My Trip with 5 Guys

We took a long weekend in March and filled it full with fun in Seattle. This was the first trip there for some of us. I guess you could consider it an adventure. One of the first things we did was go down to the pier to experience the sights and sound of the city.

Dan

AdamJordan

Seattle is a beautiful city with many fine places to take memorable photographs.

One of the museums at the Seattle Center is the Experience Music Project. Three of the boys and I went and "experienced" it. Here's one of their exhibits of modern music collages.

We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island and were impressed with how well orchestrated the ferry system was run. I guess they've done it a time or two before. Once we were on there we could understand why it made more sense to take the ferry than driving around the peninsula and adding 1-1/2 hr. drive to the trip. The guys braved the brisk wind and stepped out on deck for awhile.

I was content to stay inside and see the views of Seattle from my window.

We got lots of walking in at Pike Place Market. I would've had no problem spending most of the day there. The guys on the other hand...

Gorgeous fresh flowers!

What a treat for the senses with all the various restaurants and shops.

I couldn't believe it. There's a pink elephant somewhere else besides, Iowa. Look at this!

No trip to Seattle would be complete without a picture of the Space Needle. However, we didn't feel the need to spend $20 just to go to the top of it.

Once again, the beautiful skyline!

Do I See Victoria Out There?

The title would only make sense if you've read the Twilight books. So if you haven't, don't worry about it, OK? Anyway, we spent the day on the Olympic Peninsula. The scenery is absolutely stunning!

These pictures were taken at Rialto beach which is very close to LaPush. It is amazing how different the beach is here compared to Southern California.

Sea stacks. Gorgeous!

Adam

Aaron and Jordan

Mark and Jord

Adam and I at Cresent Lake, along Hwy. 101. The forests here are so thick.

This is located at Olympic National Park, which is home to the Olympic Rain Forest. Wow! As you can tell by the look on their faces, Aaron and Mark are extremely excited about being in the Twilight neighborhood.

We hiked thru the forest for awhile. I was awestruck at the many different hues of green found here. Since we were in a rainforest, yes, it was R A I N I N G. Hence, the beautiful garb we are wearing!

Couldn't see any vampires running thru this forest.

Check out all the hanging moss!

Jordan as we were nearing Marymere Falls.

Mark wanted to get a drink.

It was definitely worth the hike.

It's Been A While...

Life around our house has been pretty boring. We've done the usual...work, eat, sleep, go to basketball games, etc. Winter has been pretty kind to us compared to other parts of the country. Most of our snow has melted and some of my daffodils are desperately trying to push thru the ground in my west facing flower bed. It's unbelievable that I'm anxious for spring to arrive but I'm just tired of the cold; I'm tired of wearing my winter coat; I'm tired of sitting around with a blanket over me. One good thing is our smog and fog has been gone. Yeah!

Mark has been going to class 2 nights a week...yep, we're back into study mode. I'm in the Young Women group with my church so that keeps me pretty busy. One of their activities was to take about 60 young people up to a cabin at one of the ski resorts for an overnighter. Fourteen adult leaders got to go up and chaperone them. I really wish I would've brought my camera for it was absolutely gorgeous there! We've got good kids in our group; and naturally hardly anyone got much sleep--typical. But it was a good time.

Jordan has been playing his basketball. He just loves it. And we have certainly loved going to his games. That kid is growing. He's now 2+ inches taller than me and continues to grow out of his clothes.

Who Would've Thought...

that the Great Salt Lake valley has the WORST air quality in the nation, as of 1/10/10. Yes, that means it's worse than LA and NYC. Here's a picture of the gunk we are breathing. It's not fog, my friends. It pure pollution!
The only way to escape this is to head for the mountains or pray for a strong storm to blow in and push this stuff out of here. The weird thing is that you don't notice it that much until you get above it and look down at it. No wonder I get headaches if I'm out in it for any length of time.

While I'm cooped up indoors I have different options on what to occupy my time with. Let's see, there's cleaning (nope), organizing (nope), watching tv (nope), shopping (maybe), or being on my computer doing Photoshop (yep).

"WII" Have Fun

One way to get everyone laughing and having a good time together is by playing the Wii. Nothing makes for a better night of entertainment than beating the crud out of either of their parents. On this night Jordan, Becki, Ben and I played Wii Sports and Mario Olympics. Becki had to practically force Ben to play...
He's one tough dude with the controllers. Watch out.

Ben and Becki boxed. She just couldn't get into it.

As always, Jordan beat me. He's especially adept at knocking me out in the boxing ring.

Yep, Jord won. He's basking in the glory!

Christmas 2009

What a superb Christmas. As always, we've been extremely blessed with opportunities to give gifts and also to have received so many gifts from our loving family and friends. Cherished most is the time spent together with family.
We began our festivities on Christmas eve by listening to Christmas music as we prepared for our candelight dinner. This is the only time I use my good china. We've turned this into our family tradition. Each year we try to have a different entree--this year we served ham, rolls and au gratin potatoes.

Becki

Though it was fun watching the kids open their presents when they were little with their eyes full of excitement and wonder, it is SO enjoyable with them being older. Instead of taking 20 minutes for the entire family to open presents, we were able to allow everyone a chance to open one present at a time as the others observed. I think it took close to an hour to open presents this morning! We all got things on our list. Mark modeled his "Little Black Riding Hood"...

Aaron checked out his gun cleaning kit...

Dan is trying to guess what video he got...(the answer would surprise you!)

Adam is checking out one of his gift cards as Cohen is certain he should share some of his candy with him...

Jordan was just a tad excited to get a Wii game that was on his list...

Dan was excited to get a gift card and a toaster...

Look at Diane's excitement over food containers!

On Christmas afternoon after our extended family brunch, Ben came over and he and Becki exchanged presents.

Ben gave Becki an Aeropostale hoodie and an itouch. Holy cow! Aren't they cute!!

We love the surprised look on Ben's face as he realized what Becki got him.

A signed jersey of 6 Jazz players. He especially wanted Deron Williams' autograph. He was totally amazed!

Go Jazz Go

Autumn has turned into winter. As soon as we fattened ourselves up on Thanksgiving the snowflakes began to fall. Out came the winter coats, gloves, snow shovels and ice scrapers. It got down right cold! Whoever said there was global warming sort of missed the mark, in my opinion. One of the good things is that it's basketball season. We've got some serious Jazz fans here. Ben, Becki & Jordan dressed to show their support for our home team as they played the LA Fakers...oh, I mean Lakers. The Jazz were so awesome. They beat LA! YaHoo!

December has been busy with preparing for Christmas. Also, Dan closed on his condo on Nov. 30. He and Adam are now all moved in. That means it's a little quieter and a little cleaner here. Oh, and there's a lot more room in the driveway. Dan & Adam still manage to come home Sundays to eat dinner and do laundry. They seem to be doing well there. It hasn't turned too much into a man cave yet.