Last 2 weeks

Life at 8417 82nd St. SW #304:


My birthday cake that Sonny and Tay made me... there are no candles because Sonny thought I was turning 31...


Taylor is absolutely loving the pool in our apartment complex. He wants to swim constantly, even in cold weather.


Spitting water on me


A circus trick



Tay has figured out that he can take his favorite toys with him everywhere!


Great picture eh? We went to Red Mill Burgers in Seattle for my 30th b-day. It's supposedly one of the best burgers in the U.S. It was pretty dang good!


One of Sonny and Tay's favorite things to do... throwing rocks into the water... totally a guy thing


A cold day in Washington


Oh man, I wish he would have been looking at the camera!


Tay's croc boots are perfect for the rocky beaches here




And lastly, I forgot to post this earlier, this is where I slept the first night in our apartment... before we had access to anything in our pods...lovely


and this is where Sonny slept... he refused to even buy an inflatable pool mattress at Walmart ... and he said he didn't need a blanket too... what a trooper. Needness to say, he regreted it the next morning.

our washington life, at present

Well, we finally got out of the Marriott and found a pretty nice apartment 1/2 hour away in Lakewood, WA. It's about 10 minutes from Fort Lewis, where Sonny will work, and about 30 minutes from Seattle. Lakewood is lots of small lakes and tons of military people. It's going to be fun when Sonny finally gets his uniform then we'll really fit in! So, we signed a lease only until the beginning of October because we hope to have found our home by then! We are both already sick of the apartment. We live ono the 3rd floor and have discovered that we have some very crazy neighbors...And Sonny doesn't have to start working until the 27th so we're busy house hunting, getting our apartment situated, and checking out a different beach every night. There are tons by us! Rocky ones though, no sand. But still really beautiful. We unloaded about 1/3 of our stuff, just the stuff that we need for 3 months. We had some help from the missionaries, thank goodness! Anyways, Taylor is loving swimming in the pool (he gets the go in only if he wears his floaties... he's had too many close calls... he tried to jump off a huge rock into the ocean... yep). It's funny how kids don't like wearing them, too restricting I guess. taylor has adjusted pretty well. The first few nights were tough and lately, he's started to say, "go home, go home!" oh man, how sad, how do you explain to them about that? But we're doing ok. I've been spoiled living by family for so long that it is really strange and sad not having them close by. and not having an instant babysitter! But we are liking Washington so far. I'll post some facts about Washington soon, and some new pictures too!

First outing

Here's some pictures of our first official outing in Washington. We drove to this waterfall about 1/2 from where we're staying, called Snoqualmie Falls. We hiked through some really pretty woods down to the rushing river. It was perfect weather too and the water was so clear and clean. Right before we left, Sonny decided to go all the way in, fully clothed! It did look kinda fun. But I was too chicken to join him :) It sure was really nice to be out in nature for a little bit!

Washington!

We are now officially out of California and into Washington! Sonny drove our car up on Friday and Taylor and I just arrived by plane last night. It is the weirdest thing in the world but very exciting! It feels like we are on vacation and will eventually get back to our usual lives back in Loma Linda. We got so used to being in California and in a familiar and comfortable environment that it is quite the change! We are staying in a nice Marriott Suites in Renton, about 20 minutes south of Seattle. It has a huge pool, which Tay loves, and a continental breakfast. I think staying in a Marriott presently adds to the unusual-ness of it. Once we get settled and buy a house (hopefully in the next few months), things will feel more normal. We had the chance to visit Tacoma for the first time back in 2007. We came during Christmas time when it was pretty cold but this time, we arrived during the summer. It is perfect weather, about in the 70's. We were glad to leave the very humid, sweaty heat of California. So, for our first day here together, Sonny and Taylor took a dive in the pool this morning and then after naps, we all drove into Seattle. We were planning to visit Pikes Place Market again but unfortunately got there after closing. We decided to just walk a little bit down by the piers and then got some dinner there. We are having so much fun here so far!


The Marriott Suites where we are staying right now


A little bit of Dicken's in Seattle... a neat shop with weird, historical trinkets and things


A view off one of the piers where we ate dinner


Taylor found some water in Seattle


We found a big shop full of just pirate stuff. Taylor was in heaven


Aaarrrgh!


A cool view down towards the water


Big tall buildings


A fountain close to Pikes Place Market


A distant twilight view of the Space Needle


Where we grabed some dinner


Riding the pig at Pikes Place Market


Driving into Seattle


Yea 5 freeway!


And lastly, sorry, I had to add this, a disgusting, scary 200 year old mummy they had displayed in the Curiosity shop!!!

PLAYING AROUND

Disneyland without kids rules!!! Don't get me wrong, I still get a kick out of going on Pirates of the Caribbean with Taylor over and over but once and a while, WOW, it's super nice not to have a stroller attached to me! So, Sonny and I finally had a chance to go to D-land with some good friends. Thanks Nelsons and Records for coming along with us. We had a blast! We got there around 7 pm and found out that Disneyland park was closed but that California Adventure was still open. It was the second to last day for people to use their annual passes until it starts to blockout for the summer so I wasn't surprised. But somehow, crowds and lines are ok when it's just adults! Well, I love roller coasters and so was very excited to go on California Screamin', twice... in the dark is the best! We soared over beautiful Cali (oh, how I'll miss you) and got totally soaked on the rapids ride. I love the Tower of Terror :) I always get nervous on it even though I've been on it many times. Once California Adventure closed, we headed over to Disneyland park ( For some reason it opened again) and caught the Indiana Jones ride. We were going to try the single rider line but when we got there, they weren't giving out any more passes. Just as we were about to leave, one of the workers found some for us. So we had about a 10 minute instead of a 90 minute wait. Totally awesome! By midnight, we were all really pooped from running around like a bunch of teenagers, you know, trying to get in as many rides as possible! We had a fantastic time and will miss all of our friends when we move :(

We are family

We had a wonderful time with both mine and Sonny's family over graduation week. We did a lot of fun things!


My Mom, Sister, and Roy engaged in a deep conversation... My great uncle Roy came down from Valencia to spend the day with us! It's always fun to see him.



We all stayed in an awesome time share right on the beach (loved it!) in Oceanside for a couple of days. We ate at a nice restaurant on the pier where Sonny and his brother shared the "Slam Fest." They literally slam a pile of seafood on the table on a piece of paper and just dig in. They both pigged out big time!


Here Sonny's sister, Carley, and her husband Myles are enjoying their yummy dinner. They came down from Boise.


Me trying once again to get a "decent" picture of Taylor and I. It never works! Great pose, eh? Half way up, half way down...


Us at a secluded beach in La Jolla. It was a pretty cold day but still... it's the beach! It's always beautiful no matter what! Behind us is a rock full of grazing Sea Lions.



Taylor's swimsuit was a little too big!


Sonny's brother Bo and his wife and kids drove all the way down from Rigby, Idaho. They were nice enough to hang out with us at the freezing cold beach! The kids really enjoyed collecting sea shells and found a cool sand crab.



An attempted cousin picture! crazy!


We spent a day at Disneyland with his fam and even got to ride Thunder Mountain together!


All of us waiting in line for Thunder Mountain! Yeah! Our one big ride of the day!


Taylor went back to take a nap and when he woke up, was happy, refreshed, and ready to continue his day at Disneyland. It was so nice to have the timeshare so close so that he could take a much needed nap and so that I could rest too:) Here Tay is waiting for dad to come take him back to D-land! I love those shoes!


Sonny's family wanted to take a gander at the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. There were lots of crazy but cool people down there. Tay even got to meet his buddy, Captain Jack Sparrow! I have no idea who the guy is next to him...


On graduation day, we got a pirate ship pinata for all the kids. Tay loved all the chocolate candy (tootsie rolls)


My sister, Sarah and her husband, Rocky, came down for the party from Orange County. And that's my cool dad walking into the picture too.


Tay loves his swords and wacking things so hitting the pinata was right up his alley.


We also spent a day at the San Diego Zoo. What a nice place! Overall, we all had a fun time together. Thanks to mine and Sonny's family for taking the time out to come down and see Sonny graduate!