Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Road Trip Documentary

We're leaving on our Road trip tomorrow! I'm so excited! I'm taking a little break in between packing, cleaning and doing some laundry right now to post this entry. I intend on documenting our trip with as many pictures and posts as possible. This is what our tentative scheduled trip looks like right now:

 Woohoo!! Can't wait to start! I hope Claire likes hanging out in her carseat because we have about 130 hours of driving time ahead of us!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

My Favorite Little Elephant


 Ok, so this is my Halloween post. Yes, I know it was almost a week ago. I'm lame. Oh well. Anyways, on Halloween I took Claire to visit Jason at Microsoft and we did a little trick or treating there. She got pretty good at picking up a candy and putting it in her little black caldron.

 


 Later on, I took her trick or treating through the neighborhood with a friend and her 7 year old daughter. I think I would have felt a little awkward if it was just me and Claire, asking for candy, but since there was another kid, I didn't! Jason and I are still enjoying the "benefits" of Halloween--eating all of Claire's candy!!
Besides wanting to get candy, I really was excited to dress her up ad expose her to the fun tradition of trick or treating. I know it doesn't mean much to her now, but it made for some great pictures!

By the way, thanks to a little lollipop that she got a hold of, she got the proper motivation to help her start walking! I guess good things do come from a little sugar. :)


 
Here's a video to prove it!
 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Wicked!

Last week I got to see the musical Wicked at the Paramount theater in downtown Seattle. I went with some great friends and we had a great time! The music was amazing, the dialogue hilarious. The combination of incredible singing, superb acting and a very colorful set made for an enthralling show. I got sucked into it! I have to admit that Galinda, or Glinda ( with the GUH being silent) was my favorite character. I laughed over and over again at her hilarious lines and acting.

Jason was a sport and agreed to watch Claire while I abandoned him on his birthday. But apparently they had a great time. When I got home I saw the remains of their large blanket fort they had made and played in. :)

Thanks, Lauren, for getting the tickets! Thanks, Brittany, for being a super navigator! And thanks, Cheryl, for putting up with my silly comments during the show. ( "I hope their breath smells ok, they are singing right into each others mouths!") You girls are the best!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Microsoft Surface!


 Today the Microsoft Surface (with Windows RT) debuted! Jason has been waiting for this day for a long long time. And I'm not talking a few weeks. He said he's been waiting for this moment to buy a really good tablet for years.
So we took Claire to the mall at 8:30 this morning to wait outside the Microsoft store. After waiting in line for 4 and a half  hours Jason finally walked out with a Surface, giddy as a school boy at Christmas!
Was it worth it? Oh yeah! There is something exciting about waiting for something new. I'm sure I could have better spent my time doing something more productive, but we had fun! They event people kept handing out free stuff like M&Ms, gum and other little fun doodads, and Claire loved pushing the stroller around. And Jason has his new toy. Happy Birthday, my love!



 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Emma and Brett's Wedding

 
On Saturday Jason and I (along with Claire) attended his co-worker, Emma's, wedding. We attended their beautiful ceremony and then got to party at the reception afterwards. They had it in the boathouse at Golden Gardens park and it couldn't have been more picturesque. Gold and orange trees on a backdrop of mountains and ocean. It was a super fun evening!
Thanks, Emma, for inviting us!


Getting ready for the evening
 Fernanda got to play with Claire!


 




Emma and Brett! They are so awesome!
Hanging with Daddy!
I love Fernanda!

Claire especially loved dancing with her Daddy.



Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Baking Streak!

Chocolate zuchini bread--and who said you can't have it all?
     Maybe streak is the wrong word for it, but I have just made homemade food three days in a row! That's kind of a big deal for me. Like a BIG deal. I made sour cream pound cake ( with strawberries and whipped cream on top--yum yum!), then I made some chocolate zuchini bread and today I made spinach stromboli.
     Unfortunately I only have a picture of the zuchini bread. I gotta remember to document this kinda stuff! The first two turned out terrific. The stromboli....well....I made the dough and I think I let it rise too long...and I think it got a little fermented. Just a little. It still tastes OK, but it definitely had greater potential.
     Maybe it's because the weather has cooled significantly. Maybe because the holidays are approaching and somewhere in the back of mind I feel like I need to refresh my baking skills. Or maybe it's just because I finally stopped being lazy and opened up that awesome cookbook I got last Christmas! Either way, I am dang proud of myself!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Woodland Park Zoo


Yesterday Claire went to the zoo for the first time! We went with my friends Elena and Stacey and her little girl, Whitney. Claire saw lots of cool animals like lions, bears, penguins, elephants and monkeys.




 



Saying goodbye to the zoo.
 




Thursday, October 11, 2012

General Conference Weekend

This past weekend  Jason and I got to hang out with some good friends from Utah. It was so so good to see my old roommate, Christina (aka Early) and her husband, Justin. He's brown. So naturally he and I get along. :).
In between conference sessions we went to Pike Place Market, walked around downtown, went to Idylwood Park and ate at authentic local restaurants Well, maybe that last part was a goal that we never actually accomplished, but Five Guys and Red Robin were good too!

 

 "Watching" conference. Poor guys, this makes them look bad.
We just caught them during a weak moment. :)


 
I hope another year doesn't pass before we see them again. We love Christina and Justin!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Hanging With Aunt Bina and Uncle Arty, Part 2

On Friday I met up with Aunt Bina and Uncle Arty when their cruise ship docked in Seattle.
 Aunt Bina and I did some serious jean shopping at the GAP and she made me buy some super cute, skinny skinny jeans! They will be my dressy jeans since I have none. It was a lot of fun to try on clothes and have her and Claire be the judges. :)
We walked about downtown a bit and then had some terrific salmon at the Fisherman's Wharf down by the piers. It was so nice to spend more time with them. I love those two so much!!
 

 Riding the Carousel with Claire :)


Monday, September 24, 2012

Hanging with Aunt Bina and Uncle Arty, Part 1

 This weekend Jason, Claire and I drove up to Vancouver, Canada to hang out with Aunt Bina and Uncle Arty. They are going on a cruise this week that departs from Vancouver and invited us up to spend a day with them before they left.
 
The drive is about 3 hours--that's child's play for us seasoned roadtrippers!
 
Saturday we headed over to Stanley Park and spent the afternoon at the Aquarium. This aquarium is much better than the one in Seattle. They had harbor seals, dolphins and a beluga whale. We saw the dolphin show and watched a 4D video about the salmon run, which fascinated me. But then again, I'm a sucker for natural history/nature documentaries. I LOVE them!

 
 
We went back to their hotel to put our feet up for a bit and relax before heading out on the town for a fun evening.  We walked around downtown, window shopped and enjoyed some of the best Chinese food I've ever had in my life!


We left that night, after a little more chillin' time in the hotel.

 
The best part of all of this is that I will get to see them again on Friday!
Coming Up: Aunt Bina and Uncle Arty, Part 2!