The Seattle Temple

The Seattle Space Needle

Downtown Seattle from atop the space needle

Where to begin? DAY ONE-Last Sat. B drove the 3 big boys to the farm and Jo Jo, mom, and I drove to Seattle. We got there in time for dinner and found a hotel in Bellevue just outside Seattle.

DAY TWO-Sun. morning we woke to rain, but set off for the day anyway. Our first stop was a little midsummer festival at a park right on a lake. It was so beautiful and green there. I've never seen so much green in my life. Jo Jo got to go on a free pony ride. There really wasn't that much going on so we set off for the space needle. Basically you spend $17 to ride up an elevator and walk in a circle. But it was still really cool. It was windy and cold outside at the top, but I didn't let that stop me from taking a few pictures of downtown Seattle. Then we went back inside and read all the cool info about how they built it. We ran across in the rain to a little gift shop so I could get the boys some of those flat pennies with the space needle on them. The older boys also got a pen and Peanut got a pencil. We got back to the car and headed off to find Pike's Place Market or whatever the name is. We went down to the waterfront and walked back and forth trying to find something that resembled what we'd seen in movies. We never found it and wandered back and forth to find something to eat that wasn't fish. Yeah right. Actually once we went down far enough we found a McDonalds. We figured we needed to get on the road to Port Angeles where we would stay the night. We asked a guy from a harbor cruise about where we could get the ferry we were looking for. He looked it up and said it was about an hour north, or we could drive around the island. So we opted for that thinking it would be just as quick. Well once we figured it all out on the way back on Wed. we realized how dumb this had been. We could've actually taken a different ferry that was right next to where we had been walking and it would've only taken a half hour and then about that same amount of time to get to Port Angleles. I can't even tell you how annoyed we were with that guy when we found this out. It took us FOREVER to get there on Sun. Oh yeah, and as we were driving up the road from the waterfront, we saw the market. I always thought it was on the water-apparently not. So around 7 or 8 that night we made it there and got some fast food and found our hotel. Can you say icky? Too bad the money was non-refundable or we would've been out of there fast. The carpet was filthy and we wore flip flops the whole time we were in there. So we opted not to stay there again the next night.


A lake on our beautiful drive towards Port Angeles

DAY THREE-LA PUSH The breakfast consisted of two kinds of cold cereal and oatmeal, so we found another McDonalds and ate there. Then we drove up to La Push-where Jacob was from-deciding to work our way back down to Port Angeles since we would stay there again that night. The res was so sad. I can't believe they live like that. Everything was in complete shambles. I feel so bad for them. The beach was gorgeous however. I love the smell of the ocean. Now I realize the movies were shot in different places, but the point was to go to where they would've actually lived, so we got pictures of the cliff Bella jumped off of in New Moon, the beach, the driftwood tree from Twilight, and picked up a couple of rocks and I got a small little piece of wood that was smooth from the water. It ended up being a beautiful, warm, sunny day. I've never seen so many dead crabs in my life. I guess they get washed up on the shore at high tide and then the tide goes way out and they're stuck there and become lunch for the seagulls. There was also a giant fish head, and a whole fish. It was so weird. I thought of taking pictures, but thought that would be too gross. I got the top of a crab shell for the boys and some claws, but the claws still stink so I may be chucking those.

The treaty line


The cliff Bella jumped off is behind me

Jo Jo on First Beach where Bella first learned out about the "cold ones"

After the beach we headed back to Forks. On the way, we found a house that looked just like Jacob's and his motorcycle and mail box were even in the front yard. We also got a picture of the treaty line sign.


FORKS-In Forks, we wandered from place to place that were on the map we had picked up at our hotel. We found the police station where I took a picture with the sheriff's car, Dr. Cullen's parking spot at the hospital (although there's an ugly green hose on the wall under his sign), the high school where the sign had been moved because the entire school was being ripped up to be re-built because it was in poor condition, Bella's house (which was actually a house we happened on while we were looking for the one on the map, but the one on the map was blue and looked nothing like her house, so we decided it should be the other one), the Cullen's (which was an inn and looked nothing like their house so I only took a picture of the mailbox and the white board which Esme leaves messages on each day for fans), Forks Outfitters where we found two cool postcards and a magnet that says, "It's Always Twilight Somewhere." We also ate at a kinda crappy diner-ish place. Our waitress never once checked on us. And we finally found the visitor center where Bella's truck is. I discovered why Bella didn't want to move to Forks in the first place. That place is tiny (Pop. 3175) and it's a hole.

Cullen's mailbox

The Swan residence

His parking spot at the hospital

Bella's truck

Edward and I

PORT ANGELES- We found the bookstore where Bella bought the book about the cold ones in the first movie, Bella Italia-the restaurant where they had their first date, the movie theater where Jacob, Mike and Bella saw "Face Punch" in New Moon, and the dress shop that was supposed to have a dress display in the window even though the store has closed, but they had taken it down, so I just took a picture of the sign. The hostess at Bella Italia seemed annoyed with me when we wanted to eat there without a reservation. It was going to be an hour wait, but someone ended up cancelling so we got in about a half hour early. Jo Jo was crabby from the wait and ended up on my lap the entire time. I had the manicotti and it was super yummy. We decided to drive back down the road to a little town called Sequim (which was actually bigger) and found a really nice Quality Inn that we stayed at the next two nights.




Downtown Victoria, BC, Canada

On the ferry ride

DAY FOUR-Oh Canada (sung to the tune of their national anthem). Our new hotel had belgian waffles along with everything else yummy. The ferry to Victoria was back in Port Angeles, so we drove back up there to catch the ferry in the afternoon. It gave us enough time to go to the store to get a souvenir that I didn't get in Forks. We had every ferry brochure we could find and luckily my mom had been looking through a new one the night before because we discovered that besides his birth certificate since Jo Jo was coming in with only one parent I needed written permission from B to take him to Canada. Luckily he was able to fax it to the hotel first thing in the morning. Since we took a ferry that could hold cars (because the walking one only ran on the weekends until after we were leaving-lame), it took longer to get there. It was an hour and a half of rocking. I decided to wait to eat the sandwhich I bought aboard until after docking. I discovered as long as I stared straight ahead I was okay. My mom gets boat sick too, so it was quite an adventure. Jo Jo was content to climb back and forth over the top of the seats in the center of the boat. I took him outside for a bit until he got too cold. Then as we were getting close they opened the front of the boat so we went out and took pictures of the harbor. They were really nice at the border. We took a picture of the parliament building and then hit every single gift shop on their main street. It was fun even though there was a lot of walking. Most of their stuff is uber expensive, but I got a really cute sweatshirt for only $20. The boys all got a pencil again and I also got a magnet. They had the most awesome t-shirt that had all the meanings of Eh? listed on it and then at the bottom it said, "So why do Canadians say Eh all the time? Because it's better than saying huh." We made it back to the boat in time, which we joked about because we had left my pillow at our hotel in Seattle, my Book of Mormon and my mom's coat at our hotel in Port Angeles, and my mom thought she lost her glasses. We joked that it would be just our luck to miss the last ferry of the day and be stuck in Canada overnight. The US border guy wasn't as nice. He didn't even care about the permission letter. I guess they only care if you're stealing a kid and taking them into Canada. He asked if I was still married to the father, though, and kept typing a lot of stuff into his computer while looking at his birth certificate. I guess big brother needs to look up my baby in the computer even though I brought the original document and not a copy. We stayed at our same hotel in Sequim that night, but in a different room. That was a horrible night with Jo Jo screaming until 12:30 am. I was so freaked out that the front desk would call because he was so loud. We found my mom's glasses in her suitcase that night, though. Oh and on our way to the ferry we got my scriptures and her jacket back.

AND FINALLY-We set off to Seattle on the ferry this time-which only took a half hour! We found my pillow at our first hotel! So the trip was complete. At least we recovered everything we lost. It was a long drive home coming all the way back down from Sequim that morning, so we made it home about 9:30 Wed. night. It was nice to be back in my soft bed. I'm not sure what hotels have against soft mattresses. Jo Jo didn't do very well on the long driving parts, so that made for an interesting trip, but all in all it was a great time. I'm so glad I got to do this with my mom. We've never done anything just us girls like this and it was great. We laughed A LOT-especially at our losing things. We had beautiful weather everyday but the first, so it was a great time to go. Plus, now we're ready for the release of Eclipse next Wed. The boys will be coming home tomorrow night and we'll hit the waterpark sometime next week before my mom leaves on Thurs. It's been an adventure this first summer month.

So B told me to create a summer schedule so I don't lose my mind and can tell the kids which days will be pool days so they don't hound me everyday. Mon. will be pool day and possibly free movie day at the theater. Every summer they have free movies that are ones that have already come and gone, but it's fun to take them if you haven't seen them before and maybe get a little treat (but usually not because it's so expensive). Tuesdays they have half price day at the cheap theaters so we might possibly check out a movie there if we don't go on Mon. that week. If we don't do that, then we'll hit free bowling. Check out the website at www.kidsbowlfree.com. It's something they do all over. You just register your kids and they can bowl two games everyday for free. It's awesome because you pick your day instead of having to do a specific day. All you have to pay for is shoe rental. Wed. will be pool or movie day. The free movies are on this day as well. Thurs. we'll hit the park. Fri. will be library day and pool day. Hopefully I'll be able to handle the pool 3 days a week. I figure if we only go for an hour or so it won't be so bad. Somewhere in there I'll have to fit housework :( My mom comes in Thurs. so the boys will be off to the farm on Sat. They're excited to take the motorcycle and 4-wheeler this year. My mom and I will leave for Seattle that morning too. Can I tell you how excited I am? I'm going to pee my pants. I finished reading "Breaking Dawn" last week. I figured once I read "Eclipse" to get ready for the movie, I knew where it ended so it wouldn't matter if I read the last one. I'm a geek what can I say? It's the only thing I've ever been a total dork about, so I figure it's okay. I'll take lots of pictures. I have a cousin who went a couple of years ago and told me all the places to go.

That's Dumb

This is the phrase my sweet (not really) two year old baby has been using a lot. It started the other day and I can't remember what the first "dumb" thing was, but it's been his dumb toy, blanket, anything he doesn't want at the moment. Luckily he hasn't called a person dumb yet. His other new one that he started about the same time-rudehead. This is Peanut's favorite thing to call people, so now it is also Jo Jo's. If he's mad at you, you become a rudehead. Case in point-today Peanut told Jo Jo he was being rude and he told him right back that he was a rudehead. I love that older brothers are teaching them these special things.

Tonight is the last night of baseball stuff. We have our end of season party for Bubba's team. I have to pick up 11 pizzas on the way and remember to bring the trophies. Luckily one of the moms emailed me the other day and asked if we needed utensils for the extras. Hello-glad she did. We would've been eating salad with our hands.

Oh yeah, here's a picture of the cake I decided to make at the last minute for my sister. I wanted to do some kind of theme and I know she likes Hello Kitty.

I'm Not So Sure

I'm not so sure I'll survive this summer. It's only the 3rd official day of summer and I'm already going nuts. The first 2 days Bubba followed me around everywhere I went telling me how bored he was. I literally gave him 10 ideas of things to do, but he didn't want to do any of them. He only wanted to play the Wii for free (normally they have to use tokens) or go to the pool. I don't know that there are enough words to tell you how much I hate going to the pool. It wouldn't be bad if I didn't have to haul all of our stuff over there and have to watch Jo Jo the whole time. He's done okay so far, but I have a feeling that by the next time we go, he's going to remember that he loves jumping in. I took them Mon. even though it didn't feel warm enough to me. We went to the "livary" that morning and got some books and movies. Then in the late afternoon we went to the pool. We only stayed for an hour because of course I put it off all day and then it's time to make dinner. Yesterday he begged me all morning and I finally gave him a very firm no and told him that I was NOT going to take them everyday all summer because I had other things to do. He asked why we couldn't go (yesterday) and I said, "Because I don't want to." The End. So I told him we would go today and luckily it rained this morning. Yay off the hook. Not so fast. By early afternoon it was sunny and over 70 so they thought we should go. I did legos with Peanut while Jo Jo had a nap and then when he suddenly woke up when Bubba came home from the neighbors, I agreed to go. Jo Jo only wanted to throw stuff in the kiddie pool until I told the boys they only had 10 min. left. Then he decided he wanted to sit on the step in the big pool. Then after I got him out, while the other boys were drying off, he decided to actually get IN the kiddie pool that he had been nervous about up to that point. So I have a feeling that next time he'll be ready for the big pool. Sigh.

I Survived!

I made it through Friday night. I got Bubba off to practice before the game at 5pm, then came home and got everything ready to go and B got home and we switched cars. I went off to Bubba's game and got there in the nick of time to get everything ready to score. B showed up at the beginning of the game, but stayed in the car watching for a bit because Jo Jo had fallen asleep. Bubba was up first and though he didn't hit, he made it to the base on balls. He played short stop for most of the game and caught several outs. He was AWESOME!! Then he played center field and caught a pop fly. He amazes me. They started off well, but then the final score ended up us losing 8-1. They'll make a couple of errors and then it snowballs. It's like they can't come back from it because they start to stress out. I felt so so bad for our second pitcher. A few of the kids were hitting off him and he started crying right on the mound. I wanted to run out and give him a hug. I was trying to talk loud enough for the coach to go out there because it was making him pitch even worse. He finally did, and it helped somewhat, but you could see that he was still stressed out and upset. It's such a big deal to them to be in a tournament game. So that was the end of our season since we lost. I got most of the kids to sign the balls when I dropped Bubba off for practice and after the game. We'll have our party on Thurs.

Our game ended early so we made it over to JP's game just in time for sundaes and I was able to give the coach his card and ball holder with the team ball. I even got a sundae. We got all of the money from everyone! Hooray! That took away a lot of stress.

Yesterday I went to the Sat. market in our little downtown area. JP and Peanut wanted to come while Jo Jo stayed home with Daddy while Bubba mowed the lawn. This is a new, wonderful thing. And he really enjoys it. I think it makes him feel big. The market has fresh food booths and homemade craft booths. We got 3 small yummy smelling wax things for our heated scentsy holders. She even makes them in shapes of hearts and things. JP picked out watermelon scent for their room. I couldn't decide so I picked two-almond pastries and casaba mist. I love clean smells and I love almond smell. We got a sample of honey and saw a cool beehive. We found some cool bottle caps that had sayings or letters or pictures in them. Today is my sister's birthday, so I found her a sparkly "A" one that they made into a keychain. Then we stopped and got a watermelon plant because ours died because I planted it too low. It was my first time planting (B has done it in the past), so I really didn't know what I was doing. It's a star melon and is supposed to end up with white star and moon shapes on the rind. And lastly we walked by a booth that had wallets made out of recycled candy wrappers. The lady gave one to each of the boys for a $1. JP picked out one made of a chewy nerds wrapper and Peanut's was dark M & M's.

Then we went to the park, but JP and I had to leave after only a little while so we could get to his best friend's baptism. He's in his school class and he and one other LDS boy are the group he hangs out with. I love that he gravitated towards LDS kids at school without even realizing they were at first. Anyway, he was very excited about it. We went to his house after for some food and then he stayed until after 8pm when his mom brought JP home. He's excited to invite him to his baptism in Aug. I also mentioned that he should invite our neighbor friend who's not a member to see if he would like to see what it's like to be baptized in our church. He said, "Yeah and then he can start coming to our church instead of Eagle Christian." Oh how I love my future missionary. His mom actually has a sister and brother that have both joined the church and I've had several conversations with her about the gospel. They went to the Catholic church forever and then switched a year ago to this other Christian church. I told her they were always welcome at ours. She knows a lot already because of her siblings and it's amazing how many times she says things that are what we believe. She came to a Christmas program with me several years ago. I guess all I can do is continue to talk to her when it comes up and invite her. It's hard when you see a family who is so close, but doesn't have the whole piece. Anyway, this has been long enough. I invited my sister over tonight and told her I'd make her a cake and ice cream. I'm going to attempt a Hello Kitty cake. I really want to take cake decorating classes.

Heaven

Nut Nut in the catcher's gear we got at Play it Again (used sports store) for $30. He's not wearing the free knee pads because they're too big. We got it because the big boys really throw hard now and now they're protected.


JP shooting dad's pellet gun on Memorial Day when we went whistle pig shooting. We saw lots, but couldn't get them to be still long enough to shoot them.


Punkin head when he fell asleep with daddy when he had his fever. I especially love the bracelet he's wearing that Bubba got as a prize at the school carnival that day.

I was in heaven last night when I got my Mother's Day massage. It was perfect timing because I woke up yesterday with a stiff neck. I've had a huge knot in my right shoulder blade for several months now. She had to work really hard on that spot and couldn't believe how big it was. I told B I was ready to go again next week. :) Actually since he's had his shingles, I decided he needs one for Father's Day. Speaking of-he's starting to feel a little better. Jo Jo woke up completely fine yesterday. I put him down the night before around 10 pm, but he woke up around midnight and decided to scream for about an hour and a half. I have absolutely no idea what was wrong with him. His fever was completely gone. He wanted me to hold him, but then not. He wanted his drink, but not. B woke up and saved me by distracting him and taking him in the backyard to listen to the frogs. When we came back in he seemed a little better. He finally let me hold him so B could go back to bed. I finally got to bed around 1:45 am. Then this morning he woke up around 4:30 and didn't go back to sleep until 6 am. I brought him in our bed, but after an hour I couldn't handle the kicking in my spine, so I took him to his bed and let him scream for another 20 min. or so. I finally brought him back in our bed and B got him to settle down before getting up for work. I was so exhausted because I had woken up around 4 am to go to the bathroom and then couldn't go back to sleep because I started thinking of everything I had to do for both baseball games tonight. And then Jo Jo woke up.

So tonight I have to score at Bubba's first tournament game, but I also have to get the boys to sign 3 baseballs that I bought for the coaches. JP's last game is tonight and they've decided to do ice cream sundaes after, but I still haven't received all of the money for trophies (that I picked up yesterday along with $50 giftcards for each head coach that I had to pay for out of my own pocket). B will be there to get the rest of the money, but also has to make sure the coach gets the trophies and his giftcard. Ahhhh... So I'm stressing a little. Oh yeah, I forgot that I need to get an additional 50 cents from each parent because I mis-calculated their total, which I know sounds stupid, but it adds up to an addtional $5.50 and I already paid for a baseball for the coach out of my own pocket. So B will have to be exchanging quarters tonight. I HATE this. I'm never doing this again. It's ridiculous that no one else volunteered on either team. I don't know why I thought I could do both.

Laundry today, freezer jam, sweeping up all the play-doh off the floor, and vaccuming. The boys got out of school at noon for their last day. I've never seen bigger smiles. Now let's see if I can survive the summer with "bored" kids.

I guess no news sometimes is good news. No ear infection, just a bug. A spring bug is what the doctor called it. Hopefully gone in 3-5 days. How do they get these anyway when they're not around anyone else who's sick? Weird. Peanut is a picture of perfect health. He's in 75th percentile for height and 70th for weight. I always knew he was tall, just worried a little that he was skinny, but apparently he's just proportionate. His hearing and vision were perfect as well. He thought the funniest thing was having to pee in a cup. And then the doctor told him he could feel cookies in his stomach. Then the doctor kept trying to guess what his underwear were and was guessing all girl things-snow white, little mermaid, Barbie, Dora. He finally gave up and Peanut told him it was "Dark Vader." The nurse kept telling me how mature he was for a 5 yr. old. It's funny because I've often thought this when he's around other kids his age-especially in his speech. It must be the fact that he's got 2 older brothers who talk to him all the time. Poor Peanut had to get 5 shots today. He was the bravest boy ever. He never screamed (which he pointed out to JP when we got home) and only had a few small tears after the last 2 that the nurse said were stinging ones. The first 4 were the regular Kindergarten shots and the last was a new version of a previous one. They're giving them the new one to make sure they protect against any other strains of the virus. Therefore, baby boy had to get one too. He started crying big crocodile tears in the parking lot while saying, "I wanna go home." I kept trying to console him by telling him they were going to look at Peanut. He settled down until the doctor came in. He has a very loud voice so all of our kids have been afraid of him when they were babies. I got him calm while he was checking Peanut by giving him a sucker. Then it was his turn and getting his ears checked was no fun while I had to hold him down. He kept yelling that he wanted to go home. Then he got another sucker. And Peanut got 2-one for each arm. B seems to be doing a little better. He took a muscle relaxer last night and slept super good and was feeling good this morning.

Well at least I'll get some reading done while he's sick since he wants me to hold him the whole time. I'm finishing Eclipse before it comes out. My boys are headed to the farm on Father's Day weekend and my mom is coming up and we're taking Jo Jo with us and going to Forks! I'm so excited. We're going to stay in Seattle the first night and site see the next day. Then we'll stay in Forks that night and do Forks and Port Angeles the next day. Then we'll head over to Victoria, Canada that's just a ferry ride across from there. I've never been to Canada. Then we'll head home in time for the boys to get back from the farm and go to the waterpark with my mom on Sat. Then we'll see the movie on the 30th. The 2 big boys earned a free waterpark pass for reading 600 min. Then the school offered a deal through them that saves $13 off the regular price and you could also add a food ticket for $5 so we got one for me, B, and Peanut, and my mom got one. Yay for deals!

So Sad...

that Little Bear is sick. He was fine all day yesterday. He seemed a little bit more clingy that usual, but not bad. He even played outside with dad and brothers. When they all came in to eat dinner he walked over to his chair and layed his head down on it. We kept asking him if he was okay or sick and he kept saying no. B felt his head and he felt hot so we finally got his temperature taken. It was 100. So I gave him some Tylenol and held him on the couch. He fell asleep for about 20 min. and then got up and ate a few bites of hamburger. After that I pretty much held him and he fell asleep again after putting brothers to bed. He woke up around midnight coughing and crying and because I have mama sixth sense I knew he was throwing up. I went in there and sure enough he was sitting up crying with it all around him. I scooped him up and put him in the tub and went back in his room to take all the bedding off to the laundry room (which luckily is directly across the hall). Then I went back in the bathroom, but he wouldn't let me turn on the light so I turned on the hall light and took his clothes off and started the water. He was crying the entire time and I kept thinking that everyone would wake up because the tub is loud too and since the door was open it was even louder. He had the shivers and didn't want water on his hair, but I decided just to unplug the drain and wash him quick and get him out. I snuggled with him in his towel for a bit and then took him downstairs to put on a diaper and jammies. I held him while I watched tv for awhile to make sure he was asleep and then lied him down on the couch so I could make his bed, which ended up just being a blanket thrown on the matress and then put the humidifier in there because he was choking on a lot of mucous. When I picked him up he woke up again and didn't want to lie in there, but I soothed him into it and gave him his bear and dog and despite not wanting to put a blanket on him gave in. He slept through the rest of the night and woke up about 10 am this morning. His temp is up to 102. And he fell asleep as soon as I held him on the couch. He's up again and having some dry cereal. Thank goodness for Tylenol. Fortunately Peanut has a doctor's appt. today to get his Kindergarten check-up so they said they could check baby too. I'm actually hoping for an ear infection because at least he can get medicine to feel better, whereas if it's a virus we'll just have to wait it out. More update to follow.