2012 Summer Trip -- Seattle, WA

After Lee's family reunion, Lee had to go back to work. The girls and I had almost a week to spend in Seattle. Our first stop was to see my mom's cousin Becky Reynolds. I just realized I don't have a single picture from our visit to their house. :( All Becky's kids came over for dinner so that we could see everyone. Becky also took us to the YMCA pool for a swim. It was really nice to see their family again!

We stayed a few nights with Becky and then went to stay with Lee's sister Ramona. We were at Ramona's longer than anywhere else on this trip (four nights). I'll admit that we took advantage of the opportunity to watch movies (she has a nice TV and pretty much any movie ever made) and take naps. :) We did get out for a few fun things while there. We went to the Arboretum and walked along the trails there for a while. That's where the following three pictures were taken:

We also walked to a park near Ramona's house. Morgan and Brynne got to play with Ramon's daughter, Aiden (pics below). When we got back from the park, Ramona stayed outside in her yard playing with the girls for 30 minutes. She was picking them up and swinging them around -- lots of fun and plenty of laughs! Ramona shot right up to the top of the "cool aunt" meter after that one! :)

 We tried to go to the zoo but found out they were closing the zoo for a fundraiser that happens every year. Wouldn't you know the one day they close would be the one day we try and go! Instead Ramona took us to a really fun park on the water (Puget Sound). Melissa discovered how much fun slides are! :)

 Since the park is right by the sound, we spent a little time throwing rocks in the water and enjoying the view:

 Here is the famous Aunt Ramona! (along with Melissa and Aiden)

 Another fun thing about the park is that it has a pedestrian bridge that goes directly over two sets of well-used train tracks. The girls actually tried to count the cars on the train you can see behind them in this picture (except for the moment where they turned around for a quick "cheese").

Our last night with Ramona, she took us to the California Pizza Kitchen. Thankfully they sat us outside because we did our fair share of not-so-quiet laughing! Morgan got going telling jokes, and Ramona got going with her. Who knew that dinner could be so fun? I seriously think we burned half our calories right there on the spot. :)

I'm really glad we spent so long at Ramona's. I realized I haven't had a chance to really sit down and get to know her very well. We had tons of fun together!!!

Our Crazy Week!!

We had quite the week last week. I'm going to give you the quick version (if there is such thing). When you're all done reading about my crazy week, you will receive a very special treat (i.e. super cute pictures of Melissa!).

Lee came up with the fun idea of having Brynne spend a week with his mom in Seattle and then having us all go up together to pick her up. Then we could see some friends and family in the area. The only issue is that all this travel was happening by airline, and we were all flying standby (meaning we fly free but only get on the plane if there are empty seats available).

Brynne made it up just fine and had a fun week with Bubbee. On Wednesday, the rest of us headed to the airport to fly to Seattle. We got to the airport before 7 am, but we weren't able to catch the first flight, nor the second flight, and things weren't looking so good for the rest of the day until the 10 pm flight. We decided to go take a nap at Lee's sister's house and then decide what to do. We knew there was a good chance we'd get to Seattle on that late flight, but I was REALLY worried about getting stuck up there and not being able to get back. The big concern is that Lee had to come back Friday so he could work, so he would have gotten a flight (easier for him because of more options) and I would be stuck at an airport for one or two or three days with all the girls and no car.

I was super hesitant to go, but I knew Lee was excited to show Melissa off to his best friend in Seattle, and I wanted Zayda and Lo (grandparents) to see her. Turns out Lo wasn't even in Seattle anymore (darn!).

Here's a summary of the rest of the experience: We end up going to Seattle and were able to visit with friends and with Lee's parents, but we weren't able to get a flight home. Just as I feared, it looked like I would be stuck in Seattle for at least two days. With two nights in a row of very little sleep, I did not feel like I would survive being stuck with the girls; so I had Lee rent a car and we drove home. The one happy thing was that we were able to stop and see Lee's sister Katie on the drive home. Katie was nice enough to bring us a huge lunch we could take on the road along with extra snacks and drinks. Thank you, Katie!!!!! We knew it would take longer to travel with a baby, but it still took longer than we had expected. By the end of the trip Lee and I were both having to stay awake to make sure the driver didn't fall asleep. We got to Layton at 5:30 am and went to my sister Alyson's house to sleep for a few hours before we had to return the car. We were TIRED!! I still don't feel like I've recovered from the whole experience because of the major lack of sleep! But it sure was nice to see family and friends!

Okay, now that I'm done complaining....here's the pictures you've been waiting for:

After a good 5 minutes straight of smiles from Melissa on Sunday, I felt much better... :)

Snoqualmie Falls

On the way to Seattle, I decided to make a spontaneous stop at Snoqualmie Falls. I went here numerous times when I lived in Seattle, but neither of my kids had ever been there. (Side note: This is where Paul proposed to my friend Denise.) Anyone who knows me well knows that making a spontaneous stop is a big deal for me. I normally plan everything out and stick to it. I'm glad we stopped, though, because the girls enjoyed it and now I have cute pictures. :) The first one is of the girls together at the top of the waterfall.

Even though we were in sandals, we decided to make the half-mile trek down to the base of the water fall. Here's a picture of the girls together on the trail. I forget how beautiful and green the Seattle area is.
Here's Brynne by the river at the bottom of the falls.
And here's a picture of Morgan, who LOVES to pose for the camera.
And if you think that picture was good, check out the posing in this next picture. Yes, that is a specific pose that Morgan chose for the shot. (I think she was shooting for the sly, but cool look.) :)
After Snoqualmie, we finally made it to Seattle where we stayed with Lee's mom and step dad for a few nights. They will be moving soon, so it was our last time staying in that house. They had moved there when Lee was little, so we took our camcorder throughout the house for a little tour. We did lots of fun stuff while in Seattle, so read on...

Friends from K9

While we were in Seattle, we had a get-together from some of our friends from the Kent 9th Branch (formerly referred to as K9). There were something like 15 weddings the summer Lee and I got married, which was a lot because K9 wasn't a very large branch. The branch president (we love you President Jenkins!) figured he'd get released after so many weddings because that meant he had done his job well. :) Anyway, here's a picture of me with Bekki Park and her daughter Taylor.

Aleisha drove up from Portland (thanks Aleisha!!!!) with her husband Dane. And we had the party at the home of Barbara and Cary Griffin (thanks guys!). Obviously I was taking the picture so I'm not in it. Lee had a great time because planes kept flying over their house. :)
Here's a picture of all the kids. The first two are Aleisha's, then mine, and then Barb's. The Griffins also have a baby boy, but he was inside sleeping. I love this picture because Brynne I captured a look Brynne does a lot. It's like an "I'm trying to be mad and not show that I'm enjoying myself" look.
Some other friends that planned on coming ended up with sick kids, so we were sad to miss them. It was nice to see those we did, however!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Although we hadn't planned it, we ended up driving to see several places that were important pieces of our past. The first picture is in front of the church where Lee and I first met. I had been living in Seattle for only a few weeks and had been asked (along with my friend Denise) to speak in church for Father's Day. Well, that was Lee's first time coming to our singles branch.

We also stopped by Crest Airpark. This is where Lee did a lot of his flight instruction before and after we got married. It is also the place where I flew with Lee for our first date (a double date flying to the San Juan Islands for dinner) and where Morgan flew for the first time. This picture is of Lee and me in front of the plane we flew in for our first date.
Here is Brynne and Morgan in front of the hospital where both of them were born. We have pictures of Lee and I walking out the doors in this picture holding each girl when we were bringing them home from the hospital. I love having this picture of the girls in front of the hospital now too.
If I had known we were going to take a trip down memory lane, there are a few more places I definitely would have wanted to stop. Oh well. For now I'll just be glad we have the pics we do have. :)