Preview of what's to come

Ok since we moved I've only posted once. That is because I think we've been gone as much as we've been here. Poor Dave was only in the state a total of 9 days last month. How crazy is that. So this is my preview of what is to come. I might actually get some pictures in there too.

First off we have our trip to Hawaii. Second we have our trip to Disneyland. Third we will have our Halloween. And last anything else that was forgotten in the mix of trips and moving. I will try to post some pics of the new house too.

Today I'm just trying to get the house cleaned up, the Halloween put away, the laundry done, dinner made, a visit from the primary presidency and scouts. I wonder if I can fit anything else in there? Probably...the stuff that just happens. Hope you all have a fabulous day!!!

Scared of Heights?

Are you scared of heights? I am. I don't like being on ledges. I don't like looking over railings. Our new house actually has a railing in the hall upstairs that overlooks the family room. I can't even stand to look. I can handle it if I lay on the floor and look thru the rails.

So we decided that our first real weekend here we would go and see some sights. Let the kids get out and see the great city of Seattle.

I grew up in Portland, and we would come visit Seattle every so often. I have never been to the Space Needle. I've seen it in pictures. I've seen it in the skyline from afar. I've never been right next to it, or up it. Why? Because of scared of heights. Didn't you start reading from the beginning?

This is the start of our Saturday adventure. Sitting on a sculpture beneath the Space Needle. We are quite a cute family I think. I need to give a big thanks to Uncle Mark who came with us and took most of the pictures for us. The kids have really enjoyed having him around.
Looking up at the Space Needle. This really made me want to go up. When we finally got in the elevator, (did I mention that I am claustrophobic too? And that I get motion sick?) Anyway you can look out the windows of the elevator, that goes 10 miles an hour, and see the sights as you ride up. I did close my eyes a bit.
View of Seattle area from the top. I've been to the Top of the Rock in NY. But it was at night so it didn't feel that high up. This city is beautiful.
Abigail and Dave enjoying the sights. Abby kept wanting to sit on the railing. It was freaking me out. I liked it much better when she was on Dave's shoulders.
Sydney and Uncle Mark. Hanging out. Checking out the scene. Mark was quite a trooper. He lugged Syd around for a while.
Our family up in the Space Needle. Still smiling. Although I did close my eyes the whole ride down.
Mount Baker in the background. Or is Mount Rainier? I can't remember which direction I was looking. If you look just below whatever mountain it is you can see Qwest Field, now know as Century Link or the Clink. It has the white roof and SafeCo field where the Mariners play is right next door. We are looking forward to some ballgames this year. Ok Dave is. I like going to baseball games. Football, blech.
What a gorgeous city we live so close to. Portland is still my favorite, but Seattle is now pulling a close 2nd.

Deep Talks with Abby

Ok it's been a week since we have been here and I've been sooooo busy. Unpacking. It is an endless battle. Or it appears that way. I have 3 rooms finished. The boys room, the girls room and the guest room. None of these rooms I use. All the rooms I use look like a bomb blew up in it.

I am hoping to really finish the kitchen area tomorrow. I'm trying really hard to get things done before my parents arrive on Monday. It's great motivation.

The kids have been loving school. Jacob stayed home "sick" today. Not sure what was bothering him but I think he was pretty tired. He went to bed last night at 7 and slept till 8 this morning.

Abby was so excited he was here to play with her today. She came in while I was soaking in the tub and we had this little conversation...

Abby - "Mom, I want to marry Jacob."

Me - "You can't marry Jacob."

Abby - "Why? I want to."

Me - "He's your brother. You can't marry your brother."

Abby - "Oh, then can I marry Noah?"

Me - "No, Noah is your brother too."

Abby - "He is? Who can I marry then?"

Me - "When you are older you will find a nice boy who will marry you."

Abby - "I want to have orange flowers when I get married."

Me - "Ok, I think that would be great!"

Abby- "I'm older now."

She's such a smart and funny little girl. While I love that she goes to school and I get a little bit of time for me, I really love how her little mind works, and I really love hanging out with her around nap time.

Love love love my kids.

We made it!!

We made it to Seattle. Woodinville to be exact. What a crazy last week we had. I'm glad it's over and now I get to continue the crazy here this week. A different kind of crazy.

2 years ago when we moved to Idaho as we were heading into Boise we got pulled over. Dave was speeding a little bit. But because we were just moving to the area, the cop let us off with a warning and told us where the speed limit changed.

The night we left our house for the last time, we got pulled over. Apparently the trailer light wasn't working while we drove but the blinker and brake light worked. Well they couldn't find a plate on the trailer so they pulled us over. We had a plate for it. It was on the moving truck. I had pulled it out and put it on the counter but the movers got it first and so it was somewhere in a box in the middle. Well that cop also let us off but said good luck not getting pulled over your whole way there.

Guess what? I found the registration with the plate info in my important papers and we never got pulled over again. I guess that was Idaho's way of welcoming us and saying goodbye.

We are here. All the kids started school today. Yay! I went to get them registered and Jacob was short a shot. One they don't require in Idaho, but do here, so happy to say we already have a doctor. That was quick.

I really don't like traffic and there is lots of traffic. We did venture out Sunday to get some food because the movers didn't finish until after 2 so we missed church. We drove into Bellevue and had some Cheesecake Factory. Noah thought it was the fanciest meal he had ever had. He ate it all and had a hot fudge sundae for dessert.

I am happy to announce that I love my woodinville bubble. What's that? I have the kids school, doctor, grocery store, bank, gas station and of all things Costco, within 5 miles of my house. Heaven!!! I'm a person who like things easy and simple. I am not a fan of traffic. I'll venture out farther later, but for now....I'm good.

Oh and Dave loves his job. His commute is a bit longer than his 1 mile drive in Idaho but he gets his calls done in the car and we get to relax when he gets home.

Happy Birthday times 3!!

I know it has been a while since I've posted anything. I have somethings still to post from our Oregon Beach trip. Those will have to wait just a little bit longer.

Why?

Because it's September! What happens in September? Birthdays and Birthdays galore. This is the biggest birthday month for our family. It starts at the beginning with our newest addition to the family Eve, and then we have my dad, Dave's stepmom, Sydney, nephew Damon, Dave's Dad, Noah, and our nephew Isaac bringing up the end of the month. How crazy is that?

This year is a crazy time, with us moving to Washington. So there won't be any parties for the kids. :( Sad. But we are lucky to have had Mom and Dad, aka Grandma and Grandpa here with us for Dad's birthday and their anniversary. Yep that's right on the same day. They say it's because they didn't have any other tine. I think it's so he would remember. :)

Here is the birthday crew. Dad's official Birthday, September 11, Noah turning 10 - September 22, Sydney being the youngest turning 6 - September 15. That is quite the towering inferno. We had candles for all of them. But let them blow all of them out at the same time.

There was too much going on for me to take the time to make a cake so Costco to the rescue with the all american cake. 7 lbs of pure chocolate. It was yummy. And rich.
Blowing out the last little candle. They did a great job and the fire alarm didn't even go off. Probably because I took the battery out 2 years ago. That sucker kept going off for no reason. I guess I should put it back up for the people who are going to rent the house. They might want it.

Anyway we had a wonderful with wonderful people. The Sunday dinner was pretty great too. Happy Birthday to 3 of my favorite people. I love you very much. We'll get you parties next year.

Spudman!!!

My hubby is a total spud!! Yep that's right for the second year he ran in The Spudman Tri-athalon. I think he is so inspiring. 3 years ago he wouldn't have even tried to do this. The first year he did it his time was 3:07. I think that is pretty awesome. His goal this year...finish under 3 hours.

Did he do it? Yep! Of course he did. His time this year was 2:49. I think or 2:48. But it was under the 3 hour mark.

I almost didn't make it to see him finish because I got a speeding ticket. I know. I got a ticket in Burley Idaho. I definitely deserved the ticket. When the cop pulled us over (my friend Krissy was with me. Her hubby ran the race too.) He asked if we were in a hurry because our husbands were in the crash. WHAT CRASH? Apparently there were some people who had a big crash on their bikes. But no, fortunately it wasn't our hubbies, unfortunately I still got a ticket.

So after stopping for the ticket, then having to park at what felt like the next town over, we were hurrying along only to have some random lady go off the trail on her bike. We stopped to help her. She seemed ok and said "that's what you get when you don't ride a bike for 20 years." or something like that. Funny thing was there was no one on the trail just us and she chose to crash right there.

I did make it to see my hubby finish!! Yeah!! Unfortunately Krissy didn't. Sorry. :(

Here is Dave and he is heading for the finish line. Below just about to cross it.

This is Dave and his buddy Nate who also was in the race. Dave next to the mass of bikes. And no he isn't flipping off the camera. He was giving the peace sign but you can't see his one finger very well.
Below is the whole crew from Eagle that ran in the race. They went down the night before and camped. It's definitely a guys weekend.
L-R Jeremy Paddock, Wayne Slaughter, Nate Paddock, Dave Hannant, Steve LaBau, Sid Ahlstrom.

They all did great and had a great time doing it. I had a nice drive back with my hubby and a great lunch at Cafe Rio in Twin Falls on the way home. No more speeding tickets! We made it back safe and then I believe we went and saw the smurfs. It was a great day.

Does anyone smell that?

You know when you are driving down the road and suddenly skunk smell permeates the car? And you are looking all over for where the smashed skunk is so you don't run over it?

We have that smell here a lot. In fact the second or third day we lived here Foster had the opportunity to meet one face on. It was stinky and actually made me a little bit nauseous. You would think he would learn his lesson but no... It took him 3 or 4 times before he realized to stay away.

We have a very big population of wild things here. Foster also met a porcupine once. He was such a good dog and sat quietly while we pulled quills out of his nose and mouth with needle nose pliers. Poor old dog. We have seen deer and foxes, turtles and porcupines. There is a blue heron that lives in our pond behind the house. Lots of different kinds of birds like woodpeckers and quail. I love waking up and hearing the birds. Except the pesky woodpecker who likes to peck the metal on the roof. Sounds like a jackhammer and it's always at 6 am.

Our neighbors have chickens and rabbits. So we get to see lots of animals. Oh yeah and skunks. Dave once saw an owl swoop down and try to get a skunk on our road while he was driving. It missed.

We have learned to bring the dog in at dark or make sure he is chained up. To avoid having to give him a bath in the skunk concoction of Baking Soda, Hydrogen Peroxide, Dish Soap and water. Works wonders on the smell.

One night I was out talking to a friend who rode by on his bike and we saw a movement. A massive black movement. I couldn't figure out what it was until it got closer. Then I of course stayed away. You know that skunk smell? Yeah I figured out why it was so strong around our area sometimes. We have not one skunk, but a family of skunks.I had to crop the picture a lot so that's why they are a little blurry. Plus it was a black mass moving as one. It's a mom and 6 babies. Yep you read that right...6. Do they think they are bunnies or something?

Here is our little family heading home. Mom's tail is up and the the babies are following. Let's just say no walks at night for us and Foster started coming in early.