Toys

Yesterday, Gideon and I were practicing picking things up and dropping them. By that I mean that he was grabbing toys I held out just to move them to the side and drop them and then I'd cycle them through and give them back. He particularly enjoyed grabbing an empty Toblerone box (they are triangular prisms) because its just small enough he can barely grab it but shaped just so its hard to keep hold of. Anyway, at one point one of the rings he was picking up and dropping didn't fall when he opened his hand because it was around his hand. This didn't bother him, he just grabbed for the next toy anyway, also a ring. This then wrapped around his other hand. Now the rings were blocking his ability to grab and it was funny to watch him try.  Ironic with all the expensive toys in the store, some of his favorites are an empty Toblerone box and the little bags of fruit snacks. He doesn't eat the fruit snacks, of course, he just likes how they crinkle. Go figure!

Canada!

We took a trip on Saturday to Canada. It's a 2.5 hour drive from Seattle to Vancouver and we figured Gideon's such an experienced traveler he wouldn't mind. Well everything was going great until we got to the border and realized as we were in the 40 minute line to cross into Canada that we were missing Trevor's passport. I thought I'd checked to make sure we had both, but apparently I'd missed it. We were way bummed that we had traveled so far (and with an infant) and would have to just go straight back. There was nowhere to turn around until we got to the front of the line with the border control. When we got to the officer he asked to see what documents we had, asked a couple questions and then just let us cross. Now we were in a foreign country WITHOUT a passport. We were a little nervous, but excited we didn't have to just turn back.

We headed first to Burnabee Village Museum. It's a cute little museum where they made a whole village to look like back in the 1920 era. They had costumed tour guides and tons of artifacts from that time.

 Here Gideon is in front of the bridge that crosses into the main village. As you can see its very VERY green, just like Seattle. There are a lot of similarities between Vancouver area and Seattle area.

Here Gideon is ready to hold up this bank. You can see the open vault right behind him!

 Next we went to a crepe place (amazing!) and then to Stanley Park, the biggest park in the world!

Then we finished the day at the Nook, an Italian restaurant where we got to sit right at the chef's table! It was soo good.  We were nervous about coming home because of the missing passport, but the border control just asked us a bunch of questions, rolled his eyes at the Canadian border control and let us in. Gideon is very well traveled now, having been to 6 states and Canada all before 5 months old!

Learning from Tragedy

Sometimes when tragedy strikes, not only do you feel a wave of compassion in your heart, but you start wondering about your own life. Am I ready?  How would I react? I don't mean this post to be gloomy, but rather a way to learn from the events around us so we can live more fully and be more prepared.  This week we've had one thing happen after another that remind me how blessed I am and I wonder how prepared am I if something were to happen to me?

This last Sunday, we found out that one of our neighbors in our ward at church just lost their 9 month old in a tragic accident. There are no words to describe how I would feel if I lost Gideon. He is my whole life. Sometimes I take him and the time I get to spend with him as a stay-at-home mom for granted, but he brings love and joy to our family every day. What would you do if you lost a child, spouse, parent, or sibling?

Sometimes things in our life are both a blessing and a curse. For example, in our apartment here in WA we have a shared laundry facility in the room right next to our apartment. In it there's one washer and one dryer. The dryer looks like it was at one time intended to be coin operated because the coin slot is there and marked, however, you don't have to actually put in any coins to make it go.  Nice!  The other nice thing about it is that it doesn't just go for so many minutes and then you have to add coins like a normal laundromat, it just keeps going until you open the door. While we never have to worry about wet/damp clothing, this brings a concern about a fire hazard. To make this concern even more real, someone put laundry in the dryer Sunday night, probably between 11pm and midnight. At 4am, when Gideon woke me up, it was still going (I'm assuming it was the same load). They STILL haven't come back for it. Maybe they forgot, I mean its just a few rags, but if Gideon hadn't got me up and we hadn't lived right through the wall from the laundry room I'm pretty sure our whole complex would be burnt to the ground by now. What would you do if your home was destroyed? 

Then we just heard about Oklahoma and the HUGE tornado that just ripped through their lives. In the wake of Sandy, Katrina, tsunamis, and all the other recent turmoil what would you do if a natural disaster happened to you?  What danger zones do you live in?  I have family in Utah and Nebraska and am suddenly very aware of the huge earthquake that's overdue in Utah and that Nebraska is also in Tornado Alley. I have no idea what Washington is known for and hope I don't find out the wrong way!  What if disaster strikes?  In some cases you can prepare, but for the people of Oklahoma, all they could have done is made a shelter to protect themselves during the tornado itself, even then the news said the tornado ripped into cellars and other protective places. If they had food storage its gone. 72 hour kits? Gone. They are lucky to simply be alive.

The news said we are in a new era of weather patterns. Record heat, drought, storms, etc. as was prophesied for our times in days of old. As we turn to the Lord we can find comfort and peace, which may get harder and harder to find elsewhere. I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and the security I feel through Him. May God be with us all.

Another Day, Another Park

One of the things Seattle is very good at is parks. Yesterday, Gideon and I were on a play-date with other mom and kids from our ward at Hamblin Park. We've never been to the same park twice as there are so many parks to choose from. They even have the good old playgrounds with little rock climbing, monkey bars, teeter totters, and all the equipment they took out of Utah because it was deemed "unsafe". One thing I agree with the liberals on!

On Wednesday we had the missionaries over for dinner. It's a rarity in Utah to have the privilege of inviting them over because the ratio of missionaries to member is so low, but here they are a lot more accessible. After the dinner, Elder Boland invited us to be happy and find joy in the moment. Now that I'm a mom, I find it a lot easier to enjoy the little things and to savor the time I have with little Gideon. I think I got caught up in being busy when I worked full-time and just didn't appreciate near as much the people in my life and the blessings I have to be grateful for. So, thank you all, for making our lives special!

Emerald City is Very Very Green

Emerald City is the greenest place I've ever been.  Green in the foliage and in the hearts of the city and people. For example, Seattle made a law that says that stores cannot give out bags unless they are thick enough to be considered reusable.  That means at our local grocer they only give out paper, not plastic and at the mall J C Penney bags would cost 30 cents each. There's also a huge push for solar power despite the lack of sun bringing many to need Vitamin D supplements or lights.

If you've ever seen "Man of the House" with Jonathon Taylor Thomas and Chevy Chase, there's a scene where Thomas scolds Chase for throwing everything away in one can instead of sorting the trash into the four bins for different recyclable materials. I was reminded of that scene on our walk because today is trash day and each home has one can for yard and food waste; another for paper, plastic, and cardboard; and another for garbage.

I mentioned the grocery store before but thought I'd give a shout out for local and organic foods. I was in the spaghetti sauce aisle and there was a jar of sauce that was over $10 for 19 oz. A bottle of Ragu is under $2 for 24 oz just for comparison. There was also a $9 jar and other high priced, organic options. Later I was in produce and looking at asparagus. I've never really done much with it, so I asked an older lady next to me what she looks for when buying asparagus. She told me a couple tips then said, "Well, it all looks good and the price is good, but where is it from? Is it local or is it from Mexico or something?" I don't think I've EVER asked myself that question. Turns out it was from Washington. Go figure.

I feel like I'm getting an education on the care of our planet living here. I'd heard of different initiatives, but here the people really go out of their way to save the planet.  I respect that.

Fun with Beans and Mirrors

Alright, alright. We all know posts with pictures are our favorites, so here we go.

Today we tried green beans. He liked them quite a bit, but as you can see, his bib and chin got just about as much as his mouth did!

Then we had some fun with a fun mirror from his play gym. I have to admit, this little play gym has been one of the best investments in baby stuff so far. He LOVES it. It's the Infantino Twist and Fold play gym. At first I was disappointed it doesn't have anything that plays music and nothing lights up, but its kind of nice as a parent that its relatively quiet. Of course, Gideon more than makes up for its lack of noise with his own sound effects. He's a VERY noisy little kid. To the point that you can't always tell if he's yelling because he's happy or sad.

After eating the beans, he tried voraciously to eat this teething butterfly. Wasn't the same so he kept smacking it down on the mat and then trying again. 

Blindness to the Rescue!

Last night Gideon woke up just as we were getting ready for bed. I'd just taken out my contacts and Trevor was holding Gideon and walking around our bedroom with him when a spider ran across the floor. Since Trevor had Gideon, I grabbed a shoe from the closet and killed it. Now, just some background, I'm pretty well blind without glasses or contacts. On the optometrist scale of 0-8, 8 being the worst your eyes can get, one of mine is well past 4. Anyway, so after I smashed what really looked like more of a small shadow to me, I grabbed my glasses and went to go throw the spider away. Now that I could actually see, this spider was HUGE!!!! I'm not typically scared of spiders, but this was like a June bug with spider legs! I actually made Trevor get rid of it because now that I could see I was afraid. Ironic that the live spider didn't bother me at all, but dead...

So, using this as a parable, I'm glad sometimes we have to trust God and blindly follow where he leads. If we could always see the plan we might question more and run in cowardice knowing the big spiders that our in our future.  It's always easier to look back at our past and be proud of the obstacles we've overcome and just trust that God will help us in the future too.