I heart Seattle part 1

Josie and I flew to Washington on Friday Sept.12th with my parents for Carri's wedding open house. The flight went really well. The reservations made it seem that it would be a straight flight however; we did have to land in San Jose and let passengers on and off. Josie was kept happy the entire time with her new Barbie movie that grandma Jullie had got her for the trip. Man, portable DVD players are the best!!
Once arriving in Seattle my dad got the rental car and we promptly went to Denny's for a lunch/dinner because I was starving by then!! Next, we waited for Krista to arrive at the airport. It was a long wait, since they had changed her plane and lost her luggage. Finally we got to our hotel and finally hit the hay after a long day of traveling.
Now Saturday was our only day to see the sights, and here is where the, I heart Seattle comes in! First of all, the place is gorgeous, green trees everywhere with amazing lakes and rivers, and such clean air!! The other thing I absolutely loved about the city was the overall feel of art and music. It seemed like everywhere I turned there was another statue, sculpture or art piece. Let's just say I was very happy to be there! We did get lucky with wonderful weather while we were there which helps the ambiance. I hear it rains there quite often, HA, HA!!
Here are some pictures from Saturday. We went to the famous pikes market place, we had lunch and fed the seagulls at Ivar's and Josie and I ran over to the space needle, which we didn't have enough time to ride up. Maybe some other time! That night was the open house. Palmer's mom did a terrific job on decorating and with the food. It was fun to meet Carri's room mates and more of Palmer's family. I love the picture of Carri and Palmer with the chocolate from the chocolate fountain all over their faces! Carri's room mates set that one up!

Carri and Palmers wedding, wedding, wedding!

So for the last month, all of my time and thoughts have been occupied with my sister's wedding. It has now come and gone! The newly married couple seems happy and healthy. I think it all went off without too many hitches (except for the nightmare of a false ceiling that I had to help put up.) I had a couple of emotional breakdowns because of that stupid ceiling, oops we don't say that word do we? I was in charge of decorating with my wonderful mother-in-laws help of course. However, if you know Carri it was no small pressure. Enough about the bad parts lets focus on the good.
Going to the temple with Carri for her first time was amazing. She seemed to be glowing. The actual sealing was also wonderful, unlike any other sealing I have ever been too. All in attendance were taught and it was very cool! The luncheon and reception also went well. The cake was yummy and Palmer's singing to Carri was fun to watch and be a part of. Well it is late and I had better get to sleep, more photos of our trip to Seattle for the open house to come!

Hooray we have internet!

Sorry for the infrequent posts lately. We have been trying to live without internet for the past month. However, when Josie and I got home from Seattle (more on that later) Stephen had ordered cable and the internet! WOO-HOO!! I can't believe how hard it was to live without internet! I am sure my sister Krista will be thrilled, since I would call her everyday and have her look stuff up on the internet for me. I.E. "Krista will you look up where my closest Library is?" Thanks for putting up with it Krista!!

1st day of 1st grade

We really worried about Josie going to yet another new school. The end of summer came so fast that Josie really didn't have too much time to think about it. She continues to amaze me with her tolerance and her ability to go with the flow. She went the first day and even though she says she didn't talk to anyone, I don't buy it. Once again the adult in the classroom is Josie's favorite; she loves her new teacher, Mrs. Neal, who is young and very nice so far! The homework has been a joke so far, hopefully after this first full week it will challenge her more.

The Cougar is getting older

For Stephen's birthday this year I made him a scrapbook, Josie made him a puzzle, and my mom gave him a BYU football season shirt. It was a good evening, he got home before 8 p.m. which is always a plus! We BBQ-ed hamburgers at Stephen's request. My parents came, Stephen's sisters Lisa, and Julie were here, and of course our new neighbors, Stephen's brother David and his wife J'lene. We had "better than Robert Redford" cake and ice cream. Birthday's are always about yummy food! Happy Birthday Stephen!

Annual Merrill Family Lake Trip

We have started a tradition of going boating once a year with Stephen's side of the family. The last couple of years we have gone to Lake Mojave in May. However, this year because of David's wedding in May, we had to wait to go until August. Lake Mojave would have been way too hot, so Kristy and Jeff suggested Lake San Antonio. It is in northern California and more of a mountain lake. Jeff, Kristy, Julie and I camped. While Patti, Dan, Lisa, Jason, Todd, and LynnMarie stayed in a mobile home. It was nice because we were able to cook the meals at the mobile home. Parker, my little water baby had a blast being in the water all day. It was really nice, we put the life jacket on him and he was a free man.
The highlight from the trip was Uncle Jeff completely losing his big toe nail while knee boarding. It was gross! I never realized how much nail is under the skin in the nail bed!

Moving Day

I hate moving! After having our belongings in storage for 8 months, I wish we could just burn it all. Too many things to put away, yuck! So finally this weekend we moved out of my mom's house and into what we will call a villa. It really isn't too bad, since it is one story and we only share one wall with someone else, those poor people! It is in Riverside, which will be closer to Stephen's work. Now, I have to continue to unpack and worry about registering Josie for school, which starts August 25th. Let's all pray that the California housing market continues to tank so we can afford a house sometime in the future.