Random July Photos

The previous two posts were also in July but this is the random extras that didn't quite fit in.  We went to see the fireworks in Edmonds, a small town next to ours.  We hadn't bargained for fireworks not starting until 10 pm because it stays light so late here.  The kids were good sports about the whole thing.  We celebrated Pioneer day with napkin bonnets. Lastly but perhaps most importantly, in late July we made a very important discovery while riding bikes on the bike trail behind our house, wild blackberries.  Along most of the bike trail, as well as all around town, there are wild blackberry bushes.  We picked probably upwards of 10 pounds of blackberries during July and August.  We made cobblers, jam, smoothies, sorbet, and of course ate them fresh.  It was a wonderful discovery.  Next year we will probably pick considerably fewer raspberries knowing that we can get all the blackberries that we want for free. :)

New BFFs the Greens

We found a family with more girls than ours, the Greens.  Stephanie, the mom, was my roommate back at BYU and she lives in Dallas, Oregon about 5 hours south of us. The Greens have 7 kids, all girls, including everybody's favorites, the youngest two who are "matching babies" (twins). We went down and visited them in Oregon and then they came up and visited us here.  Both trips were tons of fun. Steph's middle three are the same ages as the girls in our family so everybody had an insta-buddy.  The most exciting part of both trips were the "sleepovers".  The Greens have both a triple and regular bunk beds in one room so that was a definite highlight. We look forward to seeing them again.

First Few Weeks in Seattle

This is really the first month or so in Seattle. We hit up several hikes and beaches upon our arrival in Seattle.  The water was too cold for real swimming but the shell collecting potential as well as the drift wood for fort building was a good compensation.

Within the first couple of weeks there was "Take Your Kid(s) to Work Day" at Amazon. Since Collin had barely started we only went for a short time in the event.  We met up with some friends from Provo, by chance, on the shuttle which was fun. Clara and Blake were in the same preschool with Miss Rebecca last year. We also went raspberry picking at a farm about an hour away.  We spent way too much on raspberries because there were just millions of perfect specimens of raspberries just waiting to be picked and it was really hard to walk away.

The Big Move!

Moving out ↑

Packing up was about as easy as it could've been since other people were doing it for us, but it was still two very long, hot days.  The kids played at friends' houses and Aunt Cambrie came down and entertained monkeys in an almost empty house the last day while Collin and I cleaned rooms as fast as they were emptied.  Poor Clara got a migraine, probably because she was dehydrated, and spent the last hour in our old house waiting to throw up and then passed out in the bathroom.  Because of all of that confusion we left the kids' scooters and helmets behind in the garage when we locked up and drove to Great G & G Roueche's house for the night.  Luckily we knew other people moving to Seattle and we arranged to have them throw the scooters on their moving truck.

We decided to drive to Washington instead of flying.  The highlight of the trip was the awesome hotel in Oregon which had a pool, a separate bedroom for the girls, and a delicious breakfast. Everybody was really excited when we finally made it to the new place. 

Moving in ↓

It was a delightful move for the girls, they got shifted around the house watching movies while Collin and I directed the movers.  The movers were the ones who really had the hard work.  They had to haul stuff up to the second and third floors! Luckily for them, we left the piano by the front door.  They sounded like they were having a baby trying to get the big dresser up to the master bedroom. "PUSH! (followed by inhuman grunt) PUSH!" It was crazy.  The Queen box spring had to come over the balcony since it couldn't fit in the stairway.  Overall for us a very smooth move and an exciting beginning to our new life in Seattle.

Leona's First Haircut

On June 2nd Leona had her first haircut, trim really.  It was hard to trim off those baby curls at the end but her hair was getting a bit snaggly.  Don't be fooled by the weird grimaces in the photos, they are just because I made her take her eyes off of the computer screen and she wanted to be watching the show.  Even after her cut she still has perfect curls on the ends of her hair and has natural volume and highlights throughout her lovely, golden locks.