Seattle with Sadeth's Family

Our friends, Sadeth and David, were coming in from an Alaskan cruise to the Port of Seattle on Saturday, so we took a trip up north to see them off the ship and visit the city a bit before they flew home to California. We had a great time hanging out downtown!
Their son, Matthew, is already 14 years old (I've known him for 5 years already!). Jared enjoyed being with him, because, after all, this was the boy who gave Jared a box full of Bakugan toys last Christmas at their family party. Jared remembered him well because that was such a cool present. Matthew would also show Jared cool Wii games when I'd go over to visit teach, and Jared remembers that, too. The boys banded together to secure a trip to an ice cream store at Pike Place Market. They definitely won that request. Jared loves strawberry ice cream and was thrilled to get a waffle cone with it. Ah, the little pleasures of life.
We should have brought our cellos! It was PACKED. A beautiful, hot, sunny day in Seattle on Memorial Day weekend? Oh yeah. The people were definitely out.
A happy dance at the market next to the totem poles.
We also drove out to Snoqualmie Falls, which brought back many memories of the ski school bus (which always smelled of diesel, graham crackers and oranges) and family outings. It was almost tragic that the beautiful rustic road out to the lodge and falls was being built up with California-style tract homes and strip malls. Not quite what you'd expect to see out there. But the rest of the drive was gorgeous!
A few family photos at the Seattle Temple...(really located in Bellevue, but I digress...)
And a photo in the little grove of trees on the temple grounds. We couldn't catch Jared long enough to be in this photograph. And even Laura doesn't seem too thrilled about being stuck on my lap for a picture. Sigh.
The rest of our time was driving and enjoying. Next time we'll stop and visit some old friends from Washington. I think that was the only part that was missing on this trip.

Our Old House

Memorial Day Weekend: we went on a family road trip up to Seattle and visited our old house! It looked beautiful and the foliage was amazing, even though it blocked our view of the back of the house. It was a walk down memory lane for sure! The yard is still amazing, the cul-de-sac is something to be envied by those with young children (Jared was very impressed that it was a double cul-de-sac!), and the house itself looked beautiful with its brick-and-tulip front face. Loved seeing it!
Look how big that little tree on the left has grown in the past 17 years!
Jared chasing the Canadian Geese at Lake Sammamish, where our family used to go to swim and water ski when we were kids. We ate a picnic breakfast there on Saturday morning. Beautiful!
Backyard fun back at our house. Laura LOVES this little cozy coupe car. Jared LOVES swinging in the hammock Tom puts up on sunny days. We're thinking with some chickens, a few blueberry bushes, and a trampoline, our backyard will be pretty fun for the kids!

Dallin's 2nd birthday photos

We're a bit behind in our photo downloading, but we couldn't let these cute photos pass us by! Here are some shots we took at the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry) where the Pearsons and Prices met up for Dallin's 2nd birthday in April.

There is a great Ancient Egypt display there. Here are the three kids on a camel in the "desert".
Playing in the water works section.
Lindsay (baby was 17 weeks here), birthday boy Dallin and Emily!

Baby Elise

Is getting old! Between misplacing camera, forgetting where the cord is, and not wanting to stop looking at her long enough to get the camera out, pictures of her babyhood are few and far between. So here's some catch up:

This was taken shortly after Christmas. Elise is on the right, the other nakey baby is her cousin Brett who is about a month older.

Elise is about the happiest baby you'll ever know. She smiles just seeing one of us walk in the room. Although her cheeks are getting heavy and if she's tired she's a little slower to smile for strangers.

Dad's princesses all in pink PJs.

The girls like to hold her, although it's more like propping the baby against her sisters. They really aren't that much bigger than she is.

Can you see about 5 dimples on her chin(s)? Her whole face scrunches up when she smiles. And those CHEEKS! (I wasn't sure if you noticed those)

She can lift herself up on her arms and she now rolls around (from front to back, not the other way yet) and can scootch in circles. No crawling yet, but that's ok by me.

Aaaaaaannnnd here are the rolls. I love having a chubby baby. She has really fattened up since we were at home over Christmas. This is the face she gives when we are out and about: No smiling, just matter of fact, and taking in everything.

We are smitten

Thiel Family Photos

Well the Magnolia tree in the backyard blossomed, so recruiting the help of one of Nathan's coworkers and in between rain showers we got a few family pictures. (And yes we did slap a bow on the baby's head so you can tell she's a girl.)

The "silly" one is Claire's favorite. She let me know that she doesn't like any of the others, so we had to include it.

The girls (well actually Claire initially and Daryn copies everything) ask to climb the tree and I thought we could recreate an old photo of me in the lemon tree. So cute... except Claire wasn't a happy camper once in the tree. I could show you the several pictures of her clutching the tree and asking to come down all with a worried look on her face but we finally coaxed a smile out of her - and got her down right afterward. Daryn also got a turn, of course. We think they're pretty cute.

2nd Washington Easter

I titled this our 2nd Washington Easter because last year, we were up here in Washington as Californians on a one-week spring vacation. That was the visit which set in motion the desire to have more of the Pacific Northwest beauty in our lives, which set in motion the desire to inquire about relocating, which set in motion the official big move from California to Washington just a few months later.

So here we are, Easter 2011!

The cousins singing, "How Firm A Foundation" for Grandpa Pearson.
Jared, age 6, with Grandpa Pearson, age 69 and 11/12ths.
Jared playing with Easter goodies (the coins he found in the eggs are already in his "red box").
We also celebrated with the cousins. Sam and Jared had a great time!


Tom playing Settlers of Catan with the nephews. They seriously love this! Big uncle points for the hours he spends schooling them in strategy and deal-making.

Shipwreck!

"The Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel ship that ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the Oregon coast en route to the Columbia River. It was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens in Warrenton about 4 miles south of the Columbia River channel. Wreckage is still visible, making it a popular tourist attraction as one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the Graveyard of the Pacific."

And we saw it! We climbed on it!




Interesting fact: no one seems to care if you drive your car down to the beach, and drive for miles. There were dozens of cars, trucks, whatever, driving nonchalantly along on the beaches just feet from the water, as if it were no big deal at all. Very different from California beaches, for sure.

Battery Russell

Spurred on by beautiful weather, the Pearson grandparents being in town, and a wild hair for adventure, we traveled north and west to the Oregon Coast. Our destinations: Astoria and Fort Stevens, where Grandfather Welch served in WWII.


It wasn't too long ago that these "ancient" places were alive and bustling with people, apprehension and wartime strategy.


Christopher overlooking the Columbia from the Astoria Column.

We got Grandfather's story via cell phone (put on speaker) as we stood at the exact bunker, Battery Russell, where he served during the tense times in 1943. He told of reporting for duty in his dress uniform, only to be called that very instant to the "front lines" because of an attack on the coast by a Japanese submarine. His job was training men on how to use the big artillery guns. These guns were raised and lowered out of huge holes in the ground, to render them "invisible" to any enemy boats off the coast.

Uncle Eric (Tom's older brother) wrote his Honor's Thesis on the Japanese Attack on Fort Stevens in WWII.
Grandfather proposed marriage to Grandmother Welch at the Astoria Column, looking out to the Pacific Ocean. His wartime proposal went along the lines of, "We only know as much as we can see, and cannot see beyond that horizon. I cannot see what lies ahead for us or our country, but what I do see is that we love each other and we should get married." Obviously, that worked out all right for them. :) We all climbed the Astoria Column and marveled at the GORGEOUS views of the coast and Columbia River flowing inland toward lush hills and high mountains. It really is a glorious place.

A little extra gem for all the little boys out there.





BRAINNNNSSS!!!! (Jared doing a zombie impersonation. Thanks, Plants Vs. Zombies, thanks a lot.)

Kindermusic

Laura and I had our first Kindermusic experience. We were invited to an open house day at cousin Annie's little class, so we went with the grandparents (here for Easter week). It was no more complicated to lead than a primary class, the songs and tangibles reminiscent of Montissori days, and I left feeling strongly that "I can do that!" That is obviously not what they are aiming for (they'd much rather you pay $200 a month for classes!) but that's what I left thinking!

Here we are with the two little musicians.


So...if I get the courage to start my own little neighborhood music class for 2-year-olds, you know where it started. If Mom can do it, WE can do it!

(Hmm, maybe not as well and not with as much patience, but we can try!)

Verdict: Fun for little ones, excellent for beginning to follow class flow and change focus with verbal cues. Negative: high cost, long way to travel for 30 minutes of classtime. Concluded: can be done at home with a basic plan, a few tangibles (homemade would work well!), and a few friends (with laid-back mothers), and Voila! Kindermusic!

Music with Kirk & Kathryn

This is a photo we grabbed during our rehearsal. Another 100 points for Mom! We love playing music (and even WISH we could practice more, unlike what we loudly complained when we were teenagers)!

Kirk invited me to come play a trio with him and Stephanie Tabacco in Battle Ground for their ward's Easter service. It was the first time we've done chamber music together, except for Christmases and a few family weddings, in over 10 years! It was really fun to play together, to get some nice sounds out of our instruments, and to wish we had 2 superb violinists who could round out a nice quartet with us... I also liked having a chance to see his church and drive through some really pretty countryside to get there. Not that it is really that far out from their main street, but it feels like it, and is just wonderful! As always, it's fun to see Emily and Dallin in action, to have another chance to talk with Lindsay, to see how their chicken coop project is coming (beautifully!), and reminisce a bit with Kirk. We have an awesome family.

Who else wants to move to the Pacific Northwest? It's really nice up here. :)