July Part I

Coming back from any vacation makes me rethink whether we should continue living in Seattle or not.  We pass by neighborhoods of Vegas, Redlands, LA, San Diego.  Vegas, the prices are cheap.  Houses there are a third of what we pay here in Seattle.  Southern California is gorgeous, but the prices are high, even higher than we are up here although it does seem like we are trailing right behind Southern California.  But then when I think of how green it is here and the trend Seattle is setting as a very highly educated tech area, it feels good to be here.  Snobbish or whatever you want to call us, Seattle gives us many options, especially in Dan's field.  Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Zillow, T-Mobile, Expedia, just to name a few.  People come to Seattle from Southern California and they buy a mansion here because to them it's cheaper here and that is our hope that someday we could retire in a cheaper area and retire Dan even earlier after we sell our house here.  Our house in Utah is finally caught up to the value we bought it at. We have not been focusing on its value too much as we have good renters there for the past 8 years.  We feel truly blessed and so grateful for all God's blessings.  We continue to pay those tithes and offerings and donations to poor areas of the world to show our gratitude because truly we have so much and where much is given, much is required.  I made a promise to God that if he continues to bless me and my family, that I would dedicate my whole life to serving him and to be a good missionary all the days of my life.  Every time I'm asked to sing at church, my solos are selected and geared towards the joy of the Gospel.  I am eternally grateful for the missionaries who found us.  Because of that I was able to meet my eternal companion and to share in the joy of this journey.  Our journey here is wonderful, is a blessing each and every day, and we are still loving where we live.  How could anyone not love Seattle in the Summer??!

 I got a little too excited this summer and planted a lot of lettuce

 And authentic food it does not lack

 And Summer days are great because daddy can stay and play later because the sun is out earlier and stays later

 And sisters are home all day long and we get to watch movies

 And make butter beer in preparation for Harry Potter birthday

 And ride bikes or learn to ride bikes

 And have music lessons with mommy and her music mentor

 And go to fun splash park

 And get tanned in the sun

 And go to baseball games

 And hear mommy sings the National Anthems at a baseball game (Walla Walla Sweets Baseball Game)

 And visit friends (Frasers)

 And see Fireworks after the baseball game because it was Fourth of July Independence weekend

 And go on more sight seeing to Palouse Falls

 And picnicking

 And go canoeing...starting in your living room as a practice

 And waking up to goats behind your backyard grazing the tall grass

 And playing in your backyard while watching the goats

 And playing at the park

 Yeah life is pretty awesome in Seattle.  We pretty much love it, especially in the lazy days of Summer...

June Part II Las Vegas, LA, San Diego, Phoenix

Many of you know that last year I started branching out from my field to add one more thing to my resume.  I decided to tap into the financial services industry.  I studied, took a class, and got my license all while having a baby so I was a bit slow.  I have been in training mode every Tuesday and Saturday up to this point and the biggest training happened to be in Las Vegas at the company's biggest Convention of the year! Transamerica World Financial Group is my group and our baseshop is getting close to achieving the $1M ring, which qualifies you for a speech at the Convention.  The convention was just that!  Head honchos making $1M+ get to have 10 minutes to make a speech about their journey with World Financial Group and any wisdom they wish to pass on to others.  I felt bad about going when Darion was only 6 months old, not taking a bottle, etc...But Dan reminds me he has reserves so he'll be fine.  I wanted to make it our family trip so I got my parents and sister involved.  They came up to Seattle for a vacation first as you saw on the last post.

We rushed out at bright dawn of day only realizing we didn't bring Darion's birth certificate and to make matters worst we ended up with a new agent to help us at the check ins.  She didn't know what she was doing, had to call corporate to help, and the list goes on.  25 minutes later she finally got our boarding passes printed and the lines were so long.  Monday is the worst day to fly, especially mornings!  Business travelers lined up in a rush to get to their gates on time.  It was hectic trying to catch a 6:00 AM flight for a family of 'not morning' people.  When we got to the gate the door to the plane was closing.  They wouldn't let us in.  I'm pretty sure I saw my husband mouthing the word ****, thank goodness not saying it out loud as he slams the wall.  He was pretty mad at the lady who checked us in and us missing the flight by less than 5 minutes.  We did our best to work out another time that works but ended up just getting a refund since there were no flights that could fit all 9 of us.  We paid an extra $1200 to get another flight with Alaska airlines. That was no fun, but no one wanted to go through that again the next day.

When we landed in Vegas and checked in at the Circus Circus hotel.  They gave us the best they had and it turned out pretty nice.  The kids had a great time on the rides they have there.  I missed my first team meeting but the next day I was able to attend.  There were many people there and I felt pumped to be an educator/advisor for Transamerica World Financial Group.  There were parts of me that felt guilty not being with Darion but at least he was with his daddy and grandparents.  It is so nice to have a break and feel intelligent and important, or at least that's what they make you feel.  Dan and I wanted to be with his parents so each night after dinner we'd go to his parents house and then in the morning I had the Conference so we'd go back into town.  We did this for a good 2 and a half days.  Dan's dad came out to lunch with us and Dan took his brother Jeff out to eat so Jeff could meet Darion for the first time.  My parents stopped by and visited Dan's mom for a bit, too, and then we took off for California!

 This is inside Circus Circus

 My parents loved the circus acts at Circus Circus so we sent them to Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island on a date. Unfortunately I wasn't there to take any pictures :\

 We took my parents around to do some sight seeings at night so we don't see all the crap that is on the ground in Vegas.  It's such a fun city it's unfortunate all the sluttiness of the city ruins it for some of us.  Our team got together for a fancy dinner after the first day.

 Those poor saps.  It was so hot out. 

 Beautiful view from the Bellagio

 Darion got to play with Nama and Papa in the morning.  Poor thing got dragged every where, too.

 I felt so bad being gone for hours and Darion wanted to only be nursed and wouldn't take a bottle.  So on the last session of the Convention he was with me and he was so good.  People were commenting on what a good nature baby he was.

 My friends from Philly were in Vegas for the Convention as well so they bought a bunch of food and beer and we got together for the last night in Vegas.  They were bummed to find out my sisters and I don't drink

 We went to the Paris tower and had some pizza and shopping

 We wrapped up Vegas and got rental cars and drove to California.  We met up with my sister Thanh's husband and crashed at Dan's uncle's house.  We love these guys.  They are the warmest, kindest, people on earth!  And we all had a good laugh at Roro loosing his swimming suit in the fun!

 We hung out in LA mostly at the Little Saigon area.  My parents thought that was the coolest experience, walking around seeing Vietnamese writings and people every where.

 We had some authentic food. These girls didn't do so well on their authentic food so we had to bribe them to finish their food for ice cream

 We went to Huntington beach only to find out from Dan's uncle Brad later that a week previous a man was attacked by a shark there.  We also found out from our friends the Frasers that Zach Fraser's cousin drowned there.

 My parents wanted to show their appreciation through food...:)  So my folks!  They made a yummy Vietnamese noodle and wraps dish for breakfast for everyone

 We packed up our stuff after a few days in LA and drove to San Diego.  We got this hotel that I thought was expensive enough to at least be somewhat fancy.  It didn't suit my standard.  But San Diego was beautiful and made up for it

 We had fun in San Diego

 We packed up our stuff and headed for Phoenix.  We said goodbye to my parents and that was always hard.  When you live far from family every moment is precious. 

 We arrived to be with Nick before he leaves on his mission.  Nick and I got to sing together.  How I adore his voice.  I recorded one of the songs that he requested I sing with him.  It's on Youtube.  Check it out!  He wanted to sing "All I ask of you!"  Jackpot, my voice and theatrical music.  https://youtu.be/DwlZG2xZyK8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwlZG2xZyK8

 Then it was goodbye to my sister and hello to Dan's sister Krista.  We stayed at her house.  Had breakfast and a total of 24 hours with her and the fam.  It was too short.  The kids wanted to stay longer.  We must come back another time!

 Airport and then home sweet home.  Over a week of fun, but we learned so much from being with each other.  We love getting around!  See you on the next blog!