4th of July Weekend

This weekend was very fun. I woke up early in the morning with Katelyn and we enjoyed a beautiful view. People were out on the water enjoying the cool breeze.

Katelyn and I enjoyed some time playing together before the rest of the family woke up.

Yes, that is a sword I made for Brandon out of the Crispix box. Sweet baby!

We eventually got moving and got everyone dressed in patriotic attire for the day.

And then we headed off to Justin's cousin's house (Collins and Cameron) and met his other cousins there (Keith and Lisa).

We had a fun day there doing a BBQ, having a very patriotic dessert,


swimming, making paper airplanes and letting the kids play. I do have to say, this is the coolest 4th of July I've ever experienced. It was downright cool at the pool, despite the heated water!


After wards we headed home to watch fireworks from our place. This sunset picture is just for Justin's mom. She didn't see any pretty sunsets when she was here. They are different than Arizona sunsets, but very pretty still!


Seattle does 2 big fireworks shows, one from the lake on the east side of Seattle, on one from the bay on the west side. We were hoping that we'd have the perfect view of the bay show from our apartment, but Justin ran over to another building to see where the barge was and it was just out of sight behind a neighboring building. But we did get to see them. We just went to another building and viewed them from the floor-to-ceiling windows in their elevator area. It was a nice place to be. Brandon and Lindsey thought they were so pretty. Lindsey's favorites were the pink and purple ones, and the heart shaped ones. I always think of my sister Erin on the 4th, because it's her birthday. She always gets fireworks to celebrate! (Love you Erin!)

On Saturday we decided to go to the Pacific Science Center. It was really neat.


They've got lots of fun things there. The dinosaurs made them a bit nervous. They were moving and making noises.


Pretty big footprint!


The kids really liked the play area where they could play with water and just climb in and out of things. That was Katelyn's favorite part!



Big praying mantis!


Our favorite thing was going into the butterfly room. Very neat! There were probably hundreds of butterflies flying around in there. They even landed on us, which the kids weren't too excited about, but it really was amazing.

All in all, another busy, fun weekend!

The Pirates are Coming!

This last week we had a special ship come into Elliott Bay (where we live) for a boat show. We heard that it was supposed to make its appearance at about 3:30, so Brandon and I kept our eyes peeled all afternoon. At about 4:00, we noticed some helicopters circling close to the water, so I got the kids' shoes on and we walked out to the waterfront.

The procession was neat to watch. The big ship was led by a whole line of US Coast Guard ships, of course the first one being the "fire boats" that we see out on the water periodically here. It belongs to the fire station on Pier 54. They have the normal fire trucks, ambulances, but they also have a couple of fire boats that they can use to spray water for a very long distance. They really put on a show!

Then came the ship that we went out there to see. It didn't have the big sails up, which I was kind of hoping for, but it was neat to see the men standing on the masts. Isn't that crazy? I think I would be terrified! (Enlarge the picture to look at them.)

The funny part is that when Brandon saw the ship he said, "The pirates are coming!" And I couldn't convince him otherwise. So just so you all know, we have pirates here in Seattle. But I think they're probably very nice!

Brandon's Creativity

Every afternoon we have the same routine. We eat lunch, then Katelyn goes down for her afternoon nap, and Lindsey reads 3 books in bed and usually falls asleep as well. Brandon gets to do his quiet time. Sometimes we will do activities or baking together, but he usually has a lot of time to be nice and quiet!

He often starts his quiet time by reading some books (here he is trying to do a good reading pose for me).

Then he often gets out coloring books or work books or draws on various papers or his Doodle thingy.

He is getting very good at his drawing.

But that will only last for so long. Then he really starts getting creative! Why not make a belt holder for the dart shooter with 3 rubber bands? (Which, coincidentally also doubles for some nice sling shot action!)

Or why not just tape an empty water bottle to the end of the dart shooter?
Looks pretty cool buddy!

How much fun can we have with the tape? He labeled the TV three times.

Of course that was just today. Sometimes we end up with forts or ramps for his cars or animals to ride down using the couch cushions. It's amazing what you can find to do, especially when you are living in an apartment that doesn't have all of your stuff!

I'm always amazed with what you come up with every day Brandon!

Sunny Seattle

This last weekend was very sunny and warm here. Finally! And when the sun comes out, the people really do too. This was the sight that met my eyes at lunch time as I got off of our elevator after a grocery shopping trip with the kids. Who knew that people resorted to sunbathing on the rooftop in downtown? I guess you do what you have to do! Can you see her?

We decided that it would be the perfect day to take Justin on the ferry over to Bainbridge Island for dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant. I think Justin has been craving some good Mexican food. Seattle is heavier on the Chineese, Teryaki, Thai, and American food. So off we went!

We enjoyed some yummy food, got a couple of things at a local market and then got back on the ferry to come home.

Here's another ferry passing by....they're a lot bigger than they look. They can fit dozens of vehicles underneath.

This would be a good family picture if Brandon weren't making that face. It looks like he just got a bug in his eye! It was quite windy up at the front.

What a nice night for a ferry ride. Justin's work building is right above his head. It's always easy to spot.

On Saturday we went to an Amazon MBA Intern function that the families were invited to. We met at the Olympic Sculpture Park to mingle, enjoy outdoor art and eat some lunch. It was a nice time.

Who knew a big orange cone could be art?

The best part was all of the nice green grass there was for the kids to run around on. They loved that part. Grass is hard to find downtown.


And I was so thrilled that Lindsey's hair stayed in the whole time, even with all of the running around and playing. She looked very cute for the meeting of Justin's co-workers and fellow interns. (Whew!)


As a final note, I now understand what it is like to live in a place that gets hot for a few weeks and not have air conditioning! On Sunday it warmed up to 90 degrees. We were very warm all through church that morning and they finally pulled out a big industrial fan to circulate the air in the chapel. When we got home our apartment was roasting! We have a couple of little fans, but they didn't help very much. We have the sun full blast in the afternoon and evening, so the temperature just kept climbing. We left at 4:00 to do our ward missionary calling for a couple of hours, and I turned the A/C on full blast in the van between our visits. When we got back, it was as hot as ever in our apartment, but we tried to stay close to the fans and wait it out. Whew! I definitely appreciate A/C!

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.