Anniversary Adventure

Jacy and I celebrated our anniversary with a trip to Seattle for two days. We were excited to do some of the touristy things we can't do with the boys. Jacy has been wanting to do the Underground Tour of the old part of Seattle so after a quiet and leisurely lunch we headed beneath the city. I had to stop at the Klondike Gold Museum to get my National Park Passport stamped and discovered a great museum experience that the boys will love too. After finding out the highlights of Seattle's early history we headed to dinner and shopping. I loved shopping without a stroller and without distraction at Anthropolgie and Jacy found a comfy chair to Blackberry in while I perused the sale rack. I noticed on our walk through the city that the Seattle Art Museum has a collection of Revolutionary Era paintings and artifacts on exhibit so Jacy and I headed there this morning for a stroll through the collection. We both loved it and I was thrilled to see portraits and scenes by artists that I am reading about in my attempt to read each US President's biography. Of course, we went through the market and had our favorite market treats before heading home.

Check out the collage I made at www.picnik.com. I am still figuring out the kinks, like making the collage bigger, but you can click on the pictures for a closeup.

Family Day

Jacy took the day off from work today and we ran errands, played, ate out and just enjoyed each other's company. I asked each member of our family to tell me favorite parts of their day and loved hearing the responses. Hear goes...
Wylie
1. Playing on the slide at the park ("clim, clim, clim, whheeeee").
Todd
1. Playing at the Lego store.
2. Going to the park.
Jacy
1. Getting a professional shave and haircut at The Art of Shaving.
Amber
1. Talking on the phone to my sis-in-law.
2. Eating a great salad at Nordstrom's Cafe
3. Watching John Curly (local celeb) filming part of his show.
4. Looking forward to Bollywood movie night with mama friends.
My list could go on and on!

Today

It's my 12th anniversary and I am feeling so blessed by my cute husband of 12 years and my sweet little kiddos. Yesterday I was at Rite Aid and I used my debit card and the pharmacy tech said, "have a good day Mrs. Nelson," and it made me smile to think about being Mrs. Nelson for the past decade and them some. I am thankful for the joy of a happy home and a sweet, caring husband. A true treasure. I have been reminded once again how precious my life is and have a renewed sense of taking nothing for granted.
Last evening I was settling in for the night when my brother in law called me with the devastating news that their best friends were on the plane that crashed in Montana. In a blink of an eye three young families lost their lives. Their extended family and friends will feel the complete horror of losing children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews and cousins. My brother and sister are dealing with the loss of a family of friends. It doesn't make sense, but we are lucky enough to believe in a God that blesses us even in the sin and horror of a world that was never created to feel the pain of loss. When I talked to my sis in law today we talked about a song that she held as her mantra several years ago while going through some tough stuff, "this world is not my home, I am just a passing through...". In all the pain of the day, what a blessing to have the promise of a perfect life in our real home, Heaven. God is feeling the pain today of this loss, He understands it, He is comforting, He too is looking forward to the day when this world is not His human children's home and we are with Him in the perfect world without pain and suffering He intended. Until then, He is with us here...

A Psalm of David.

The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23

Pretty Pretty

Jacy brought home an early anniversary present for me tonight! I love that he knows me well enough to know that I would ooh and ahh over this gorgeous topiary at one of my favorite stores (Bella at Kent Station) but that I would never buy it for myself. It's the perfect gift. Happy Anniversary to me!

It Is Easy to Be GREEN

Brandon's Here

Yeah! Brandon's home! Brandon's here on business and we are so excited to see him again. Georgia is too far away!

Happy Birthday Marisa!

I can't believe that it has been a year since Marisa made her arrival! Kristen and Jamie invited us over today for her 1st birthday party and we had so much fun playing with her new toys, watching her model her new swimming suit and eating her pretty pink cake. She is such a sweet little girl, full of giggles and curiousity and very loving.
We love and adore her.

"Mommy, I can't sleep, my head is too cold!"

Todd has had a range of excuses for not going to bed over the last few years.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"I am too thirsty to fall asleep."

"I can't seem to get comfortable."

"I need someone to cozy me."

"I am afraid a raccoon will break into my bedroom." (my personal favorite)

His latest excuse was that his head was too cold to fall asleep. I was pretty proud of myself when I told him to grab his stocking cap and go back to bed. I had forgotten about our conversation until I went into his room later that night to check on him and there he was, covers tossed back, but his head was nice and toasty warm in his hat.

Mr. Presidents

I started reading presidential biographies before my trip to DC two years ago. I knew that our family was going to visit Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home, and I wanted some in depth information about #1 before I went. I really enjoyed the dive into George's life and wanted more. I was so inspired by The Lincoln Memorial that I decided I had to read a book about Abe. I chose Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals and loved it! I can't recommend a book more than Goodwin's brilliant description of Lincoln's boyhood, the Civil War and the unlikely creation of a cabinet of people who didn't really like Abe. I decided to stick with Goodwin's other biographies and read her book on FDR and then JFK. I just finished up her look at LBJ's life in office (I had the chance to visit his boyhood farm and home in Texas last year). Oh, and I read Obama's Audacity of Hope after he was elected. And now I am back to the beginning, I just picked up my copy of John Adams by David McCullough at the library this morning and I am excited to mark another president off my list.

Celebrating Todd

Our family is just finishing up a week of great 7 year old celebrations. We started with fun family parties, had a mini party at school and ended with an afternoon and evening with our favorite church friends. Wylie helped Todd open his presents from Mommy and Daddy.

Todd, Derick and Evan enjoy one of Todd's presents.

Church and school buddies came over to celebrate, eat and play.

Todd and his cake, Indiana Jones, of course!Todd and his birthday buddy, Jali, at his classroom party. Jali and Todd both turned 7 on the same day last week and were so excited to celebrate together. Mrs. McPherson helped pass out the birthday treats.