This one's for my sisters!

So a few days ago I was cleaning the house and a specific cleaning song came to mind... I started humming it and was surprised by how much faster my cleaning went. Here's a picture to stir up your cleaning song memories.

For Veteran's day J and I went to the Lake Union Park which used to be owned by the Navy. It was fun to walk around the newly-renovated park and check out the docks. There was a really fun variety of boats including a boat that they had a farmer's market on it! And also the Arthur Foss which is an old wooden tug boat which featured a story-time that we participated in... the subject of the stories was... drumroll... tugboats! We found a spot for some Navy-themed pictures. It made me think of my grandpa and all of the stories he's told us over the years about his time in the Navy. He served through the Korean "Conflict" and the Vietnam War. I'm grateful for him. He's a very inspiring person, as I'm sure many who know him will agree.

Crayons

A few months ago while wandering through Office Depot searching for a mouse pad, I was strongly compelled to the school supplies aisle. Once there I picked up a pack of Crayola crayons and carried them with me debating with myself that buying them wasn't a silly idea. The childish side won the debate with the assurance that the crayons weren't for me at all but rather for my little J. (who is 1 year and 2 months old). All the while knowing that he probably wasn't ready for coloring sessions.

Yesterday was a somewhat gloomy and rainy day. To brighten things up, and because I needed some form of creative exercise, I decide J. and I were going to color. We grabbed some fresh white sheets of printer paper, my...uh... I mean J's pack of crayons, and settled on the floor in J's room. I gave J a sheet of paper and he dumped out the crayons for us. I put a crayon in J's hand and guided him a little to show him what they could do. When I thought that was under control I took a sheet and let go. I decided not to stress about whether I was creating something "good" or not and was having a lovely time of it. My focus was broken by a strange sound. Crunch, crunch. I looked over at J. Crunch, there went another one. He was biting off the tips of as many crayons as he could. I'm grateful Crayola made them non-toxic. I look forward to the day when "coloring" won't mean eating the colors.

Play date

Last week J. and I had our very first play date with a very nice lady from our ward and her two little girls. It was fun. Our children did not play together much, but that wasn't really the point I suppose... I got to know April a little better while J. got to run around and play at the park. Snacks were shared, swings were swung on, and bouncing occurred on see-saws. Needless to say it was nice to have some company for these activities.

July, August, September...

July, August, and September. Each month we had visitors. Which is a blast but I'm looking forward to being the visitor in October. I'm visiting the home state and family from the 26th to the 6th of November. Yay!

In July my lovely mother and my silly brother Michael came to see us. We were living in corporate housing (a ritzy place called "Harbor Steps") at that time so they got the "downtown experience." We walked around the town, visited the EMP/SFM, went swimming several times at the pool, shopped until Michael dropped, and then shopped some more. We were able to show them the outside of the Richmond which is where we live now but that's all they saw.

In August my two little sisters came for a visit. They had to sleep on the floor in our nearly unfurnished apartment but I dare say they still had a good time. We walked around Green Lake , went to the zoo, ate lots of good food, went to the Pacific Science center, walked Pike's, the pier, and the International district (i.e. china town). We also took them to the troll, J's favorite park, had a lovely picnic, participated in the Friday art walk/block party, and I forget what else.

September brought the in-laws, Mom and Dad Christensen. They didn't have to sleep directly on the floor, but rather on a very comfortable floor mattress. Which, I understand was still somewhat of a trial. With them we visited Leveanworth, Cashmere for the Aplets & Cotlets factory, and the Ballard Locks. We also went to Bellingham for a visit and dinner with the delightful aunt Cheri. J got really sick with an ear infection (and then an allergic reaction to his prescription) during their visit so the later half wasn't as busy nor as fun, sadly.

3 pictures from the locks.







cute grandparents

cool old lady selling at Pike's

beautiful mom

so handsome

J. at the park








J loves bath-time


K. loves A. and J.

So... it's been two months!? How did that happen? Oops. Well, we've been living in Seattle now for 1 month and 5 days. So instead of recapping I'll just throw a bunch of pictures at you. Sound good? "Yes, Katie that sounds great!"


Jonathan loves to make noise (imagine a yell here)


he also loves to kick back and relax


he's so durn cute!

caught in the act of making a mess (a daily task)

he cleans up nicely

Adam's hair is getting pretty long

one must always retain one's modesty

right when we arrived in the emerald city

a random state park we stopped at (yes, that's blue sky people)

Pike's Market flowers (p.s. loving my new camera! thanks darling hubby)

Mae Phim Thai our favorite place to eat so far

checking out the sites

lights at the market

more flowers

very blue view from our corp. housing.

thanks for looking!

washing machine world

Is the world spinning faster for everyone? Or is it just me? J. is growing up like a little weed and learning how to make more mischief every day. A. is moving us again. This time out of state. Yes, you read correctly. We're moving again after 6 months but this time it's far from all family and friends. Hurrah for change. Just as I was beginning to like it here too. It's laughable really.

Sometimes it's exciting but most of the time it's just terribly stressful. For all of us. We have a little more than a month before we go. Goodbye Bountiful, hello Seattle.

Here's a few videos for the visually minded.

J. only growled for a little over a week... so sad we loved it.