Quick trip back East

Back in February, I took a quick trip back east for my nephew's memorial service at Arlington Cemetary in Washington DC.  Even though the circumstances were very sad, I'm really glad I went.  The ceremony was beautiful.  Lance Corporal Eric Ward was a wonderful young man who served his country as a young Marine and died at the age of 19.  He was killed in Afganistan.  My sister, Dana and brother-in-law, Steven are making it through one day at a time.  My heart aches for them.  Being at the memorial service was an experience I will never forget.  I truly see our soliders in a different light.  And I am even more proud to be an American after this experience.

Before the service Kevin and Kelly so graciously let me stay with them a couple nights on short notice.  It was so wonderful to visit with them and meet my little nephew, Ethan.  I enjoyed hanging out with Kelly during the day and had fun practicing my photography skills on this sweet baby boy with his daddy's blue eyes!  One evening Grant, Richard and Nancy and kids came over for pizza.  It was so nice to see them!  I missed Margaret as she was in Utah with her other new granchild. 

I have to say traveling solo was a little strange.  I am rarely without children in tow, but it was a nice time to get away.  Did I say I have an wonderful hubby who held down the fort in my absence?  Thank you Tim for letting me take this trip.  I know the kids had a blast just having daddy time.  And as usual I returned to find the house so nice and clean.  Daddy always knows how to whip those kids into shape!

After my time in Washington DC I drove up to Albany, NY to see Oliver.  What a wonderful weekend we had!  He showed me all his favorite places to hang out.  I got to see his school and we enjoyed just spending time together.  I think my favorite day was Sunday when we went to church together and just spent the rest of the day talking, taking walks and hanging out in my hotel room eating microwave meals.  It was hard to say goodbye amongst many tears and yet my heart was full knowing he is doing so well.  It's even hard for me to write this right now, so much emotion about me being here and he being there.  But, I have always felt that the Lord watches over my children in my absence, and I have never felt stronger about that then I do today.

On Monday my plane touched down back home, back to Seattle, back to the rain, back to my sweet daughters and wonderful hubby who greeted me at the airport with flowers and a sign.  My flight was a little late and I found out they had been waiting over an hour for me.  What troopers!   I love my family and am blessed to have each and every one of them in my life.

Shootin' hoops for the first time

Celeste tried basketball this year and enjoyed it.  Here are some pics from her last game.  The Meteors had a great season and it was fun to watch Celeste learn the game.

College Road Trip

No, not the movie.  Never saw it, but if it is anything like our college tour with Becky...it's a whirlwind trip, with a lot of driving, a lot of sleeping, and a lot of fun.  We got to see some family and vowed with trip to bypass McDonalds and any other fast food chain.  We kept our goal of only eating at local joints which made it even more fun!  Our first stop:  Rooster's in LaGrande, OR.  We decided we'll make this a regular stop when we drive through again.  Great burgers and Yankee pot roast.

It was fun to to take a trip just the 3 of us.  Audrey, Celeste, Sophia and Natty spent the week with Grandad and Grammy.Big thanks to Dad and his trusty FJ for getting us to Utah and back.  We stopped at a few lookouts on the highway.  Here is Dad taking a break from the wheel.Our next stop was Boise where on the recommendation of the hotel's front desk, we ate at Brick 29.  The food was great and we never would have found this restaurant on our own.  It was perfect for "local faire" food.We stayed in 3 hotels and they were all great.  It was nice to stop and put our head down a few times to relax.We finally made it to our first college tour, University of Utah in SLC.  We were hoping to see Vanessa while we were there, but she was in Thailand at the time.  We were sad to miss her!  Becky had pretty much already figured out she wasn't too interested in Uof U but we thought we were in Utah anyway and it would be good for her to compare it to the other colleges we'd be seeing.  

We spent 2 days in Provo.  At the end of our BYU tours, Becky felt pretty good about BYU.  Tim and I were really impressed with the new Hinkley Visitors Center.  After going through, why wouldn't anyone want to go to BYU?   Things have changed a little since I went to school here.  Of course the infamous Los Hermanos mexican restaurant was just as good as I remembered.  And the ice cream at the Creamery was a nice treat!  BYU has defintitely moved to #1 on her college list.  Now, I think she realized she may have to work a little harder to get in here!

In search of new and interesting places to eat, Tim found a little Peruvian restaurant in downtown Provo.  We really enjoyed our lunch there!Ok, it seems like perhaps this post should be called, "food on the college road trip".  We did have fun searching for the best local faire we could find. 

While in Provo, I was able to get together with Karen and Jared and take their pictures.  They were so fun to hang out with and it was great to finally meet Jared.  They were so excited for the birth of their first baby.  In fact, Karen gave birth about a week after we were there.  I'm glad I got there when I did!  We also met up with Nancy and her boys for a quick pizza dinner.  I'm so glad Nancy came to Provo from SLC to see us!Our last day in Provo we did a quick morning tour of Utah Valley University which was nice way to start our morning.  It felt quite a bit smaller than BYU, but was a very nice campus.After Provo, we set off for our next and final college tour at BYU Idaho, Rexburg.  The first thing Becky said as we drove in was "brrrr..it's too cold here!".  Of course we did this trip in the middle of February.  But she learned while there that the snow is a permanent fixture in the Winter.  She thought she was escaping the Pennsylvania type winters she grew up in.  Everyone was so nice and we really enjoyed the tour.While in Rexburg we met up with Alisha, Zeb, Sydnee and Kip for breakfast.  The kids are getting so BIG!  I wished we could have had more time to spend with them.  Little Kip and Sydnee were so fun. 

We stopped in Missoula, MT on our trip back home for a little shut eye (no pictures of that), and then on our final leg home.  We did stop for a very YUMMY breakfast in Spokane at The European Breakfast House.  I can't remember the last time I had ebelskivers!  We came home to find a happy house that didn't miss a beat with Grandad and Grammy in charge.  Thanks to them for letting us take a great trip with Becky!  We decided after this that we need to make this a trip for each of the kids as they prepare for college. 

Gimmee some love

What happens when you start your own business? Every day life sort of gets pushed to the back burner. The laundry piles up and so do the pictures of all the family events. So here I am again, playing catch up. Slowly, but surely I'll get the blog caught up. Until then, I gotta start somewhere! I know Easter is this Sunday, but what about Valentine's Day? Yes, we did celebrate it in our traditional way. What girl doesn't love to get flowers, especially on Valentine's Day?

So Dad has set the bar for all the future boyfriends and husbands.  But what Daddy doesn't want to let his girls know how much they are loved?

After looking through my blog pictures...I've realized that Celeste is always the one with the silly smile or crazy pose.  Is anyone surprized? 

Chocolate for breakfast...nothing beats that!

I wonder if some day Becky will realize that most pictures I take of her will appear on the family blog.  Perhaps that will encourage her to smile a little more often.  A teenager smile right after being dragged out of bed (even if it's for cupcakes?)...I guess I'm just asking too much!

Lots of love in this house!  Happy Valentines Day (2 months late :-)