Powers Family in Alaska

We’re A Long Way from Hawaii Now!

2012-02-05T02:00:00.000-09:00

While not a painful -15 degrees, Alaska greeted me with copious amounts of snowfall when I got home. I’m not complaining though. Temps are in the 30’s and my car is a beast in the white stuff.

18 inches in two days! And I don’t know how to work my snow blower!

It’s hard to see but the snow bank along my driveway is higher than my daughter.

The snow bank on the street behind our house is WAY above our fence line! The snow on our side is halfway up the 6 foot fence.

A Hawaiian Vacation to Oahu!

2012-02-03T18:17:00.000-09:00

I’m in HAWAII!

How the heck did this even happen? Even though I’ve been home now for two days, I’m still in shock that I ever left the negative 11 degree frozen tundra for the 85 degree heat of the tropical islands.

I was invited at the last minute, tickets were booked at the last minute (yay miles!) and within a week, I was on a plane (alone! No kids!) from Anchorage to Portland then on to Oahu. I couldn’t get the same itinerary as my friends so I actually arrived in Hawaii two hours before they even boarded their plane from Alaska.

My darling but strange husband actually said to me before I left, “you won’t even be able to fully appreciate flying all alone.” Um, what? Are you mental? I have flown with babies and children over 30 times and I’ve flown alone ONCE. Nobody could possibly appreciate this more than me.

On my way from Portland I was sitting in a row with an elderly couple who lived in Oregon. We didn’t chat much until I got out my book. George Bush’s memoirs, Decision Points. I heard them whispering to each other about it and I thought, “Oh here we go, political discussion time with the liberal Oregonians.” But then they asked me if I was a Republican and I said yes. Then they both gave me high fives. I’m still chuckling about it. I’m pretty sure I met the only two conservatives in Portland!

From -15 degrees to 70s and 80s, yes please!!

Randomly, my photographer friend from Anchorage (who was not a part of the group of gals that invited me to Hawaii) just so happened to be on Oahu at the same time as me, visiting family (she’s from there. LUCKY). We never find time to hang out in Anchorage, but we darn sure will in Hawaii!

She gave me a call just as I was trying to check into my hotel. I couldn’t check in because I was about 4 hours too early and my name wasn’t on the list (because I was a last minute inclusion). So she picked me up, airplane funk, hooded sweatshirt and a pile of luggage, and we headed to the Hale Koa resort (for military only and she is) and we hung out at the pool and talked photography all day.

After our lounging, we hit the Ala Moana mall food court for lunch!

Later she dropped me off at the hotel and I was able to check in thanks to a call from one of my group adding me to “the list.” So I took a shower and relaxed on the balcony.

My friends arrived that evening (after they got in a cab wreck, OMG!) and we had dinner at Jimmy Buffet’s. The food was awesome. The people watching was awesomer. There was a live band playing old Eagles songs and some crazy blonde lady was dancing...or swimming, still not sure on that. After reviewing the above picture on my camera right after I took it, I made the comment that I was doing something weird with my neck. That became the comment that everyone made after every single picture that anyone took for the rest of the trip.

The next morning we hit the pool bright and early to grab chairs. Here we lounged in the sun all the live long day. Reading books, taking naps, chatting and drinking exotic looking things.

This is a lava flow. I had several.

That evening, after dinner at Red Lobster, we played cards on the lanai. I lost.

The elevator doors were right behind the camera in this shot so we saw a lot of people getting on and off throughout the evening. As the doors opened yet again, we all turned and watched as a woman bent over to pick up her many grocery sacks. In the time it took her to hook them onto her wrists, the doors had begun to close. We heard her exclaim, “Aw, COME ON!” as the doors closed on her and the elevator continued on its way. We laughed hysterically because we knew that she was going to have to put down her groceries, get out her room key and re-program the elevator before it would come back to her floor. Sure enough, several minutes later, the doors opened and there she was, grocery bags prepped and ready for immediate departure. We had a hard time holding in our laughter as she exited and walked away with great dignity.

The next few days was more of the same. My friends all went to the Pro Bowl but I couldn’t get tickets near them at the last minute and since I don’t care about football anyway, I just wandered around town by myself for the day. I walked on the beach, went shopping, sat at the pool...

The beach out in front of the Hale Koa resort was much less populated but definitely included more than its fair share of old dudes wearing speedos...

My last night in Hawaii included dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp. The rest of the group was staying a few days longer, so I got to choose the restaurant. The rule was we couldn’t eat at any restaurant that could be found in Alaska. I had lunch at Chili’s while they were at the Pro Bowl. Shhhh, don’t tell.

We are cracking up in this shot because our poor waiter was tasked with job that I usually reserve for the self-timer function. Which is why, when he clicked the button, the camera began a rhythmic beeping. “It’s on 10 second timer!” I exclaimed. “Don’t move!” So the waiter froze with the camera to his face and we laughed until the shutter finally clicked.

The next morning I rolled out of bed at 5:45am, said my quiet goodbyes to the sun and ocean and hopped a shuttle for the airport. My friend Ronalyn (from the first day?) was on my flight home!

During my layover in Seattle, mom and pops were there to visit me so we had coffee and chatted for a while before I had to go back through security. I can’t believe I didn’t take a freaking picture!

In spite of my sadness at leaving the warmth and the sun, I was very anxious to get home to my babies. As it turns out, starting the day I left, they all started getting sick and throwing up one after the other, including hubby. They finally stopped the day before I got home. I had no clue they were sick because there was a conspiracy (thanks to my husband) not to tell me and thus ruin my trip. I was shocked and appalled at first but then I was grateful because I truly would have stressed the entire time I was gone. So obviously my husband is a rock star and knows me very well.

Tracy picked me up at the airport because she loves me. Or she loves Yogurt Land. Either way, I appreciated the ride!

Coming home to my babies was the best part of all!

I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity fall in my lap. I’m so thankful that my sweet husband took on life without me for a week. Considering the week he had, I doubt this will happen ever again!

As I’m typing this, my girls are all still in Hawaii living it up in the surf and sun! I hear they’re still having a blast even though I’m gone. Though, I don’t see how that’s possible.

Alaska has warmed up to 30 degrees and we are experiencing a huge blizzard. We were supposed to get 4 inches but we’ve received more than double that and it’s still coming down. Welcome home!

2012-01-25T10:13:00.004-09:00

My on going to-do list.

I love crossing stuff off this list. I just threw away yet another full page, three column list completely crossed off. Productivity with a dose of check mark satisfaction.

Also, in case you care....just like every January, I’ve started my photo-a-day challenge on Flickr.

2012 Photo A Day Challenge

2012-01-17T08:15:00.002-09:00

At Jordy’s very first ever basketball game, she played on a team with Jake and they won their game 30 to 9! She is number one and Jake is number 2. I made the shirts. :)

Daddy gave her a good pep talk before her first game. Get out there have fun and do your very best. My pep talk went something like this: If you get bumped, don’t stand there and cry and wait for everyone to notice you. If you’re hurt, get off the court if you’re not hurt, keep playing.

Matching up against our opponents.

The girl in red that is guarding Jake (or is Jake guarding her?) is our neighbor down the street. Her older sister plays on hubby’s high school basketball team.

This is our coach. Coach Graves. She’s very tall.

Bodie and Jordy guarded each other (he’s our neighbor as well) and it looked like they were dancing together the whole time.

Still dancing.

Jordy has the ball! Jordy has the ball!

What do I do!? What do I do!?

I’m just going to run this way!

Jordy lost the ball.

Oh, you have to dribble when you run!

Now Jake and Jordy are on the floor together.

Jake is a new baller this year! Last year he did little more than dance with his opponent during the games, this year, he’s actually aware of the game! Excellent dribbling.

Jordy has a new dance partner! He’s so tiny and cute! (Her words)

Let’s dance!

Try this move!

Jordy has the ball! Jordy has the ball!

Jordy lost the ball! Jordy lost the ball!

Go to the hoop!

Dribble into the entire opposing team!

Pose for the camera!

Air Jaycob, catching a pass.

The shot that should have gone in instead of clanging off the inside of the rim three times before popping back out. Robbed!

A little point guard action, coming down the court.

Remember my instructions to Jordan about what to do if she got bonked? Well she got a head butt to the eye and collapsed on the floor in a very dramatic fashion. I, of course, thought she was faking and rolled my eyes as everyone converged to help her. I have a huge problem with anyone who acts like a drama queen and then gets a ton of attention for it. I don’t allow my daughter to do that. So I let dad handle it. He walked over and found the huge goose egg on her eye brow.

I felt bad. I guess she really got hurt this time.

But she didn’t stay down for long!

We won! Go team!

Jaycob played a great game. He assisted in four baskets and he played great defense. So proud of this nugget for improving so much!

My babies, the ballers.

It’s Christmas Time!

2012-01-12T09:27:00.001-09:00

Merry Christmas!!!

I can’t believe I’m finally catching up and blogging about Christmas. Going to Disney and coming back home right before Christmas definitely made things a little hectic. But we did manage to squeeze in our favorite tradition on Christmas Eve Eve.

Let the gingerbread house extravaganza begin!

Now, I’ve never used the preassembled houses before and while they saved on time (and carpel tunnel) they didn’t hold up well. They were mostly broken inside the box and Jake’s dropped his box down the stairs so it definitely didn’t survive. So he decorated only half a house.

On Christmas Eve, the babies got their traditional new PJs.

And even though everyone has caught on to the truth about Santa Claus (thanks a lot Jordan), they still loved putting out the cookies, milk and carrots.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions when I was little was reading Twas the Night Before Christmas with my dad. I think my kids sort of love it too.

Once the kids were nestled all snug in their beds, Santa came. But first he had to wrap for two hours.

That Santa! He’s so clever!

Christmas morning! I love the excitement!

Let the Nerf gun battles begin!

Jordy wanted a Dora basketball and we couldn’t find one anywhere! So we got her a girly one instead. She loved it.

And princess stuff!

Doobie received a barrel of army figures complete with battle accessories.

And he loves to draw on his new easel.

There is a place in town where I have to go a lot to drop off paperwork and they have a toy area with a cash register. My kids are obsessed with it. Mostly Doobie because he’s the one who’s usually with me when I’m running errands. So we got him a cash machine for Christmas and Jordy confiscated it. For a little while.

Christmas this year was crazy busy and hectic but we never forgot the reason for the season! Praise God for all his blessings on our little family.

Disney World Day 8 - Our Last Day

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-09:00

For our last day at Disney, our team was scheduled to spend the day at the mall shopping. Which is exactly what I wanted to do with three kids. That’s sarcasm there.

SO, since we actually had one day left on our park hopper pass, the Powers family plus a few girls who also balked at the idea of shopping all day, headed back to the Magic Kingdom for one last magical adventure. This may be my favorite day of all because...

Jordy got to meet, chat with and hug some princesses. Sleeping Beauty...

Belle...

Um, do you see how my girl is sitting right now? Shut up!

And Cinderella!

Throughout the park they have professional photographers strategically placed to take wonderful family photos. And when they are done doing that (for free, you go online to view and purchase if you want) they take one with your camera. For free. Boom. Christmas card.

I sort forgot all about these epic Disney rides when we were at Magic Kingdom earlier in the week. We missed all of them! So this time, we rode Dumbo, Peter Pan, It’s a Small World and of course, walked through the castle.

See the peace sign Jordan is throwing out? She learned that from the girls on the basketball team. They toss up the peace sign in EVERY PICTURE. At least she didn’t do the poochy lips.

We went on the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster again...with all three kids! They LOVED it and rode it twice in a row. Well, all except Josh, who did not love it at all.

Jake loved it so much that he and dad went on Space Mountain together, which is another roller coaster...in the dark. He didn’t love that one quite so much.

We cannot WAIT to go back to Disney World again someday. It really is a magical place!

Disney World Day 7

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-09:00

Animal Kingdom! And breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe. It really is a rainforest in there. And the animals are animatronic and make crazy loud sounds and move around every few minutes. It was awesome. The first three times. Then it was obnoxious. I couldn’t imagine working there. I’d have to punch a gorilla in the face. I’m sorry. I would just have to.

"Take a picture of me running away from the elephant!"

Deciding on our first Animal Kingdom Adventure...

I know! Let’s go meet Micky!

Doobie could always find SOMEBODY to carry him around.

Heading out on safari!

Going to see the “Bug’s Life” show. Which incidentally turned out to be a huge mistake. This 4D interactive adventure scared the wits out of one of my children. I have never seen a reaction quite like that before. Wow.

The kids and I split off from the team because I’d learned that Pluto was around for a limited engagement and I didn’t want to wait a moment longer to find him. It took some doing, but we spotted him. The highlight of Doobie’s trip and all he wanted out of life!

Daddy found us again and went on this crazy roller coaster with Jake, the new crazy roller coaster guy.

At the end of the day we found our team again outside of the Rainforest Cafe.

Disney World Day 6

2012-01-05T01:00:00.001-09:00

On day 6 we found ourselves at Sea World. Best. Day. Ever. Why you ask? Let me tell you. First of all it wasn’t crowded.

Second of all, Josh took one look at this watery roller coaster and begged to go on it. Yes, that is right, the Doobie was the first of our kids to attempt a “man ride."

Soaked! And happy! Later, Jake went on it too!

And THEN, something crazy happened. It actually started a couple of days before when I put myself on a roller coaster at Magic Kingdom. I rode Big Thunder Mountain which was my first real roller coaster EVER, unless you count the big white one a the Puyallup Fair but most people don’t. And actually, people don’t really count Big Thunder Mountain either because little kids are allowed to ride it.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

So in order to impress my husband, who is a roller coaster fanatic, I put myself on this one.

The Kraken.

Oh. My.

My problem with roller coasters stems entirely from dropping down at high speeds. So you may notice in the photo, there is quite the first drop. This pretty much ruined the whole roller coaster for me. I couldn’t really enjoy the rest of it because I was too ticked off at the first part of it.

The Kraken

However, that did not stop me. Please understand, I had an entire basketball team of 15/16 year old girls that were completely showing me up! How can I compete with their level of fun? Well, I get back on another roller coaster of course.

Like this one.

The Manta.

On the Manta, you hang, facing straight down while in a sitting position. While in line for this roller coaster, it broke down and would not release the previous riders. So we stared at them, just hanging there for a good 15 minutes before the hydraulics released them. So it was all too awesome to get right on it after that. But...we did. And I really enjoyed this one because NO DROPS STRAIGHT DOWN. I can handle upside down and g-force and banking turns that plummet, of which there were many, but those straight down drops are not my friend. So the Manta was fun. That’s right, I had fun on a roller coaster.

The Manta

Remember how I mentioned this was the best day ever? Here’s another reason. We touched dolphins. Bucket List! Check!

Josh was a little creeped out, but Jake was into it!

Jordy tried to train them.

Of course we bought little prizes!

Oh, I almost forgot, it’s Christmas season!

We were meeting up with our group to get on the bus and we were a few minutes early. So I gave the camera to the boys.

Merry Christmas from Sea World!

Disney World Day 5

2012-01-04T17:00:00.000-09:00

A day at the Caribbean Beach Resort

On the fifth day of Christmas we relaxed. We actually had a vacation day. Swimming, lounging, and doing nothing. Ahhhhh.

We slept in until we couldn’t sleep no more, then we hit the main pool of the hotel which is AMAZING with all it’s water slides and pirate-y-ness. My little fishies were in heaven.

Disney World Day 4

2012-01-04T13:00:00.000-09:00

I’m trying really hard to get this blog up to date! Still working on Disney World here, maybe eventually I will get to Christmas. Who knows.

An epic sword battle on the lawn in front of our hotel room is the perfect way to start the day.

Unless you are Jordan, in which case you will collect sticks in your adorable new emergency shorts purchased by mom at the outlet mall after she realized she only packed you one pair.

Okay, a note about the shorts. As soon as I pulled them out of the bag on this particular morning, Jordan lost her mind. I’m talking about alligator tears, wailing and gnashing of teeth. The girl thought the shorts were horrible. “Everyone will laugh at me because they have flowers on them! Shorts are not supposed to have flowers on them!”

Naturally, I made her wear them anyway. Then I promptly walked out of the room, found every basketball player I could and told them that they absolutely ADORE Jordy’s new shorts and that they all want a pair EXACTLY like them with beautiful flowers and everything. Ready go.

It worked.

This is the day we spent at Hollywood Studios.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!

We went to the Indiana Jones stunt man show. This was my favorite part of the whole day! So cool to see how they do all that crazy movie stuff.

And we did Star Tours. TWICE. And then Doobie found a Speeder Bike to ride!

I stepped away from line to Little Mermaid for a couple of minutes to get ice cream for everyone and don’t you know the line moved. So the family saw it without me. I just stood around outside the theater for 15 minutes holding melting ice cream and talking to my brother on the phone. Hi Josh!

We went early to get seats to “Fantasmic!” The fabulous laser, water, light show based on Fantasia. It was cool and all but I couldn’t stop thinking about how it exuded fantasticisms...the whole time.

Waiting for the show to start.

Later that evening we had a night swim at the small pool near our room.

Disney World Day 3

2012-01-04T12:30:00.000-09:00

On day three, the team had the their first basketball game. At 9am. That would be 5am Alaska time. Needless to say, they weren’t in top form that morning and came in second.

I managed to miss most of the game by sleeping in with my babies but we arrived just in time to have a team breakfast with Micky, Minnie, Donald and Goofy!

After breakfast and a quick stop at the hotel, we went to the Magic Kingdom!

We only had a half day at the park and it occurred to me belatedly that we never went on the Dumbo ride, saw a princess or even walked through the castle! But we did see the light parade (amazing) and the nightly fireworks over the castle.

The lights on the castle just randomly change colors.

These were the girls I was in charge of. Wait, I’m missing one. Anyway, I called them my little lambs and they started calling me Mama Sheep and then Hubby started calling me Mama Goat because he’s awesome like that.

Right before the light parade, the road in front of the castle was completely clear. So I handed my camera to one of the basketball players and asked her to send Jordan out into the middle of the road for a beautiful princess picture in front of the gorgeous castle. Oh Jordan.

Disney World Day 2

2012-01-04T12:00:00.000-09:00

So, day 2 started off a little slow...

But then we hopped a tour bus to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. We got there early enough that the entire park was EMPTY.

The kids and I wandered aimlessly for a bit. This was a tough day for us because every ride we thought we’d like to try, my kids were to small to ride without an adult. Well, there was only one of me soooooo....it didn’t really work out.

Jake refused to be in the pic with the T-Rex. He was slightly freaked out by it.

This swing ride had zero people in line. So even though each child required an adult rider, they were each able to wait their turn to ride with me because there was nobody around to steal them. I rode six times in a row.

Then we found this giant play area. I have no idea how big it is because I never saw the whole thing. We played here for several hours before meeting up with hubby.

Hubby took us all on the Spiderman ride which was pretty amazing. Jordan hated it and screamed and cried the WHOLE TIME. But everyone enjoyed meeting Spiderman afterward.

Then we walked over to the kid area. WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I NEEDED IT EARLIER IN THE DAY? Kid rides!

It was a bright, bright sunshiny day. I know it seems like Jordan is pouting here, but she was showing me her diva pose with her new Diva sunglasses.

Hula hooping outside of Bubba Gump Shrimp at lunch.

After lunch a group of us walked to the Universal Studios side of the park.

We met Scooby!

and Curious George!

We watched break dancers!

At some point during the walk through Universal, the kids and I ended up on our own again. By then the crowd was intense and I was overwhelmed by trying to keep track of the kids in the midst of the crush of people.

I found another area geared towards kids and the kids ran around another giant playground for about 10 minutes before a small bathroom emergency erupted. I ended up leaving two kids alone while dealing with the third, and when we came out of the bathroom, I couldn’t find them for several minutes. That was enough for me.

So I took them out of the park into the Citywalk area between Universal and Islands of Adventure. Here we found a geyser fountain and played for a couple hours while waiting for our group.

The kids were soaked and they had each only brought one pair of shoes BUT, they were having fun (finally) and I didn’t care. So I just dried their shoes out with a hair dryer later that evening. :)

And that was Day 2.

Disney World Day 1

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000-09:00

On our very first full day in Disney, we hit Blizzard Beach water park. I think it was in the high 70s that day, which means it was too cold for anyone but us Alaskans to be there. So the place was nearly completely empty, except for us Alaskans.

The kids had a great time doing water slides. I have to laugh at these photos now because by the end of this day, they were all doing to super duper crazy adult water slides but they were all nervous to go on these baby slides when we first arrived.

My kids are awesome.

The thing about Blizzard Beach is that well, it’s decorated like a snowy mountain top. All the water slides are reminiscent of ski slopes and they are all named after snow sports. So after flying 13 hours from frigid Alaska to sunny Florida, we spent our first day...in the snow. Fun.

I’m not much of a thrill seeker, so I did a lot of laying around on the “beach” while my kids played nearby and hubby and the basketball team ran around doing the exciting stuff.

As we we leaving the park, we found photo ops, of course.

Jordy posed. Of course.

We were all exhausted and the day wasn’t over. So we hit the hotel for a short bout of quiet time before heading out on our next adventure. And evening at Downtown Disney.

While waiting for the group to assemble at the bus stop, Jordan found sticks. What!? I’m shocked.

On the Disney bus to Downtown Disney, Jordan found time to pose some more. Pretty princess.

Here we are at Downtown Disney.

Here we have Coach Powers giving instructions before sending us all on our way.

Oh snap, look what we found.

This dragon is in the water. And it’s made up entirely of Legos.

We met up with the group a couple of hours later at Disney Quest, which is a 4 story arcade. It was dark and confusing and the perfect place to lose babies. I was kind of on my own with them in there FOR FOUR HOURS so it was not my favorite thing I’ve ever done. Actually, it was pretty awful. Imagine Chuck E Cheese times ten with the lights off. My own personal hell on Earth.

After the arcade, we danced in the streets.

And found this store.

This is a glorious Disney toy store.

We danced there too.

On our way back to the bus, the basketball team found a geyser. So we everyone got a little soaked.

And that concludes our first full day in Disney.

Our Disney Adventure Begins!

2011-12-26T20:58:00.000-09:00

Being the wife of a high school basketball coach isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds.

*cricket....*

*cricket...*

It does come with a few perks however. Like trips to Disney World for the whole family for a basketball tournament.

*ooooohhhhh!*

I’ll admit, that my mind wasn’t really on the trip at all during the weeks leading up to it. I’d been busy with photography, decorating for Christmas and redecorating for Christmas. Suddenly we were leaving the next evening. So I started the laundry and got to packing for five people.

Our flight left at nearly 2 in the morning so 5 in the morning was the perfect time to meet my Mommy and our friend Annie at the Seattle airport Starbucks during our layover. Driving an hour to the airport to hug your grandbabies for a bit before driving an hour home? That’s love.

Back through security and back on the airplane. We don’t look too excited do we?

To be continued....

2011-12-25T13:14:00.000-09:00

It has been brought to my attention that I haven’t blogged in over a month. I have plenty to catch up on for sure. To tide people over, here’s a big huge MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours. We attended a wonderful morning service this morning and all the kids went up on the platform to listen to the Christmas story being read by our pastor, Dr. Prevo. It was awesome to see a packed house on Christmas morning!

2011-11-30T08:31:00.001-09:00

We’ve had record snow fall this November. So it’s not surprising that this happened. Pulling our own car out of our own driveway. My 5 year old Doobie took this picture with my point-and-shoot camera. Then he proceeded to walk around the house taking pictures of EV-ER-Y-THING. Here are some examples.

The living room.

Jordan’s latest set up.

His own closet.

The corner of the fireplace.

The flowers.

This photo.

My desk.

His perspective of our Christmas tree.

The refrigerator decor.

Our stockings.

I do believe, I have another photographer in the family.

Christmas Decorating

2011-11-28T21:22:00.001-09:00

I LERV Christmas time. I love decorating for Christmas because it gives me a great excuse to change the look of my whole house, just like I want to do just about every five minutes.

Above left you will find my DIY dining table center piece. I crystal vase I had in a cupboard, filled with those cinnamon pinecones that you can buy for $5 a bag, and then I stuck some berry branches in it. They were normally 59 cents each at Michael’s Craft Store, but I scored them 60% off because I’m amazing.

Next to that you will see my DIY red berry trees that I made two years ago by sticking red berries into styrofoam tree forms. There is supposed to be three but the third one is still not finished...from two years ago.

And on the far right we have my giant ornament collection from Costco perched precariously upon assorted candle holders that I collected over time from thrift stores and then spray painted. My husband hates them because he likes spontaneous pillow fights and he knows he’s going to break one.

My son wanted to pose next to this silk poinsettia plant. Under that we have my new black and white curtains from Fred Meyer decorated with garland and wooden beads.

Top left, more wooden beads draped through my chandelier and accented with glittery green snowflake ornaments from Walmart. Under that, these three candles have been sitting in this spot since the day I moved in. Holders and candles from Walmart, I added the green ornaments. My fireplace vignette includes a vase dressed with the same red berry branches as the dining table as well as a glass container filled with leftover green ornaments from the tree. During the fall a giant pumpkin holds that spot. Handmade stockings were a gift from my friend Lucy of LUMA Threads. The lens cap is not supposed to be there....

My tree. It’s standing on top of my coffee table in the peak of our pointed ceiling. I had nowhere else to put the table so, it was a happy accident.

My newly arranged living room (on a diagonal because I’m weird like that) with my hidden office area behind the couch.

The view from my office. Pay no attention to the lettered wooden blocks, they don’t spell anything on this side and it drives my 2nd grade son CRAZY.

My Doobie really got in the mood for photos today.

Another view of the couch/office situation.

Obviously Christmas has hit the Powers’ house in a mighty way. I don’t think I’m done yet though...

Christmas Tree Time!

2011-11-27T20:50:00.001-09:00

It is time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T12:10:00.001-09:00

We rocked Thanksgiving a little different this year. Instead of me and my mediocre cooking at home, we all headed to a friend’s house and spent the day visiting and watching tons of kids trash someone else’s house. It was a very relaxing day for me. Of course, I don’t have photos from the feast because I suck, but I did snap a couple of the kids doing a Thanksgiving craft at home before we left. Hurray for the $1 bin at Joann’s!

Later in the evening we snuggled up to watch movie.

After the movie, I sent the kids to bed and rearranged the entire upstairs of the house. Sometimes I do that. It’s Hubby’s favorite.

Veteran’s Day 2011

2011-11-11T09:58:00.001-09:00

I never have the words for this.

“Reflections” by Lee Teter

My heart is just full of gratitude, respect, sadness, gladness and pride in the service men and women who have served and are currently serving our country. This morning I spent time pulling some photos of families from this years photo sessions who currently have a member that is deployed. I expected to come up with two but found four.

I also spent some time watching YouTube tributes to soldiers coming home. Cried like an idiot for awhile.

Thank you veterans!

See my Facebook Fan Page tribute to our clients who are currently deployed by clicking HERE.

Conversations with Jayhawk

2011-11-10T19:46:00.001-09:00

I don’t get the chance to spend a whole lot of one on one time with my eldest son. He’s more of a Daddy’s man and he and I often fail to see eye to eye. He’s very short you see.

Two days ago, while his younger sister and brother were watching a “girly movie” upstairs, I decided to hang out in his room with him and read while he played Legos. We began to chat about his that and the other and like he always does, he asked me a “which would you like better” question.

“Which would you like better, if I killed all the scorpions in the whole world - oh wait, I mean in America because I’m never leaving this country - or if I just never went to a place that had scorpions?”

“Before I answer that, let me ask you a question. Why are you never leaving this country?”

“Oh, because I don’t like it when somebody calls me an alien."

Thinking About...

2011-11-10T04:00:00.000-09:00

My Grandpa.

He passed away on this date in 2004 from complications brought on by Alzeimer’s disease. During the last couple of years of his life, when things became really bad, when he couldn’t remember anyone or anything, my grandma told me that he still could and did sit in his favorite chair and recite scripture.

The Spirit of the Lord, once received, never leaves you.

At Grandpa’s funeral, my most vivid memories are of person after person standing and sharing about how my grandpa had been the one to lead them to the Lord. About how he witnessed and counseled and prayed for anyone he could get his hands on.

What a legacy to leave behind.

I have heard stories that he hadn’t always lived his life that way. That he most definitely carried around some regrets from his younger years. But such is the power of Redeeming Love. He was made new by the power of Holy Spirit and everything old was washed away.

I know that, as he came before his Lord on this day five years ago, he heard, “well done, my good and faithful servant."

Today I’m thankful for grace and mercy and the forgiveness of sins!

Losing Teeth

2011-11-03T07:57:00.001-08:00

Aaaaaand there goes another one!

Signage

2011-11-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

Check, check, substitute “office” with “church” and check.

I be needing this sign on my door.

More Halloween

2011-11-02T10:18:00.001-08:00

My PS Photography partner extraordinaire (OMW, I spelled that right on the first try!) Tracy Skipworth, held her annual Halloween party at her home and all comers are required to dress up or no entry. So, about an hour before the party, I visited Hubby at work, scored some referee shirts, found a whistle on the floor of my bedroom (what?) and off we went with our Star Wars dudes and Ladybug to the party.

Which is where we got this nice family photo taken.

The only two photos of my family taken for Halloween this year were taken by two different professional photographers, and I wasn’t one of them.

2011-11-02T04:00:00.000-08:00

Our little photographer’s assistant on a recent photo shoot.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

Anikan Sywalker, Pilot Clone and a Ladybug

Mom fail. I didn’t take any pictures of Halloween this year. It was chaotic and busy and we went to a party and I just forgot and ran out of time and didn’t feel like getting my camera packed and blah blah blah.

It was a crazy blizzard during trick-or-treating this year. We hit a very popular neighborhood in town and it was a zoo but it was crazy fun. Very snowy. Very cold. We didn’t last long. When we got home I sent my kids across the street to my neighbor Paula’s house (she’s a photographer too!) and she was camera ready. Boom. Halloween photo. Thank you Paula!

The photo shows the awesome blizzardiness of the evening. You have to wear snow clothes with your costumes in Alaska. They don’t look like they are complaining though.

Embracing the Inevitable

2011-10-30T14:42:00.000-08:00

I live in Alaska.

So, like, it’s going to snow eventually. Just like it will eventually melt. In June.

Come summer, we’ll be hating this, but for now? Let it snow!

Operation Christmas Child

2011-10-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

Every year, our church participates in Operation Christmas Child. OCC is a program by Samaritan’s Purse. The purpose is to fill shoeboxes with gifts to be sent around the world to children who normally don’t get a Christmas. Some have never received a gift in their whole lives.

Today was a day off from school and the kids and I went shopping for our shoebox gifts at Target. Each of my kids was responsible for filling a shoebox for a boy or girl.

We filled our boxes with school supplies, small toys, candy and personal hygiene items.

The kids loved organizing their boxes and imagining how excited the children were going to be when they opened them to see what goodies were inside.

Jordy was so excited to be able to include a little baby doll and in her girl box.

They all had to pack and repack their boxes several times to fit everything. Not everything fit, so we will be donating the leftover items to the church to fill some more shoeboxes.

Spreading the love of Jesus, one shoebox at a time!

2011-10-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Created a little movie about Jordan’s horseback riding lessons. You’ll need to turn off the music on the right side panel of the blog.

Tooth Fairy Fail

2011-10-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

Oh look, Jordy lost (another) tooth. Yes I remembered to put it under her pillow. And that’s about where it ends. She woke up for school the next day and brought me the scarf.

“The Tooth Fairy came!” she squealed. “My tooth is gone!”

Uh, that’s weird. Because I know I completely forgot the Tooth Fairy was scheduled to come by. So I grabbed the scarf and sent her to the bathroom and quickly shoved some money inside. She came out, found the money and lived happily ever after.

The next day, she brought the tooth to me. She’d found it in her bed. “I guess the Tooth Fairy remembered that I like to keep my teeth. Can I bring it to school?"

It’s My Birthday, Y’all!

2011-10-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me! Excuse me while I count how old I am. Let’s see, born in ’77 and it’s 2011 so, yep, I’m 29! YAY!!!

2011-10-20T13:47:00.001-08:00

When Jordy was a baby, she was bald. And she stayed bald for a really long time. She didn’t get her first whale spout top pony tail until she was 2 years old. First hair trim at 4 years old. Now she’s six and her hair has made up for it’s deficiency by growing long and fast.

A couple of months ago, during a particularly troublesome comb out session, I threatened to cut all her hair off. She screamed “NO!” and ran away. Then I told her I would never cut her hair EVER even if she asked me to. Which of course made her start asking me repeatedly. Reverse psychology, people. It works every time. On a six year old.

So I finally cut it off.

And we love it!

This was the first go-round. I had to wash, trim and dry her hair four times before I was satisfied. She was so over it by the time I finally finished.

This all occurred while Dad was not home. So when he came home and saw her cut off ponytail sitting on the counter, I was surprised to discover he was a little sad about it. I told him it was because he’d never had to comb syrup out of her hair.

A Convo

2011-10-20T13:36:00.001-08:00

Me: “When you were a baby, I used to say ‘come to Mamas, Doobies!’ and you would run to me and hug me.”

Doobie: “But did I have clothes on when I did it?"

Crap That Is Awesome - VW Bus Toaster

2011-10-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

A must have for any Volkswagon lover. I may know a few of those.

Rock The Shot Photo Challenge

2011-10-17T08:30:00.001-08:00

This month’s challenge at the Rock the Shot forum is Kids + Fall. I just HAPPENED to have recently photographed this little beauty in her Fall Forest Fairy outfit, in a lovely field of wheat, on the edge of a nasty construction zone.

Front Door Project

2011-10-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

The story starts like this. We live in a rental. And while our landlords mostly let us do decorating and design at our discretion with minimal interferrance, we don’t exactly want to dump a ton of money into a home that we don’t own. That is why, we didn’t just replace this front door completely.

This is the before. Notice the lovely 60’s plastic door panels, the broken screen door propped up by flower pots and the lovely purplish, mauvish trim paint. Also my dying flower basket.

This is our deadbolt. It has a key broken off in it. Awesome.

My first task was to remove the screen door. It needed to go partly because it was hanging by a thread...

The screen itself was no longer really attached to the door frame. (I actually accept my mail through this hole. How sad.

It took awhile but I did finally get the screen door removed. It is now sitting in our side yard. Leaning against a tree. It’s art.

My next task was to remove the plastic panels which had obviously been removed and reattached several times. What you see here in the photos is glue. Originally they were attached with pegs through the door. The door is metal by the way. But it’s hollow, with styrofoam in the middle.

Now it’s time to patch the hole’s left by the little panel pegs. I used Auto Body Filler because the door is metal. No amount of spackle is going to fix this. It took FOUR coats of filler because as it dried, it sunk into the holes and left dents. In the end there are still dents but I stopped caring at about the 3rd application.

I bought a pint can of $5 clearance paint at Walmart. Black satin exterior to be exact. It took four coats. I also bought matching spray paint to make the trim go faster. Funny story, I found dog food on the top of the door jam. We don’t own dogs. We have never owned dogs. Weird.

For a bit of sparkle, I purchased this kick plate at Home Depot. It was $18 and was bright ugly bronze. I spray painted it a hammered bronzy color. I also purchased a door knocker on ebay for $6 and painted it the same color. I have not attached it yet because my fall wreath is hanging right now.

I bought the supplies for these little topiary’s at JoAnn’s Craft Store. All were on clearance. And then I built them. Because I’m awesome like that.

Done! Not really.

The door is actually not finished. Aside from the door knocker, we still have to install the new doorknob that the landlords bought for us. The problem? I don’t think they will work/fit in our door. Doorknobs are complicated, holy smokes! Beyond me anyway. We’ll see what hubby has to say once he gets his hands on them.

Project synopsis:

Cost: $42 (not including wreath, topiaries or the doorknob which we didn’t have to pay for)

Time: About a month with several weeks of absolutely no progress. Probably could have done it in about 3 days to allow for drying time. I just got sick of working on it and left it for ~~days~~ weeks at a time.

Middle Earth Map Dress

2011-10-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

This is a map dress.

This is a map dress of Middle Earth.

From Lord of the Rings?

Too right. I wanty.

School Spirit!

2011-10-10T08:33:00.001-08:00

This past week Daddy had his first home basketball game and we all went along. The cheerleaders were having a free spirit booth with face painting, colored hairspray and fingernail painting. Jake got really into the face painting. Jordan did EVERYTHING else.

Doobie wanted nothing to do with any of it.

Oh, right. Daddy’s varsity team won but his JV team lost. Everyone played very well though. I guess. I really have no clue.

What Happened? Bandages

2011-10-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

I NEED these. Like, real bad.

OK to AK

2011-10-05T08:50:00.005-08:00

Back before all the birthday madness...

A few weeks ago, Hubby’s sister, who we haven’t seen in a couple of years now, managed to bring her two babies up to Alaska for a visit. A huge thank you to her mom who flew down to Oklahoma one day and turned around and flew them all to Alaska the next day. And then did it again two weeks later.

The boys had a blast playing with their little cousin Rowynn and teaching him new things. Like climbing stairs, and driving Jeeps.

Sometimes they overwhelmed him though. I think he’s more used to the quiet life. My crazy kids love to get all up in everyone’s business.

It wasn’t easy, but I managed to get this one close up image of Rowynn before he ran off to do something else. Out of about seven attempts, this is the only one that wasn’t blurry! Speedy little toddler.

We squeezed a photo session in while they were here and we were able to take advantage of the awesomeness that is Fall in Alaska. Shut up right? How beautiful is this place?

Rowynn really doesn’t have time for pictures though. He only had about two weeks to explore Alaska and sitting down for photos was not on his calendar. But we love how these funny shots turned out. “Hey dude, where ya going?"

Baby Brennyn likes photos though.

Best family photo ever.

After pictures, we played with the ducks.

While Raychel and the kids were in town. Her mom (also Hubby’s mom) got married! That’s right, we had a wedding to attend. Diana asked Raychel and I to do what we could to decorate her fiance’s living room for the ceremony. Raychel and I selected all the flowers and created an arrangement. The first attempt was not good. The second attempt was better, but then I called in some reinforcements (my very amazingly crafty friend) who tweaked everything into perfection.

Jordan was the flower girl and the boys were both ring bearers.

Our family, all dolled up.

The new extended family!

Rowynn and Uncle Darrin out for a stroll to the car after the wedding.

And this is what I did The. Whole. Time Raych and the kids were in town. I held babies.

I cuddled babies.

I talked to babies.

And I snuggled babies.

Thanks for the baby fix, Raych!

2011-10-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Being the youngest and not yet in school definitely has its perks. Just ask Doobie. Last week during school on Friday, while the rest of the family was at school and work, Doobie and I had his little birthday party here at the house. We invited all his little buddies and their mommies. Bonus, all their siblings were in school, so the party was a manageable size and budget. Holla!

Both of my boys have their birthdays two days apart, so by the time we got to this party, I’d already made a few birthday cakes, some of which were still sitting around, partially eaten. So I went for store bought mini cupcakes this time. Perfect size for little friends.

Goodie bags for party-goers included candy, raisins, crayons, stickers and notepads

Pre-school friendly feast included uncrustables, applesauce, grapes, fruit snacks (natch!) chips and juice (not the kind that Dr. Oz said was dangerous of course).

Little friends at the little picnic table.

Other little friends up at the counter.

Cute little birthday party Doobie.

I didn’t have my camera quite ready when the time came to blow out the candles so I told him to WAIT! DON’T DO IT YET! And he waited. And then his friend got sick of waiting and blew out the candles for him. So we had to redo.

Yay! Presents!

Transformers and Star Wars toys! Woot!

This hat was custom made for Doobie by Lucy of Luma Threads. She’s amazing and we love her!

His very own bible. This bible is AWESOME! Highly recommended for all children. Best children’s bible out there for sure. The Jesus Storybook Bible.

Birthday time is over for a couple of weeks. Then its MY TURN!

Jaycob’s Birthday Bash

2011-09-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

This past week, BOTH of my boys had their birthdays. Jakey invited a couple of friends over to play on Saturday and had blast with Legos and Star Wars and Lego Star Wars.

I gave each of the kids a mini Lego kit to build airplanes. They loved it!

I gave Jordan a girly toy so she could be included.

Instead of a giant, expensive birthday party, I decided to keep it simple this year. Just a couple of great friends and a lot of Legos and cake and ice cream.

A day later, it was Josh’s turn.

All my babies get an alarm clock when they turn 5. He was excited to have finally earned his!

Doobie will be having some friends over tomorrow for a little play date party during the school day.

Crap That Is Awesome

2011-09-27T04:00:00.000-08:00

“Dream Girl"

I have no words. Just really big grins.

All About Josh at 5 Years Old

2011-09-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

Loves to wear his “Don’t Bug Me Shirt” and actually gets angry when you bug him while the shirt is on.

Calls Jake his “best buddy”

Puzzle phenom. No seriously, it’s creepy.

Can do the “big fat belly” trick where he can extend his gut out to look pregnant.

Finally stopped panicking while getting haircuts with the clippers.

Loves Cabbage Salad

A pretty decent liar.

Adopted Jake’s obsession with Star Wars. Yay. Another one.

Cries a lot but tries really hard not to.

Still wets the bed but only when he’s really exhausted or if he drinks juice for dinner.

Not in kindergarten yet but can already read pretty well.

LOVES to play video games on the Wii or the Nintendo DS. Yup, he’s one of THOSE kids.

Still loves to eat Frosted “Milliweeds” for breakfast. Or else he wants whatever Jake had for breakfast and wants to sit in Jake’s seat.

He’s turning five years old! My baby is FIVE!

Happy birthday Doobie Loobie!

Who Pooped on the Floor!?

2011-09-24T20:40:00.001-08:00

This past week I had the privilege of running daycare for 60 kids as a basketball fundraiser for Hubby’s team. On the second day I was forced to add to my list of rules during the morning sit-down.

“....no fighting, and please don’t poop on the floor. Any questions?"

All About Jake at 8 Years Old

2011-09-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

Happy 8th birthday to my sweet Bubbadoo!

So what is this dude up to these days?

He is now in 2nd grade. WHAT!?

Still loves Star Wars. Will it ever end? *looks over at Hubby,* I’m thinking no.

Starting to show a keen interest in sports. Particularly football but I think Hubby is willing to take what he can get at this point.

Makes amazing technical creations out of Legos.

Makes up songs on the piano that are, actually, quite awesome.

Plays video games better than you.

His favorite band is Lincoln Brewster

He rubs his thumb and forefinger together when he’s worked up about something. Just like his mommy.

Likes to read in bed at night before falling asleep.

Really, really, really wants to shoot a moose. Even if it’s just in our front yard.

While always a decent eater, he is now really into eating whatever the grown ups are eating and is willing to try just about anything once.

Recently decided he’s a big fan of roller coasters and other carnival rides that involve speed and height. That’s great because we are headed to Disney World pretty soon.

Still gets in trouble for talking at school EVERY DAY. But can’t seem to remember exactly what he was talking about. Ever.

Love you Sweetie Bubba!

Crap That Is Awesome

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Winter is coming people! You can never be too prepared.

FROM: fffound.com

New Sofa Project Fail

2011-09-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, Hubby and I found a screaming deal on a new couch at Fred Meyer. In spite of the fact that I promised myself I would stop buying cheap fake furniture, the one day only half off sale on the pretty brown leather sofa was a temptation.

I don’t have much will power to begin with and when Hubby is on board, well, anyway, we bought the couch.

It was really difficult to get into our split level house with all the stairs but we managed to squeeze it through our back door. Two days later I noticed as I walked past the couch that there was something bulging out of the back of it. I poked and prodded and realized that one of the interior support pieces was splintered and poking out the back. It was only a matter of time and hyper children before it poked right through the leather. Stupid cheap fake furniture.

Well, I decided there was no way I was keeping this couch. Hubby was not on board with returning it because of the hassle. I didn’t care about the hassle. I wanted a not-broken sofa. So I borrowed a truck, Hubby helped me load the couch, I returned it, picked up a new one and Hubby helped me move it into the house.

Remember the part where I said that Hubby was not on board with replacing the couch? Well, it turns out he could see into the future and he just KNEW all this was about to happen.

First of all, the new couch, though it was the EXACT SAME COUCH, did not fit through the door. In our confused frustration and general fed-up-ness, we tore the molding off the doorframe and ruined some the sheetrock around the door FORCING that freaking couch through the opening.

Oh and you know what else happened?

We ripped a three inch hole into the top of the couch cushion.

So, you know, Hubby wasn’t vindicated AT ALL about this stupid couch swap idea.

2011-09-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

I laughed. Then I cried a little because, well....it just goes like this sometimes.

Source: None via Amy on Pinterest

Crap That Is Awesome

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

This, my friends, is a fish apartment. Are you kidding me? I kind of want one really bad. You want one? Buy it here at this non-English speaking website.

Artsy Fartsy

2011-09-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

My Bugaroo and me, working in our “office.” Love spending time with best girl.

Crap That is Awesome

2011-09-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

I’m adding a new feature to my blog. I shall call it, “Crap That is Awesome.” It shall consist of things I find that are awesome.

And it is only fitting that I start us off by featuring this pillow. Courtesy of Mandi at Vintage Revivals.

I need this pillow so hard.

My Amia Model

2011-09-04T15:45:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago I posted a little sneak peek of my daughter modeling for My Amia’s new fall collection. See the rest of the designs and more pics of my sweet little nugget here!

Young Gospel Singer from Brazil

2011-09-04T13:26:00.001-08:00

This 11 year old boy, Jotta, from Brazil will knock your ever loving socks off in this clip. It was passed around Facebook a couple of weeks ago and I watched only the first few seconds and was impressed.

This past week my kids came home from school RAVING about watching a video during chapel where a young boy sang our favorite song. I realized what video they were talking about and found it on YouTube. Then we watched it all together. HOLY. MOLY. I was in tears. Blubbering like a fool in front of my babies.

Why didn’t I finish watching it last time? HE IS AMAZING. Hang in there until the end. He will blow your hair back.

2011-09-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

Today at church, Jordan told me that she sang my favorite song, “Worthy is the Lamp.”

Josh learned all about Noah’s Art.

Cork Pin Board

2011-09-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard of Pinterest? Pinterest is the biggest housewife time-suck (next to Facebook) on the planet. It is a place for aspiring decorators, chefs, gardeners, crafters, etc...to go and pin up all the things on the internet that inspire them. The joke is, that we are spending so much time pinning that we aren’t actually accomplishing any of these fabulous aspirations. Guilty!

Well, I’m stopping the cycle.

I, my friends, am actually going to DO one of the organizational DIY projects that I found online and pinned to one of my Pinterest Pinboards. I am actually going to make a real life Pin Board inside one of my kitchen cabinets to house all my (six) loose recipes. I’m no cook by the way, so there really are only six that I actually ever make and need recipes for. Perhaps another person would pin grocery lists or magazine clippings. Whatever, do you what you want. I care not.

First, allow me to give you a gander and my Pinterest board collection, to give you an idea of all the things I am not accomplishing on any given day.

Pretty isn’t it? And that’s not even all of my boards. Couldn’t fit them all in one screenshot. If you want to see the rest, click on the red banner on the right that says, “follow me on Pinterest.” I am awesome by the way.

So, on to the project. I can think of many ways to accomplish this project, but this is how I did it. I started by creating cute little recipe cards on my computer from all the piles of paper I had stuffed into my upper cabinet. I printed them on card stock, and cut them apart with my handy dandy paper trimmer.

I purchased a sheet of cork from Joann’s Craft Store for $3.59. It was more than I needed so I cut it down to 10x12 to fit my little cabinet door. I scored it first with my paper trimmer so the line would be straight, then used my craft knife to finish the job.

It is my understanding that you can purchase a package of cork squares from Target for about $5 and they are self-adhesive. My Target didn’t have any. That’s because I live in Alaska and you can never find anything you need here. Unless it’s fishing equipment.I had to figure out a way to adhere the cork to the door all by myself.

So I went to Walmart and bought double sided tape. And cute push pins. Actually, I went to Walmart to buy these things and made it out with push pins and a whole lot of other crap, but forgot the double sided tape. Quick stop at Fred Meyer and I’m rolling once again.

I applied the double sided tape to the back of my cork piece. Or maybe it was the front. I really couldn’t tell. Then I pressed it firmly onto the cabinet door. I even used a level because I’m that awesome.

Push pins - @ The Office - $1.68 at Walmart
Double Sided Tape - Scotch - $3.99 at Fred Meyer

Then I arranged my very important recipe cards with my very cute push pins.

Then I stared at it and decided it needed something else. Like a dumb scrap paper flower.

Ah yes. SO DUMB!But hurray for cleaning out loads of nasty scrap paper from my upper cabinet.

Another Installment of...

2011-09-01T17:30:00.003-08:00

...I can’t believe I just said that.This is actually something that Hubby had to shout at our daughter while she was fighting with her brothers.“JORDAN! Stop screaming! Where are your pants!?"

Be Still My Galloping Heart

2011-08-31T21:27:00.000-08:00

This evening, my baby girl had her very first horseback riding lesson. She (and I) had no idea what to expect really because by the time I started taking lessons, I had already been riding for years. When we arrived at the barn (Eaton Equestrian Center), Jordan’s instructor had her participate in getting her pony ready from start to finish, which I absolute love that she did. Jordan curried, brushed, hoof picked and tacked up Sabastian before she ever got on him.

She even had to strap on the splint boots!

Off we go to the arena!

A final tighten on the girth before we mount.

And we are up!

For some reason, this is where I started to choke up a little. She was really nervous about letting go of the saddle and doing “arm exercises” to help learn balance. After a few minutes, she was riding all around with NO HANDS. It got me, I don’t know why.

Working on keeping those heels down is really hard.

And the heels are back up but her back is nice and straight!

A hug and pat pat for Sabastian for being such a good boy.

See you next week Sabastian!

Alaska State Fair Time!!

2011-08-30T21:39:00.004-08:00

I really don’t know how we do it. EVERY YEAR. Even if the forecast calls for rain, if the Powers clan is hitting the Alaska State Fair, the rain disappears. Not that I have absolute faith that it will happen every year, which is why all the rain coats...

Because of the grand expense of taking three kids (who want to ride every ride now that they are older) we only go once per year now. Usually with our church youth group. Like this time. I grabbed the kids from school, walked to the other end of the building with them....

....and hopped on the bus to the fair. Side note: Our bus driver was super hawt.

At the front gate, waiting for daddy (aka “hawty bus driver”) to park the bus. This is our friend Gavin. His dad is the Jr. High youth pastor at our church. He and Josh are the same age and will be starting kindergarten together next year.

The first thing we did was eat a little. My kids can’t handle spending extended time wandering and eating and I can’t handle spending extended time at the rides so we did a little of this, and a little of that, then back to this and so on. It was the perfect solution.

(Note to self: pack food for the kids next year. They just don’t appreciate a $9 corn dog like they should.)

I, on the other hand, fully appreciated my seafood bread bowl to the fullest of my capabilities. The giant earthquake burger is a fair favorite for Darrin as well. I didn’t get a picture of it this year but 2 years ago it looked like this.

Ride time.

The first ride of the year was this brand new caterpillar roller coaster. The boys rode it, Jordan didn’t (until later). They have a new found love and fascination with roller coasters thanks to Remlinger Farms and Washington Grandma.

Jordan couldn’t wait to get on the carousel. Girl has horses on the brain lately.

While I indulged Josh and Jordy with this lame waste-of-ride-tickets kiddy ride...

Daddy and Jake rode the hang glider.

Then it was time for another food run. Oh look! Hula hoops!

Jordan gave a good effort.

But I had no clue that Jake could rock a Hula hoop like a master.

Darrin had heard a rumor that the fair had kangaroos this year. We were skeptical because we couldn’t find them. Until we found them.

Then Grandma Diana took the kids into the bird cage to feed all the little gold finches or whatever they were. The wire mesh messed with my picture taking but basically all three kids went in, sat down with their hands full of food and the birds attacked. Jordan flipped her lid, lost her mind and food went flying everywhere and as her screams died down we all noticed that Jake, sitting quietly on the floor, had about 10 birds perched on his hands nibbling away. They landed all over him and he just sat there, loving every second of it.

Pelicans.

Grandma Diana brought this giant umbrella that we didn’t need. But if you know my kids, you know they are obsessed with umbrellas so we had to snap a photo under it.

We used up the last of our ride tickets on the GIANT SLIDE!

Josh and Gavin got to do a ride together. Best buds forever!

We ended the day at the toy booth where each kid picked a prize for being AWESOME. Seriously. Darrin and I reflected on it later that night. The kids were amazing. Their behavior was exceptional. No whining. No fighting. No making me want to stab my eyes out.

So proud of my super sweet babies.

The Truth

2011-08-24T10:08:00.003-08:00

I found this on Pinterest this morning and had to share. Original credit (I think) goes here.

Anyway, I’m sharing because it’s the truth.

The Truth for Mature Humans.

1. Part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize that you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to take a nap when I was younger.

4. There is a need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (I actually know the answer to this, thank you Martha Stewart.)
Fold A Fitted Sheet

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start the directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make great stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I didn’t make any changes to.

14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this - EVER.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring, but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice-mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night that more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was happening when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it approriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when and entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber and dumber every year?

29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver, I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian, I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a purse, finding their cell phone, and pinning the tail on the donkey - but I’d bet my life, everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

The Big Day.

2011-08-22T09:46:00.003-08:00

I feel like the first day of school snuck up on me this year. Maybe because I wasn’t focused on preparing a new kindergartener, but I just wasn’t anticipating/dreading it so much this year, and as a result, I found I wasn’t completely prepared this morning.

No coats.

Okay, I have big bulky winter jackets ready to go, but in today’s soft, cool drizzle, a parka was overkill. But the short sleeves they were both wearing probably wasn’t a good option for recess. So I dug out a couple of nasty old light weight coats and put them on while I donned a load of guilt on myself for not sending them to school on the first day with nice new play coats.

Dumb, I know. Not just for forgetting but for making a big dumb deal about it now. Whatever. Mom’s care about this stuff.

When we arrived at the school, Hubby was there in the gym waiting for us and we found our teachers quickly. Jordan has Mrs. Wetzler, whom Jake had last year and we love and Jaycob has Mr. Szepanski who happens to be Jake’s best friend’s dad.

Jake ditched us pretty quickly to find his friends but I hung with Jordan while she had a mini breakdown. Overwhelmed I think, with all that curly hair.

Jake and his best buddies

Jordan and her teacher, Mrs. Wetzler.

Jordy at her desk.

Jaycob at his desk way in the back corner.

Have a wonderful day babies!

OH CRUD! I forgot to put love notes in their lunches!

Twas The Night Before...

2011-08-21T19:32:00.002-08:00

The FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

Doobie’s not going to school yet but he sure looks cute in his new bunk bed.

Kids’ Camp

2011-08-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, my eldest baby went to Kids’ Camp with our church. Alone. Like, without a mommy.

I was against the idea from the beginning. Jake REALLY wanted to go. And Hubby really wanted to let him go. When he first came home from church begging to go, I just smiled, patted him on the head and said a little prayer that he’d forget all about it. Quickly. I remember looking at Darrin like, NO WAY, and him looking back at me and shrugging like, WHY NOT?

Gasp!

NO!

HE’S A TINY BABY!

Who will make sure he eatswellwipeshisbutttakesashowermakesfriendsobeyshisleadersgoestosleepbrusheshisteethrememberswherehetookhisshooesoffhangsuphiswetstuff??????

Well, WHO?

Then Hubby went and signed him up for camp, two days before camp started, without a word to me.

So, I was forced to accept and embrace the idea within a span of two days.

The morning I dropped him off at the church for camp was worse than his first day of kindergarten for me. HE WAS SO EXCITED and I was a nervous, idiotic wreck. I made him practice carrying his backpack and sleeping bag/pillow around the house before he left so that I could assure myself he could carry it all from the bus to the cabin by himself when he got there. We practiced brushing our teeth and spitting because this was his first experience with real tooth paste, not the toddler kind you can swallow. I packed and then made him repack his bag so that he knew where everything was and where everything went. I reminded him to hang up his wet stuff and put his dirty clothes in the plastic bag I’d tucked in there.

He immediately climbed onto the bus and sat with his best friend (who he’s been best friends with since they were babies together. THEY ARE STILL JUST BABIES!) After I stood outside the bus blowing kisses and making faces at him for five minutes, I motioned for him to get off the bus to give me another hug. As he began bounding down the steps he stopped and turned to his friends and said, “I have to get off the bus for a minute, my mom needs to hug me.”

And then I left. ‘Cause I was getting choked up. WHAT?

But everything was going to be okay, you know why? Because he is eight years old. He’s not a tiny baby. And his best friend’s parents were going to be there the whole time. And his kindergarten teacher’s husband was his counselor, and the kids’ pastor’s wife was going to keep me posted via Facebook messages and phone photos and because one of the girls on Hubby’s basketball team was going to be there and make him call me every night.

This was the first photo I received. Lunch on the first day. He later told me that all the food was gross so he only ate bread and cake. When he called me that night he said, “Hi Mommy! I’m just calling to see if you’re okay.”

Sweetness and light. That’s what this boy is. Then he told me that he hung up his swimming shorts and wet towel like I told him but they weren’t by his bed because there was no good spot but it was SORT OF CLOSE to his bed so don’t worry.

This was the 2nd photo. Dinner on day two. (Notice he’s wearing the same clothes? Which, incidentally are his PJs). They had to do a silly lineup for dinner. More bread and cake.

This was taken before going home on the last day. Those are the tattoos he helped his team win and then applied to his arms and face.

When he came home at 10pm three days later, he was exhausted, excited and full of stories. He handed me an envelope with what was left of his snack shop money ($5.25 out of $10) which he didn’t use much of because they didn’t have anything healthy there. WHAT?

He laughed and pounded the table with his fist when he told me that he got to shower in the girls' bathroom because the girls’ dorms had their own showers. He admitted that he sometimes took longer than two minutes because it was SO WARM. When I asked if he used soap, he couldn’t remember.

As he sat before us, at 10:30 at night, regaling us with hilarious stories, he pounded two pieces of pizza and a yogurt because he was starving from living off bread and cake.

The important thing is, he had the time off his life. And he made it through. He came home smelly and hungry but SO HAPPY. I survived, by the grace of God, and I think it’s good sometimes for a tired stay-at-home mommy of three to have a reason to miss her babies.

Hands

2011-08-14T21:45:00.004-08:00

“Mommy, I know why God gave us hands.”

This, from Doobie as he wandered into the kitchen after me.

“They are so we can pray.....and to help somebody up....and to scratch their back if they are itchy...."

Campalicious

2011-08-07T11:48:00.008-08:00

You mayhap recall I story I told in an earlier post about our RV, Rory and all his many maladies and general shortcomings. Not that any of that has stopped us from utilizing him this summer. His mysterious upper bunk flooding problem was solved by copious amounts of caulking over several days while we waited for it to rain so that we could test our patch jobs. Each new patch DID NOT fix the problem and it wasn’t until Hubby practically coated the entire roof that the leaking stopped. This was a two week long process which probably could have been shortened to a couple of days if we’d thought sooner about doing a hose test instead of rain test...

Rory’s other issue consisted of a complete and utter lack of refrigeration. We bought Rory several years ago and I’m pretty sure the refrigerator went out on the second camping trip we ever took. So we became cooler people. I mean cooler as in, little store bought box that keeps food cold, not cooler as in “heeeeeyyy” like Fanzi. Though, we are also cool like that. So for a few years we packed our little red cooler on camping trips. Or we didn’t go camping at all because camping in a flooded motor home with no refrigerator kinda bites.

One day over this summer, while I was with my parents in Seattle for a visit, I got to talking about Rory and his issues. My mom then told me about a guy (who was from Alaska, weird) that they’d met in Arizona who had a small chest freezer that he set outside his camper and plugged in to the hookups. I’m pretty sure I heard the Hallelujah Chorus as I considered the possibilities.

Fast forward to July and you find Hubby outside in Rory, ripping the old refrigerator out. It was big and heavy and unwieldy (and it’s still sitting in our yard because we’re totally awesome like that). The space it left is gaping and dripping with dirty insulation but it’s ready. And waiting.

A couple more weeks pass and the family and I are loaded up in Rory, heading out for some camping and stopping at Fred Meyer for some ice for the stupid cooler. As we all walked into the store, there right in front was a display of mini-refrigerators for offices and such, on clearance. When I say there was a display I mean there was only one left. Cue Hallelujah Chorus again.

We installed it in the Fred Meyer parking lot. Awesome sauce.

In typical Powers fashion though, there were issues. We had no hookups at our campsite so we tried running the new refrigerator off the house battery which kept frying fuses and tripping breakers. We didn’t have the stuff we needed to run it off propane either. But hubby did some Macgyver tricks by cutting an extension cord with a box knife and fandangled some weird wiring situation and suddenly the thing was running off of our generator. Suh-weet.

Anyway, we went camping, the weather was awesome, we biked, we swam, I EVEN SWAM and I don’t do that very often. We canoed, we rafted on our Airbed using a battle ax for an oar. It was a good couple of days. I think I took a couple of pictures.

Airbed boat with Battle Ax oar.

Bugaroo swimming across the lake with her arm floaties on.

Towing

The boys taking the Airbed boat out for a cruise.

It was a pretty good oar, even with the holes.

Photo Goodness

2011-08-07T10:56:00.004-08:00

Love these turkeys! Pizza stained faces and everything.

Okay, this is actually not pizza. It’s flower pollen. And when I saw him I thought he’d cracked his face open on the concrete.

My Amia

2011-08-01T13:39:00.003-08:00

There are perks to being a photographer, let me tell you. Like today for instance. I was invited to photograph a clothing collection for My Amia Boutique and guess who got to be a little model....hmmmm?

My Amia Boutique is a little girls’ clothing line designed and handmade by my wonderful friend, Heather Masters. She is amazing and I’m honored to be a part of her product launch! Like My Amia on Facebook by clicking HERE!

Lessons In Life

2011-07-31T13:25:00.004-08:00

I’ve been saying for a while now how I want bunk beds for my boys. Not because they need to share a room, but because I think bunk beds are cool.

Up until a month ago, Doobie slept in a toddler fire truck bed in his little tiny room. In spite of the fact that he had far outgrown it, the toddler bed was really the only option for his postage stamp sized bedroom. If we put a twin bed in there, he wouldn’t be able to fit himself into the room with it.

Then, one day, I stumbled upon a bunk bed at a garage sale. For $20. The catch? No hardware. Oh, and only one set of side rails to support the mattress. No problem. I’ll turn it into a LOFT BED. The perfect solution for my son’s minuscule bedroom. Sleep on top, play underneath.

“Yes!” I think to myself. “This is the perfect solution.”

So I purchased the bed.

I painted the bed. (Two coats of primer, three coats of paint, 2 coats of polyurethane - took FOREVER).

After a gazillion trips to Home Depot for hardware, and a bit of wood to to make it safe, a trip to the furniture store for a mattress, (of course they only had the expensive kind) the loft bed is complete.

Isn’t it lovely?

Now, here is the lesson I’ve learned.

Putting sheets on and taking sheets off a bunk SUCKS.

Not only that, but my son is still working out the whole peeing in the bed in the middle of the night thing. So I have to take sheets off and on at THREE IN THE MORNING every other night.

So, basically, $300 later, it was the worst $20 I’ve ever spent.

How Rude

2011-07-23T13:24:00.001-08:00

Another installment of Things I Can’t Believe I Had To Say.

“Don’t throw socks in people’s food!"

Where Am I and Why?

2011-07-12T22:20:00.010-08:00

This month, July 11, to be exact, marked the 10 year anniversary of our arrival in Anchorage, Alaska to live. Why did we move here you ask? I too, ask that question. Every. Single. Day.

Not really. More like every other day. Okay, every winter day. Which is basically every day...okay, moving on.

It all started with a really bad day at work (for me) and a well timed phone call from out of nowhere (to Darrin) and suddenly we were like, “we should move to Alaska!” Darrin was gone within the month, I followed almost two months later.

Perhaps a little back story is in order here.

Darrin lived in Alaska as a teenager. He graduated high school there, joined the Air Force there, and up until he moved to Washington to find me, lived there.

Then he moved. And we met. Then we married. Fast forward two years and I’m leaving a job at Microsoft, loading up my Toyota pickup and Darrin’s Jeep Wrangler, kidnapping my younger brother Josh and driving to Alaska. With our cat, Moe.

I should also mention that Josh and I had our wisdom teeth removed (together, on the same day, awww!) the week before we hit the road. Because we have to do everything in the most complicated manner imaginable. Plus, we were both about to lose our health and dental insurance.

It was sad for me to leave. I think my dad was pretty irked considering he’d given his permission for Darrin to marry me if, and only if, he never moved me to Alaska. Darrin doesn’t remember that part. STORY OF MY LIFE.

Anyway, our journey took an incredibly speedy and exhausting SIX DAYS. If you’ve ever driven to or from Alaska to ANYWHERE in the lower 48, you are laughing at us. I know that. It’s okay. You should be jealous. You missed out on staying in some of the seediest dives you could ever imagine because you were too busy driving all night and day to get there in two days. We’re all very impressed. Really.

As we rolled into the city of Anchorage, Darrin informed me (via CB radio) that our apartment was right near McDonalds (YESSS!!!) and I started to get annoyed as we drove past THREE McDonalds and still weren’t home. After six days of driving, I just wanted to be home. Not sure why I was so excited, because home was a smelly, nasty apartment behind the local Bingo Hall/tattoo parlor.

This is Josh holding Jack. Jack as in, Jack In The Box, antennae ball, Jack ball. We put him on brand new as we rolled out of Duvall, Washington. He’s in a lot of pictures. In the end he was missing most of his face. In this shot, we were stopped at one of the many road construction road blocks.

Also this happened a time or two. Darrin would recharge the Jeep every morning while Josh and I rinsed out our gaping mouth surgery holes in whatever local rest area had the least yellow water.

This the Alaska/Canada border. There is a swath cut through the wilderness all along the perimeter. Kind of awesome. Who has that job?

We caravanned all the way. Taking turns driving each car and having a passenger. We communicated via CB radio and it was awesome. Moe peed on Josh’s sweatshirt at one point and to this day, though Moe is long dead, Josh still hasn’t forgiven nor forgotten.

Finally home. This was what our vehicles looked like when we got there.

Jeep Movie

2011-07-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

We are a Jeep family. We own four Jeeps. We should be sponsored.

Deadliest Crabs

2011-07-04T17:03:00.002-08:00

Three of my brothers and their Maryland Blue Crab adventures. June 2011

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T10:39:00.001-08:00

Happy national hot dog roasting day!

God bless the U.S.A!!

That One Time, When it Didn’t Rain...

2011-07-01T11:20:00.002-08:00

On a cloudy gloomy day like today, I really miss Washington. Because, one time, it was sunny there.

Finally Camping!!

2011-06-29T23:31:00.003-08:00

I love camping. I really do. I’m pretty sure. Which is why I was willing, excited even, to come home from my three week Seattle trip, spend one night in my bed and then set out on some camping fun at nearby Eklutna Lake.

With 3 kids, we are very blessed to have our super dee duper white trash motor home for our camping needs. It matters not that it has pink shag carpeting, a broken refrigerator and a colossal plumbing leak somewhere. It also matters not that he often needs some mechanical work done or that something weird leaks antifreeze onto the floor in the passenger seat.

We call him Rory and he is a member of our family slash fantastic yard art.

Rory has been broken for over a year though. Being a measly woman, I have no idea what was actually wrong with him, only that he sounded like an old man dying of a wasting disease whenever we fired him up. At the beginning of this summer though, we finally got that fixed thanks to our trusty new mechanic named Steve.

I thought all I ever needed from Rory was for him to drive us from point A to point B without dying. I don’t need a refrigerator or a shower, just engine reliability. As it turns out thought, there is one other thing I need.

Leak resistance.

I’m not even asking for leak proof. Just resistance. That way, when we start driving up the hill from our house, the flooded upper bunk doesn’t cascade rusty, nasty, foul water on all the unsuspecting passengers riding at the dining room table. It would also keep me from getting viciously motion sick as I flittered from one side to the other mopping up waterfalls and stuffing ENTIRE paper towel rolls into cracks and crevices to contain the deluge.

I’m just saying.

Anyhoo, back to camping.

We drove out about an hour to Eklutna Lake to meet friends. We camped, we canoed, we chatted, laughed and yelled at our kids. We made S’mores (with peanut butter cups, hello) we roasted hot dogs, caught inch worms, saw bears and sat around the campfire in the rain.

The lake was a short drive across the campground from our site.

It was beautiful!

The water level was extremely low so there was a bit of a hike from the truck to the shore.

My Bubba.

Exploring through marsh grass.

Finding rocks on the beach.

Seriously? Awesome Sauce.

My Doobie Baby.

This is my friend Lucy. She just had a baby. She’s just out camping. Lucy is the incredibly talented force behind LUMA Threads and she makes all the fantabulous hats for my photography business.

Heading out!

Aaannnd, heading back in. Too windy to control the canoe with three worthless helpers.

But nothing can stop their fun!

Perfectly content to sit on the beach with oars.

My Bugaroo

Love this turkey.

And this one.

Also this one.

Seattle Aquarium

2011-06-24T09:21:00.006-08:00

Still plugging away at blogging these Seattle adventures!

One of the things we did was visit the Seattle Aquarium. The last time we’d been there, Jake was this small:

My friend Jenn and her husband and son met us downtown for some aquarium fun and we were pleasantly surprised to see that it had been hugely expanded. Well, I was surprised. Jenn’s family comes quite often with their family pass. Speaking of the family pass, we were able to get us all in for FREE! Which was awesome because it would have cost my family about $60 to get in. I kind of ruined the blessing by getting a $40 parking ticket though...

Right as you walk in you see a huge 2 story wall of water full of fish. This was new. And awesome.

The “dome” is really the highlight of the whole experience and we arrived just in time for the feeding show. Neat.

We goofed off a little bit near the otter and seal exhibits.

Posing and stuff.

Jenn’s sunglasses were a big hit.

The Daane family. Jenn and I used to teach dance together. She’s from Alaska. She moved to Seattle and then I moved to Alaska. Weird.

We topped the day off with some ice cream. My kids are not awesome at eating ice cream. So LJ gave us some tips.

Also Doobie has a big bonk on his noggin.

Three J’s and one LJ tearing up Seattle.

We had a wonderful day!