Texas Family Comes to Seattle

Dad, Lori, and Spencer came for a visit! We were happy to have our Texas family in our home. We had beautiful weather and a lot of quality time together. It was a great reunion!

General Conference

McKenzie drew a picture of President Monson on the stand. The black lines, in case you were wondering, are "ya know, the lines on old people's faces." I'm grateful for conference. It was a fabulous weekend.

The Last 6 Months

I am not sure if I have any readers left (Hi mom). It's been a while, I know. I don't exactly know where my motivation went. At first, I was overwhelmed with the new move, making new friends, comforting my kids, and trying to get back into the groove

of a routine. But it's been over 6 months now. I seem to do just fine posting pictures on FB, but I miss blogging. So here goes.

I am also struggling a bit with my new age. When I turned 30 I started going through a lot mentally- trying to figure out if I was old or young. Trying to figure out where the time went. Trying to prove to myself I'm still young, I've still got it. But I am not sure I do. My running has slowed down. I'd rather stay in and enjoy a nice movie on the couch with my husband than hit the town for a night. I get excited about a new pot of flowers for my front porch. And for Pete's sake, I have to blend all my vegetables and fruit in a blender in order to get the amount of healthy nutrition I actually need. But all joking aside, 30 is young, I know. I am trying to realize that life actually keeps getting better. Besides, my 2 and 5 year old still think I am cool.

Here is a lengthy assortment of pictures to bore you with/demonstrate our last few months.

In May, we flew down to Disneyland for the Millar Family Disney trip! We of course, had a wonderful time. I am already anxious to return. I love the magic of that place.

In June, Brynn turned two. Now we have a solid excuse for her behavior. "Oh she is just in a terrible two's stage." Somehow, it makes me feel better. This kid is teaching me patience like NEVER before. She is really tough, but really CUTE too.

We took a trip to California for the 4th of July. It was fun to visit both of our families.

We were lucky to head back down to California for the annual beach house trip. This vacation always makes summer feel like summer. Thanks Greg and Debbie!

We enjoyed our first summer here in Washington. There is something so wonderful about being surrounded by so much water.

We had our fair share of ice cream!
And ran through the sprinklers quite a few times. Here are some neighborhood pals!
McKenzie and her closest friend, Sophia. They are two peas in a pod.

And of course, the first day of school. She loves kindergarten and hates that it is so short.

On labor day weekend we took a little day trip to Snoqualmie Falls. We live about 10 miles from this majestic place.

We have enjoyed a few visits from Grandma Liz this summer, and we love it.

McKenzie's two favorite things are writing "books" and playing soccer. We always knew she would be good at soccer, but she has already cried when she missed a shot on goal. (We're working on toning down that competitive flare she has.)

And lastly, we recently painted our living room. Makes us want to paint the whole house. Here's a shot of part of the wall (and Caillou).

Lummi Island

We just returned from a great little trip to one of the San Juan Islands, where we shared a nice beach home with 2 other families. Lummi Island is a quaint little place with beautiful scenery and beaches. We could not have asked for better weather. We are excited to return sometime soon.

Our vacation home for the weekend:

McKenzie enjoyed climbing the rocks and hanging out with the girls.

Brynn ate a ton of marshmallows. She could live on those things.

Here is Evan finally getting to eat his own smore after helping kids make some. Can you believe this picture was taken at 8:30pm? It stays light so late now!

The gang.

Kat and I thinking we should do this every weekend.

Brynn enjoyed her smore.

Karen and I had just finished a run around the island.

Looking West

Brynn and McKenzie spent a lot of time throwing rocks into the water. Oh, to be a kid.

All the kids watching a movie before bed.

Home

Between packing up our old home and unpacking our new home, there has been little time to blog. But here is a quick update:

We arrived in Seattle on March 19th, and moved into our Redmond Ridge home on the 20th. My mom was here to help us that weekend, which was wonderful. The girls were a bit confused so having another relative for them to hold onto was helpful. At first we plowed through boxes, then slowed down as we lost our umph. We still have those two annoying boxes of random stuff that I dread unpacking. For the most part though, we are almost finished. We are getting there. Slowly but surely our house is becoming a home.

A few more from the last couple of weeks:

It is also very nice having my aunt, uncle and cousin nearby. Evan's brother Luke also lives close by! We love being able to hang out with him often. We are lucky and blessed to have family around us.

We have a long road ahead of us. Still many friends to be made, and directions to learn but for now we are having fun exploring our new surroundings. I have learned the important stuff, like where the best place to run is, and the quickest way to get to target or Costco. The beauty of the trees here is honestly breathtaking. Our new life is becoming a reality as we come out of the crazy stage. It is both scary and exciting. I'll try to focus on the latter. We honestly feel blessed to be here and hope that WA will feel more and more like home everyday.

"Daddy has to work"

As I was getting out of bed this morning, I overheard McKenzie talking to Brynn in her room. Evan had just left for work and Brynn was crying. She is quite the daddy's girl and gets upset whenever he leaves. McKenzie tried to console her (in her mothering voice) by explaining, "Brynn, daddy HAS to go workout alright? He has to make money for us so we can eat cookies and go to the beach sometimes, and go to disneyland, and have a warm house in Seattle, and wear cute clothes. Alright? Ok? So, don't cry. Daddy will be right back sweetheart." I just sat there listening to this funny little conversation. She is pretty humorous. I don't remember the last time we went to the beach (unfortunately) and Disneyland isn't really in our near future...but we'll let the kid dream. At least she understands that we have a hard working dad!

Catie

A dear sweet friend of mine passed away last week after battling cancer for three years. She was an amazing person, full of kindness and laughter. She always made everyone around her feel loved and uplifted. I love that when the cancer returned to her lungs she launched a campaign in her home called "Choose to Be Happy."

Catie, I promise to keep our friendship in my heart. You have changed my life for the better because I have indeed been touched by your happiness, warmth, optimism, and incredible faith. Your beautiful smile will live on forever.

To read about Catie's story, visit her blog.

www.steve-catie.blogspot.com