Dad Drops by Seattle

When Dad called and said that a family friend, Brother Edwards had asked him to drive a car up to Seattle I was ecstatic. I love it when I have the opportunity to show my friends and family around a place that I have come to love and this was best of all because it was Dad!

To say I am a daddy's girl may be a slight understatement. I have looked up to my father since I can remember; he is the one I have confided in and who I feel really listens and understands me, even if he doesn't agree. There was even  one time in my life when I thought Dad and I had an extra special bond, just because we were the only two who had glasses in my family. My world came tumbling down when my older brother, Gary said that he was having difficulty seeing. I though he was just trying to be "cool" like me and dad. I would even call him a liar (I know such a brat)! It came to the point where my dad actually had to step in and tell me to quit it and that Gary really did need glasses. Now more people in my family wear glasses than not, but I am still close to Dad!

The only bad news about Dad coming to visit was the timing. About a day or so before Dad called and told me that he was coming I signed up for a continuing education class for the same weekend. It meant that I would only get to see Dad for a few hours while he was here. I was sad, yet grateful for any time I was given.

Saturday Dad arrived in the afternoon and spent time helping Brother Edwards until Matthew got home from the bike shop, then they just hung around and talked until I came home. We went to Pagliacci Pizza for dinner, then Matthew headed to the Crisis Clinic for his volunteer shift while Dad and I stayed up pretty late talking.

On Sunday I headed back towards Tacoma for the last day of my course while Dad, Matthew and Brother Edwards headed to church and then to see some of the sites of Seattle. Because Dad had work Monday morning he didn't get a super late flight, but I was lucky enough to meet him at the airport before he left. It as a super short trip, but I was glad we had some one on one time to talk and enjoy each other. Love ya Dad!

Flash Mob

I have always wanted to be a part of a flash mob, so when our Stake (a group of several church wards/congregations) was having a youth dance festival and wanted the adults to surprise the youth with a flash mob performance I was all in. Matthew took a little convincing because he is a bit self conscious when it comes to dancing, but he eventually agreed (I think mostly to make me happy). We had several secret practices at the church and we soon found that we would be dancing to "Thriller," "Staying Alive" and "Footloose." It was a lot of fun to practice although there were moments that Matthew and I weren't sure we were really contributing to the dance group!

On the night of the dance festival we enjoyed the efforts that all of the youth put forth to entertain us. Although none of these groups were professional we could see how hard they had all practiced in order to master the choreography. Matthew and I were very proud of our ward's youth group; they learned a swing dance routine. Other groups did hip hop dances including boys verses girls, with black lights and with props such as ladders, brooms, cups and their bodies.

 The top two pictures are from two different youth groups in our Stake and the bottom two are pictures from the youth group in our ward.

The plan for the flash mob was that as the MC was thanking all of the groups he would begin coughing. That was our clue to begin making our way towards the stage. Shortly after the coughing fit began, music from "Thriller" would start and the flash mob would begin! It was a so much fun. The best part was the kids' reaction; they were completely surprised, many began cheering and clapping. It was fun to talk to a couple of the young women whose mothers were in the mob because they thought it was really cool, but were super embarrassed that their moms participated.

Although it wasn't the traditional sort of a flash mob it did surprise a lot of people and if I never get to do one again, I will still count this as one more thing crossed of my bucket list!

Happy Anniversary

Matthew and I decided to keep our anniversary low-key this year as we spent most of our dining budget while the Andersons were in town. This year we made one of our favorite dinners together, Navajo Tacos. Matthew bought me beautiful flowers that I could only spent brief moments in the same room with before my allergies went crazy or a migraine took over my head (We took a pictures so I could still look at them). I got Matthew a funny card that said, I'll love you til I croak. All in all these past four years have been spectacular. I definitely hit the husband jackpot. I know I give him a hard time about everything from being the sugar mama to his bald head and I don't express my gratitude enough for all the love he shows me, but I love him. He is my "little one", my "ball-y-bald man", my "booger-bogger", my "poop fish" and my everything and I wouldn't have him any other way!

Pastries, Art and Owls

We had visitors!!! And we got to explore/show them around the city!!! And we ate really good food!!! And it was the Andersons!!!

Matthew and I love Danielle and Cory. They are two of the people I miss the most from SLC, so we were very excited when Cory told us he and some classmates were coming up for some conferences and that Danielle was coming to join him so she could hang out with us for her last trip before Baby Boy Anderson arrives next month!

We picked up the Andersons from the airport on Friday night and we stayed up for a little while talking and catching up.

We started our Saturday by heading across the street to a local bakery called Fuji Bakery that Matthew and I have been wanting to try. We went a little crazy, but everything looked sooooooo good and it was!

After breakfast we headed to downtown Seattle to see some of the sites. We did most of the classic tourist sites including the Space Needle, the monorail, Pike Place Market and the pier. It was really fun to spend the day wandering around taking in all the different people, shops and quirks of Seattle. We made up several games to entertain ourselves including "Spot the Matthew" and we decided that if we visited enough times, Matthew and I could create a list of scavenger hunt items and have our future visitors try and find them as we showed them around. Matthew and I even added a member to our family! His name is Fredrick; he is an owl! (Okay he is an owl made of items from nature and I thought he would fit perfectly into my fall themed living room and he does!)

Some of the items we are considering for our scavenger hunt:

Where's Matt?

See the resemblance?

Yummy donuts!

 Me and Fredrick the Owl

We decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants on the pier and the clam chowder and bread bowls were good. After lunch we headed back to Pike Place and after a little more wandering back towards the monorail. On our way back to the monorail we happened upon a construction crew demolishing a building. I have never been that close to something like that and I have to say that it made me kind of sad to see something that people once worked so hard to create being tore down so easily. Before hopping onto the monorail we stopped in a few shops in the Westlake Center. While Cory and Danielle were distracted Matthew and I bought them a "wee" little baby gift. There were so many designs to choose from, but the "hot dogs" won the pee-pee teepee design contest.

The boys and their pee-pee teepee hats. Matt was worried his had been used.

Sunday morning I woke up to find Fredrick the Owl missing from the cubby hole I placed him in and he was replaced with a chica with ribbons on her hair. I knew that this could only be the work of Cory. I searched and searched and after some time of mocking Cory finally led me to the cage where Fredrick was being held.

 After church we took a little drive to the park on Mercer Island that is close to the pedestrian/bike path that is parallel to the I-90 bridge going across Lake Washington. After walking on top of the bridge for a bit we decided to take a path that led to under the bridge and explore a bit. It was a beautiful day and we got some fun and beautiful pictures.

For dinner Matthew and I decided that we had to make our yummy chicken enchiladas for theAndersons and they turned out perfectly except for one tiny detail that Matthew didn't inform anyone of until I noticed that the sauce looked much darker than usual...he burnt the spices that go into the sauce! Needless to say the enchiladas were ruined. They tasted like charcoal or at least what I imagine charcoal to taste like. Cory and I took one bite and opted for another dinner choice. I think that Danielle was so hungry because of baby boy Anderson that she ate one enchilada before giving up and Matthew ate at least two because he didn't want to waste the food. I finally convinced him that he had punished himself enough so he stopped eating them and threw away the rest. I was very sad, but it did make for a funny story!

On Monday morning we dropped Cory and Danielle off to do the Underground Tour with some of Cory's classmates. While they were doing the tour Matthew and I drove around downtown Seattle looking for random tourist attractions.

 L: Random popsicle in downtown Seattle. R: Waterfall Garden in Pioneer Square of downtown Seattle

For the rest of the Anderson's visit Cory spent most of his time in meetings while Matthew, Danielle and I wandered around Pioneer Square and Fremont.

Matthew and I had a great time with the Andersons and are so excited for them the have another family member soon!