Anniversary Fun

  Although our anniversary is on Monday the 21st, we decided to leave town Friday night instead so we could leave the baby with mom and dad. We made a reservation at a bed and breakfast in Granite Falls (about an hour away near the mountains) and around 2:00pm on Friday we departed for our first solo adventure in the forest primeval of Washington state. The drive was beautiful after we left the freeway, turning through forests and over rivers. We arrived at a beautiful home nestled near the mountain and met our caretakers, Rose and Reza. We were the only ones staying in Mountain Loop Bed and Breakfast that night and we had the best room. King size bed, sitting area, fireplace, double vanity bathroom with walk-in closet leading to a bigger bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub for two and a separate glass shower. The length of the room from the bed to the shower was windows that looked on the mountain and forest.

We watched movies and looked at the beautiful scenery and in the evening received cookies and strawberries outside our room. In the morning we woke up to warm pastries filled with chocolate from the oven and juice. When we got ready we went down to the dining room for our actual breakfast, a salad of fruit and strawberry crepes. The house was beautiful as well as the surrounding area and we had a wonderful stay. After we checked out we drove the Mountain Loop which was beautiful! It followed the river through the mountains and we drove for about an hour round trip (we had to turn around because the road was still closed from the winter). Then we decided we wanted more adventure so we went on a drive south down the freeway and ended up eating lunch at Macaroni Grill at the Northgate Mall. Returning home to see our baby who we both missed, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing at home. Happy 3 year anniversary to us!

Life in the Emerald City

So now we are in the Emerald City, better known as Seattle. Although we are not actually in the city, we are just in the "area." We actually reside in Kirkland and so far I love it here. It may have something to do with the weather (which is beautiful), or the green trees and fun walking trails, but so far I am enjoying it immensely. Life looks a little brighter now that we are both out of school. Braden's graduation went well--a trifle dry--but that is to be expected. I don't know what it is about Humanities majors but our school of thought is a bit pretentious.

 Anyway, it was a whirlwind weekend with graduation, a baby blessing, and then a move. The blessing went well also--everyone passed the girl around and got their fill of her before she left town permanently. She looked adorable in her first white dress, one mom made for me as a baby that I spruced up a little with some pink ribbon. Then we moved which was a little stressful but worth it because I had been counting down for months for that event. And now we are here!

Our adventures so far include several nature walks where we have seen wildlife such as toads and turtles and a trip to the tulips. The tulip festival was so fun and the fields were gorgeous! I have never seen tulips that bright before. Elise was not a big fan of the weather that day because it was windy but she was a trooper and even went on her first ferry ride without much complaint.

So far we enjoy everything about living here: the WIC office was amazingly better, the weather is fabulous, we have more fun things to do, we love our ward and the people we have met, and the list keeps going. I hope to continue writing about all our fun adventures!