Visiting Rachel

Rachel and I have gone to the same school since 2nd Grade (she was in Hebrew school before that). We first met in Brownie Scouts and were best friends by 6th grade. Her house was just 2 short blocks from mine. She moved out to Baltimore in late 2000 for medical school. We came and visited her in the summer of 2001. We didn't know that the following spring we would me moving to Virginia, just 2 1/2 hours away. We both had our first born out here. Rachel helped me unpack our house and I helped her paint hers. It's been great being out here together.

Now Rachel is getting ready to move to San Diego and I won't be able to see her as much. We got together one last time before her move. Here's Emma and Maya

Ice Skating

Emma loves ice skating! She was invited to a birthday party at the ice rink about a year ago. Now she always asks to go skating and wants to take lessons too.

Oh Deer!!

Don't you wish you looked this cute when having a bad hair day!!

We were just finishing our family hug & prayer when I glanced out the window and saw a fawn and her mother. We knew they were in the woods by our house b/c they keep eating all my plants, but we hardly ever see them. We watched for quite a while from inside, then Clay snuck outside and took some pictures.

And yes, our lawn is very dead right now. We were gone for 5 weeks and there apparently wasn't any rain during that time.

Hat Girl

Grandma Deanie sent this cute hat for Rebekah last year. Rebekah is now into hats and spent almost all day walking around with it on!

Family Canning

The Prophet has counseled us to keep a years supply of food in case of emergency or loss of job or other financial stress. So we rented a #10 can sealer and spend the day canning beans, rice, sugar, wheat, powdered milk, macaroni, and oats.

When we were done we had 70 cans stacked in boxes on our couch!

Mystery Pictures

Rebekah must have found the camera today. There are about 15 photos that look a lot like this on the camera. Silly girl!

Welcome to my blog.

I am now entering the world of blogs. I thought this would be a fun way to share what we did on vacation. Hope this works, let me know what you think.

For those of you who want to see more pictures, I will be uploading them to snapfish shortly.

The final leg -Day 35

At last, I get to sleep in my own bed tonight... We are flying home b/c we didn't want to torture ourselves with having to drive all the way back. One way was long enough.

Having our new GPS unit for the trip actually really helped us out. We were able to look up hotel and call ahead to book our room. While in South Dakota we were able to find a pharmacy where we would be spending the night that my doctor could call in a prescription to. And of course, it was fun to play with and kept track of our trip.

We logged over 100 hours of driving and 6100 miles. Now that's what I call a road trip!

And 1030 photos! Be glad I am only sharing just a few.

Getting ready to go back home -Day 34

We spent most of the day packing and getting ready. We had so much stuff with us from driving, that we needed to ship some boxes home so we didn't have to pay the airlines extra. Here is one last picture of Grandma with the girls.

A quiet sunday -Day 33

The girls review Aunt Kerry's photos, while Uncle Adrian take cares of Iluma.

Kiddie Pool -Day 32

We got together at Alison (Clay's sister) & Jen's for a family dinner.
Jen & Alison.

Adrian cooking up some pork sticks.

Deanna & Flora Mae (Clay's grandma). Doesn't she look great for 92!!

Flowers from Alison's garden.

Clay & Great-grandma. Notice the super cool water glass on the table ... I've got to get me some of those.

Alison & Jen borrowed a kiddie pool from one of their neighbors. It was a "Splashing" success with the girls. Emma found some pretty creative uses for the boom-whackers, too.

Rebekah was always trying to hug or carry Iluma.

Just a little bit cold ...

Pike Place Market & Aquarium -Day 31

Pike Place Market is this crazy bazaar where you can find just about anything. And there is a lot going on. Tons of people, produce, flowers, and fish throwing.

These are the flowers Emma liked. Not sure how they do that.

Right next to Pike Place is the Aquarium, which the girls liked much more. Here is a crab making a crazy reflection of himself.

The touching pool.

This octopus was moving all over the place. Quite a show.

Look, it's Dory & Marlin. You can see just a tiny hint of orange in the anemone, that's Nemo hiding.

They had this cool area for kids where you can dress up as a SCUBA diver.

Rebekah loved everything except when she saw the diver in the water. That really scared her.

Ferry ride -Day 30

We took a ferry ride to Kingston, had lunch, and came back. Well, that was the plan. But Grandma left her hat at the restaurant. Clay ran back to get it and had to take a later ferry. Rebekah and I had a fun time playing on the beach while we waited for Clay.

Emma & Grandma Deanna (Clay's mom). We love you Grandma!!!

Kerry (Clay's sister) and Iluma.

Seattle -Day 29

Clay took Emma bowling while Rebekah was napping. She has gotten so used to doing something fun every day, that sitting around the house is no longer acceptable.

Rebekah loved feeding Grandma's teddy bears.

On the road again, one last time -Day 28

Rebekah feeding Grace.

Flowers from Kris' garden.

Bruce (Clay's dad) & Kris, Emma, Heidi with Rebekah, and Clay.

Before leaving Salem, we stopped at Silver Falls. Along the way we saw many Christmas tree farms. We pointed them out to Emma.

"Where? I don't see any."

"Right there."

"Those aren't Christmas trees, they don't have any ornaments on them."

Playing pooh sticks.

Here are the girls at Grandma's house in Seattle.