One of These Girls is Not Like the Other


Reilly just got her 7th Grade School pictures back...wow...am I ever struck by how completely dissimilar Reilly and I are in our 7th grade experiences. Completely different...HUGELY different. I was prepared for Reilly to have a difficult transition into 7th grade...people warned me...EVERYONE warned me. I was especially expecting it because her best friend, Noelle, was moving to live with her dad in California so Reilly would be flying solo. What I was completely unprepared for was how SMOOTH of a transition she would have. What? I am still haunted by my horrific 7th grade year full of awkwardness, low self-esteem and tears. THAT I can deal with...I'm prepared...I have skills in this area. Confidence and self-esteem...that I am at a loss for.

So far 7th grade has been good to Reilly. I drilled her on what to do if none of her friends had her lunch and she didn't have anyone to sit with; I drilled her on what to do if she was afraid to talk to her teachers if she was confused about something; I drilled her on what to do if she couldn't open her locker; I drilled her on what to do if it took her awhile to find friends; or if she felt shy; or if people were rude; or if she got bad grades on her first mid-term report card...hello life of Kristin...but alas none of it was needed.

Reilly has friends; she had zero concern about the lunch room (I still have nightmares of this); she could open her locker and was assisting others; she's definitely not shy; she chit chats regularly with her teachers; and she got pretty decent grades on her midterms. I am grateful but baffled.

Not only that but she LOVES her drama class. I would've rather died than take that class. She has auditioned for two productions...she got parts in both. One of which was a SINGING part. Again I would rather flunk a class than sing a solo. Not only did she sing for her whole class but she belted out a Celine Dion song/Glee arrangement. I tried to prepare her for perhaps not getting the part and tried to suggest a less "challenging" song. Which she now loves to sarcastically say "My dad BELIEVED in me and my Mom tried to make me sing a Taylor Swift song!!"

I have been asked multiple questions by Reilly that I was unprepared for:

"What do you do to get boys to stop looking at your chest?" um...never had that problem.

"Did boys ask for your phone number on the first day of school?''...um no.

"How do you nicely tell a boy that your not allowed to date until your 16?" ...um didn't have that problem.

Let's flash back to 1985. I was just entering 7th grade. Let's just say I have A LOT of tragic and angst-filled journal entries. Add to that braces, a really bad bob (the boys called me "Cleopatra") and I was about the height I am now and played the French Horn (against my will). It wasn't a fun time.

I also had the joy of a friend of mine telling me that her mom said I was in my "ugly stage". Another neighbor kindly pointed me out at one of the few mutual activities I went to as an example of "awkwardness" but said that I would one day grow out if it. Seriously. Good old Mrs. McGown was talking about growing up and how it can be awkward and seeing her search the group of girls and saying "Now where is my example" and me slinking down in my seat praying fervently that she was not talking about me...which she was. AND...my own mother signing me up for "poise" classes...complete with walking around with a book on our heads and a little fashion show at the end to apparently show that we could finally walk gracefully. Good grief I'm feeling the need for some therapy right now. I guess deep down that awkward 7th grader still lurks.

The proof:

Now that teddy bear sweater (worn against my will) was just child abuse!! My parents were against make-up beyond light mascara. Would some lipstick have killed THEM? Maybe some tweezers/waxing for those eyebrows?

What was the point of this post? Heck if I know. I guess I am just happy the apple has fallen FAR from the tree.

Now against my better judgement and the angst I am feeling right now I am going to hit "publish".

I dare you readers to post your 7th grade pictures. But only if you were awkward and lame. Anyone, Anyone? Where are my peeps?

OH 7TH GRADE...YOU WERE NO FRIEND OF MINE!!

Book Review #63




This book kept coming up on a bunch of Goodreads lists and I was intrigued so I thought I would give it a shot. Because as you know I LOVE historical fiction.

From Publishers Weekly

This fictionalized life of the notorious queen is told from the point of view of her younger sister, Mutnodjmet. In 1351 B.C., Prince Amunhotep secretly kills his older brother and becomes next in line to Egypt's throne: he's 17, and the 15-year-old Nefertiti soon becomes his chief wife. He already has a wife, but Kiya's blood is not as royal, nor is she as bewitching as Nefertiti. As Mutnodjmet, two years younger than her sister, looks on (and falls in love), Amunhotep and the equally ambitious Nefertiti worship a different main god, displace the priests who control Egypt's wealth and begin building a city that boasts the royal likenesses chiseled in stone. Things get tense when Kiya has sons and the popular Nefertiti has only daughters, and they come to a boil when the army is used to build temples to the pharaoh and his queen instead of protecting Egypt's borders.

So the question is...Was ita good historical fiction? Not really. It had a few good points. I enjoyed immersing myself in an ancient civilization and trying to get a feel for the time period. Do I think it was an authentic portrayal of the ancient civilization...no. Overall I feel that the whole book was a little weak in the same way that I thought The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory was weak and unauthentic. In fact I completely agree with other reviews that refer to this book as "The Other Boleyn Girl...Egyptian Style." This book did cause me to do some research on Nefertiti and Akhenaten and made me want to learn more about this particular time period. But as for being amazing historical fiction it left me disappointed.

Consider this a fluffy read, at times entertaining, but disappointing after all the hype.

My rating: Ok...not great.

HILARIOUS

After years and years of suffering President Bush jokes I found this quite funny!!

Fall is Here

It is starting to officially feel like Fall around here. I've made my peace with it. Summer is king in my mind but if summer has to fade at least it is replaced with beautiful Fall. The leaves are just starting to change and the nights are getting crisp.

Fall really gets started with October General Conference. What a great weekend of inspiring talks. I loved so many of them...Elder Holland's, Elder Oakes', Elder Christofferson's, and President Monson's just to name a few. I really felt a renewal and a re-commitment and excitement for the gospel. I feel so much more inspired as a parent. I love it.

I actually heard my children say "I'm so excited for General Conference." I think the crepes I was serving may have been involved but the words were said all the same and they sat quietly and seemed to actually be paying attention. Kameron even downloaded President Monson's talk onto his Ipod so he could "really hear that LONG talk".

Also- we had a visit this weekend from some good friends who we miss...the Carltons. Jayni and Jake moved to Utah about a year and a half ago. They came up for their UEA vacation and we had fun with them. Tyler took a day off of work and Ailey played hooky from Kindergarten and we all headed up to Greenbluff for a day of fun.


Nothing says Fall to me like Greenbluff. I love picking apples and pumpkins and most of all eating the BEST pumpkin donuts ever. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate for our little outing and it was cold and rainy the whole time. But it didn't stop our fun.

Jayni and Jake have had a new addition to their family since we last saw them. Cute Henry who looks exactly like his mommy. Jayni was pregnant when we visited them in Utah and it was fun to see this cute little guy.

Ailey was happy to see Elly and the two of them warmed up to each other pretty quickly and had fun wrecking havoc on Greenbluff.

Hanging out in the Pea Box

Seeing how much they had grown since we last took their picture with Snow White for Joy School.

We rode the Fruit Loop Express out to the apple picking area.

Elly, Ailey and cute little grown-up TALKING Toby!!

Bryn had fun too!!

Hmm...I think I could've made a better shoe choice for the day.

Picking...I mean...EATING apples.

They were delicious!!

Kristin and Jayni...I'm looking a little worse for the wear after apple picking in the rain. We all had a fun meal together and tried to warm up. It was so nice to be able to visit with Jayni and Jake and catch up with one another. We miss their family!!

Of course we also stopped at:

Their pumpkin donuts are SERIOUSLY amazing!!

Jayni and Jake

We had a great weekend with Conference and good friends!!

Bryn's First Word

Here's Bryn last night fresh from the tub and in her jammies and completely edible. Not only is she cute but she's smart too. She is 24 weeks old now. For your viewing enjoyment:

Not only does this little genius say "mama" but she also says "dada" when she's in the mood. But I'm thrilled to report that "mama" was her first word. All the other kids said "dada" first. Did you see the glint of her gold earrings? She got her ears pierced almost 2 months ago. She also got her first haircut 2 weeks ago. She has had the craziest hair since birth but now it is normal and looks like a little a-line bob. It is hilarious. Bryn also has two little sharp teeth on the bottom that made an appearance last week. She is growing up so fast!!

She also can sit up for awhile by herself and is doing her darndest to sit up on her own from a lying down position. She is delicious.

Book Reviews #61 and #62

Have you noticed that so many great new books have just come out? I seriously have a reading list a mile long of fantastic books I have been waiting forever to come out. But before I get to all those great new books I have had a few that I have needed to finish. Here are two:

Book Review #61 The Ladies Auxilary by Tova Mirvis



This was the pick for September for my church book club. It sounded interesting and I was excited to read it. This book is an enigma to me in many ways. Just when I think I have formed an opinion about it...wham...my opinion changes.

From Publishers Weekly:

The world of this confident, insightful debut novel is the tightly knit Orthodox Jewish community of Memphis, Tenn., a social structure that unravels when an unconventional New York convert settles there with her five-year-old daughter. Newly widowed Batsheva Jacobs is both shockingly modern and fervently spiritual. She lovingly raises her daughter, Ayala, in the Orthodox tradition, but she sings loudly and enthusiastically at shul (perhaps a sign of unseemly ego), visits the mikvah to cleanse herself (an act that raises eyebrows, since she has no husband), and she wears flowing clothes that show her figure. All of which is noted suspiciously by the local women whose common goal is to preserve tradition...Taking a job as art teacher at the girls' school, blonde, green-eyed Batsheva is soon a beloved confidante of the community's female teenagers, but when she allows them to wear makeup and miniskirts on a ski trip, and becomes close to the Rabbi's beloved 22-year-old son, she's the subject of cruel gossip. Caught in the middle are Ayala and the respected and goodhearted Mimi Rubin, the rabbi's wife, who begins to believe rumors about her son's attachment to Batsheva, and panics. Generous with humor and compassion, Mirvis paints tenderly nuanced portraits of strong female characters while scrutinizing an entrenched religious subculture whose traditions are threatened by modern temptations. Guilt, passion, prejudice, loneliness and independence are common themes in Jewish literature and are explored with sensitivity in a gentle story that captures its milieu with tolerant understanding, and plucks the heartstrings.

When I first started this book I had a really hard time getting into it. There are about 20 main characters and none of them are the narrator exactly. The story is told in first-person plural which took a bit to get into plus the pace of the book is very slow. For the first third of the book I really didn't care for it and was very tempted to put it down and pick up something else. But I persevered since it was for a book club. By half way through I liked it. The book describes in detail the beliefs, holidays, rituals, spiritual practices, morals and values of Orthodox Judaism. I found this fascinating...truly. Mirvis does an exceptional job of describing these to the non-Jewish and non-informed reader.

By the end of the book I really liked it. As a religious person who has lived in a religious community I found that I could relate to the book and the women of the Ladies Auxilary. How easily comparisons can be drawn to people of my own faith in ways both good and bad. Mirvis does a great job of looking objectively at this community (one she was raised in) and not just viewing it through rose-colored glasses. There are characters who are self-righteous; characters who are religious purely out of habit and tradition; characters who just go through the motions and are afraid to ask themselves what they truly believe; and characters who are unaccepting of outsiders and those who deviate from the "norm". But there are also characters who are warm, loving, supportive who truly live their religion and exude that warm sense of "community".

I also found myself feeling a rejuvenation for my own religion. Last week in Family Home Evening Tyler and I were talking to our kids about how they needed to start preparing for Sunday on Saturday night so that Sunday would be a much more peaceful day. I grabbed my book and read the section on how the women prepare for Shabbos (the Sabbath) and how they set it apart from other days and make it holy. For instance... they light their candles, park their cars, shut off TV, don't answer the phone, dress nicely, have dishes they only use on the Sabbath, special foods they eat etc.

"We reserve the day for God and for family...and spend it in a peaceful pattern of prayers, meals and relaxation. The outside world vanishes, even if only for one day" (pgs. 18-19)

Our kids really got inspired and came up with some great ideas for things we could implement in our own family to make the Sabbath day holy.

In our book club we had a great discussion about the questions this book raises. The one that struck me the most is...how does one raise a religious child to become a religious adult? Most parents want their children to be religious in the same way they are...I am no exception. But there really isn't any way to ensure that your children will be religious in the same way that their parents are...no matter how much we wish there was. Our children are individuals who learn and grow at their own pace and take their own path to spirituality...just like we did.

The ideas of this book have stayed with me for over a week now. Having had more time to digest the concepts and ideas I am finding this book to be even more meaningful. While not a quick read or a page-turner I found this book to be a gentle contemplative reminder of how we ...the collective we...are more alike than we are different and I am left feeling a deeper connection to my own spirituality.

My rating: Good...meaningful.

Book Review #62 The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale



Oh Shannon Hale...I try to like you...I really do. I give you chance after chance and guess what? I just don't. I know I am in the minority especially in my little subculture of the world but you're just not my...as you would annoyingly say..."cup of herbal tea". I found this book to be so "gosh darn" full of sugary cliched Happy Valley Mormonism that my teeth hurt and I wanted to vomit.

From Amazon.com:

What if you were to meet the number-one person on your laminated list—you know, that list you joke about with your significant other about which five celebrities you’d be allowed to run off with if ever given the chance? And of course since it’ll never happen it doesn’t matter… Mormon housewife Becky Jack is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets celebrity hearththrob Felix Callahan. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened…though nothing has happened. It isn’t sexual. It isn’t even quite love. But a month later Felix shows up in Salt Lake City to visit and before they know what’s hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky’s husband is pretty cool about it. Her children roll their eyes. Her neighbors gossip endlessly. But Felix and Becky have something special…something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it? A magical story, The Actor and the Housewife explores what could happen when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life and changes everything.

OK...I'm having to stifle a gag just reading that. I thought this book would be the "delightful romp" that it claimed to be but it wasn't. The main character, Becky Jack, truly is the MOST annoying of characters. She's just knocked Bella from Twilight down a few notches. She is such a Utah LDS stereotype. You disappoint me Shannon Hale.

First...the plot. The book is basically about Becky and her crush British actor, Felix (who in my book looks just like Hugh Grant) and their emotional affair. I wanted to scream as Becky was titillated every time Felix called, how her little pudgy heart just skipped a beat whenever she heard his voice but she would then go on and on about how much she "loved" her good old dependable husband Mike. Me thinks the lady doth protest too much. Shannon Hale tells us over and over again...ad naseaum...about how much Becky loves Mike and how her marriage is her number one priority yet Becky's actions tell a far different story. Each time Hale would have Becky say how much she loved Mike in the next breath she would then have Becky go off on how she and Felix were "soulmates". Ugh. I found myself asking throughout the whole book "Couldn't Felix do better than you? You are a bore...and a stereotype." And...not a very flattering stereotype, Ms. Hale, of LDS women.

Second, the characters are so uninteresting, except for Felix, and completely unrealistic. The husband Mike after putting up with so much from his wife and her infatuation/relationship with Felix he finally reaches the end of his rope and tells her...that he "just doesn't understand." What!?! That's it? Call her out Mike!!" I wanted to yell. Grow some balls and a spine while you're at it!! I don't know what most of the readers husbands are like but mine would put up with behavior like that for exactly two seconds and vice versa. I kept wanting Mike to find a nice sexy blond big boobed co-worker and claim her to be his "soulmate" and see how frumpy old zucchini bread baking Becky liked it. Probably not so much.

Third, was this book written for the masses or did I miss the LDS lit label? Because Ms. Hale assumes that your average reader is in on all the LDS/Utah insight and most are not. I couldn' t stand her description of how the city of Layton is pronounced...inside joke to Utah readers only. When Becky goes in to talk to her Bishop and she says that she has read a bunch of "Conference Talks" I'm sure the non-LDS reader has no clue what she is talking about...and these are just a few examples.

Now that said there were some parts of this book where the dialogue between Becky and Felix was humorous...but then it never let up...every single time they spoke to one another it was in this obnoxious banter that I felt was contrived. Most of us have a friend or two were we riff off one another but then we can stop...it isn't endlessly ongoing. It got really old.

The ending was pure torture. After all of the jerking around of the reader and the manipulating of our emotions (not to mention the offing of a main character) the ending blows. Really. Did we just go on that nausea inducing roller coaster ride for this. As I stared in disbelief at the last few pages what did Becky do? She giggled and guffawed and chortled and chuckled. How funny that after 11 years for them and a grueling 350 pages for me we find ourselves here. Lame.

I know I am in the minority here and that lots of people who I respect liked this book but I didn't. Truth be told I despised it. I liked the premise but was disappointed with the product. Can men and women be friends...perhaps...just not "soul mates" if they are married to other people. But that's just my opinion. So here's where the rubber meets the road. Good-bye Shannon Hale.

My rating: Too cheesy; too contrived; and too "Happy Valley" for me. I hated it.

"God Has Given Me a Gift"



Our family has been enjoying a bounty of delicious corn lately and Kameron is by far our most enthusiastic corn-on-the-cob eater. The other night he ate 6 pieces of corn-on-the-cob...SIX...in addition to his dinner. He has lost a bunch of teeth lately so I thought eating the corn off the cob might be difficult for him. Apparently not because he killed us by saying in all seriousness "God has given me a gift...these buck teeth...to help me eat corn!!" We were all on the floor laughing. Make lemonade baby!!

Speaking of gifts...after reading my book review below. Guess what arrived on my doorstep the other day? Both of these books...hard-bound addition. What a great surprise. I have the BEST husband!!

I'm In Love

OK...so I'm skipping some of the books I've read that I'm behind on the book reviews to do a review on two books that I just finished. Holy Cow! They are SO GOOD!! I'm shocked I liked them so much. First, they are Young Adult Literature and second, they take place in a postapocalyptic dystopia...and...I still liked them. No scratch that. I LOVED them.

Book Review #59

#60



Here's the synopsis from barnesandnoble.com:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games.

Ok...think The Giver meets The Most Dangerous Game meets The Lottery meets Ray Bradbury meets the TV show Survivor. Are you intrigued? Because you really should be!! I cannot recommend this series enough. Hunger Games is the first in the trilogy, and Catching Fire just came out.

I really can't say much more because I don't want to give away too much of the plot but the second book in the series Catching Fire is even better than the first. Hard to believe.

My Rating: EXCELLENT!!

Now go get these books and start reading!! I'm serious...RUN!! I hope you don't have anything important to do for the next day or two because you will not be able to put them down.

September 11th


I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunny September day and it reminded me of another beautiful sunny September day...eight years ago. I remember it so clearly. Kameron was a baby and had been up quite a bit the night before with a cold. I was still asleep when Tyler was getting ready for work. He had the Today show on and had been listening to it while getting ready. Suddenly Tyler burst into our bedroom and said "The Pentagon has been bombed!!" I remember being groggy and not fully comprehending what he was saying. I remember asking "Who did what?" and he said it again and hurried back into the living room. I stumbled out of bed and into the living room and stared at the TV in horror and then the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I remember not comprehending what was going on. I remember the confusion of Matt Lauer and Katie Couric as they were trying to explain to viewers the breaking news in New York City. Then we watched the second plane hit. Tyler and I just stared in complete disbelief at what we were witnessing. We were confused and trying to process what was going on as we watched the towers smoking and emergency crews rushing in. I remember thinking "It will be ok. Those people will get out."

Work was forgotten, breakfast was forgotten, at some point Kameron began to cry and we picked him up brought him out to the living room, Reilly woke up and joined us. I remember her as a little 4 year old asking us what was happening and not being able to articulate to her what was going on. We just huddled together...our little family of four...and stared at the TV. I remember the flames and suddenly people were jumping out of windows and I couldn't believe I was seeing people falling to their deaths and then the Today show stopped broadcasting those images and it seems like only seconds later that the buildings collapsed. I remember looking at Tyler and asking him "Could anyone survive that?" and he just sadly shook his head.

What sadness followed...images that will haunt me for the rest of my life. People running for their lives away from the towers, people injured and staggering around New York, family members with pictures asking anyone and everyone if they had seen their loved ones, walls covered in pictures of the missing, a field in Pennsylvania, the Pentagon with a gaping hole, rescue workers at Ground Zero, and American flags flying.

September 11, 2001 was the day my life changed. My priorities, political viewpoint, patriotism, and my spirituality. They all changed and took on new significance in the course of one terrible morning. I have never been the same since. I wake up on this beautiful September morning filled with gratitude for my God, my family, my country, my beliefs, and my freedom.

Labor Day Weekend 2009

This Labor Day weekend we packed up the kids and headed to Seattle for a weekend of fun as a last hurrah before fall. We really had a great time. All our kids are great travelers...including Bryn...so that made it really nice.

We headed out in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday. We arrived in North Bend in time for some breakfast and the opening of the outlets there.

We ate breakfast at the restaurant where they filmed the old TV show Twin Peaks.

The weather was gloomy and wet but that didn't stop our fun or our shopping!!

We found a bunch of great clothes for everyone. I even found quite a bit to put away for Christmas. I love getting my Christmas Shopping done early!! It just might happen this year.

Oh Seattle how we love you!!

I always forget what a big city Seattle is and how small the town we live in is in comparison. It was so fun to go downtown and roam around. There is always so much to see and do.

There are so many great stores...restaurants...sites to see. The people watching alone is amazing. I forget how very vanilla it is where we live. I love seeing and hearing the variety of cultures and languages.

One of my first stops was the downtown Goodwill. I love thrift stores and we had been told that this was one of the best. We were not lead astray. I found so much great stuff. All for the price of around $30. Yay!!

After that we hit the pavement. We walked all over the place. Bryn rode in the back pack and pretty much slept the entire time.

Our first stop was Pike Place Market.

Just as we got down there the sun came out...perfect!!

We watched the flying fish

We went to our favorite Specialty cheese store for some amazing cheese and curds.

There was a big music festival going on so there were even more people downtown. It was incredibly fun. Downtown Seattle has such a great vibe. Street performers who are actually talented! I was THRILLED to see that punk is not dead!! There was fantastic music from every street corner and every kind of ethnic food you can imagine. Colors, Music, Smells galore. We were loving it. We just soaked it up.

The girls had fun spending money at Daiso a Japanese Dollar store. They found clear umbrellas, cute stationary, notebooks, miniature manicure sets and so much more. :)

That night we decided on Greek food for our cuisine of choice and basically collapsed at our hotel. It amazes me how much fun our kids can have at a hotel...ice machines, vending machines, HBO and the waffle/omlet breakfast bar the next morning was just icing on the cake.

The next day we drove to Bellingham to visit some of our favorite people. Justin, Hannah, Grace, Haylee and Gavin. They are so much fun to hang out with and we loved every minute we spent with them. We were blown away by how absolutely BEAUTIFUL it is there. Gorgeous. Justin and Hannah were wonderful to play tour guides and they showed around their lovely town.

The beach was a hit with the whole family. The kids had a great time beach combing. They could've spent hours turning over rocks. They had a ball collecting shells, finding sand crabs, and seeing an enormous red jellyfish. On our ride home we asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was and they all said that playing on the beach with the Ellersicks was the very best part.

Gavin, Justin and Hannah

Kameron, Reilly, Ailey, Grace and Haylee

Grace and Kameron

So much fun was had that a trip to the Oregon Coast is a MUST this next year. After we could drag the kids away from the beach we drove into Fairhaven (I think that is what it is called). That was also a lot of fun. The little downtown area is charming with lots of fun stores. There was a fabulous toy store, great book store, cupcake shop, candy store, specialty cheese store, and a vintage clothing store...we hit all of them. I found a darling green necklace from the 50's. After that we headed back to Justin and Hannah's for an amazing BBQ dinner. It was so good. Hannah--Reilly wants me to get your BBQ Beans recipe. :)

Eventually the kids did fall asleep. :)

The next morning Hannah made us a delicious strawberry waffle breakfast and we left. Time flies by when you are having fun. Thanks again for such a fun time!! We love you guys.

The whole crew

After that we headed back towards Seattle. We stopped at another set of great outlets in the Linwood area I think. Banana Republic, Restoration Hardware, Gap, The Children's Place, Gymboree...just to name a few. We stopped at a few other places we wanted to see as well. Oh why oh why Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are you not in our area??

Even though we didn't time our trip properly to catch a Mariners Game Kameron had to make the pilgrimage.

Kameron and his FAVORITE player.

We made another attempt to score some Seattle Fudge and were denied. Bummer. Twice this trip!! We did however eat an amazing Teriyaki Lunch before leaving town. We also stopped to admire the beauty of the Seattle Temple and to walk around the grounds.

Then we headed home. It was a fun weekend getaway trip. We had great time, saw beautiful sites, ate great food, and got to visit one of our favorite families. It doesn't get better than that.

Now back to reality...school...fall...after-school activities. Ballet for two girls, piano, and swimming are all starting and things are starting to get CRAZY around here!!

Good-bye Summer. I will miss you!!