Little Kid's Afternoon Out

Rebecca is not technically a little kid, but she fit the criteria for this outing. She needed to go to the library, she needed new jeans and she was up for a trip on the town. Rosie and John are little kids, hence their inclusion and the name of the trip.


Rosie and John prayed for our journey before we left. They prayed that the forcasted snow would hold off until we got home, that we would not run into any trees, cars or poles, and that we would have fun. I added a request that we would be able to find all that we were setting out for. God said yes to every one!


John does not really like trying on clothes, but he humored me. It paid off when he got the coolest pants in the world with all the zippers and pockets.


Oh, and while he was walking around so I could see if the pants fit, he got to make faces at the mirror. This never gets old!


Rosie trying on clothes is one of the most entertaining shopping experiences ever. She gives every garment a chance and a complete modeling. Yes, we got this skirt, by the way. It was way too cute to leave behind... :D


Poor little man. And he is just getting started on these types of ventures in life...


In which the team helps Becca decide what shirts to buy. John holds the hangers, Rosie holds the next item, Emily hangs and unhangs clothes and Becca models. I am sure the other customers were being amused by the commentary coming out of our dressing room.


After shopping we went to the library. Becca is doing a research report on Sacagawea for school so while she and I found books Rosie read John stories. There are real benefits to having a sister who can read at a 5th grade level but still loves little kid books.


They were good, so they got snacks. Lots of snacks. And they got to go to the grocery store and see Trina at work. They were so tickled that she checked our groceries. They kept asking, "Is this what you do when you go to work every day?" She gave them all candy...


Rosie showed everyone all her new clothes when she got home. This practice is well ingrained in us girls, we must share the joy of our great finds!


Tada! The new clothes! Well, not the suit jacket, but John decided the world's best pants should have stylish company.

Family

Family is the best.

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End of discussion.

Greetings!

All things considered, I travel to Washington quite a bit. In the past 13 months, I have been to Washington 5 times. I have a good friend who loves the state of Washington but in the past 13 months has not been able to go there even once. Hence, when I go I carry his greetings. Last time I was there in August I forgot to say 'Hi' for him until I was on the plane heading home so it was a hasty wave out the window while I was still in Washington air. This time though, I decided to make sure I remembered.

Another good friend helped me pick bright colored post-its and everyone I visited in Washington helped with the pictures. Hence, Josh, here is the best souvenir I could get you from Washington, your own personalized greetings. By the way, they all said hi back...

There is nothing quite like your first ride in a Corvette. Especially if it happens to be your brother's Corvette and your sister-in-law/best friend is driving it. We made sure the car was properly greeted.

Of course, half the fun of this trip was getting to see Caroline again. She returned the greetings with a grin. Then she ate the post-it. Just kidding!!

We took the same road as the infamous motorcycle road trip a few summers back. I was sure the mountains would remember, hence they were properly greeted as well.

More than once, because they were so beautiful and majestic.

More than twice because the view kept changing, so I had to keep saying 'hi' you know.

More than three times because, well... I am sure they did not mind.

The worst thing that happened between Spokane and Seattle was the traffic jam. An accident stopped up traffic for 7 miles. I mean, there were 7 miles of stopped cars. We greeted the road block straight away, but we needn't have. We sat there for 2 hours before the accident was cleaned up and we could go again. The good news, everyone made it out of the accident okay.

Pike Place Market, the Sound, the mountains in the far distance, the buildings obscuring the view. They all send their regards.

I know, I know. They were just so incredible, I had to say 'hi' to them. They tasted delicious as well.



This was the picture I had in mind when the whole idea for this post was started. Yes, this is the gum wall. Yes, those are all pieces of gum. Yes, I stuck that post-it on the wall with Katie's penny and my gum. Yes, it stayed there. Thank you again, Katie, for putting your gum there first....

Seattle has so much seafood, a landlubber like myself has no idea what the menu is talking about. The swordfish was awesome, and the great food made us remember to greet the restaurant. And the leftovers.




The next day we got dim sum at a Chinese place. Half way through Michael asked if Josh got to eat here too. Yep! At least, in theory that is.

I know, no post-it, but there is no way the motorcycle rides in the freezing wind on Richard's amazing bike were getting left out this post. This was my first ride from my younger brother. He is an awesome driver. Thanks again, Daniel!

And finally, the message I was sent to deliver. Washington, consider yourself greeted! Josh says he will come to see you as soon as he can. Until next time!

People I Love

And myself, because I managed to get into some of the pictures...

I realized I am seeing all of my family that I don't live with on this trip. I can't tell you how awesome it is.

We went to Pike Place Market. The guys went beer tasting and the girls went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Go figure....

We had quite a drive from Spokane to Seattle. When we got stuck in traffic we amused ourselves.

And read maps to see if there was a better route. There was not.

The 'babies' met. Let's just say it was amusing and adorable. :D

We were such a good advertisement for them. People were even taking pictures of us. We felt special.

:D

To my family back home, wish you all were here!

For the Old Folks (or young folks) at Home

This is for all the Aunts and Uncles back home. Enjoy!!



In which Caroline plays with the skydiving monkeys. She got a huge kick out of looking at her pictures after I took one of her. :D

In which we are both smiling, even if we were moving.

In which Caroline does 'the smolder' and I do duck lips.

This one does not need a caption.

Caroline has a very gentle touch and instead of ripping up my lips like most babies would do, she just felt them and looked amazed. I can already tell this trip is going to be way too short and way too much fun!

Typical

Tomorrow I leave for a few days to the highly populated by my relatives state of Washington. While I am gone, of course, I will not be taking pictures of life here, so to tide you all over until I get back here are some typical pictures from the last week or so. Enjoy!


All the cold winter evenings have led to lots of huddling around the stove. Or in this case, huddling between the stoves.


The cold weather has not keep all visitors away. We enjoyed a lovely, albeit brief, visit from Katie who took time out of her busy school schedule to read Curious George. We love you, Katie!


Lady Liberty helps Emily in the kitchen whenever she gets the chance. And yes, it is worth it to click this picture up big so you can read what her shirt says. :D

Dad's birthday was last week. We celebrated in style with the above banner and barbecued steak dinner in spite of the below zero temperatures. We have some seriously devoted barbecuers around here.


Leah's birthday was also last week. We again celebrated in style with this fashionably late ice cream cake. Better late than never, and better to eat ice cream cake when it is 40 degrees than when it is -5 degrees.

All the balloons made for lots of fun, especially with the dryness to aid static electricity along.


Inspired by what he has been learning from putting together the model, Timothy made his own model in the shop. He made all the parts and put them together himself. It flew a few times, and I think the passengers got the ride of their lives for sure!


Regretfully, the computer I am working on currently does not have the handy little picture editing program Linus did, hence I have to post pictures without cropping them or lightening them up. Try to ignore the heater in this picture (and the holes in the sock) and instead notice all these people laying on the floor to look at Dad's computer. I have no idea what they were doing, but when I saw all the socks sticking around the corner I had to take a picture.


These guys have enough tea parties to put England to shame. This one was yesterday and they were so pleased to be eating candy canes with their chocolate milk tea....
Well, that is all for now folks! I hope that tides you all over until next week when I get back!