"A house does not have to be perfect to be a home of joy, a child does not have to behave perfectly to love and be loved, and every moment of life does not have to be perfect to be of value. Too often, I realize, we fail to see the glorious reality of the simple joy that abounds in the seemingly mundane routine of day-to-day living. Instead, we tend to idolize the past, idealize the future, and devalue the present.... What better way to show our appreciation to Heavenly Father for what we have than to embrace our lives, albeit 'ordinary' and 'unexciting,' with joy?"

--Winnie Dalley; Ensign, March 1998

Monday, January 26, 2009

Some around town fun!

We've been out having fun (and dragging Justin's mom, Joyce, along)! Here are some recent pictures!

Down on the Seattle waterfront:






At the Aquarium:





Chloe taking Grandma Joyce to see her kindergarten classroom:


And at Kindergarten Noodle Night:


At the Cougar Mountain Zoo:

Cooper not being happy about eating dinner at Taco Time after a really long day:

But getting to take pictures himself to help cheer up!

Our Special Visitor:

Grandma Joyce came to visit us! We had so much fun with her here!


You know you are from Seattle when...

1. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Enumclaw and Issaquah.
2. You consider swimming an indoor sport.
3. You keep snow chains in your trunk but they've never been used.
4. You see a person carrying an umbrella and know they must be a tourist.
5. Eating seafood isn't anything special.
6. Your lawn is mostly moss and you don't really care.
7. Your daily commute to work involves riding a ferry.
8. You know the difference between "showers followed by rain" and "rain followed by showers".
9. The sight of Mt. Rainier is still awe inspiring.
10. You're extremely picky about your coffee.
11. You yell at the TV if they pronounce the name of a city wrong or make an inaccurate Seattle reference on "Frasier" or "Grey's Anatomy."
12. You rarely wash your car because it's just going to get muddy again tomorrow.
13. You wouldn't dream of putting an air conditioner in your house.
14. You go to Eastern Washington to get some sun.
15. You can drive from your home to a lake, a river or the Puget Sound in 20 minutes or less.
16. You've seen or know someone who has seen Bigfoot.
17. You remember where you were on May 18th, 1980.
18. You get a terrible sunburn on the first really nice day of summer.
19. You look forward to SeaFair and all its related activities.
20. You take a heavy coat and a hat with you for a day at the beach.
21. You have learned to assume Christmas will be rainy, not white.
22. You've owned the same bathing suit for years because you never have a chance to wear it out.
23. You still can't believe the new Seahawks stadium is open air.
24. Your phone book contains a tide table.
25. You only visit the Space Needle if you need someplace to take out of town guests.
26. You or someone you know works at Boeing or Microsoft.
27. You "Do The Puyallup" every year.
28. You feel guilty throwing something away that could be recycled.
29. You use the word "sunbreak" and know what it means.
30. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
31. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
32. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.
33. You never go camping without water proof matches and a poncho.
34. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
35. You can point to at least 2 volcanoes even if you can't actually see them through the cloud cover.
36. You wear shorts when the temperature gets above 50 but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
37. You switch to your sandals at about 60 degrees but keep your socks on.
38. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
39. You buy new sunglasses every year because you've lost last years pair after such a long time not needing them.
40. You measure distance in hours.
41. You often switch from heat to a/c in your car in the same day.
42. You use a down comforter in the summer.
43. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.
44. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
45. You choose your vacation spot according to the best latte stands.
46. You purchase a new car and the 'Northwest Package' includes a built in umbrella holder.
47. Your children don't get chicken pox; they get 'rust spots' instead.
48. When you think 'big hair', you think of Kent.
49. You can't make it two blocks without seeing a Starbucks.
50. When you hear people from Eastern WA say they're going to the coast, you assume they mean Ocean Shores.
51. You make reference to the new neighborhood going up down the street and people have to ask, "Which one?"
52. You can't believe that people in Spokane actually have yellow grass in the winter and green grass in the summer.
53. You know how to pronounce geoduck and know that it doesn't quack or have feathers.
54. You expect snow for Valentine's Day, not Christmas.
55. You get upset when a store doesn't carry your favorite brand of bottled water.
56. You can tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai food. 57. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best and Tully's.
58. It's not a real mountain unless it has snow and has erupted within the last 200 years.
59. You go to work in the dark and come home in the dark even though you only have an 8 hour workday.
60. You've ever stood alone on a deserted street corner in the rain.
61. You can tell its summer because the rain is warmer.
62. You know what a Frango is.
63. You think the "Middle East" is Ellensburg and the "Far East" is Spokane.
64. You realize no education is required to be a weatherman. Just predict, "Partly cloudy with a chance of rain."
65. You have an earthquake story, and so does everyone else you know.
66. You can identify seven different types of rain.
67. You can identify five different cities by smell alone.
68. You thing espresso was invented in Seattle, along with Starbucks.
69. You know what 'Sodo Mojo' is.
70. You can turn in any direction and be within a stones throw of an Indian-run casino.
71. You think summer starts in July and winter in September.
72. It's not a real windstorm until your lawn ornaments blow away.
73. You know exactly where Tom Hank's boathouse was in "Sleepless In Seattle".
74. You know who J.P. Patches is.
75. At least one of your neighbors has a hot tub they haven't used in over a year.
76. You know who really 'let the dogs out'.
77. You become frightened by the bright yellow orb in the sky until the 9-1-1 operator tells you it's just the sun.
78. You've used every setting on your intermittent wipers.
79. You know you better enjoy the snow the first day it falls before the rain washes it away.
80. You marvel when the autumn leaves stay on the trees for more than three days before the rain knocks them to the ground.
81. You can't imagine living through a tornado or hurricane but you secretly think earthquakes are kind of fun.
82. You give directions using the Puget Sound and Cascade mountains as points of reference.
83. You lose your sense of direction if you go east of the Cascade mountains.
84. You know at least 5 different ways to kill slugs.
85. You know at least 10 different recipes that call for blackberries.
86. You are not sure of the color of your house because of all of the rhododendron bushes planted in front of it.
87. You know the difference between a rhododendron and an azalea.
88. You know what a Dick's Deluxe is.
89. You or your family member live "in the woods".
90. You can endure 100 days of rain and wind but an inch of snow means school cancellations.
91. You consider an antique anything mad before 1970.
92. You know someone whose house has been partially crushed by a tree.
93. You know the difference between an evergreen and a deciduous tree.
94. You don't know what a turnpike is.
95. You own a barbeque that has rusted.
96. You change your wiper blades more often than your oil.
97. Your idea of dancing is nodding your head vigorously.
98. You use your defogger and your AC at the same time.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Double Trouble

My brother and his cute family FINALLY moved back out here to Seattle and Chloe and Cooper couldn't be happier! Up until now, we haven't had any cousins that lived around here! After dinner last night, Cooper and Theo climbed up on a chair and were conspiring to turn the lights on and off. It was really funny!




Thursday, January 8, 2009

Throwback Thursday

As you may have concluded from my lack of blog posts since the New Year, we've been keeping a low profile and not doing too much. Cooper has been sick since Saturday, but he is finally on the mend and regaining his adorable personality! Chloe started back at school on Monday and couldn't be happier! Because of the five snow days right before break, she had been out of school for almost three weeks. We're all excited to be getting back into our routines!

And for a lack of anything interesting to post, we'll call it Throwback Thursday and here is a picture of Chloe and Cooper with their cousin Abby last April in Salt Lake City. We're planning another trip to Utah in April and we're excited to get to play with "the cousins!" And incase it isn't obvious by the height difference, Chloe and Abby are only 10 months apart in age!



New chairs!

Last August, I posted about my dream Pottery Barn table that I found for a steal. Well, since then, our dining room has been in transition and a bit mismatched! We finally got rid of the HUGE computer armoire that had been in there and this week, thanks to a very generous Christmas gift from my grandparents, we were able to purchase six new chairs to match the table! I am so excited to see the room coming together! I'm not ready to post pics of it yet because A: Justin hasn't finished building all the chairs yet (yes, having to build them yourselves makes chairs more affordable!) and B: I don't have anything hanging on the wall where the huge armoire was and it is a large, blank, white wall! I need to find a large mirror or something...

Anyways, just thought I'd share!

(these are our new chairs, but obviously that isn't my house!)

Saturday, January 3, 2009

We're gonna party like its 2009!

Chloe wanted to go to a "party" on New Year's Eve, so that is exactly what we did! Well, we went to Celebration Lane over by Bellevue Square and partied... at 7pm! We danced and cheered and rang in the new year at a resonable hour-- then went home, put Cooper to bed and had some ice cream! Woohoo











Cooper's Private New Year's Eve Party

In honor of the new year, Cooper threw a little party in his crib during his naptime on New Year's Eve! I have to go in and get him up from his nap as soon as I hear him starting to stir or this is what I find: