Fall 2011

October and November flew by for our little family.  As most of you know, Shawn has taken a new position within the company that allows us to move closer to family and be within driving distance to Dallas, Wichita Falls and Tyler.  We are very excited to be moving but are not looking forward to the actual move and selling of another house (especially a year and a half after we just bought this current house).  We are also very sad to leave all the amazing people that we have gotten to know these last 5 years!  

So as you can expect, we have been a little stressed, which is why I have not updated in a while.  To catch everyone up to speed, I decided to do an abbreviated version of the last two months starting with the house.  It is no where near what I imagined the final product to be but oh well...  

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen (we had intended on putting in black granite and white subway tile back-splash)

Master Bedroom

Guest bedroom

Playroom

Girl's Bedroom

Abby's pre-k class kicked off the start of Fall with a trip to the pumpkin patch....

Princess Jasmine and Dumbo made and appearance for Halloween.....

as did Memaw.....

hot chocolate was enjoyed as the temperatures dropped...

new boots were bought...

trophies were earned...

pony rides at birthday parties were taken...

Cinderella plays were attended... 

with best friends...

goodbyes were said...

sweet memories were made....

great concerts were attended....

and two used cars were bought...

and stressed over (haha)!!

And just in case you don't hear from us in a while, Merry Christmas!!!!!

Seattle Getaway!

Last weekend Shawn and I left the kids and jumped on a plane to Seattle for a quick weekend getaway.  I have mentioned before that I love rainy, cloudy weather and Seattle did not disappoint.  The weather was mostly cloudy with a little bit of drizzle here and there.  We spent Saturday exploring Pike Place Market and all the different food vendors.  After a long day of traveling and exploring we were able to sit back and enjoy the view of Seattle from the comforts of the Bainbridge Island ferry.

Famous Fish Throwing Vendor

Best Doughnuts Ever!! 

Seattle Space Needle 

View from Bainbridge Island ferry

On Sunday we took a 10 hour tour of Mt. Rainier National Park.  When we left our hotel it was drizzling a bit so we had little hope of seeing the sleeping volcano, however as we drove out of Seattle we were very pleased to have spectacular views from our van.

At this point in the tour we had stopped to explore the river and to take pictures.  As our tour guide was snapping this picture of Shawn and I on the tree bridge, an older Japanese lady who was on the tour with us, slipped on a rock and flipped down almost going into the river.  She was knocked out and had cut the back of her neck.  She came to but was very unresponsive and could not move.  Because we were out of cell phone service, our tour guide left and went to the nearest stop to call for help.  After a scary hour and a half an ambulance finally arrived and took her and her husband to a hospital.  At this point we all thought that the tour would probably be over, but to our surprise we continued on our way through the park!   We will never know what the extent of her injuries were but I can only imagine how scarred she must have felt to be in another country on vacation and get injured like this.    

Unfortunately during the hour and a half that we spent at the river, the rain and clouds had rolled in which meant no visibility of Mt. Rainier.  We had a great time otherwise, and I am so glad we chose to do this tour.  It was the highlight of the trip and I would recommend going to Mt. Rainier even if you get to see it or not.  I would love to go back and spend a few days staying at the lodge in the park and hiking/exploring.  One things for sure though, you will never see me hiking my way to the top of Mt. Rainier or any other Mountain covered in Glaciers!