Welcome to Seattle!

We are North-Westeners now, we have to learn what to do in a new city and all of the surrounding areas. It's an adventure for sure and I am learning that doing things with our little family is kind of the new "norm".  

When we moved to Moscow I hid in my house for a few months.  We were going through some hard change and dealing with some personal family issues.  The kind of things you know that you won't be able to deal with.  The kind of things that leave a big hole in your gut and you find yourself wondering if  you will ever feel normal again.  Or even scarier, what your new normal will look like. Now looking back over the last six months I realize that the Lord truly doesn't give you anything you can't handle.  Even when I felt that the light at the end of the tunnel was more of a pin hole and I was wearing dark glasses through a fog. It's amazing the strength you can find from all the people around you that love you.  The strength that you can find from a loving husband who stands by your side through the bad, the good and the ugly.    

I didn't mean to go down that road but that explains why I hid out in my house.  I love that this town full of strangers allowed me to just spend time with this little family of mine (which needed to be strengthened).  We have fun together, we learn from one another and we come out better on the other side.  

One thing we have always been good at is traveling together and Seattle Exploration was a success.

Layla had learned about the space needle in school and was adamant about going to the top.  Going to the top meant overpaying, being smashed in an elevator like cattle and having the littles who are the height of some unfortunate parts of the human body being forced to smell at nose level...the strange smells that might make one gag.  Hence the smiles in the open air and the Seattle view.

While walking around the city Jake decided he needed to live in the big city and I knew for sure that I  have resigned to the fact that as much as I love the excitement of a big city... I am as small town as they come.  I also observed that we are very much on the summit of a new stage in our life, the kind with no port a cribs, strollers or diaper bags.  With this new phase I have learned, however, that this also means we must invest in a back pack to carry all of our stuff.

We visited the Seattle temple with all of its gardens and beauty.

Miss Layla's teeth have already grown back in....

 so I wanted to make sure I remembered this gummy smile forever.

Sometimes I feel frustrated when I ask my kids to be serious for just a moment, then I realize who their father is and I know they come by it naturally.

The Seattle zoo was a hit and we were honored to know they hung this sign just for us.

Jake you are so real, it's scary.  

A trip to Seattle gives you the choice of three sporting events.  Let's see if I can name them all:

Seattle Super Sonics - Basketball

Seattle Mariners - Baseball

Seattle Seahawks - Football

Pretty good for a cheerleader, right?

Had a blast at the baseball game, I really love baseball and it has nothing to do with the cute uniforms.