Chamberlins in town!

This last week we had fun with the Chamberlins. It was great to hang out with them and see Gideon's cousins, Sydney and Crawford. We adventured through BYU, seeing the Cougareat, Bookstore, Eyring Science Center, and the fish in the bottom floor of the Widstoe (I think?). We ate at JDawgs, too!  Then we played at the Splash pad in Springville and Sydney and I made glitter bottles while Valerie and Charles celebrated their anniversary with a lunch at Tucanos (Crawford,, Gideon and Trevor had fun too just not with the craft :D).

Then Saturday, my side of the family celebrated my little brother, Daniel's, birthday. He's 18 now!  Crazy how time flies. Anyway, we played at the Seven Peaks water park in the morning. Gideon LOVES water!  He was splashing and having a great time. Eventually we had to pull him out to warm him back up because he was turning blue, but if it weren't for that I'm sure he could just live in the water forever. We then went to a park and played frisbee and bocce ball, ate piizza and finished out with some Bang! at our apartment. What a day!

Gideon is just starting to try to climb things and his favorite things to climb are people . He'll come up to my legs and just start trying to lift up so I'll pick him up. So cute!

Half Monkey

Gideon is getting very proficient at using his feet to grab with. It's incredible to watch. Sometimes when I'm changing his diaper he'll lock onto my arm and I have to wrestle it away from him. He'll also grab toys, blankets, you name it. He's still very flexible and enjoys playing with and eating his feet.

Keeping Busy

Two splash pads, camping, fireworks for Pioneer Day, mini golf, hanging with friends and family, and Trevor busy applying and interviewing for jobs has kept our household hopping. Gideon is excited to have a wider variety of toys, including a little walker he can motor around in. He's started the first stages of teething, which keeps us up all night. He is catching up on the doctor's appointments he missed while we were out of state and the doctor says he's in the 50th percentile for his weight and 75th for height for his age. He's thinning out quite a bit (before he was 90th percentile for weight) but still maintains his adorable chubby cheeks and thighs.

 Trevor's job hunt is going well. He spent the first week back applying for jobs, last week and this week interviewing and will hopefully be able to make a final decision soon. It's nice to be in a multiple offer situation!

I am enjoying cooking with a new zeal. It's soo nice to get the variety back in our lives of dishes we love. Honey lime enchiladas, manicotti, sweet and sour chicken, chicken cordon bleu casserole, spinach tortellini...it all feels gourmet now.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We drove back to UT Saturday and Sunday, stopping to see family along the way. While we miss the 60-80 degree weather of Seattle, it's nice to be home.


List of things that now feel like luxuries that before I took for granted, in no particular order:

1. Oven mitts, pizza cutter, variety of spices, 9x13 pan, measuring spoons, variety of pots, full-size kitchen garbage can, cabinet space, full-size drain tray (complete with silverware holder and cup places on the side. I could actually write a whole blog post on the drain tray, having a sink with the divider in the middle, etc. Dishes, my least favorite chore, feels like a dream and for the first time in my life, I prefer to hand wash the dishes over the dishwasher. Side Note: I don't expect that to last long. I think its mostly because hand washing doesn't leave the residue and having lived without that dingy look to dishes now it is unappealing.)
2. Being able to buy things to have on hand, instead of just things we can use all of within a 12-week countdown
3. Sunshine. Wearing shorts and flip-flops because its a necessity, not just an emotional attachment 
4. Family nearby that's always excited to see us and babysit
5. Spacious, affordable housing, multiple closets, 2 bedrooms, etc.
6. Wide Utah roads and free parking with reasonable rush-hour traffic
7. Walmart and Winco nearby
8. Counter-space around my bathroom sink
9. Friendly Mormon neighbors
10. More than 2 chairs in the dining room
11. High-chair, walker, crib, changing table, kids books, variety of kids toys, etc. (this may have been at the top of the list if it was in order)
12. Free bags at stores
13. Camping
14. The luxury of familiarity in general.

Things I miss:

1. I can't believe I'm saying this but...recycling. I feel guilty now throwing away in the garbage all the mail I went through, plastic containers, etc that in Seattle would be easy to recycle. 
2. The wonderful weather, although I hear it was unusual it didn't rain on us more.
3. The excitement of everything being new
4. Parks...oh Seattle knows how to do parks.  
5. Public transportation, where Trevor could take the bus to work
6. Water. From the beach of Puget Sound to the many large lakes to the large rivers and waterfalls. Even our drive back we would pass lots of bodies of water until we got to Utah. 
7. Feeling like a missionary, especially at church. Where being willing to visit teach or able to play piano is a novelty and a surprise to whoever is asking. (P.S. I've been told to thank my parents for the piano bit.  Thanks Mom and Dad!)
8. Planning activities for every weekend and scouting out all the free things we could do. Living like we've only got so much time to take advantage of the opportunities around us.
9. The mom group and being in a ward where small children are abundant and play dates are frequent. 
10. People put their best foot forward bringing things to a potluck. Side Note: I will not miss humus being present whenever there is food involved.

I'm sure there's more to it than can be expressed in bullet points, but I'm thankful we had the experience. I've always wanted to live out of Utah for a bit and this was a nice taste of what it can be like. Now we're back and getting back into the swing of things. Trevor is hunting for a new job while I have been packing and cleaning. Tomorrow is Pioneer Day (Utah holiday involving fireworks) and then we're going camping this weekend. Thanks for everything, Seattle, but it's good to be home.

Last week in Seattle

We haven't done as many activities this last bit as we're getting ready to head home, so I apologize I've had a bit of a lapse in my blog.

Last Sunday was our last here in Seattle and we gave it our all. We were asked to speak in church as well as Trevor teaching Elder's Quorum and I playing piano in Relief Society. We've also been invited to dinner by several of our friends in the ward. The funny thing is that I've been trying to limit the food we buy to just what we need, but 2 weeks out I knew we had too much. Then since then we've eaten at friends 3 times!  I feel like we should say have said, "Yes, but can we leave you with a jar of spaghetti sauce?"  We'll try to bring home what we can, but I'm grateful the Lord has provided for us so well. We've made some great friendships and had a great time here.

We've also had the pleasure of having a house guest!  Chelsea, one of Trevor's younger sisters, has been visiting this week!  She's a lot of fun to have around and even watched Gideon so Trevor and I could go on a date!  Ah, dates.  Dates are the best, and so much better with a spouse than when you're single, in my opinion. We went to the movies and saw Monsters University. We loved it. We agree it wasn't as good as the first, but it is such a wonderful companion story with so many tie-ins we were charmed.

Gideon is quite the crawler now. "Like a wind-up toy" as Trevor put it. He does lots of push-ups, too. Although he is still toothless, I think they're on their way because he seems to be gnawing on things with more purpose accompanied by a flood of slobber. He gives hugs now and I must say they melt your heart. I'm not sure if they are an expression of love and affection so much as "don't put me down" but I'll take it either way.

4th of July, hike, and CRAWLING!!!

Happy 4th of July!!! We had a fun holiday visiting the Chittenden Locks, watching the salmon swim up the fish ladder, and having a picnic in a botanical garden while watching the Seattle Civic Band put on a patriotic concert. Later we went to a barbecue at one of Trevor's Amazon coworker's home. He was going to do some fireworks too, but by the time they were done with the little flower fireworks the cops came by and confiscated the fireworks. Apparently there's a ban on fireworks in Seattle and surrounding areas and somehow they still let the grocery stores sell fireworks but no one was allowed to light them. Go figure. So we went home and watched NYC's and Seattle's shows.

 
On Saturday we hiked Rattlesnake Ridge. Trevor has all the pics on that one, but it was a beautiful hike with a beautiful lake.

Yesterday Gideon started CRAWLING!!!! Half of me is really excited, and half of me is wishing I had more time that he's immobile (other than rolling).

He's also really loving solid foods, despite still being toothless. Everything from squash, peas, beans, carrots, bananas, avacado, berries, etc.

Temple, Aquarium, and Pike's Place Market!

This last weekend we got our first real date since we got here!  I'd traded babysitting with another sister in our ward, so Friday she watched Gideon while Trevor and I went to the Seattle Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  

Then Saturday we spent at the Seattle Aquarium and Pike's Place Market. The Aquarium was a lot of fun. We saw a giant octupus, several seals, otters, and much more.