Goodbye "Ciatill"

On June 1, 1997 I wrote about my friend Sarah's baptism. I ended the entry by writing, "...at 4:00 on the same day she and her family went on a vacation to Ciatill somewhere in Washington."

I absolutely love this entry. I love being able to interpret amidst my wretched cursive and little emotion, that I had absolutely no clue where my friend was going and just wanted her to come home. I remember her describing the Space Needle to me, and I, well I just gave her a blank stare.

But when I read my journal now, I think about how lucky she was to go on vacation to Seattle!

I am full of so much emotion today. I just got home from church--my last day in this wonderful ward where I have made so many friends. When I think about why I love Seattle so much, the number one reason has to be because of my friends. I have some really fantastic friends--but then again, who wouldn't say that about their friends?

I also love the majesty of living in a big city. There is something brilliantly alluring about sitting in a lot of traffic. Okay, okay not so much. But, really I don't mind how busy and large everything is. It's absolutely breathtaking driving into the city at night, and seeing all the speckled lights on the tall buildings. Seriously, the first time I was driving home on the freeway at night, I just wanted to pull over and stare. I loved inviting visitors to go to Pikes Place Market and to do downtown shopping. I like driving past the Space Needle and reminding Michael that it can't fly. I love that Seattle will be the first place he will remember as home.

I remember the day when I discovered there was a beach just a few miles away. And then another, and another. Hello! I loved being in walking distance to multiple parks and meeting other moms there. I like how every weekend there seems to be a festival for something, or someone, somewhere. There is always a reason to get out (and sometimes a reason to stay in). And the weather, to be honest, I love Seattle weather. The summertime is perfect. The rain, well at least it's not snow!

I know we are just moving to the other side of the lake. But to me, it's a brand new adventure. I am anticipating that I will end up loving it just as much as I loved my experience here. I wonder who my friends will be, how I will acclimate with my new ward, and if Michael will end up starting school there. The unknown is a little overwhelming (and so is packing).

I am really grateful to my friend Tysha for taking some awesome pictures of my little family around Greenlake, one of my favorite locations in Seattle. These pictures will forever remind me of the good times (and the not-so-good-times) that made this chapter of my life so sentimental to me.

Halloween 2011

Oh boy, did I miss Halloween? Richard knew at the beginning of the year that he was going to build Michael's costume. Of course, we all didn't start putting it together until two weeks before. The costume wasn't quite to his liking, but it was cute enough.

Introducing Bumblebee! (the Transformer...in case you are confused, because some people were confused when we would refer to Michael as "Bumblebee")

We went to Richard's work party on Halloween and ate a yummy lunch. And played with balloons. Richard had every desire to dress up as Optimus Prime but there simply wasn't enough time to get that project going.

I didn't dress up, but I think I'll buy these next year.

Despite going to a neighborhood business trick-or-treat, the ward trunk-or-treat, and then trick-or-treating with some friends on Halloween night there is definitely no more candy left at this house.

Carcassone

Recently R & I went to a friend's home and played Carcassone. The next day Michael wanted to play the game with me. We got things started when he started talking about which color was going to attack the red guys. I corrected him by saying, "Michael, this isn't a shooting game. It's about getting points."

His reply, "Oh. Yes. So, you point this guy at that guy and then shoot."

Here's a video of some of the battle. And Michael saying, "Mom" a lot. I haven't counted how many times he calls for my attention in this video, but holy cow kid! I'm sitting right in front of you! I can hear you. Say what you want to say!