Family

We love spending time with our families. We always have such good times and good memories. We're glad we got to see so many in Justin's family this last weekend. Here's a group shot of the baby blessing attendees.

Before we left Utah for the summer we were able to get everyone in my family together for a group shot to put on my parent's wall.

We're thankful for ever-growing families! We love all of you guys!
Thanks for supporting us in all that we do.

Trip to Oregon

On Friday night we headed out for Springfield, OR to attend the baby blessing of Abagail, Scott and Lashelle’s new little one. It was fun to see so much of Justin’s family there. It was a long trip (it took us about 6 hours) so we got in just before midnight. The kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins this weekend and we all just enjoyed spending the time together. Saturday’s activities included picking strawberries at a farm. We were allowed to eat as much as we wanted while we picked them to take home. It was a lot of fun. The kids loved filling their buckets up. We didn’t realize the day’s activities when we got ready that morning, but Lindsey was appropriately dressed with her strawberry shirt. Katelyn wanted to be constantly fed strawberries. She loved them!

We were so glad we could be at the baby blessing. Abagail is such a beautiful little girl.

After the meeting we enjoyed Justin’s Dad’s famous egg sandwiches. If you know his Dad, you know that this is serious business, and these are serious sandwiches. The basic version includes toasted buttered bread with an egg, sausage, cheese, big green chili, and cooked onions. It has a lot of flavor and it's a big sandwich! We left after the meal and headed home. It was a pretty good road trip, and we made it back safe and sound.

This week is week #7 in Justin’s internship of 12 weeks, which means that we are officially half way through. Time is flying by! Justin is really enjoying his experience at Amazon. He is feeling the pressure of the looming timeline and has lots to get done before then. It has been a great experience for all of us! We decided that we need to sit down and schedule out our remaining time here so that we can do the things we would like to.

The Maners Visit Seattle

This last week we enjoyed a visit from Justin’s parents and sister Luann. It was so fun to have them in town and show them what our lives are like this summer. After they arrived we had a yummy dinner featuring lots of fresh veggies from Pike’s Place market. Then we took them on a little walk out on the waterfront before we put the kids to bed.

The next day we took them down to the infamous market to see the fish throwing, farmers markets, flower vendors and other vendors. It’s always so busy there.

After lunch and a short nap, I took them on the streets of downtown as we went up to Justin’s building to meet him. We took them up to the top of the Columbia Center Tower to show them the amazing view.

Justin was able to leave work and on the way home we stopped at the Seattle Library, which Luann was very excited about.

We went on a “Ride the Ducks” ride which included a tour of Seattle on a strange looking boat with wheels that could drive and also float in Lake Union. It was a fun ride and we enjoyed learning interesting facts about Seattle, like there are 400 Starbucks Coffees here. That’s a lot of coffee!

We enjoyed a yummy dinner in true Seattle fashion, eating at Steamer’s outside on the waterfront. It was a beautiful night.

The next day we had the morning to spend with them before they had to leave for Oregon. Justin had to go back to work, but the kids and I went with them on a ferry ride over to Bainbridge Island. It was a fun ride over there. The kids thought it was fun to be on such a big vessel in the water.

Here's a view of our apartment from the water: it's in the middle, the taller of the shorter buildings. Does that make any sense?

We turned around to come back and then ate at Steamers again for lunch. They didn’t want to miss out on the yummy fish tacos that Justin had ordered the night before.

It was a short trip, but we really enjoyed spending some time with them!

Ward Campout

This weekend was the ward campout at Ensign Ranch. Since we don't have a pack n' play or extra blankets, we decided to drive up Saturday morning rather than spend the night on Friday. The drive up was beautiful! Green everywhere, waterfalls, clouds in the trees.

When we got up there, we enjoyed some breakfast followed by some games and activities put on by the Primary. We began with balloon stomping,

three legged races,

relays and a Twinkie eating contest. We didn't win, but we sure enjoyed our Twinkies!

Justin and the kids loved the canoes and horses and we couldn't leave until we tried out the huge slip n' slide.

We did come home with a little too much sun. For some reason, we're having a hard time adjusting to the Seattle climate. It was cool and cloudy this morning, so we forgot the sunblock. Hopefully by the end of the summer we'll remember sunblock and jackets wherever we go! All in all, it was a very fun day.

China Town

I have been dying for a haircut for a couple of months now. It never happened before we left Utah because life was just too crazy. My most common hairstyle lately has been a ponytail, which is a big sign that I need to get a haircut!

I asked around the ward for some suggestions and got a few replies. I decided to go to a place in China Town that was recommended. I left the kids with neighbor Megan and took off for my appointment. I found my way over to China Town and found a place where I could pay and park on the curb. China Town smells like Chinese food! Who knew? And a lot of the signs were in Chinese too, which wasn't very helpful when I realized that the address I had led me to a vacant store. I walked around trying to find the salon without any luck. I called Megan on the cell and she looked up the salon phone number but when I tried that they didn't answer. So I walked up and down a few blocks. The shop signs were all in Chinese and I was worried that I wouldn't recognize it if I passed by it. Some of them were more run down looking as well, so I was getting a little worried. Thankfully, I finally found it, and the sign was in English. All those Chinese people could probably tell I was lost.

I'm so glad I found the place. The lady did a good job (yes, she was Chinese and had a pretty thick accent, but I could understand most of what she said), and I am really enjoying the change and the shorter style for the summer. I'm especially glad I got it before I meet any of Justin's co-workers! Hooray for good haircuts!

Brandon is the photographer for this shot. He was quite excited that I let him take a picture with the camera.



As a side note, I have never lived anywhere before where there are so many different languages provided on general advertising mailings. I got a flyer for cable service or something and noticed the translations into 4 or 5 other languages on the bottom. One was the typical Spanish, one was Chinese, and the other 3 I didn't recognize. One was probably Thai, one Vietnamese, and the other one I couldn't even guess. That is one thing about living here. There are so many different cultures and lifestyles, and from what I can tell, people are much more accepting of these things (for good or for bad), hence the more liberal population. For example: Justin started with a few other interns on his first day (there were several days they could choose to begin the internship). There were three other MBAs and probably 10 undergrad computer programming interns. One of the undergrad guys showed up to work on his first day wearing among other things a white lab coat, sporting pink hair, a purple hat and big pink sunglasses on his hat. And Justin has not heard any comments from anyone on that day or since. The MBAs were all much more conservative in their dress, but it is very interesting. We're definitely having quite the experience!

Last Day of Swimming Lessons

The kids have really had a great experience with their first swimming lessons. Even though they are outside and it is raining or overcast for most of Lindsey's lessons and some of Brandon's lessons they have learned to love the 92 degree pool water. They've become much more comfortable in the water, so I'm very pleased with their classes.

On the last day, the kids got to go down the big water slide as a treat. They loved it! Lindsey went down with her teacher several times.

Brandon finally went down by himself after doing a couple of times with his teacher.

Way to go kids!