Recent Randoms

 I have been working on a few projects in the garage outside and to keep Addy entertained/busy I gave her an old paint brush and a cup of water and she "painted" the sidewalk for hours. She LOVED it!

I got down an old doll cradle from my loft for Addy to play with.  She was supposed to be taking a nap and when I checked on her she was trying to sleep in the cradle.

Addy came downstairs from her nap one day and she thought she was so funny because she put a sock on her hand.

Addy and 2nd cousin Owen at the zoo

We tried to get a picture on the trunk, but this elephant was making some freaky noises and Addy was scared out of her wits!

Stockton wasn't scared.

 

I have to say that I got a killer deal for all of us at the zoo.  I knew that my Seattle Zoo yearly pass I bought this summer got discounts to other zoos, but had no idea it was so much!  We even got a discount on food once we got inside...I think my mother-in-law was very impressed.

I love how none of them are looking at the camera. Also Addy & Stockton's arms are around each other. so cute.

Train Ride! Addy looks scared, but she loved it! She wanted nothing but more, more, more when it was over.

First and only time so far that Addy has fallen asleep while eating!

Halloween

I don't know who had more fun trick-or-treating, Seth or Adalyn.  More than once Seth made some sort of comment like, "Wow, this is greater than I ever imagined!" It was a fun night, the weather was perfect and hearing Addy's cute little voice saying "twick o tweet" and "tank you" at every door was just precious!  She loved knocking on all the doors!  Not to mention, she was rockin' her costume...We went with a safari theme this year.  Addy was a cheetah, I was a tigress, and Seth was a safari dude.  We were never all in our costumes at the same time though, bummer.

We went to the MBA Halloween party, where Seth was supposed to meet us...but, he got tied up at school so he never made it! 

Addy and I met up with a friend and went trick-or-treating down Main Street in SF a few days before Halloween.  Of all the candy she got, the thing she reached for to eat first was her APPLE! That-a-girl.

Catch-Up

There have been a few big events that I have neglected to post about (because I've neglected the blog...) So, here's a little ketchup:

I mean, CATCH-UP.  Haha...

Our sweet baby, Adalyn turned TWO!  If you ask her, she's "2 minutes." I cooked her chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and she was in heaven.  Heck, so was I.  It was the first time I'd ever tried them too.  They were good.

We had a little family party for her.  She kept saying she wanted a "Beast-a-paaardy" Which translated means Beauty and the Beast.  It was fitting, seeing as she has been obsessed with that movie since she developed her  love for watching TV.

I got her a Belle dress, and a Belle cake and we decorated the house for a princess.  {side note: going along with the theme, Addy loves to dance with her dad.  It's the sweetest thing you've ever seen.  She says "Dadda Beast, Addy Belle." And then he sings the song to her and they dance all around the room. So precious!)

Before the guests arrived, I wanted to take a picture of Addy/Belle.  I took a few:

Click on the photo to make it larger

This is a progression of her many faces.  In the first ones, I told her to smile; so naturally, she gave me her dirty glare look.  So then I did the good ol' reverse psychology (wow, that's a tough one to spell.)  I told her, "Don't smile.  Don't you dare smile..."  And what do you know, a big grin appears.  This girl definitely has some "Addy-tude"

Here's her cake, that I didn't make...

Addy kept snitching little bits of frosting while we were singing to her.  (another sidenote: that reminds me that she has also begun snitching her food during the prayer.  She squints her eyes like they're closed but reaches out to her food and slyly grabs some and sticks in it her mouth-maybe we shouldn't put food in front of her until after the prayer?)

I tried to cut the cake for her so she wouldn't just eat the frosting. She wouldn't have it and put it right back in it's place and continued devouring the frosting.

We opened lots of fun presents:

Addy loves her new bike!

And of course, this little bug got completely worn out from all the partying, dancing, and sugar.  She fell asleep with balloons in her hands...

Moving on from birthdays...

We've made quite a few trips to grandma & grandpa's house since I'm trying to finish a project there.  Here's my little diva on one of the car rides:

We have all enjoyed the bounteous harvest that a garden brings.  Especially when you don't have to weed it! ;)  G-ma & g-pa are kind enough to share with us.  Addy likes to eat tomatoes and peas straight off the vine! We have also enjoyed apples!  We have made applesauce, pie filling, and dehydrated apples.   I also canned 2 bushels of peaches!  The things I do for this girl...

Addy & I went to Gardner Village with some MBASA friends.  

Sometimes she didn't know what to think of the witches...

Can't forget FOOTBALL!  Seth and I have season tickets again this year and it's so much fun sitting by all of our friends.  We brought Addy to one of the games.  At first, she was super intimidated by all the people and noise in the stadium.  She warmed up eventually though and had a good time.  Until after half time she said "Go home now." She had had enough.  The next day, though, she said, "More football? I wanna see football." Making her dad very proud.

 She loved the fight song and clapped her hands with everyone else.

This picture is hilarious.  I'm not going to say anything else.

That's all the catch-up I have in me right now.  Stay tuned.

Perspective

Time flies!  I feel like since we got back from the summer that we hit the ground running and haven't slowed down!  It makes me miss the leisure time we had in Seattle over the summer.  Seth was super busy with work and projects, but I feel like I saw him a lot more than I do now. 

We have both been so busy between church callings, work, school, job conferences, interviews, business trips, MBASA activities, projects, ADDY...I feel like there are so many days when Seth gets home from school and I'm running out the door as he comes in!  Don't get me wrong, we are both really enjoying this last year of MBA school and being in Utah near our families.  We have been so blessed with many opportunities and new friends since moving here over a year ago.  Not everything has happened the way we thought it should, or planned on; but we are grateful for the perspective we've gained and lessons we have learned thus far.  It is truly wonderful that we have a Heavenly Father who knows us and is mindful of even the little things in our life and that he has a plan for all of us.

One of my favorite things about the MBA program at BYU has been that it's not only Seth that has been getting educated and improving.  I feel like I too am getting more educated.  We're both in this.  There are so many classes and workshops and park days and book clubs and get togethers with the MBA spouses (or widows, hehe).  {Think Relief Society on major steroids} I get to learn so much from amazing women and make great friends in the process.  So while we're both super crazy busy, I know that we are both trying to take full advantage of the opportunities that we get to have here, because there will be nothing else like it.  I can't believe that there is only 6 months left! 

Check out the cool guy in the middle

The Final Hours

I think you could successfully say, "We came, we saw, we conquered."

I had my doubts about coming to Seattle for the summer.  

I love the sun.  

I have spent the last 5 years in 110-115 degree weather in Las Vegas with blue skies almost every day.

The weather here has been surprisingly nice, cool, perfect on most days.  Pleasant.

I think I have fallen in love with Seattle.  This has been one of the greatest summers ever.

I told everyone I was going to treat it as a 12 week vacation, and I have!  

I haven't had to worry about work, church callings (lessons, activities, girls camp), housework, or projects.

All of that is anxiously waiting for me to get back.  It's nice to be missed sometimes :)

I am leaving sunny Seattle this evening.  Addy and I are flying home a few days early because they really need me at work (how great is it that they let me keep my job?!)  

Seth has absolutely loved Amazon.  

It was so challenging, yet so fulfilling.  

He received some excellent experience here that will definitely help him down the road. 

I am so proud of how well he has done.  

Who knows, maybe we'll be back here next year for a full-time position?

Yes, I think I'm going to miss this place.  

Especially:

the cleaning service that comes every other week,

the sacrament bread in the ward here
(some lady makes some sort of Ethiopian bread EVERY Sunday that is AHHHmazing),

the gorgeous view of Lake Union that I get to see everyday from our apartment,

cool summer weather,

the many parks, zoo, and activities that are so near.

I guess it's time to get back to the real world.

  

Last Chance Seattle Sites

This place seriously has sooooo many things to do!  This past weekend we went to do a few of the things that we haven't had a chance to check off our list yet and one of our favorite places, the beach!

 After an 80 hour work week, Seth is so happy/relieved that his final project/presentation is OVER!

Fremont Troll 

Did you know that's a real VW Beetle?

View from Kerry Park

So pretty....