Recent Trip to Seattle - Part 4

Wednesday after our official photo shoot, everyone hung around and we took some snapshots and then I went with Brandon, Duane, and Dennis to find a good pizza place for dinner. We found an awesome authentic Italian place and ordered four huge pizzas to take back to Grandma & Grandpa's. While we waited on the pizzas, we enjoyed a free appetizer of some amazing artichoke dip with pita bread.

For dinner Wednesday, we decided to go to the Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville. We got there too late for a tour, but we had a great dinner and enjoyed visiting with Brandon's cousin, Brandy, and her boyfriend. I also got to have my first salmon of the week since I ordered the Coho salmon sandwich. Yum!

That night, we all headed back to The Liquid Lime for more karaoke. We had a great time. No singing for me this time, although I did try. We put our name in for two group songs, but they were so busy that Regina never got around to them. No biggie though - I enjoyed watching everyone else! And once again, we stayed until the place closed down at 2:00!

Thursday afternoon we took the bus to Safeco Field to see the Mariners play the Twins. We got there early enough to go across the street to the beer garden at Pyramid Ale House. We wanted to go inside and eat, but it was just too crowded. They had a limited menu outside, though, so that was fine. We just ate standing up in the beer garden. This was also where we met up with Leah, Josiah, and Leah's husband Daniel. They had our tickets.

The game was fun. It was ladies' night, so we all got cute little tote bags when we went in. Our seats were pretty close to the field, so I actually had a harder time following the actual game than I usually do when we sit up high and can see everything, but that was OK. We were right in front of Ichiro Suzuki, so that was pretty cool. And the Mariners won, so that was even better! They haven't had the greatest season this year, so it was nice that they won when we were there. Here are a few pics from the game.

I rarely wear caps, but they had a special on women's caps at the game, and I got this one. I love it!

Kelley & Abby keeping warm.

It started drizzling, so they closed the roof.

"Mariners Win!"

Recent Trip to Seattle - Part 3 - Family Photos!

Wednesday was a special day on our trip. Jaime's sister-in-law, Catherine, came over and did a photo shoot for us. She is an awesome photographer! You can see her work here at CALIMA Portraits. I wish the entire family could have been there, but that would've been almost impossible. Several were at work & school, and a few just couldn't make it into town. Anyway, here are some of the many photos she took that day. As usual, you can click on each photo to see a larger image. I'm so proud of them!

Grandma & Grandpa

With all of their Children

Everyone Present

Brandon With His Dad & Sisters

Our Family Minus Joel & Our Brothers-in-Law

Dennis & Brooke

Duane With Jaime, Quinn, and Bailey

Joan's Family

Brandon's Sisters

Our First Professional Photo in Years!

Bruce & Deborah

Grandpa In his POW Hat & Blazer

Sweet Couple!

Recent Trip to Seattle - Part 2

As I said before, we went to eat dinner at Red Robin after our excursion to Wallace Falls. We were all tired and dirty, and we had made plans with everyone to go to The Liquid Lime for karaoke with Regina, Duane's step-daughter. Unfortunately, there was no time to go back to shower & change, so we went as we were. I was so tired since I was still running on Central time, but after a while I got past it and had a great time. We ended up staying until nearly 2:00 am, and I was even convinced to get up and sing a song with the other girls!

After we left The Liquid Lime, Dennis took us by Grandma & Grandpa's house to get an overnight bag, and then we went home with him. Brandon had some work to do online for his continuing education credits and needed to use the internet the next day, so we just hung around Dennis & Joann's house most of the day while he did that. Before we went back to Gma & Gpa's house, we stopped at The Royal Orchid in Renton for our first Thai food experience. It was great!

Tuesday, Brandon & I started our day off with a sauna - a very Finnish thing to do - and then just hung around the house with family. That afternoon, we went to the grocery store and picked up the ingredients for his shrimp gumbo, which he made for supper. Most of the family dropped by at some point that evening and had some, and then late that night Kelley, Abby, and Shellby finally made it in. Everyone was excited to see them. We stayed up late visiting and finally went to bed around 2:00 or 2:30.

Recent Trip to Seattle - Part 1

Brandon and I got home Sunday from a week-long visit with family in Seattle. It was great!! I'm going to try to get all the details down here so that when I get ready to scrapbook, my journalling is already done. Maybe I won't bore my readers with all the details!

Our trip started out on Friday, May 28th. When I got off work, we took the dogs over to Mike & Jeannie's house and headed to Nashville. We arrived at Abby & Justin's around 8:30 and hung out for a while with them and a couple who was staying with them doing relief work that weekend. Then it was up bright and early at 4:00 am to get ready and head to the airport. Our flight was at 7:00.

Once on the plane, we saw some beautiful scenery. It never ceases to amaze me when I see all the geometry from the sky. It's so neat...it almost helps my feelings about flying. (Not my favorite thing in the world to do!) Our first flight was short-lived though - thankfully - and we made our first stop in Dallas. We were at that airport for about 3 1/2 hours before our next flight, so we ate lunch at a neat Mexican restaurant called Pappasito's. It was very good! Then it was on to our gate to board our flight to Seattle.

We arrived around 5:00 local time. Bruce & Deborah met us at the airport, which was nice instead of having to take a cab. It was also nice getting in while it was still daylight out. I think that's the first time we've ever gotten there before dark. We were tired, but we still had time to visit. And visit we did! Several members of Brandon's family came over to hang out for the evening. Bruce mixed up some of Grandpa's "Quail Hill Margaritas" that are famous in our family, and we all just enjoyed each other's company. It was great!

The next day, Dennis came over, and we headed to Monroe to meet up with everyone else at Jaime & Dan's house. From there, we started toward Sultan, WA, for a hike to Wallace Falls. We made a pit stop along the way at the State Salmon Hatchery, which was pretty neat.

Next stop, Wallace Falls. The hike was really pretty, although it was also really long - nearly 5 miles round trip. We had no idea what we were getting into for that little excursion, but we made it, and the views were worth the hike. Here are some photos:

Just getting started...

I loved this quote near the trailhead.

Us at an overlook

I wish I had waited a little longer for these folks to leave. This was such a pretty sight!

I loved that all the trees were covered in moss!

"Small Falls"

Braeden says "Be careful!"

This is "Lower Falls." A few from our group made it up to "Middle Falls," but no one climbed all the way to "Upper Falls." I was happy to have made it this far!

Another part of "Lower Falls"

We made it!

All the ferns & moss made the forest look prehistoric to me.

Shy little Bailey gave in and let her cousin carry her part of the way toward the end of our hike.

Pretty Fungus!

By the time we made it back to our cars, we were all exhausted and hungry. Jaime's husband, Dan, had gone to McDonald's and had some chicken nuggets waiting on us, which helped somewhat. As tired and dirty as we were, we wanted some real food, so we all headed to Red Robin after a quick stop back at Jaime & Dan's house.

The Roof is Finished!

I'm seriously behind in blogging and have been trying to type up some posts about our recent trip to Seattle, but I wanted to also share a photo of our brand new roof. I love it! What do you think? You can't really tell the color from the glare, but it's a milk chocolate color. And this photo was made right after Brandon annihilated our shrubs with his new trimmer. They've grown out a little now. LOL