Baseball & Fireworks!

We've started July with a bang - literally! This past Wed. we got to go to a Mariner's game, compliments of the Puget Sound Baptist Association Church Planter's Network. It was great just to go see some baseball - the Mariner's won! And also to meet some other church planters here in the North West as well as catch up with friends we had met during our training week.

Hannah was very excited her new friend Addie was there!














Chuck and Angila were able to join us.




























We had a great 4th of July! Some of the families in our subdivision, called Highland Court, came together to organize a block party, which was held at the Highland Court playground. Several of us brought our grills and everyone brought food pot-luck style. It was so good for us because we were able to meet more of our neighbors and discovered that there are a few other families with smaller children here. In fact, there are 2 little girls around Hannah's age. No one yet for Kaitlyn to play with, but there are many more homes yet to be filled here. Since the party we've already had a couple of kids over to play and have arranged a play date at another home for tomorrow. Not to mention everyone we meet up with at the playground and as Hannah is enjoying her new bike!

The kids had fun with some fireworks early in the evening. Hannah really liked throwing the snaps. Dale even helped Kaitlyn throw down a few. There was a really cool firework that dropped a ton of little parachutes that the kids all ran after. Then around 9:30, we had a big fireworks display. On a side note, we have discovered that everyone REALLY gets into the fireworks here around 4th of July. It started over a week before the 4th. We'd hear fireworks off and on throughout the day and night, increasing in intensity up until the 4th. The fireworks that went off in our neighborhood and those surrounding us were just as good as any professional show I've seen. And it sounded like a war zone up through midnight! It was crazy! But that's just how it is around here apparently. Then July 5th - nothing.

Here are some of the pics from our block party...

Another Day on the Town

Last Friday we took Dale's mom sightseeing in downtown Seattle. There is so much to do here we filled our day with completely different things than when we took my parents downtown a week prior. Let me forewarn you, I went a little crazy with the pictures in this post. There are many!

First we took a Duck Tour. It was quite interesting and fun. This is a Duck out of water.....















and this is a duck in the water... It was a 90 minute tour of downtown Seattle and one of Seattle's bodies of water. It was a great way to see Seattle and learn about its history and uniqueness.















Hannah had a blast on this. Our tour captain, who was dressed as a pirate and called himself "Captain Stew Pendous" (yeah, a little cheesy) made it interesting and especially fun for the kids.















This is a picture of Lake Union with the Cascade Mountain Range behind it taken from the tallest over-water bridge in North America. By the way, in case you don't already know you can double-click on any photo and it will zoom in.















One of the biggest yachts docked in Seattle. Our captain told us that there are 5 of these docked in Seattle, one of which belongs to Bill Gates. We cruised around awhile looking for The Northwestern. For those of you who are Deadliest Catch fans, like Dale, you know what I'm talking about. Our tour captain was a crab fisherman at one point and knows the brothers who own The Northwestern, and said it was docked somewhere in Seattle for repairs. We never did find it, to Dale's disappointment.















After our tour we went to the Space Needle.






























Mt. Rainier and the Seattle skyline















The Olympic Mountain Range across the Sound.















After leaving the Space Needle we decided to take a ferry over to Bainbridge Island. It was about a 30 minute ride. We ate dinner on the Island and then returned.






























Kaitlyn grabbed her snack and plopped down right on the deck to eat.















Hannah had a blast taking pictures with her new camera (b-day gift from Grandma). She can take real pictures with it and actually did a pretty good job. I'll have to download a few later.















Here are a couple taken from the ferry at sunset. Can you believe it was about 9:30 p.m. when these were taken?!

Hannah's Big Day!

Today is Hannah's 4th birthday and she has been so excited to turn 4! She told me this morning she thinks she's a little bigger today. We started the day with some chocolate chip pancakes and strawberries for breakfast. Originally I had planned for us to spend the day together just as a family doing lots of fun things with Hannah, since we've just moved and don't yet know many people. Also, with all that's been on our plate after a big move, that just sounded easier. But during the last week I decided to switch gears because Hannah has been pretty sad off and on missing her friends in Nashville. So, I decided to invite the few kids we do know at the last minute for a party at the park. I thought if 1 or 2 show up that will be great. Everyone I invited came plus a couple of extras! It was awesome and Hannah had a blast! And it was an absolutely beautiful day to be outside.

Here's a good sister pic.














Of course she had to have a Princess cake!














Here's all the kids that helped make Hannah's day so special!














How many girls can you fit on a tire swing?!














Kaitlyn doesn't need company to have a great time.














This park is awesome. The girls are at the foot of a big hill about to go exploring on some trails through the woods.














Kaitlyn found a new favorite - the slide. She finally worked up the nerve to slide by herself and after landing I'd pick her up and she'd point to the top and say "again". So I'd sit her at the top and off she'd go.














After leaving the park we joined our new friend Addison and her brothers at Subway for lunch. I think these two will get along just fine!














After Subway Hannah got to go on a Toys 'r Us shopping spree, thanks to Grandma. She came out with quite a loot! Here are Grandma and Hannah with 2 of her favorites - Belle and Cinderella!














Hannah's been wanting to go to Chuck E. Cheese's for awhile, so we took her there for dinner. Kaitlyn could hardly sit still in her high chair in the concert room. She literally danced through dinner!














And finally, we gave Hannah her first bicycle. She was very excited to get it and was riding it fairly well down the street this evening.














We are so very thankful for Hannah and the joy she brings to us. And after only being here a little more than 3 weeks we were amazed at how things came together for Hannah to be able to play with so many new friends. God knows just what she needs and has shown us today that He's providing for her too. She even met a new friend at Chuck E. Cheese's tonight. They were inseparable, so of course I had to exchange phone numbers with her mom so the girls can play again. Thanks to our sociable daughter, we are getting to meet people pretty quickly! We are all exhausted, but it's been a very good day!

Birthday Surprise

Hannah was surprised yesterday by an early birthday delivery. Eddie & Brenda and Kevin & Tricia, her former IBC Sunday school teachers and good friends sent her a cookie bouquet. The delivery guy called us before arriving, so we let her answer the door. She felt so special to receive her very own personal delivery! The funny thing was she couldn't quite understand how our friends got the cookies here all the way from Nashville! They were good to send them early. It's going to take her at least a week to eat these cookies - maybe less with a little help. :)

Exciting Discoveries

I've discovered 2 things this week that really excite me......

1) Chevy's Fresh Mex - We had Father's Day dinner here and I must admit that I was delightfully surprised. I never dreamed this Texan would like a NW Mexican food restaurant this much. But it was the most like Tex-mex I've ever tasted, not being in TX. I mean, it ranks up there with Papasitos, people! Not quite, but almost. And that's good enough for me. The best part is, it's not even 10 minutes from our house! :)

2) Fred Meyer's Playplace - Fred Meyer is kind of like Wal-Mart, except all of them include groceries. I've been twice this week. The first time, I get into the store and realize I left my lengthy grocery list at the house. So, I'm having to shop by memory, I don't know where anything is and I have Hannah who is asking a question a second and Kaitlyn who doesn't want to sit still. I end up having to cut my trip short b/c Kaitlyn gets too upset to continue. So, today I went back to finish shopping. I had less than 10 items so I'm thinking, "We can do this." Since I still don't know how this store is set up, I'm walking back and forth looking for my 8 or so items, mostly with Kaitlyn in my arms as I'm pushing the cart. She kept standing up in it and refused to sit. Then Hannah says she needs to go potty. I only had a couple more things to buy, but I definitely didn't want an accident to add to the fun. I finally found the restrooms at the front of the store. As we were making our way there we passed the "Playplace". It's basically a staffed play area where you can drop off your children, ages 2-5, while you shop! They do have a time limit of 1 hour, but who wants to be in a grocery store for longer than that anyway? They had me read and sign a list of rules, show my ID, sign Hannah in and out and they gave us matching bracelets, so I felt comfortable leaving her there while I finished shopping. It's genius. I can't believe this idea hasn't caught on in more places. I will definitely choose to shop there over other grocery stores - especially when Kaitlyn reaches 2! I had to laugh though after my 2 experiences this week - that I didn't even realize it was there until we were almost done today!

Mt. Rainier

This past Friday we visited Mt. Rainier and it was some of the most beautiful creation I have ever seen personally. It is about 75 miles south of Seattle and towers in the city's skyline on a clear day. It is a part of the Cascade Mountain Range.














The girls' favorite part of the trip was getting to play in the snow. Hannah loved having snow ball fights and Kaitlyn loved eating it. Snow ball fights in June - never would have thought we'd do that!




























The scenic pictures don't do it justice, but at least they give you an idea of our experience.
























































The following are pictures of Mt. Rainier's peak.

Change

Change. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's not. For me it's almost always a challenge either way. Here are a few interesting changes, for better or for worse, we are having to get used to in a new place....

1. Wearing jeans and sweatshirts in JUNE. Yes, the weather has been quite chilly even during the day. People are telling us that this is unusual for June. I'd say. I do feel bad complaining too much though since our friends in Nashville and TX are sweating in the 90-degree heat! We do have a nice gas fire place that comes alive at the flip of a switch. That's pretty cool.

2. Living in a 2-story house. I know I'm out of shape when I'm feeling a little sore simply from living in a 2-story for 2 weeks!

3. Having a microwave that is smarter than I am. For instance, if you want to reheat pizza. You push "reheat". Then it gives you a choice of several food options, pizza being one of them, so you push "pizza". Then it gives you the option of choosing "thin crust" or "thick crust". Once you've made that choice, then it asks how many slices you are reheating. Once you've inputed all the appropriate information, it automatically sets itself and the pizza is heated to perfection. Amazing. Some of you may think this is no big deal. But, up until now, we've had a hand-me-down microwave that was probably one of the first ones out on the market.

4. Living in a brand new house - no remodeling necessary. Hallelujah!

5. No Blue Bell Ice Cream - This one's a tough one. We finally got it in Nashville a couple of years ago, then we left. Shame on us!

6. Seeing snow-capped mountains in the distance as we drive around town. This is very nice.... very, very nice. In fact we are about an hour away from the nearest ski slopes. Can't wait for ski season!!

7. No Sonic or Chick-fil-a. In fact, while there are a variety of fast food restaurants here, they are not on every corner as we are used to. No Taco Bell either. Although there is "Taco Time", which we haven't ventured into yet.....

8. Seeing the sun come up around 5:30 a.m. and not go back down completely until almost 10 p.m. It's definitely got Hannah confused about bed time!

Downtown Seattle

After a week and a half of mostly unpacking, painting and settling in, we went sight seeing today downtown with my parents. It was a nice June day with a high of 59! No rain though.

Our first stop was lunch at Ivar's right on the Puget Sound. We ate fish 'n chips and then fed our left-overs to the seagulls. They were eager and Hannah got a kick out of it!














Then we headed to the famous Pike Place Market. Wow! We'll have to go back to experience it fully - 3 levels of cool restaurants and vendors selling fresh farm produce, flowers and many other items. This picture is taken right in front of the fish market. We even saw them throw a few.














Here's the group (decked out in jackets) just after seeing the very first Starbuck's. It's really not much to see. Just a coffee shop - and a small one at that.














After Pike Place we visited the Seattle Aquarium located right on the Sound as well. Kaitlyn's favorite part was posing in this octopus. Really. We could hardly get her to leave this spot. She also really liked looking at all the colorful fish and pointing at them.














Here's Hannah being "attacked" by a huge octopus! It's a good thing she escaped b/c she had a blast going through the aquarium.














These last pictures are of us at Kinnear Park on Queen Anne Hill overlooking the city and the Sound. It's really a beautiful place. If it was a clear day you could see Mt. Ranier just to the right of the skyline. Kaitlyn missed out since she was sound asleep and we dared not wake her.










































Being in the NW has made us all a little crazy!!!