On the road again

After staying in the Redwoods for a couple of days we were on the road again, Seattle here we come.   The Northern Coast of CA was absolutely beautiful.  

Do any of you Goonies fans recognize this?

We drove through Oregon and played at a wonderful park and also found out that it is against the law to pump your own gas.  As soon as you pull up to the pump an attendant is waiting- great service!  We finally made it to Seattle after 13 glorious hours in the car, just in time to make the last part of Josh’s b-day party. 

We spend one morning in Seattle. We ate lunch at Ivars and fed the waiting seagulls our leftover french fries.  Apparently Carter was still hungry after our french fries were gone so he went to the table next to us begging for food and a nice lady shared her french fries with him (just a little embarrassing).

 

We went to the Puget Sound aquarium and saw some great marine life. Anni was watching the seals swim and mentioned that she would Love to have one of those for a pet. 

They had an awesome touching pool, and a great octopus.

 

Look at all those suckers! (meaning the octopus, not the Smith’s)

The otters were so playful and fun to watch.

We have decided that Seattle has the BEST parks ever.  The kids could have played here forever, and did I mention the weather was absolutely beautiful. 

We asked the kids what their favorite part of the vacation was and they replied “playing with cousins”.

The Redwoods

 

On our way to the Redwoods we thought we would quickly see the Golden Gate Bridge.  Unfortunately, we didn’t plan on it being the  gay pride parade day.  WOW, is all I can say.  An hour later, and after seeing many interesting and crazy (and naked) people, and a nice talk about the Family Proclamation we finally made it to the bridge.   That will be the most memorable trip to the Golden Gate Bridge I think I will ever have.  

 

We stayed at an awesome little cabin that was literally in the  middle of the Redwoods.  We could walk down the road 1/2 mile to a trail head and be in the middle of these giant trees.    We enjoyed days of playing badminton, relaxing on the hammock, picking fresh herbs from the garden out our back door and evenings in the hot tub.  Basically we just loved being outside.    

This tree trunk was amazing.   We all held hands around the tree and only got about 1/3 of the way around. 

These are such cute pic’s of Jacob I just had to include them (Jeanna I will send you the rest soon).

First stop- Gilroy, CA

Kirk and I recently decided that we want to visit all Continental 48 states with our children before they "grow up" so this summer we crossed off CA, OR, WA, ID, UT. Our first stop on our trek across the Northwestern states was Gilroy, CA to see Jeanna, Jason, and Jacob. We had a great time, as usual. We really miss these guys and wish we could see them more.

This awesome ranch (Gizdich) had hundreds of rows of stawberries, blackberries, boysenberries, and raspberries which we all enjoyed picking. My kids could have picked berries for hours.

Carter and Emma especially loved the "all you can eat" buffet.


I was very happy to find out that all the strawberry and bosenberry juices came out of their clothes without a problem -Whew!!!

You can't go to California and not visit the beach (even if it was freezing and I had to wear Kirk's jacket the whole time)

Usually Katelyn doesn't like to get dirty so I asked her if she liked burrying herself in the sand and she said "no, but it makes me warmer"

Happy Father's Day and Anniversary too

(Photo: courtesy of Kaleb)

Kirk is an awesome dad. We LOVE him, and I don't know what I would do without him!!! The kids filled out a paper about their dad in primary and this is what they had to say about him.

Katelyn and Kaleb both agreed that his name was Kirk, his favorite color was blue, and his favorite food was fajitas. However, they had different points of view on the following questions

He loves to:

• Play the wii (Katelyn)


• Take a nap (Kaleb)

I like when he:

• Goes swimming (Katelyn)


• Plays the wii with me (Kaleb)

It's funny when he:

• Eats spinach and it gets stuck on his teeth and then he talks like a pirate (Katelyn) I wish I had a picture because it really is funny.


• Tickles me (Kaleb)

He loves to go:

• to Idaho (Katelyn)


• to a restaurant (Kaleb)

He loves me because:

• I give him hugs and kisses (Katelyn)


• I help him do jobs (Kaleb)

As you can see there are so many reasons we love Kirk

Happy Birthday Carter (2 weeks ago)

Things I never want to forget about Carter...

Lately when he has been choking/coughing we hit him on the back. The other day he started coughing and I look over to see him wacking himself on his bum- hilarious.

Carter is addicted to treats. He has known the sign language for treats since he was about 12 months old (which is your finger touching your cheek). He has modified his treat sign and sticks his finger in his ear.

When I say "a birdie says tweet" he automatically puts his finger in his ear for a treat.

He always shares snacks with Emma- ALWAYS!!!

He has peed in the potty about 5 times. Now we will just have to work on not playing in the water.

He has graduated from his crib to a regular bed (he learned how to climb out of his crib)

Sometimes you think he is coming to give you a big kiss and instead you get a big lick.

Kirk gave me a blessing and Carter crawled up on my lap and put his hands on my head too.

Emma's Birthday

(Katelyn made Emma a birthday crown and drew her a cute picture of a fairy with the title "You are fairy big today")

Wonderful things about Emma

• She has 4 beautiful teeth- two top and two bottom
• And always smiles
• Last week she ate a fly, yum yum.
• As soon as she touches a soft or silky blanket she immediately puts her thumb in her mouth and lays her head down.
• She is so close to walking. She can take a couple of steps by herself and loves to push around her scooter
• She loves to read books and swing outside.

Wait a second, who's party is this

Temple Day

We decided to skip school today and go to the Gila Valley Temple open house. It was a great family trip with all 8 of us in my parents car. We ate lunch at a local hamburger joint (along with everyone else coming to Pima for the open house), played at a park while the chain gang (yes I mean inmates) mowed the lawn, and ended the trip with a beautiful tour of the temple. The chandeliers were amazing. I have never seen anything so beautiful. We are excited for the dedication in a couple of weeks, especially because Katelyn is now old enough to join us.