Wow, what a busy and fun summer we have been having! Since June, we have made two trips to California, and had numerous visitors... 

First, my Grandparents came to stay with us.  We had a good time spending time with them.  One night when they were with us, we went to dinner at a favorite local Mexican restaurant and went to a Mariners game.  The Mariners played great, destroyed the Royals, and actually won for a change.    

On June 15th, we flew to California for Brian's sister's graduation from college.  She graduated at the top of her class from the University of California at Irvine.  Congratulations, Julia! It was a quick trip and right after we got back, my parents came to stay with us for a week. 

While in town, my mom got to go to work with me for the last day of school and meet all the kids I have been working with all year (my Dad played golf during this time).  We checked out a lot of the sights of Seattle while they were here.  We went on the Historic Seattle Underground City Tour, took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, ate at Ivar's on the waterfront, shopped at Pike Place Market, and went to the Seattle Aquarium.  We also drove to Leavenworth for a day trip.  Leavenworth is a Bavarian village full of cute shops and yummy restaurants.  We ate a traditional Bavarian meal of bratwurst and sauerkraut (Brian was actually the only one of us brave enough to eat the sauerkraut), and shopped until Brian was ready to hurt himself or someone else before going home. The great part about this trip was that Leavenworth was hosting an accordion festival while we were in town and we got to listen to Polka music wherever we went!  It was funny at first, but polka music all starts to sound the same after about 2 minutes...annoying!

We had a fun Fourth of July and co-hosted a barbeque with our friends, the Platteborzes.  We had a smorgasbord of food, including hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, dips, salads, fruit, vegetables with ranch dip, root beer, cake, cheesecake, and homemade strawberry ice cream.  Lots of our friends came and we had fun hanging out, eating, playing Frisbee, eating, talking, eating, playing wiffle ball, and did I mention, eating?  After the barbeque, Brian and I went with our neighbors to the Everett Marina to watch Fireworks.  The city set off tons of fireworks off barges over the ocean and it was spectacular.

While we were sad that my parents went home, it was not too long before we had more visitors!  Brian's Mom, sisters, and brother came for a visit after vacationing for a few days in San Francisco.  Our little house was full, but we had a great time!  Ingrid slept in our guest bedroom, Jeff slept on our couch, and Julia and Ellie shared a blow-up mattress on our living room floor.  The most exciting part of their visit was that we got to go hot air ballooning!  I have always wanted to do this and convinced them to do it with me.  It was amazing and I am glad I got to experience it with them - I think it is something we will always remember.  Brian opted not to go up in the balloon, but watched us safely from the ground.  He was a "chaser" and followed our flight by car, and got lots of great pictures.  While they were in town, we also drove to Snoqualmie Falls and had a picnic lunch.  Afterwards, we rented an electric boat on Lake Union and puttered around for three very relaxing hours.  It was a beautiful, hot day and we really had a wonderful time.  Before setting out on our voyage, Ellie, Julia, and I jumped into the lake for a quick dip.  We all took turns driving the boat, and had a tense moment when a police officer went by as Jeff, who is not yet 16, was driving!  We quickly changed places, and thankfully, the officer did not seem to notice. 

After they went home, we only had a little over a week to get ready for our vacation.  On August 4th, we packed up our car and drove to Mammoth, California. We stayed in a cabin with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and my parents, brothers, and their families stayed in a cabin right next door.  My family has been vacationing in Mammoth since my brothers and I were little kids, and it was wonderful to be back.  The cabins are right on Lake Mary with a perfect view of Mammoth Mountain, and for me, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  I love to just stand on the dock on the lake at dusk and take in the quiet beauty.  On our trip, we got to hike, spend time with all our nieces and nephews (who seem to grow by the minute), play board games, shop at the outlets, and most importantly, relax! 

Unfortunately, after getting to Mammoth we realized that we had left a bag at our overnight stop in Medford, Oregon!  We had to have it shipped to us immediately as it had things in it that I needed for a wedding I was scheduled to be in right after our time in Mammoth.  Ouch...that was an expensive mistake!   

We left Mammoth earlier than the rest of the family to go to one of my best friend's wedding.  We drove to Orange County and made a quick stop at Brian's Mom's house to see if our bag had arrived...fortunately, it did!  We quickly got ready and went to the rehearsal and dinner.  The next day was spent getting ready for the wedding and then the wedding itself.  Natalie looked absolutely beautiful and Tim cleaned up pretty nicely as well.  The ceremony was short, but done very well, and the reception was a lot of fun! They got married at Rancho Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano and I would definitely recommend it as a place to have a beautiful outside wedding and reception (the people from WA are laughing at the idea of this right now, but that's CA).

After the wedding, we stayed in CA for another week before making the long drive home.  This time just confirmed to us how much we miss all our family and friends in CA, and I'll admit I shed some tears as we drove away, but at the same time, we were constantly thinking of our home and friends in WA.  I called one of my girlfriends on the drive back and she asked, "When are you coming home to us?"  It made me smile from ear to ear.  I guess you could say that our hearts now have two homes...one in California and the other in Washington...we wouldn't have it any other way.  Living in Washington has enriched our lives in ways we never expected, but has also made us love and appreciate those we left in California that much more.

Now, after a whirlwind summer, we are settling back into some normalcy.  The fall looks to be just as busy with us both working fulltime, keeping up with our responsibilities at church, and possibly both going back to school.  We'll keep you posted.  I promise to try to update the site on a more regular basis!