A Trip to Seattle

Jesse's travel nurse recruiter, Justin, sent us a $200 gift card to the Space Needle. One Friday, we took the kids and headed into Seattle. We told them we had a surprise for them before we went to the Space Needle and we told them they could try to guess what it was. They started naming random things and then Cambria said something (which I can't remember now) and then she said "troll". Jesse and I looked at each other in shock, as she was naming other things, and then we told her she has guessed it. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember what she had guessed and she didn't think of it again until we got there.

We took them to see the Fremont Troll which is under a bridge in Seattle. It's made of cement and in it's left hand it's crushing an actual slug bug. The kids were so excited and loved climbing all over it. Cambria was nervous climbing close to the top but Atreyu had a great time climbing on it's head and shoulders. It was really very cool and such a fun thing to be able to visit in the middle of the city.

We then headed to the Space Needle where a valet parked our car and we rode to the top in an elevator with like 30 other people. It was such a pretty view of the city and the ocean.

We went inside the revolving restaurant for lunch. The restaurant makes a complete round every 47 minutes. We were there long enough to go around about 1.5 times. The kids were pretty excited about it. I wont't lie; I was pretty excited about it too. The kids got some yummy chocolate drinks, mac and cheese, chicken, and a hot dog that was cut to look like an octopus. I got a yummy burger and Jesse ordered salmon (which Atreyu loved and I actually enjoyed). It was so much fun and we appreciate Justin for making it possible.

Once we were done eating, we went down to this cool park next to the Space Needle. If there weren't so many kids, I might have climbed up it with my kiddos. I sometimes miss being a kid but I love to see the excitement on my own kids' faces.

This was such a fun day and I'm thankful that we have the opportunity to travel to different places, experience different cultures and cities, and go on new adventures.

Life at Lake Ki

It's crazy that we have been here in Washington almost three months already. Apparently we were here for one of their coldest winters. We went through quite a lot of propane and the lake was actually frozen for at least a week which rarely happens. The kids and I had fun going out on the dock and pushing on the ice to see if it would break. It was pretty solid though I wouldn't have tried walking on it. It was so beautiful!

Since it was so cold, we spent a lot of time inside. The humidity makes the cold so much colder! I came out of my room one day to the kids sitting on the couch together playing on Atreyu's Kindle. They were there for over an hour. Moments like those really make me love being a mom.

Another morning Cambria came in my room as I was getting ready and she put the jewelry box on the bed, took the jewelry out, and then started decorating the jewelry box with the jewelry. Atreyu came in and joined her. After they were done decorating, they brought in some figurines and pretended the jewelry box was a stage and all the different figurines were performers. It was so sweet.

And yet another morning, I came out of my room and found Cambria laying on Diesel watching her Kindle. She loves that dog so much.

Poor Diesel. Boxers on average live 9 to 10 years. He will be 10 in April and just a couple weeks ago he really started to show his age. We think he may have had a mini stroke or something. He has right sided weakness and any time he exerts himself a lot, he loses control of the right side of his mouth and it just droops. He's been having some trouble with stairs and he's just not as spry as he used to be. I don't know what we'll do without him. We'll all miss him so much and I don't think that Cambria will let us get away without having another dog. We love you Diesel!

New Years 2017

It's crazy that a new year is already upon us. Last year was so busy with Jesse taking a job in Salt Lake and then with us deciding to start traveling. I feel like it was a good year and I am excited to see what this new year has to bring.

For New Year's Eve we went to our friends', John and Sharon Woods, home. We had fun playing games, eating way too much food, and celebrating with each other. We enjoy all their kids: Liz, Steph, Bradley, Zach, and Jessica. I have truly appreciated their friendship and I'm going to miss them when we leave. We're hoping that Jesse will be able to take another contract here again someday.

They have a Boston Terrier named Hank who looked like a slightly bigger version of Machida. Playing with him made me miss Machida a lot. I would love to have another Boston Terrier.

Atreyu stayed up until midnight but Cambria lost energy, got cranky, and fell asleep by 11:30. 

I  really hope that I can use this year to improve myself and be a better wife and mother. It's my goal to be more patient and understanding especially with those who I love the most. Happy New Year!

Christmas 2016

The Christmas season really is the best time of the year. People are all a little kinder and it's so much easier to feel the spirit. Being in Washington we have not had much snow which has made it a bit different for us but Christmas is Christmas no matter where you are. I had the kids cut out, color, and glue nativities and I was impressed with how well Cambria colored. She copied Atreyu for a bit and then decided to do her own thing. I love how they turned out.

On December 21 the kids and I picked up Jesse from work and we started the long drive back home to Bern. Jesse drove part way while I read to him. I was also supposed to be in charge of finding gas stations with this Truckers app which I wasn't very familiar with. We passed one because I didn't realize we were supposed to exit but according to the app it said there should be another one in about 30 miles. We had enough fuel to get there but as we started getting closer, we realized that it was probably going to be some po-dunk gas station in the middle of no where. Jesse kept teasing me that it was going to be  "Hills Have Eyes" gas station and I kept trying to delude myself into thinking that it was going to be a nice one. When we got there, Jesse was right. They were super old pumps that wouldn't accept credit cards and it looked really creepy. 

I checked the app again and it said there was another gas station in about 20 miles. We really started getting nervous and with about 15 miles left to go, the gas light came on. I was praying my little heart out that we would make it and Heavenly Father answered my prayer. Needless to say, I was much more careful after that.

After driving all night, we finally made it home! It was so nice to be back. We went to the ward Christmas party where all the kiddos in our family were able to help with the nativity. It was so nice to see the people in our ward again. We then went back to Grandma and Grandpa's and did our own nativity.

The kids got exactly what they wanted on Christmas morning. 

As per usual, I did not take enough pictures while we were all together. Cam, Janell, and Seth took the kids our sledding a few times which all the kids loved. We played games, had great food, and just enjoyed being together. Of course it wouldn't be Christmas is someone didn't get sick. Atreyu got the stomach flu which Janell's family had had a couple days before we got together and then it ran through most the members in Jenny's family. Other than that, we had a wonderful time and I loved being back home for a few days.