Signs of autumn everywhere!

Although the weather is still warm and wonderful, make no mistake... fall is coming! I took a picture of a tree in our hospital parking lot because I just love the colors of the leaves on the trees! I took this with the iPhone, so it's not optimal quality!

Also... peaches and nectarines are here! A coworker went out to Yakima and took orders so I got a box of each. My mom and I spent the day cutting, slicing, peeling, and freezing. it was hard work but I'm happy to have the fruit on hand. Ethan is loving it. The nectarines especially taste like candy and that's no exaggeration!

C25K, Vibrams, and barefooting

I just wanted to throw a quick note in here about our latest adventure! Mike and I are currently doing the Couch-to-5K program. We just started week 4 and we have had fun with this! I've been posting about it on my Facebook page, but I thought I'd put an entry here since this blog is more or less a journal of our family. I was inspired by a few nurses I work with (and I'm still inspired by them) and decided to give this program a shot. It helps that I found two people online who are about my size and succeeded in doing this. See the above link for a breakdown of the program. But basically, it turns a couch potato into a 5K runner in about 9 weeks (or thereabouts... some people take a little longer and that could VERY well be me!)

I started this on August 3rd. I ran the first day at Twin Lakes Elementary and simply ran around one of the school buildings. To top it off, I did it in my hot pink Crocs! Yes, these guys:


I did that for a couple of reasons. To start with, I hate the running shoes I have. And I read about a couple of people who have run whole marathons in Crocs and like them better because they have less pain. So I did it... and had no pain. AWESOME! I ran the first week and the first day of the second week in those Crocs and never had any pain at all. But in the interim, I had done a bunch of research and somehow, some way I discovered the barefoot (or minimally shod) running movement. Being the minimalist that I am in so many other areas of life, this appealed to me and had an air of truth that I couldn't deny. So I read and read... and read... and then read more and finally decided that I had to try it. I also got myself a pair of Vibram Five Finger Sprints shoes to wear for running in. No, they have no support whatsoever and that's the way I like it. I've been running in them for two weeks now and I don't have an ounce of pain at all. They are funky looking for sure! They are certainly conversation starters.


I love them to pieces. What's more... I can toss them in the washing machine and they are dry by the next morning! Yippee!! I'll post more about my C25K progress. For now I'm just sticking with the program and loving it. Our goal is to run the Seattle Jingle Bell 5K in December.

Anyway... we have run the majority of the rest of our runs at the Decatur High School track. It's a great track! It was crowded on Monday and so we went over to Lakota park and I never want to do that again! The boys go with us and we make them move the entire time we do. It's been good for them too. Here are a couple of shots of them on the track last week sometime:



I plan on writing more as I go through this program!

Welcome to Seattle Aunty Lynne!

My mom arrived from Hawaii on Thursday night. The following morning, Aunty Lynne arrived from Salt Lake City. I was SOOOO happy she decided to come! She is like a second mother to me and I really miss her. Last May, we were all together again for her son William's wedding. Prior to that, the three of us hadn't been under the same roof (and I hadn't seen Lynne) since my brother's high school graduation in 2000. And I have no idea when we'll be able to coordinate a meeting like this again in the future. So it was nice to have her here! She flew in Friday morning and was supposed to leave Sunday afternoon but couldn't get on a flight so she stayed with us one more night and left on Monday. Poor thing... she had to fly out to Spokane first and then catch a connecting flight out to SLC. What a harrowing ordeal! I'm sorry she had to jump through such crazy hoops to get home but I'm sure glad she chose to come and visit us!!

On Saturday morning, we (me, my mom and Lynne) took off and headed up to downtown Seattle so we could show Lynne Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. I absolutely LOVE wandering through Pike Place. The sites, sounds, and smells are so inviting! There is eye candy wherever you look and you only need follow the aromas to be led to some really good eats! Here are some pictures from the market (all taken on the iPhone):










After we left Pike Place, we drove up and saw the Space Needle in passing. Then we headed over I-90 and across Lake Washington to see the Seattle Temple. It was a pristine afternoon for viewing the temple!







After leaving the temple, we headed back down south. We went to Burger Express in Federal Way for lunch and had some really tasty burgers! And then it was off to work for me! Thanks for coming Aunty Lynne... it was so much fun having you here and I hope we get to do it again someday!!

Palisades Park - 8/2/09

August 2:

We spent part of the afternoon at Palisades Park. We all had fun! We played, Evan tried on Mike's glasses (isn't he cute?) and we partook of a few ripe blackberries! (All shots taken with the iPhone 3GS.)

A day with Evan - 8/1/09

August 1:

Mike took Ethan to Wild Waves so Evan and I had a day together! We started by going to lunch together at Taco Time (it was Evan's choice!) Then we hit the mall for a little glow-in-the-dark golf! Obviously, you can't see these very well but oh well!



When we left the mall, we did some other things together and wound up in the pet store, wandering around, looking at all the kittens, fish, and other animals. We bought a hummingbird feeder for our yard because we had seen a hummy that morning! We also noticed that we have some apples on our tree! It was a fun day together!

Northwest Trek, treasures, & beating the heat!

***Every picture in this entry was taken with my iPhone***

I can't recall the day in July, but sometime during the month Mike took the boys to the ward picnic and Ethan participated in the watermelon eating contest!


July 20: One of the nurses I work with (Lynne F.) was kind enough to invite us to Northwest Trek. She also used her family pass and got us all in for free! WHAT A TREAT!! We had an absolute blast and I can't wait to go back someday. I'd love to go in the winter because I've heard that you can actually see more animals since they aren't hiding from the sun! After going around the whole park, we sat at a table there and had lunch. July 21: The kids got really creative with the hose, the water sprayer, and the trampoline!

July 23: My husband is the best! He brought these home for me because he knows how much I love fresh flowers! July 24: My friend Carol at work (the blond nurse in the picture) knows how much I love Twilight and got me a really cool Twilight blanket!! Ruby also loves Twilight and posed for a picture with Edward. This is gonna be a SWEET couch blanket this fall and winter! July 29: HOT HOT HOT!!! We had temps >100F this week and it was just sweltering. I was never so grateful for my portable air conditioner in my bedroom!! There were times when we holed up in my bedroom and the kids watched movies on my iPhone. It was THAT hot. In fact, we ALL slept in our bedroom the whole week. We brought one of the boys' mattress toppers in and put it on the floor of our bedroom and they slept on that. At least we all got decent sleep!

More from July

July 11: I was on my way to work and thought the sun and clouds looked wonderful. I snapped this picture with my phone while sitting at a red light!


July 13: Mary gave me some fresh lavender from her yard! Mmmmm... it smells so lovely! I took this picture. The bouquet is still hanging in the same spot in my kitchen!


July 16: We had a fun afternoon at Treasure Island park! Here are a few shots of the boys. Incidentally, this was also the same day that Good Samaritan Hospital called me back after I applied for a per diem position there. Since that time, I have interviewed and have been offered a job there in the Special Care Nursery! I start on September 21!




July 17: We met with friends at the Dumas Bay Park wildlife sanctuary and had a great time!






July 19: We spent an absolutely gorgeous day together as a family. We went down to Puyallup and caught the tail end of the open market there. I got a lovely bouquet of flowers there for just $5!








I'll post the rest of July in a separate entry! This post is surely long enough!