June 29, 2008

Trip to Seattle
We took our summer vacation during the first week of June. We left for Washington on a direct flight from Kansas City on Saturday, May 31st - and returned home on Monday, June 9th. We stayed at my parent's beautiful new home while we were there and had a great time visiting family. My parents have built a new home in Puyallup that has a clear view of Mount Ranier.

Christine and I left for 2 days while we were there and spent time together in downtown Seattle. While in Seattle, Christine and I took a harbor tour, visited the acquarium, went through Pike Place market, went to IKEA (we'd never been to one before), ate at the Melting Pot, Cheesecake Factory, caught a movie, relaxed, and walked a lot in the rain. Unfortunately, it rained most of the time we were there. Good thing we had familiy to entertain us.

Christine and I finished our hiatus at the temple--meeting the kids and grandpa and grandma as we got finished. We took the kids to the Museum of Flight, and later that week- went to the Seattle Science Center (which was nice but doesn't hold a candle to the Indianpolis Children's museum). We also were able to be a part Joy's baby blessing. Joy is the new daughter of Alicia and David Millett. We had a wonderful time visiting my parents, Richard, Alicia, and their families.


Sweetpea
The kids were quite tired by the time we landed back in Kansas City--and we still had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us. Needless to say, the kids were not on their best behavior for the car ride home- so Christine decided to ask the children to each share their favorite part of the vacation--this got them all quieted down. After they each shared, Christine turned to me and asked what my favorite part of the vacation was. I responded that my favorite part of vacation was when I got to go away with my sweetheart...to which Elena responded "With me?" That brought a huge smile to our faces.

Company
Last weekend, our good friends the Pyes from Ohio came to see us. They were on a special zoo vacation with their family- stopping at various zoos around the midwest. Kansas was as far west as they went- so we felt privileged to be a part of their trip. We had a nice time going to a water park with the kids, and playing games in the evenings with Richard and Denise. This week, we have Kiara (Debbie's oldest) with us. Kiara is 14 and has done a tremendous job entertaining our kids. She's here with us until July 3rd- when her family (the Pratts) arrive to spend the weekend with us.