I have a goal to  summit Mt. Rainier in two years. Around my 35th birthday I started thinking about how I was approaching mid-life. Then I thought about mid-life crisis’ that I had heard of. I thought I don’t want a crisis. I want an event. Crisis indicates drama or upheaval for family. I just didn’t want a crisis. I continued to ponder on what makes it a crisis. I came up with a couple things. First, the person is typically between 45 and 55. Second, they do something that is very unexpected. I started thinking about what my mid-life event might be. What would others not expect of me that wouldn’t have a big impact on my family. I looked to my left and saw Mt. Rainier. BINGO!! I could summit Mt. Rainier. No one would expect me to do that because I haven’t ever climbed a mountain and I don’t really care for snow and Rainier is covered in it year round. I was so happy I discovered my mid-life event. I told Josh and he said he could support that and asked if he might be able to join me in this. I said yes. Well, the more I have thought about it, the more excited I get to summit. So, I have changed the timing to 2014 instead of 2025. That will make me 38-39 years old. That said, if 38 is mid-life then the end of my life is around age 76. I am just not okay with that. So, I will plan a different mid-life event to take place when I am 45-46 years old. I’ll keep you posted. (tangent over back to Nicholas’ visit)

Nicholas got to our house early afternoon of Saturday, the 21st. We finished packing the backpack

and fanny pack (yes, we are those hikers), got in the car and drove up to the Carbon River ranger station where the kids were given Jr. Ranger badges and were asked to take the Jr. Ranger oath. A couple week previously we had been given Jr. Ranger books for them to complete and bring back in. They are really neat books that have a variety of activities for different ages. We were able to find things on our hikes, learn about Mt. Rainier National Park, and get excited about visiting other national parks. I took a video of them repeating the Jr. Ranger oath I have transcribed it here. 

“As a National Park Jr. Ranger, I promise to…

    ·  Learn all I can about National Parks and to help others learn about these special places.

    ·  Learn and follow all safety rules.

    ·  Take care of the environment and of all living and non-living things in it.

    ·  Recycle and put liter in its place.

    ·  Become a Junior Ranger at all other National Parks. “

They weren’t able to keep the hats because they belonged to real Rangers, but they thought it was pretty cool to get to wear them.

The night before our hike I jokingly asked Nicholas if he had been warned to bring a jacket. We laughed and didn’t think much of it until we got up to the Ranger station and discovered the trail we wanted to hike still had snow. We asked if it was bad and were told no. So we packed the two newest Jr. Rangers back in the car and drove about 13 miles to the Spray Park trailhead. The trail itself is 8-9 miles long, that means it’s a 16-18 mile round trip hike. We decided to only do a portion of the trail and hike to Spray Falls. This was only 6 miles round trip. The trail was pretty easy to hike because it is well-traveled, and the incline isn’t too steep. It is really pretty, too. There were several smaller falls that we stopped to look at or crossed.

On the way to Spray Falls we stopped at Eagle Cliff Viewpoint. We were hoping to possibly see eagles. They weren’t anywhere to be seen, but the clouds parted and we got a beautiful view of the top of Mt. Rainier. Within minutes of a sweet family taking our picture clouds had moved in and the mountain was covered again. We felt really blessed and in awe. (Yes, we took photos for the other family).

We continued our hike to Spray Falls and were in awe of this AMAZING 300 foot cascading waterfall! I just kept saying WOW! We hiked a little out onto some rocks to get good photos of falls. Matthew was a little scared until we were able to convince him that where he was standing was safe. Nicholas found a spot where logs had fallen over the falls. It looked like his feet were just inches from the fast moving falls. Matthew really wanted to climb out on the logs and get his picture taken. He was very upset when Nicholas said no because it wasn’t safe. The logs were further apart than Matthew could reach and slippery. There were some tears. I looked for another log he could sit on. I pointed one out that was just barely off the trail. Matthew got even more upset because in his words, “I made a promise” to protect the forest and stay on trails. Then, “You keep your promises, Mom.” I told him he was very right that we should keep our promises. Nicholas offered a better compromise. He would take Matthew down to the logs so he could see for himself how unsafe it was and still get to do what Nicholas did. This was a great solution and worked really well. (Below are pictures of the falls and us there. Panorama view of Spray Falls, Matthew scared and then happy, Nicholas on the log and help Matthew to the log.)

We walked back to the trailhead. Along the way we got scolded by a squirrel. He was following us and chattering up a storm. He sounded really angry. Finally, Nicholas chased it up a tree where it continued to chatter after us. I don’t know what we did or what this squirrel thought we did, but we got told. We now watch for crazy squirrels on our hikes.

Once back at the trailhead the kids decided to play in the snow that was still on the ground. At first it was just them walking around in it. Then Matthew decided he wanted to start a snowball fight. He sneaked up on Josh and Nicholas and threw his snowball… Nicholas said, “Good job, Buddy. “ Then promptly picked him up and said something like “now because you snuck up on a Marine, there will be consequences.” He carried him over to the snow and put some on his neck. We were all laughing so hard, including Matthew. Then Nicholas turned to Ceithlinn and said something like “Ceithlinn, because you helped, you better watch out. “ She ran and we all laughed some more. It was fun to watch them play in the snow… IN JULY!

Snowball behind the back

We got home and checked our phone messages. Ceithlinn had a message that made her open her mouth with excited shock… this Miss America discovering she is going to be crowned. She said, “Mom! You have GOT to hear this!” The message was from our library. Ceithlinn had won her choice of either a bag or a T-shirt with the Summer Reading theme on it. Each summer the library has a reading program. The kids get to enter drawings in week if they want. They earn prizes for numbers of hours read and can have fun reading through the summer. Ceithlinn has been entering the drawing to win a T-shirt or a bag for a couple of years now. So, you can see why she was totally thrilled to have won. It was a great way to end the day. We went to the library on Monday and she choose a bag.

The next day was Sunday so Nicholas came to church with us and just hung out. It was lots of fun  to just be together. Matthew grabbed his three light saber and the battle was on… It’s a good thing we have a decent sized living room and space to have saber fights. No one got too badly hurt. They are a hard plastic and can smart if contact is made. So, lots of laughter and a few close calls and a memorable day.

Matthew also decided that he wanted us to play Twister. This was fun. It’s been a while since we have played. We all took turns with the spinner and seeing who would win. I have to say that Nicholas was the Twister champion, but next time we meet that might not be the case… We are going to practice… Oh, yeah, that’s how serious we take Twister. At one point Matthew decided he wanted to have a one-on-one competition with Nicholas. He stood on one side of the mat and while jumping up and down and punching his fists said, “I’m gonna take you down!” At another point in the round Matthew looked over at Nicholas and whispered, “I’m gonna take you down.” Nicholas was gracious enough to let Matthew win. When I posted these photos on Facebook the following conversation took place.

   N: Wait, did I "let" him win?! REMATCH!!!

    J: Just make sure you have Twister when we come visit and we'll see who wins.

   J: I just told Matthew you wanted a rematch. He said the reason he "beat him up was because I am so flllexxiblllle." I think those are fighting words. What do you think, Nicholas?

  N: Bring it punk!

   J: (after Matthew said I needed to like Nicholas' last remark for him) Matthew says he's ready. "I'm going to box you down" (then begins the fight soundtrack)

Like I said, we take our Twister very seriously. (guess it’s time for me to get back into my yoga.)

After dinner Matthew wanted Nicholas to read to him. We said just a few minutes. Well, Matthew was extremely patient as Nicholas and I continued to talk for probably 2 hours or more. He was so happy when Nicholas was able to read to him. I kept thinking about when I was 10 and reading “Green Eggs and Ham” to Nicholas when he was 3. It was nice how this came full circle.



I'm gonna take you down!

Reading Time

Monday Nicholas worked in the morning, but said he would come that afternoon. Typically, Nicholas calls before he comes over. I then let the kid know and there is much rejoicing. Well, this time Nicholas just showed up and knocked on the door. Matthew was so excited to see him. He yelled very enthusiastically, “NICHOLAS!!!” Gave him a big hug and then ran to get his light sabers. (Have I mentioned that Matthew LOVES Nicholas? No? Well, Matthew LOVES Nicholas. Throughout the visit he would randomly look and Nicholas and tell him he loved him or he would give him a kiss on the cheek. It was so sweet. It just makes my heart happy.) After Nicholas started some laundry, there was another light saber duel. This time Matthew got hit a little hard and got upset. Nicholas said no more light saber duel and I agreed. So, Matthew got Uno Attack and the Tip It. Nicholas won every round of both. Not sure how that happened exactly. I will call it beginner’s luck since he hadn’t played either of those games. Yeah, that’s what it was… We will definitely be playing games when we go visit him and his family. Not sure exactly when that will happen, but definitely sooner than later.

The previous night Nicholas had mentioned that he needed to get back by 6 to get his guys from the hanger and make sure everyone was where they needed to be. So around 5 I asked if he needed to eat something before he left. He said that Master Sargent had volunteered to do that for him so he could spend more time with him. I almost did another jig of joy in the kitchen. This was going to be our last night together because Obama was coming the next day. Nicholas was kind enough to take us out to eat that night at The Ram. A really yummy steakhouse that we had heard good things about but hadn’t been to. The kids got to eat for $1 because it was Monday. BARGAIN! When we got home we spent a little more time just hanging. This picture of Nicholas cuddling Matthew says it all. We were all soaking in as much Nicholas as we could. When Matthew told Nicholas good-bye he gave him a HUGE hug and said, "I'm glad you're my Marine cousin. Marine are best!" We felt so blessed to have him be with us for so long. I love that my kids love him. We said good-bye to Nicholas that night. As we were closing everything up for the night Josh looked at me and said, “Thanks for having such a cool cousin.” Another happy heart moment.

Tuesday afternoon was exciting for us. Nicholas had helped get us clearance to see the President get off Air Force One. Ceithlinn was so EXCITED. She really loves President Obama. I think it is because his election is the first one she remembers. It was a monumental election and so the school talked more about the election process and such than I think they normally would. Anyway, that morning Ceithlinn had made a picture for Obama that reads, “President Obama equils (equals) Awesome!!!” She wanted to give it to him. I wasn’t sure what would happen with this, but didn't’ discourage it. We showed up to the airport at our appointed time. I looked around and saw all the news vans and realized really how big this was. While we waited in line to go through security a camera man/reporter from Komo 4 News saw Ceithlinn picture and asked if she would like to be interviewed. She said, “um..sure.” He then asked simple questions like what does you picture say? Have you seen President Obama before? Are you excited? Then he saw Matthew with his stuffed Marine One helicopter and asked him if that was Marine One. Matthew said he didn’t know. It was a helicopter. The man then asked if Matthew was going to see a plane land today. Matthew said yes. It’s called Air Force One. The man then asked if he was excited and Matthew said yes. He then asked his name and Matthew gave his full name proudly… Matthew David Gates. I have looked online to see if they actually made the cut, but haven’t been able to find them. So glad I took pictures. After the interview Ceithlinn told me that she felt “shaky and excited” during the interview.

While we waited to be told where to go outside Ceithlinn and I did a little hand jiving and Josh and Matthew just talked while sitting down. We were told we could go outside, that Air Force One would soon be landing. We were some of the last people asked to go out so we were toward the back. The greeting area was about 4 people deep. The kids and I couldn’t see above people’s head. I was able to negotiate Matthew through the crowd to the front. Ceithlinn is taller now so it was a little harder to get her through. She asked a woman if she could please stand in front of her a few times and the woman ignored her. I stepped forward to see if I could get the woman to acknowledge Ceithlinn when a gentleman saw what was happening and said that his kids were up front and he was sure they could make room for Ceithlinn. We thanked him profusely. She would have been so disappointed if she hadn’t been able to give her picture to Obama.

While we waited for Air Force One to land Matthew decided he had had enough of the crowd and came back to me. I thought this might happen. He really isn’t a crowds person. I put him up on my shoulders so he could see what was happening. When Air Force One landed he was my “eye in the sky” and gave me a play-by-play. There was a woman beside me with a SmartPhone who let me see pictures as she took them. Very nice.

Air Force One landing

The President exited Air Force One and greeted the VIPs. Then he came over to us. I was so thrilled that Ceithlinn was in the front and that I have a tall husband who could take some good photos for us. He got to Josh, Matthew and I first. I was really impressed when he reached over a couple people to shake Matthew’s hand. (Nicholas had told us the night before that he really like kids. I didn’t think Nicholas was lying. I was just surprised because we were a few people back. Really cool). Obama then shook my hand and said, “Nice to see you.” He seemed genuine. When Obama came to Ceithlinn I heard him say, “Wow, that’s amazing.” I knew he had seen her picture. I then saw him sign it. I asked her what happened because I hadn’t been able to see and hear it all. This is what she said happened. He said, "Hi, how are you doing? Wow, this is amazing. I'm going to sign this. Sweetie, even though you made this for me I'm going to let you keep it after I sign it." She was so excited. If you look at the guy between the camera and Obama you will see he is pulling out a sharpie. I asked Ceithlinn if Obama brought his own pen. She said, "No. A co-worker gave one to him." Co-worker... secret service... same thing, right? She told me that while he was signing her picture she kept telling herself... just breathe... just breathe. What an AMAZING opportunity for my wonderful 10 year old!! AND wonderfully, Josh got the pictures. He said he was just clicking the shutter. He couldn’t see what he was taking a pictures of. The glare from the sun made the view finder look black. So, so, blessed to have this moment caught. Ceithlinn was on “Obama high” for about 3 hours.

Obama talks w. Ceithlinn



Obama gets pen from "co-worker"



Obama signs Ceithlinn picture

Ceithlinn w. newly autographed picture

Pres. Obama signature

The family by Air Force One after the President drove off

Nicholas surprised us with a phone call saying that once we were done with the President if we wanted we could meet up and have dinner with him. We jumped at the chance. We went to Cheesecake Factory. There Josh and I tried sushi for the first time. It was good and surprisingly not fishy. We would order it again.

Josh says, "MMMMM!" after trying sushi.

There are the latest adventure for our family. We feel so blessed. All politics aside meeting the President, any President, is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are so grateful that Nicholas opened the doors for this to happen for us. We are so grateful to Master Sargent for taking extra shifts so we were able to spend so much time with Nicholas. We are so grateful for the amazing memories and inside jokes of this past week. (you’re right, I didn’t tell any inside jokes. That’s what makes them inside jokes. Also, this is getting a bit long. I just didn’t want to lose any of it so, you get the novel).