Day 6: Ferry and return to Utah

To get back into Seattle we rode the ferry.

It was really cool...don't be surprised if we move to Seattle in May.
The beach front property was amazing!
Kirsten and Karen on the ferry

The view of Seattle from the ferry
the space needle is clear to the left

The flight back to Utah was great. We are really glad to be home.
Kirsten was so happy she refused to go to bed and just crawled around our house over and over again.
Thanks Frank and Paulette, Tom and Karen, Liz and Derik. Aaron and Joriel for a great trip!

Day 5: Sole Duc Falls and Forks

The hike to Sole Duc Falls was beautiful! Washington definitely has a rain forest.

We hiked about a mile in

Kirk lived in Washington the fall after we graduated.
Ever since he lived there he kept telling me about this waterfall that was really important to him.
After he got home from his mission I told him I knew that he wanted to take me to the waterfall to propose...but I didn't want to wait for a trip to Washington to get engaged.
So three and a half years later...we made it to Kirk's original proposal place
(with Kirsten)

Sole Duc Falls. It was so beautiful. After the waterfall we went to Forks
(because we are a tiny bit twilight crazy)
How can you be that close and not want to go?They even had a truck like Bella's.
Kirk's Dad and Uncle made fun of us plenty...so you don't have to.

This is crescent lake. It is huge. It was a glacier that has melted into a lake. I guess they have not even been able to find the bottom in some places.
It was a really wet day...can you tell?

Day 4: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome!

We were all stuffed turkeys afterwards.

After clean up and a nap we went to the beach
Frank, Liz, Derik

Where they built a fire
(some thought it might be illegal...only encouraging the fire)

So the grandkids could roast marshmallows
(they were the only ones still hungry)

Karen and Tom
(Kirk's parents)

Kirk and Ben
(who spent most the time throwing rocks into the ocean)

The beach. Love the Washington coastline

Family picture at sunset
Kirsten, Dynelle, Kirk

That evening Kirk and I left Kirsten in the trusted hands of Karen and went and saw the movie Australia. We had so much fun. Thanks Karen!

Day 3: Ocean

Wednesday we saw the Washington coast
and loved it.

It was Kirsten's first time at the ocean.

Can you believe she didn't even get in the water?
I can...it was really cold.Kirk found this beautiful sea rose for me
don't be too jealous girls
(its actually a rock and not the diamond kind)Family Photo at the beach.
Christmas card worthy?Kirk and his brothers.
Derik, Aaron, Kirk

Aaron and Joriel helped the grandkids make this cute sand castle.

The grandkids

Brixton, Kirsten, Ben, Alex, Kassandra

After the ocean we went into Port Angeles for lunch. Kirk and I then took the long way home so that Kirsten could get a good nap. That night we played games...like mafia and psychiatrist and had a blast being together.

Day 2: Seattle

Tuesday morning we went to the Seattle aquarium. It was awesome. It had everything octopus, fish, divers, otters, seals, etc.Starfish Sea Cucumber

The cutest jellyfish ever!

After the aquarium we went to pike street market. It is a cool market by the ocean that sells mostly fish, fruits, flowers, and a little bit of everything else.
(L-R Paulette (Kirk's aunt that lives near Seattle), Kirk, Kirsten, Karen (Kirk's mom), Brixton)

We then went to the space needle. There are elevators on the sides that took us up to the very top...600 ft up! The top circle part you see is the restaurant we had dinner atKirsten was really excited to get some dinner. Dinner was amazing. It was the fanciest place Kirk or I had ever been too. (that's why we had to take pictures of our food.)


The dinner floor actually rotated, so while we sat in our seats we could see out over Seattle. This is a view of the city from above.The Howcroft family that came on the trip.For dessert we had ice cream. Derik fed Kirsten some...but not before teasing her. It was pretty cute so we decided to make a video. But in the video she decided that it was time to take charge and put an end to Deriks teasing.

After dinner we went across the ferry and drove to Sequim (about an hour away) where Kirk's Aunt and Uncle live.

Day 1: Flying to Seattle

Monday was filled of packing and cleaning.
Kirk spent the day up on campus finishing his project of scheduling the building of a hotel, which took 7 hours to finish. Luckily everyone was running behind and no one had to wait on us.
We barely made it to the airplane gate in time to board the flight at 4:00. Kirsten flies like a champ.
She refuses to miss anything and didn't sleep a wink on the plane but then slept through check-in at the hotel and dinner. She really missed her crib...we found her crawling around the hotel room in the middle of the night...oh dear.In Seattle by the pudget sound

Proof Kirsten is my daughter

(as if the 10 months of pregnancy didn't count)

The sweater Kirsten is wearing in this picture is my new favorite thing.
It has these cute birds on the pocket that you can't see in the picture. Cute huh? She is in the toddler section at the stores now. It's just kinda weird that she is so big. I look at all the cute little baby things that she couldn't fit in no matter how hard we try, and get (gulp) baby hungry.

Kirsten is becoming very mobile. She can now go from laying down to sitting up all on her own. And she is pulling herself up to the standing position. Her favorite place to do it is her crib. Whenever we go to get her from her crib she is always standing on the end watching and waiting for us. It's pretty stinking cute. It also helps that she say "mamamamama" until we come get her.
Church is becoming...rough. What does a parent do when their adorable daughter wants nothing more than to crawl all around. How do I keep her from wanting to crawl everywhere/is it appropriate to let your child loose in Sunday School to crawl around? She's one of the oldest babies in the ward so I'm not quite sure what's appropriate.

My back is better, finally. I was flat on my back for 5 1/2 days. Not an easy thing when you have a daughter that loves crawling everywhere. But Kirk was amazing. He came home every chance he could and even took Kirsten to class with him (which they both loved btw). My house still isn't in tip top shape (it got really really out of shape)...but everyone is healthy and happy.

We fly away tomorrow! Check back soon for pictures of Washington
(plus I've talked Kirk into taking me to all the twilight places)

Update

Last weekend Kirk flew to Pennsylvania for a job interview. We are anxious for any job interview we can get...with the economy suffering a lot of companies are having hiring freezes. But the good news is the company he interviewed with was really impressed with him and as we were told Friday "we want you but we want to find you a job you will not get bored with". We hope to have an official offer from them tomorrow. And before you freak out that we will be living in Pennsylvania...the job offer could put us anywhere in the country...hopefully somewhere in the west.

I pinched a nerve in my back somehow this week. So I've been pretty sore. We went to Vernal to watch Liz's kids this weekend and it turned out to be a really bad idea for my back. I've spent all day in bed trying to heal before Kirk is gone all day tomorrow and I am home alone with the crawling baby that likes to eat and get into all the wrong things :).
We are headed to Washington with Kirk's family for Thanksgiving. We are super excited and can't wait for the vacation.

Our Acrobat

Thursday one of my friends and her cute 5 month old baby came over. I got out Kirsten's baby swing for my friends daughter. Kirsten never really used the swing...how boring to swing back and forth. Friday morning I was cleaning the house and decided to see if Kristen liked the swing. She started swinging herself before I could even turn the swing on. We thought it was pretty cute and made a video:

Kirk and I laughed and stepped into the next room for a minute...then we heard a loud crash. We came running and found the swing face down on the kitchen floor, Kirsten screaming. She wasn't hurt just scared. We figure she was swinging herself so high that she tipped the swing over. Kirk kept telling her she fulfilled every kids dream of swinging over the swingset bar. She will keep us on our toes for sure!

Love My Sisters!

On Wednesday my sister Amanda came to visit me (she moved home to Vernal to save money before heading to Colorado for school in January). She showed up early afternoon. We just hung out, like we use to before she moved away. We made some yummy sugar cookies, went to Target, then watched Lars and the Real Girl.
Before she headed back to Vernal she told me how she has been thinking of me a lot lately and wanted to make sure I was doing ok...and thats why she came out. She, my older sisters, and mom each wrote me a letter telling me how much they love me. She gave me a nalgene...the water bottle I've been coveting (not the sinful coveting) since her trip to Colorado.
We both decided that we don't let people know how much we love and care for them enough. So, if you are reading this, you must have influenced my life somehow and I just want to tell you thanks and that I love you. Because I love where my life is right now and wouldn't change any of the experiences that I've had or the people who've influenced my life.
But I especially love you Amanda, thanks for reaching out to me when I needed it so much! You rock my world!

Saturday Mornings

At our house Saturdays are filled with lots of Giggling

and lots of snotCan't see the snot very well? Now you can

Hair clips

This is what little girls do when their moms get crafty:Today my friend Brenna came over and we made hair clips for our cute girls. I was quite proud of how mine turned out and thought I would share.
(Kirsten finally has enough hair to "clip" instead of headbands and I'm VERY excited)Kirsten and Jade with matching hair clips
(They were totally mesmerized by how crafty their moms are)

What we found this morning

Apparently Kirsten was trying to escape...her pajamas.

Eight Months

Kirsten is crawling, bouncing, feeding herself, waving, power lifting anything she can find, singing, banging on everything, clapping, and growling at her stuffed animals
We love our eight month old and are constantly vacuuming and sweeping the floors while laughing with, and kissing the beautiful daughter we love so much