Oh, snap!

This t-shirt says it all.

Queen City . . . Emerald City . . . er . . .

Seattle, Washington has a variety of nicknames.  From 1869 until 1982, Seattle was known as the "Queen City". Seattle's current official nickname is the "Emerald City", in reference to the lush evergreen forests of the area. Seattle is also referred to informally as the "Gateway to Alaska", "Rain City", and "Jet City", the last from the local influence of Boeing. So many options! 

For an early anniversary get-away, we decided to spend a few days in Seattle and did some really fun things.  Pike's Market is always enjoyable and I love the beautiful flower bouquets you can get there for only $10.  We also went to an art museum, Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum (highly recommended), took a ferry ride and did an underground tour of the city.  

Because Seattle was not built on much of a stable foundation, not long after the city was built, it sank.  These pictures show what was street level until the city sank and these store fronts etc. became the underground.

From above, these look like pretty sidewalk art.  However, below - these colored squares of glass provide light for people in the underground.

This portion of the underground was where there were supposedly 'ghosts'.  . . . it looks like Dan maybe spotted something!

Huge flower pots, like the ones in the next picture, lined the street.  Considering how much I love flowers - I had to get a picture :)

The infamous, and pretty disgusting, wall of gum. . .

The depth of the inlets throughout Seattle allows larger ships to come into port making it the largest/busiest port in the Northwest.  While on our ferry ride we couldn't help but notice the amount of 'sea traffic'. 

At the front of our ferry ship enjoying the salty sea air, and the wind in our faces. 

Nearing the end of the journey and getting cold . . .

My favorite Seattle restaurant: Ivars. 

Summah-time

This summer we went to Utah to spend some time with family.  It turned about to be a really busy trip with a lot going on.  Dan was able to come the first week and I stayed for an extra week, spending some time with my siblings, niece and nephews.  We had a good time doing different things (swimming, working (see the picture below), picking raspberries (one of the boys favorite things to do at grandma's) . . . .

But the highlight often seems to be going to the zoo.We found a lot of different animals at the zoo the squirted water, including the this one. 

We also got to see a new baby elephant, see an amazing show with various birds - including an eagle . . .

Find awesome fossils in the sand . . .

And ride the carousel too. All in all, a great trip and lots of fun times!

Rose Festival Float

Known as the 'City of Roses', Portland holds an annual 'Rose Festival' each June.  Although we were not able to participate in all the hoop-la downtown, I was able to help the missionaries decorate a float . . . which was totally awesome, I might add!

A good portion of what we did was re-doing parts of the horse that had been poorly done or were patchy - mostly in hard-to-reach or awkwardly placed locations.  For example:  almost the entire under-side of the horse had been missed.  You can't see it in this picture, but while putting the glue/purple coconut on the horse, I had to lay on my back.  Despite getting lots of glue on my clothes - it was a lot of fun.  I learned that every surface on all the floats had to be covered with a natural substance, aka corn kernals, coconut, various nut shells and other such items.

Here is the best shot I could get of the float from the front.  For all intents and purposes it was two horses running in a meadow of sorts.  Unfortunately, I can't remember who we were doing the float for, but it seems that the sponsorship was a casino here in Oregon.  The missionaries and I got a good laugh out of that! 

Sister Butler, Ostler and Perez - what rockstars!  Sister Butler and Perez have now gone home but while they were here I had a fun time working with them on the float and doing exchanges a few times.  Seriously - rockstars with testimonies . . . yes, that is possible ;) 

The fearsome, foursome!

Just a fun shot.  We actually had to climb on ladders a lot and walk on some precarious boards for some of the stuff we did.  Luckily, we all survived :)

The next couple of pictures, we're doing what I like to call, cheesin' it up!

She totally smoked me on the camera draw. . . must be some type of extra missionary power. 

Glass-blowing and a reminder on creation

One afternoon, while in Canon Beach i spent some time in this glass-blowing shop and was fascinated at how the could mold and shape this molten mass into something beautiful.  Through observation, and after asking numerous questions, I learned (not surprisingly) it takes a great deal of patience as well as years to become proficient in glass-blowing.  Wow - what a gift though!  In the glass reflection between the oven and where I was standing, you can see some of the glass-work in the shop. 

Going to the shop and thinking about this particular talent caused me to think more about creation.  It's something that is innate in each of us and why we look for beauty in nature through photography, painting, or cake decorating, sewing, writing, flower arranging or any other number of things.  In bringing chaos together into cohesion we become creators.  It also reminded me of my worth as a daughter of the Great Creator. . . . and led me to this incredible Mormon Message called:  Create

Haystack Rock and Ecola Park

I love taking advantage of opportunities to sit and enjoy nature, mostly because of the way it soothes my soul.  People often ask what I do when going on trips with Dan.  Mostly, I spend time exploring, learning and seeing new things.  Which are all things I definitely get excited about.  So, one of the days we were in Seaside/Canon Beach I spent the day outdoors and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Below are some pictures from the Ecola Park viewpoint looking down on Haystack Rock and the surrounding ocean/beach area. 

Since moving to the Northwest, I've learned quite a bit about the Lewis & Clark expedition as well as Sacajawea.  This picture is one of many, many tributes to the three of them and their journey. 

Sailors and lighthouses . . . kindof funny things to like, but for some reason, whenever I see them, they just make me happy. 

Not the cutest picture - It was cold!

Some elk we saw while spending some time in Ecola Park. 

The infamous Haystack Rock.

Pretty profound, I know. . .

I really like this picture because it shows Dan in his element.  He loves water. The times we have spent at the beach or at a pool always seem to leave him more relaxed.   When we are at the beach he usually takes some time to savor and enjoy the experience and just take it all in . . . a bit like he is below.