Washington Summer- Mercer Island

We visited the Walthers on Thursday and Friday. We were lucky in that Nolan had a light schedule those days, so we had a chance to spend some time with him, as well as Telitha and the kiddos. They have a wonderful backyard with plenty of space to run around, dig holes, and collect pinecones. Despite the cold and wet weather, that is pretty much all Matthew, Melissa, and Isaac wanted to do. They were very, very muddy but happy kids. Mark and Isaac got along beautifully and played well together. I think they will be friends when they get older. Melissa and James kept things lively; they are both firecrackers. Matthew helped look after the youngest two. He's a pretty protective brother and cousin.

Matthew and James having fun in the dirt:

Melissa on the teeter-totter with Mark:
Thursday evening we went to dinner at the house of my best friend from high school. It was lovely seeing her again and to finally meet Greg! Also, we were introduced to some fantastic peach gelato. Thanks for dinner, dear, and for putting up with a cranky toddler!

Mercer Island also boasts of one terrific playground with chimes to play, a castle playground, rock wall, and a dragon!

Washington "Summer" Puyallup

Break out the parkas and umbrellas!

We recently returned from visiting Washington. We spent a few days in Puyallup, a couple in Walla Walla, and finished our visit on Mercer Island. It was quite the whirlwind trip!

We stayed with my parents while in Puyallup and they took the older two to Northwest Trek. Northwest Trek is different from a typical zoo in that they only feature animals from the great North West. It's perfect for young kids since it is not too big. While we were there, Isaac "napped" at home with Daddy. It was a drizzly day and school was not yet out for the summer there, so we pretty much had the park to ourselves. It was a perfect day for an outing. Matthew got a kick out of the 45 minute tram ride through the wildlife refuge park where the animals roam freely. We saw bison, dear, elk, moose, goats, and swans. Poor Melissa mostly squirmed, "I gotta go potty!" After the tram ride and a dash to the bathrooms, we checked out the rest of the park. Matthew and Melissa had been before several years ago, but I think they got much more out of it this time, and had more fun. Matthew was a none-stop fountain of questions, as usual.

We saw a beaver that was intensely interested in Matthew and Melissa. It would back flip dive down only to resurface to watch the kids. The beaver did this over and over. I think the beaver was as interested in the children as they were in it!

Once again I forgot to bring a decent camera so most of the pictures I took did not turn out well. Darn it!

A park ranger, Steve, came by as we were checking out the bear exhibit. He was preparing to put the bears in for the night and asked if we'd like to watch. Oh yes, please! He took us to the back and let us watch the nightly routine. Melissa was a bit apprehensive after Grandpa teased her that bears liked to eat little girls, but her curiosity won out in the end. She was thoroughly engrossed. The ranger first prepared the grizzly bears dinner of fresh veggies. Then he collected them separately into their pens for the night. We were about three feet away and got a very good look at their impressive claws and teeth.

Next he opened the back cages for the black bears and they ambled on in. We were able to be a bit closer up to the black bears since they are less aggressive. The two black bears at Northwest Trek are geriatric bears and need supplements to stay healthy. Here he is preparing their nightly meds.

The pills are popped into fresh raspberries and coated in honey. The bears licked it up right from his hands. Yum!

Steve, the ranger, clearly enjoyed his job and answered our questions threw out interesting bear facts. Thanks Steve!

The sun did come out for half a day and so Grandpa took the kids on tractor rides.


Melissa really liked the cows. The twin calves have certainly grown! They were born about the same time as Isaac.

We stayed in Puyallup until Monday then left for Walla Walla.

Trip to Washington- Day 4

Monday I had the pleasure of visiting Telitha, her husband Nolan, and my two little nephews whom I haven't seen in over 2 years. They moved to Washington this summer for Nolan's internship, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to see much more of them!

Nolan managed to get all three car seats into the back of their car. A Herculean task.

The summer was very dry and hadn't really rained in two months. Of course when I come to visit it pours. Welcome back to Seattle! Sure beats the 100+ heat wave of the previous week, so I won't complain. Due to the soggy weather, we opted to go to the mall with a little indoor play area to burn off excess energy. There I had one of the best sandwiches I have ever tasted. It was a beefsteak with melted provolone and jalapenos all on a toasted sour dough bun. Delicious.

Isaac highly approved of the indoor play area. The soft climbing structures were just his size to scale up and down. He was very disappointed to leave and hooted his frustration. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones with the idea of going to the mall to escape the rain, and the area was packed with at least 50 kids.

James playing on top of the boat.

Baby Mark. I can't believe how coordinated he is already!

Tuesday, before the crack of dawn, we flew back. Fortunately the return flight was uneventful, and even the layover in LAX wasn't too long. Unfortunately Isaac only took two micro-naps (maybe 45 minutes total), so I had to entertain him for 5 hours in crowded conditions and 3 hours in airports. We were very happy to see Jonathan, Matthew, and Melissa!

Trip to Washington- Day 3

Sunday, August 9th was Dad's retirement. Dad's unit was there, as were a fair number of the big brass from the base, and many friends and family members. Dad is highly respected and well loved. To my great disappointment, Isaac did not make it through much of the ceremony. He started to squawk right at the beginning, so we spent the time walking the hallway. I was able to hear bits and pieces in between finding novel ways to keep the baby from getting bored (and loud). Sigh. What I did hear was quite nice.

Andrea sang the Star Spangled Banner (all verses!). That girl has a great set of pipes!


I am very proud of my Dad. He is a good man and patriot. After he served his time in the Army, he didn't have to join the Air Force Reserves, but chose to out of a sense of duty and love of country. I think the opportunities to fly around in really cool jets was the icing on the cake. He also truly loves people and has a great sense of humor and a flair for pranks. Whenever anyone finds out I'm his daughter they get a twinkle in their eye, laugh, and relate some interesting anecdote. I hear what a nice guy he is all the time. Nurses, airmen, fellow docs, technicians, cashiers, random people in the store; they all like Dad.

After the ceremony, my parents had prepared grilled hamburgers with all the trimmings for the entire unit. Some friends, neighbors, and family helped put it together. My Dad wanted everyone included, and there were a LOT of people. Around 150, I'm guessing.

Isaac liked the ice chests. Moving pieces of ice from one chest to the other amused him for 15 minutes at least. Here he is in his little flight suit. The recruits get younger and younger every year!

Here Mom is smiling. I know she is happy that my Dad is done being a warrior on the weekends. I think my Dad will miss it though...

Grandpa and Isaac:



Dad with Grandma and Grandpa:

Trip to Washington- Day 2

Day 1 was spent running errands all over town with my Dad for the retirement barbecue.

Day 2 my beautiful cousin Laura married her sweetheart. (Welcome to the family Braton!) Isaac and I waited in the temple lobby with Nana, Laura's grandmother and my adopted grandmother. She is a lovely lady, and it was so nice to chat with her.

See? Told you she's beautiful. ;) Jonathan's comment when he found out about the wedding, "Laura's getting married!? She was like 12 when I first met her! Gee, I'm getting old."

Cute cousins and Chris! I miss the monthly cousin dinners...

Unfortunately the luncheon conflicted with naptime so I took Isaac home to get some rest. There is nothing less enjoyable than a cranky, overtired, overstimulated baby at a formal occasion. If only I knew a babysitter in the area!!!

The afternoon was filled with more prepwork for the retirement lunch. Mom made something like 6 million cookies, give or take a few. She made enough potato salad, baked beans, dip, and sliced condiments to feed an army. Literally.

That evening was the reception at the Van Dukers. It was gorgeous, of course. The food was amazing! Scott made Italian sodas at the bar and even Gus, the dog, was decked out to the nines. Wish I'd gotten a picture of him in his collared bowtie. Isaac was dressed for the occasion, but he hated his tie.
Here he is grinning after ripping it off.

Bustling the dress. Aunt Charlene is assisting. Those things are tricky!

Wished I had more time to chat and to see people... oh well.

Saturday was also Isaac's birthday. 1 year old! Since the day was so hectic, we waited to celebrate. Matthew and Melissa did call to sing happy birthday though. I know Matthew, and I'm sure he insisted on calling right away! It was cute. Isaac seemed to recognize their voices and made approving noises.

Trip to Washington- flight out

(Last weekend Isaac and I flew up to Washington for a wedding, retirement, and short visit with my sister-in-law. It was quite the quick trip. I'll break the tale up into several smaller posts.)

I found a flight that had a three hour layover in SLC. Sweet! I'll have dinner with my sister before flying on to WA. San Antonio has a tiny airport, and there are no direct flights to virtually anywhere. Thursday morning I took the kids swimming and in the early afternoon Isaac and I waited for our plane which was about a half hour delayed. The flight was pretty uneventful until it was time to land. Winds were gusting at about 40+ mph and several wildfires burned around Salt Lake City giving the air an orange haze. The plane jumped up and down in the turbulence. Within the plane, people were getting sick and I confess to feeling more than a little queasy myself. It's the first time I've ever felt airsick before, and it was by far the roughest landing I've experienced. Fortunately it didn't get beyond feeling sick for me, because I had enough to do Isaac wrangling. Isaac seemed to be fine despite the turbulence.

Andrea graciously picked us up from the airport and took us to dinner. There's this nice little Italian sandwich cafe/fine chocolate shop downtown. I'll ask Andrea for the name of it, I highly recommend it to those in Utah. Regrettably, I was still feeling very green around the gills and couldn't fully appreciate the sandwich or my first taste of an Italian soda. Jeremy works a few blocks away at the KSL building and met us there. He bought me a fantastic chocolate bar which I am savoring as I type. Mmm!

We arrived back at the airport, and saw that the plane was scheduled to be a half hour delayed. Okay, no sweat, this will give Isaac some more time to burn off energy before boarding. The plane finally arrived an hour late, but by then the wildfires had picked up, assisted by the fierce winds no doubt. All of the ramps were closed save one, and the planes in the air had to land before any aircraft could take off. So we waited, and waited. Isaac pushed the stroller and crawled around on the floor. Gross! I know, but what else can you do with a squirmy, gotta move baby? While Isaac scooted all over finding things to amuse him, several flights were diverted to other airports to refuel before attempting to land again in SLC. About three hours into our adventure we could finally board. Isaac was getting quite tired at this point, being well past his bedtime. We get settled and discovered there were 25 jets ahead of us to takeoff. Sigh. Isaac entertained himself at the window for a while and I bribed him with M&Ms when he got bored.


Fortunately he conked out right after takeoff and slept the entire flight. Bliss. It was a nice break from inventing ways to amuse him for the entire flight.

I got him, his carseat, his stroller, the backpack and the suitcase to the curb where we met grandma and grandpa well after 11 PM; much later than the initial 8:40 planned arrival. But we made it!

[I've come to the conclusion that traveling with 1 one year old by himself is nearly as challenging as traveling with 1 one year old and Matthew and Melissa. Matthew and Melissa are pretty good travelers now and really don't add much to the logistical work.]

Recent Pictures

Reading with Great-Grandma Sinden during our last trip to Washington.
Visiting Grandpa Don in his new office. It's really nice!

Matthew holding Isaac. Matthew loves to hold and play with his baby brother.

Beautiful Washington

As an Army brat, I grew up all over the country and have called many places home. I have to say that western Washington is the most beautiful place I have ever lived.

Here are some pictures just in my parents' yard and pasture from our latest trip.

Even in the dead of winter, it is still quite green. Moss grows on EVERYTHING that is stationary. The house roof has to be de-mossed each spring. In the spring, summer, and fall Washington is a kaleidoscope of brilliant blooms and even more shades of green.

Here's a picture of the barn. My Dad grew up on a farm and is true to the saying, "You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy." Since he already has a career and is in the Reserves, he's more of a part-time gentleman farmer. He raises a few cows 'cause he likes cows. Our first cows were named Midnight and Moonshine. Midnight, as her name suggests, was a pitch black calf. She was quite willful liked to escape. Before the housing development went up next to my parents' property it was a wild jumble of pasture and massive blackberry vines. Midnight ran over and hid in the brambles. We had to lure her out with her mama, but even then she was extremely tricky to catch. We spent hours chasing down that dumb cow!

In addition to cows, some years my Dad would grow a great big vegetable garden. I remember planting row after row of corn the day of a high school dance. I was barefoot and stamping the dirt down to cover the kernels. I'd remembered to put sunblock everywhere, so I thought. However, that evening I noticed that I'd managed to sunburn the tops of my feet! Then when it was time to harvest the corn, the six of us spent the entire day blanching, cutting the kernels from the cob, and bagging the corn in freezer bags. Several large kettles boiled the water for blanching and we had two new trash cans filled with icy water for chilling the corn afterward. It was quite the production. We had plenty of corn that winter.


Right now my Dad's "herd" consists of just a mama cow and her twin calves, a little bull and a heifer. They were born a few weeks after Isaac was. My father is quite proud of the twins. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he keeps a picture of them in his wallet, right next to the grandkids.


Right outside the front porch is a boulder wall which wraps around half of the house. Currently it's just moss and ferns, but in the spring it is simply gorgeous. I'm guessing that there are about 10 different massive rhododendrons, several lilacs, and other blooming shrubs.


And another view from a different part of the wall.

There's a duck pond too, but I only saw a few canadian geese roaming around. Mom was dismayed when she learned that I'd taken some pictures. "But it's so ugly right now! Everything is brown and dead!" I think she would have difficulty adjusting to more arid climes. Even in the winter I find Washington gorgeous.

Wedding Pictures

Pictures as promised:


Aren't they a gorgeous couple?

Melissa generously shared her tic tacs with everyone. Good thing too, because there was some smooching going on! Imagine that!


I just love this shot I took of Andrea when she was leaning over to chat with Melissa. What a beautiful bride!

Here's a shot of Mom holding up the train. The dress was a BEAST to bustle. There were six hidden loops to attached to 6 hidden buttons. Mom and I helped dress Andrea. I accidentally pulled one of the loops a little too hard and we had to do some quick stitching on the loop. Thank goodness the dress was fine, just the ribboned loop broke. I'm glad I was able to "help" with the dressing, even though I was more hindrance than help. It was so neat to be there for my sister.


Matthew played the part of photographer as well. He was quite insistent on poses. The older kids humored him though.

Melissa had fun climbing on the statues. The day couldn't have been better for pictures. It was just a bit overcast so no one was squinting, no wind, and the rain didn't start until that evening. Then it rained for the rest of our stay in Washington. Naturally.
Andrea had "something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue," of course. She wore our great-grandma Hume's crocheted shawl for old. I think the shoes counted as new? The something blue was the beautiful aquamarine (her birthstone) promise ring that Jeremy gave her until he could get the engagement ring. For borrowed she used my wedding veil! I'm quite pleased about that. I designed that veil myself and am so glad that it was used once again. Unlike many veils, it's one continuous oval piece with a simple lace trim. Unfortunately I don't have a very good picture of it, but here's another great one of Andrea.

Speaking of traditions I taped a penny to her shoe for good luck and fortune. Silly me. Still, may they be happy and prosperous!

With that I think I'll end our 1,000 SP post. Can't think of a better post for that milestone.

Hell is two beds and three children

Downtown Tacoma, 7 am

When we flew out for the wedding, we didn't stay with Rachel's parents for the first three nights because we didn't want little kids underfoot for the pre-wedding prep. And we didn't stay closer because even as early as December all the rooms in every hotel anywhere near Puyallup were spoken for by attendees of some sewing convention. I had no idea there were so many people THAT into sewing.

Rachel has been burned before by airlines screwing up connections or cancelling flights altogether, and while going on standby and arriving at 2 AM is no big deal when you are single (as Jeremy in fact did Friday night!) it is serious business with three kids. So we flew out Thursday to be safe.

Andrea picked us up, dropped me and the kids off at our motel, and took Rachel off to a bridal shower. Matthew had been complaining bitterly and at great length about his ear (my sympathy was sorely tested by his desire to remind me every couple seconds that it still hurts) so after dosing him with ibuprofen Rachel asked her dad to drive the half hour up and check him out. When the drugs kicked in Matthew forgot all about his ear, but it was a good thing Dad was already on the way, because it really was red and infected. Dad wrote out a prescription for Amoxicillin, and even filled it for us in the morning. There are definite perks to having a family physician.

Then we went to bed. And by "went to bed" I mean "Matthew and Melissa bickered constantly until I pulled Matthew into my bed instead half an hour later." Finally they fell asleep, but the fun was not over yet. Any time one of the kids woke up, they all woke up. So there was a lot of not-sleeping going on for sure.

Then they got far too early in the morning, and by "far too early" I mean in particular that not even McDonald's was open. They kept trying to have the best of both time zones the whole trip: go to bed on Pacific time, wake up on Central time. Mommy and Daddy did not approve.

I tried to let Rachel sleep in for a bit after the kids got up like I do at home, but it was hard to find places to take them. Watching them in the room with Rachel was of course not an option. (The object was to let her rest.) The Sinden house was too far away, and Isaac in particular was getting more than his fill of his car seat anyway. I did discover that Friday and Saturday mornings the office building across the street was open, and it turned out there was a little reception area at the top floor with a nice view, clean carpets for Isaac to roll on, and a little magnet sand game with two kid-sized chairs.

So that was my refuge, but Sunday morning that was locked up and Isaac and I had no better option than to sit in the minivan while the rain came down. Fortunately Isaac went back to sleep quickly. Often he will do this when he gets up early; just don't try to put him down. But then Matthew and Melissa woke up too. The close McDonalds didn't have a play area so we headed to downtown Tacoma. They didn't have a play area either, and they didn't open 'til 8 besides -- an hour away. So we went back to Fife where at least Jack in the Box was open by now.

To add insult to injury, the "free wireless internet" didn't even work. Damn it. Even the iphone got crappy reception there and failed about two out of three page loads. Fortunately the Sinden dsl connection worked -- until today. Rachel tells me that's dead too now. Good thing I came home early.

Wedding daze (Andrea is married, part 2)

Friday we had a bit of an adventure related to how although we had enough cars for every party that needed to be somewhere, Andrea hadn't gotten the keys to the Mercury from her parents so when Rachel took the minivan off to get bridesmaid (bridesmatron?) shoes, Andrea had no wheels. I had a very brief stint helping set up chairs in the reception hall, but the women in charge stopped us because they thought they might rearrange the tables a few more times for best effect, and the chairs would just be in the way. So when I had the chance to go run errands I jumped for it.

I didn't get to run the biggest errand, though; we needed plastic plates for the reception that were only carried by the Costco way up by our motel. I volunteered, but Dad asked if I really wanted to be responsible if I got the wrong kind. I conceded the wisdom of having him go instead.

Saturday morning we tried to take a shortcut from our motel down to the Sinden house, our jumping off point. I missed the 512 ramp, though, and there wasn't a way to get back on track for miles, so we followed Google's instructions through the back roads. (I love that iphone.) We still arrived in plenty of time for Rachel to go up with her sister and mother to have their hair done, but the others were having wedding morning jitters and had left early. At that point we really did have a car crunch if Rachel were to take another car up to the hair salon, so we decided that nobody would care in the long run if Rachel just did her own hair instead. This turned out to be the right call, since Andrea's group was a half hour late to the temple as it was. Adding another hour round trip for Rachel to have driven the minivan back to pick us up would have not been good.

Thursday, Rachel had offered me two-to-one odds that Andrea would be late for her wedding. I accepted. The consensus among family members was that I was a fool. They were right; I now owe Rachel a back rub, even though I hear that Mom very uncharacteristically hit 90 on the way up. Fortunately, the temple was "mostly closed" for maintenance that day. I'm not exactly sure how it worked, but the result was that we were the only group there, and nobody seemed to care that the bride was late.

The ceremony was brief. I thought back to my own wedding and how lucky I was to have Rachel. I wanted to go find a quiet place and hold her afterwards; instead, I went back down to reality where Isaac was mad. Isaac wasn't feeling well and Saturday was particularly bad; when I wasn't trying to rock him to sleep, Rachel was.

Pictures took a couple hours. Matthew and Melissa were fine, and Melissa particularly charmed the photographers. (I wouldn't be surprised if the woman had a talk with her boyfriend about children that night.) Isaac was still disgruntled. After a late lunch at 3:30 -- more like dinner time for those of us on an earlier time zone -- the reception was at 7:00. Those of us not in charge (read: everyone but Mom) got a bit of a break.

At the reception, Isaac finally slept. The receiving line was mercifully brief, then Jeremy's nieces and nephews from his sister Christine and her husband Tim stole the show with an Irish tap dance. They were really, really good -- I understand they compete nationally. Very impressive. Then Jeremy had a dance with Andrea. They took waltzing lessons together especially for the occasion. They looked good.

When Andrea tossed her bouquet, Melissa was very excited for a chance to get BIG FLOWERS. The bouquet got stuck in the canopy, but when Jeremy knocked it down it landed right in front of her. Alas, shefroze and a bigger girl scooped it up. Melissa was in tears that she had been so close. Pointing out that the other girl must be very happy didn't help -- go figure. Rachel gave her her corsage as a consolation, and we assured her that when she gets married she will have BIG FLOWERS.

Shortly before the end of the reception, Rachel asked if it wasn't the groomsmen's responsibility to trash the newlyweds' car. "That's a stupid tradition," I said, and as far as I know they got away unscathed.

Pictures will have to wait until Rachel gets back with the camera.