Sunday, April 25, 2010

Missing All Y'all

A few weekends ago we were able to take a quick trip to Houston using unused plane tickets from Christmas. It was wonderful to see friends and family that we've missed TONS! We had fun playing games, eating out, shopping, and making a day trip out to the countryside to enjoy the Blue Bonnets. Here are a few lists and pictures to summarize.

Top 5 things we have not missed since moving:
1. Long, long, long commute
2. 90% humidity . . . almost every day
3. Living in a gated community with gates that don't work and massive speed bumps
4. Hurricanes
5. Fire Ants

Top 5 things I didn't know I would miss, but really have:
1. Flip flops and capris every day (It's April and I'm still wearing sweaters here!!)
2. Chic-Fil-A, Kohl's, Wal-Mart, & Ross only 2 minutes away (Thanks for some fun shopping trips Anne & Mindy)
3. Having 6 good friends in the neighborhood who could lend you an egg or an onion so you don't have to load up the kids and drive 10 minutes to Albertsons.
4. Huge, bright, sunny skies

5. Texas Pride (I have yet to hear the Washington State Pledge or even see a Washington State flag . . . Nor have I heard Deep in the Heart of Washington on the radio. Where's the love??)

Top 5 things I knew I'd miss and still do:
1. Spring Ward Family - Love you guys tons!
2. Having my sister practically next door.


3. Cousins .



4. Best Friends
5. Blue Bell Ice Cream

We sure do miss all y'all!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Robin in the Rain

We do get quite a bit of rain here in Seattle, but the locals don't mind a bit.


Thursday, April 15, 2010

Spring Holiday Highlights

I'm not sure where the last few weeks have gone, but somehow I've felt too busy to blog. We've had a lot of fun celebrating, especially since we have officially sold our old house. $ is in the bank and we're THRILLED to no longer have double the bills. Here are some highlights of the last month of celebration.
Video warning - these are long and not that cute, but I thought the grandparents would enjoy them.

St. Patrick's Day Feast -
corned beef, red potatoes, cabbage, beer (root that is),
green and white parfaits, and golden chocolates
I caught a leprechaun!
The week leading up to Easter, we had an egg hunt with our friends at the park.

We made chick eggs to send to our family.
We laughed and danced to Grandma Hong's bunny surprise.

And we had a family night with the Resurrection Eggs
to reteach and remember the story of Easter. We hid these on Easter as well and then retold the story at Easter breakfast. I'm excited to make this part of our Easter tradition.

Easter weekend was spent in Richland with my parents and brother.

Decorating eggs is serious business here. Notice the orange pirate Grandma did for Danny.

Kaylee had fun hunting for eggs and trying to eat them.

She also was an excellent guard baby . . . making sure the dogs stayed in their place during the egg hunt and didn't steal any chocolates.
Grandma made a beautiful coconut bunny cake and of course we had the traditional ham, asparagus, orange jello, and deviled egg chicks.
It was a relaxing weekend. I love when General Conference and Easter coincide because I feel like so many of the talks focus on the Savior and help me better understand the Atonement and Resurrection.

And just in case you didn't think the first bunny video was sufficient, here's one more.