Mariners Game

Since moving to Washington, we have tried to explore all we can. That includes going to see the Mariners play. We thought this would be fun for Preston since he started playing baseball this year. Well....I can say that I did it. I never really have been a baseball fan. The game just moves way to slow for my taste. After sitting through hours of this game, I decided I didn't want to do another unless one of my children was actually playing. Aaron has been to 3 major league games now and I asked him if they were funner if the teams who played were actually good. He just kind of nodded no. Sorry to all baseball fans out there, I just would rather watch football. On a positive note, we did enjoy spending time together as a family. They gave out Mariner baseball cards and Preston loved to go through his pile and find the one that was up to bat. He really did enjoy it, so it made the trip worthwhile. Funnest part of the night was watching the guy sitting next to Aaron. He was as excited about the game as I was. He couldn't stay awake and kept leaning in toward Aaron. Aaron posed next to him and has a weird face because he was trying so hard not to laugh. Ahh..good times.

Girls Camp!

This past week, Jenessa, Jaycee and myself spent a week at girls camp. I was called to be a girls camp leader about 3 weeks ago, so missed all the planning and just got to go and have fun! This was Jaycee's first camp, so it was fun to watch her experience it for the first time. Jenessa was a 4th year, so she got to leave a day earlier and do the overnight backpack hike. We went to Camp Zarahemla which is about 2 1/2 hours from us. Clear Lake was beautiful, but absolutely freezing!! The girls were not allowed to be in the water for longer than 8 minutes. There were over 200 girls at this camp and only a handful stayed in that long. Even though Jenessa is a swimmer, she was in for only about 30 seconds. Jaycee actually did the polar bear dip, which is where you jump in then jump right out at 7:00 a.m. She did this two mornings in a row. Got to love the excitement of a Beehive. Ness slept through it all! I actually tried knife and tomahawk throwing and got a bulls eye in both. Who would have thought? Overall, it was a fun week and the girls didn't mind too much that I was there. Or at least, that is what they tell me.

A Good Read

I have recently started to ride the bus to work. It has been over 18 years since I rode a bus on my mission. I was a bit reluctant at first, but the combination of my new longer commute along with higher gas prices has convinced me that it is a great way to get from here to there. The bus has turned out to be a great thing. Not only has my travel expenses gone from over $250 to $25 per month, but I love the time to read, do emails, prep for meetings and just think. It is also a perfect place to do some people watching. There are all types that commute on the bus.
The other day I had some very early calls so I missed my regular bus that goes directly into Seattle. Due to the later hour, I had to make a transfer in Renton to another bus that went through a more diverse part of town. The further we went, the more diverse the ride got. I heard no fewer than 5 languages.

I told you that story so I could tell you this story. :)

During this ride, a young girl from some oriental country sat next to me. At the time, I was reading a book called "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible"

At times this book is very funny...I mean laugh out loud funny. I am sure the girl I was sitting next to thought I was a bit strange.
Anyway, I just finished reading the book and loved it. I needed a good read too. I had just finished "The Catcher in The Rye" and did not like it at all. I didn't read the book while growing up and thought I would see what it was all about. Rather than give a review, let me just say that I do not recommend it. It was a drag.

I was not surprised that the living biblically book would be funny given the Moses like pose of the author holding some tablets that look like the 10 commandments in one hand and a Starbucks like cup of coffee in the other hand. I was surprised though, at how much it made me reflect on my life and what I am doing with it. In short, I recommend it.

Salt Creek

Over the 4th we went camping in the Port Angeles area. For those of you that do not live here it is just north of the Olympic National Park. We stayed in a campground called the Salt Creek Recreation Area. It is a county run park and is a great place for families to camp. It is located on the Strait of Juan De Fuca.
Again, we are amazed at the beauty that surrounds us!

This camp trip was scheduled pretty close to our last one and we were having a hard time feeling motivated; even on the morning we were set to leave. Once we got on the road though we were feeling good about being able to get out and away for the holiday.

I don't know how you all feel but when we are away from all the distractions of life (myspace, tv, work, blogs, chores) we find it easier to love being a family. We play more games together. We find more things to laugh about. We just enjoy each other's company more. Makes me wonder why we jump right back into the distractions when we get home. Like right now everyone is off doing their own thing. I guess that is why you need to schedule "together" activities so that you have time to reconnect and remain close as a family. It is even more important now as our kids get older. They are becoming more and more independent and before we know it, they will be out on their own starting their own lives. We were taken back when we thought about the fact that we will probably only have three more full summers with Jenessa before she is on her own. Excuse me, I need to dry my eye.............................Okay I am back.

Here are some pics...

The favorite part of the trip for everyone was the hike to Sol Duc Falls. It is one of the most amazing waterfalls we have seen. The pictures we took really do not do it justice. Here is a view from a different angle.

Orcas Island - Moran State Park

Last Thurs. thru Sun. we went to Orcas Island and camped at Moran State Park. Orcas Island is part of the San Juan Islands just northwest of Seattle in Puget Sound. What a fun time. This blog will be a long one...hopefully not to boring.
The only way we could get there was on a ferry (always a fun experience). Once there, we had lunch at the Sunflower Cafe. I guess once they have you on the island you are trapped. We had planned to eat on the way to the ferry but hoped to hit a Wendy's or something on the mainland. We were running late and did not want to miss the ferry so had to wait and eat on the island. $60 dollars later we were still a bit hungry. Oh well, we ate good for dinner.

If the slide shows quit before you see the pics, click on the "View all Images" button to view in another window.

The last couple of camping trips we have tried to pre-cook our meals (Sloppy Joes, Tacos, etc.). So far it has been great because we do not have to spend a bunch of time prepping while in the woods. The only problem is we are pretty thin on ideas of what can be prepared prior to arriving at camp. Any ideas out there?


The first night we were exploring the campsite and came across a trail that led to Cascade Falls. It was only 1.1 miles to get to the falls and the night was still early so off we went. We made it to the falls and it was worth the hike as you can see from the picture. The kids got a bit excited to go and explore and Preston went too fast for his own good. He took a tumble down a hill and landed face first into a log. What could have been a true disaster turned out to be a bump on the side of his eye and a bruised ego. He was careful after that for at least a good hour. :) One other thing about Preston. He loves to lead the family when hiking. No matter where he starts in the group he is very quickly at the head. And he sets a very quick pace that we all have a hard time keeping up with.
The island is full of black tailed deer. Apparently there are no natural predators so they are everywhere.

If the slide shows quit before you see the pics, click on the "View all Images" button to view in another window.

The next day was the "Big" day of the trip. Once we woke up we went to the tallest point on the island, Mt. Constitution. It is only a couple thousand feet in altitude but the view it amazing! We met some folks from Utah on top. They were the ones that took the pic of the Fam on top (Mt. Baker and the Twin Sisters are in the background). Later that day, we had booked a guided sea kayak tour in Puget Sound. There is a great little bed and breakfast in the tiny town of Olga called the Spring Bay Inn. Sandy, the owner / operator was our kayak tour guide. What was supposed to be only 1 hour ended up turning into 2.5 hours. We got to see some star fish, harbor seals, bald eagles, raccoons and all kinds of water birds. She also took us across a channel to Obstruction Island. Getting there was not too bad. Coming back we had to fight the tide and wind. At one point Stacy and Christopher actually started going backwards. Sandy was a park ranger in another life and knew a bunch about the natural world around us and was able to give us great info along the way. The whole experience was amazing! I wish we could have taken the camera with us but there really is not a good place to stow it while on the water. At the end of the vacation we asked the kids what their favorite part was and they unanimously chose the kayaking. After kayaking we were pretty much dead, so went back and played cards.

Saturday we spent a bunch of time near our campsite at Cascade Lake. We rented some boats and paddled across the water. While out on the water the most amazing thing happened. We witnessed a bald eagle swoop down and catch a fish about 20 yards away from us. We were lucky enough to catch a couple of pictures as it flew away. Later that night we went back and the kids had a ball playing on the park toys. In between we went on an easy hike to Obstruction State Park. It is a beach with some campsites and tide pools.

Nolte State Park

Since moving to Washington, we have been amazed at the number and beauty of the state parks. We are within 15 miles of probably a dozen parks. This is definitely one of the reasons that we love living in Washington. It is cloudy quite a bit and we get more than our share of rain, but the place is so beautiful as a result of the moisture. Yes Christy, it is moist here. :) Another reason we love Washington and specifically Maple Valley, is we are in a great ward. We love the people, they are so welcoming.

The trip for the day started out trying to find the Hanging Gardens State Park. It is only a few miles from our house and sounded like a very cool place. Well either there is not an entrance or we missed it all together. No matter, we found the Nolte State Park just a few miles away and the drive was great. And lucky us, we ran into the Hornes when we got there. The park has a small lake in the middle with a trail circling around it. Here are some pics from the day. Enjoy...


Here is a raspberry getting ripe and ready to eat. If you live here, you know about all the wild berry bushes growing everywhere. There are so many, that people just stop their cars on the side of the road and start picking the berrys for jam or snacking. No wonder there are so many bears in this area.

Tramp-o-line

Since we put in the grass the kids have been loving the tramp. When we lived in Utah, everyone seemed to have a tramp so we were not anything special. As a result the kids were always over at the neighbor's house playing. Since we put up the tramp here though we have been pretty popular. Here are some recent pics.

A little bit of Zen



Chris and Jaycee did a dance. Can you belive this tramp is about 20 years old?!





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Ya Baby!