February-Love is in the air

Hello.  Boy have I been busy.  It's been a brutal winter with so much rain and snow and breaking all sorts of records.  It was the gloomiest winter of all the winters we've been here and I started looking into other places.  I've always been a Seattle fan and I still love it but now that Dan is looking into remote jobs the idea of having a winter home and a summer home seems so delicious.  Of course just jumping ahead May and June so far has had maybe 2 rainy days.  So do I still love Seattle, yes and yes!  The hills and mountains here are amazing!  The lakes and seas are so beautiful that every time I step outside of my door I feel like I'm on a vacation to a naturally beautiful place. 

 There is nothing I love more than a nice hot pot or soup on a cold day in the PNW.  We set out to try a new Ramen place in town.  It was pretty good.  Hard to go wrong with Ramen, and no not the instant one, the real stuff!

For Valentine's day or more like that week we took the family out to try a new Ramen place in town.  It was delicious as expected.

 I love that girl with the mac and cheese shirt.  It's so perfect for her

 I visited a Viet friend in Seattle and she made me some yummy food and we talked about our trip coming up

 Snow day!  Every few years we get a nice snow storm and it's actually really fun.  I love snow more when it's just in your backyard and I can just send the children out without having to drive any where and risk getting into car accidents and just packing up snow gear.

 The kids played and played and we went sledding in front of our house.  We made a video.  Check it out!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EmWLBvxMKA

                             

 Darion, Ronin and I discovered how fun the new McD is.  You know you live in a fancy part of town when your McD looks like this. 

Dong Thap Fresh noodles
Dan and I met one afternoon in Seattle for lunch and we had the big pho bowl challenge.  Ok we didn't because honestly who has the stomach.  The Pho was amazing because they make the noodles fresh right there at the restaurant.  The bowl is free if you could eat it all or it's $34 if you can't.  We split and we couldn't even finish it even with Ronin and Darion's help.  It was fun to try.  I love Seattle for all the fun places to eat.  

 I hosted a card making event at my house and look what we made.  These designs are original and I wanted to get us started on a Mother's day theme.  I'm good at making cards, not so good at sending them out so I usually end up sending them all to Dan's mom.

So speaking of mom.  Check out this post of mine:
We said our good night as usual but tonight was so much more special. I began hugging my oldest, who is just about as tall as me and I held her real tight and I said "I miss you being my baby". She began to cry, and teared up even more as we hugged. She really really missed being a baby in my arms, but even more so she missed my long hugs. Oh having a baby has made me a bad mother for my older kids were my thoughts. How could I? My eyes began swelling up with tears as well and my other daughter saw the whole thing and came over and hugged me and cried, too. My sweet girls. I have been so busy with my 2 youngest that I have neglected my older kids emotionally. They expressed how much they missed it. May I never forget again to hold them tight each day. They grow up so fast. They reminded me of when my mother came to visit and I would crawl in bed with her and hold her tight and cry because I had longed for that motherly touch. My heart is truly truly full tonight. I love these kids. They do mean the world to me and they grow up so fast, too fast.

    It's hard...kids need attention and the more kids you have the harder it is to split the time up among them. I used to want 6 kids but I struggle finding quality time for each of the 4 I already have and I want to give them a world of adventures. I also want to reach out to the orphanages when we're in Vietnam.  There are so many children who are in need of that motherly touch and warmth.  

Volunter Appreciate Day
We rocked the dance floor with these neighbors and friends of ours at the Volunteer appreciation Mardi Gras Style dance. So much fun in one night. The girls had a DADDY DAUGHTER DATE, too with Zeeks pizza and frozen yogurt!!  That was one crazy busy night.  The ward even had a Valentine's dance.

 Then and Now
This is a picture of them 5 years ago on a father daughter date this very same month.

                                        


 






  
 

I did some photography for Valentine's week.  Check it out here!  http://seastevensphotography.blogspot.com/2017/02/valentine-minis.html


 They were asleep when she came in. She and I have been keeping it a secret from the kids that she was coming and boy what a SURPRISE it was when they saw her this morning. Aunty Thuyen Nguyen Barton.

 The Georgians
I took everyone out to eat at the fancy Georgians, one of the best high tea places in town.  It reminds me so much of Edinburg, Scotland so it was a bit of a treat for Josh.  The pancakes were surprisingly my favorite and the girls devoured it.  My smoke salmon was good but I'd have to agree that the pancakes were the best for both price and taste.

                               
Another surprise for them was when Josh, my sister's husband also showed up.  The kids have always loved Josh.  They love his Scottish accent and he loves them back and they know it!  We were so happy these two popped in for a visit.  I feel so lucky to have so many family members come and visit.

 We went apartment shopping for fun just for the view and keeping our fingers crossed that someday they can live here.  Seattle is gray in the winter and I hate it but there is no Spring and Summer as pretty as here.  Fall isn't so bad.  Winter I just want to leave and go live in Texas. This winter especially got to me.  I am glad we are going to Vietnam for a while.  I need an extended vacation.  I still love Seattle a lot and it will always have my vote as one of the prettiest places on earth!!!!

                         
My post summary:

Had so much fun with my sister the last few days. We had a massage in the morning, walked the mall, got some food and Cinnabon treats and went bowling with Rochelle, my brother in-law's sister who we love having here in Seattle. We did some apartment hunting in Seattle, sang karaoke, went to a fancy restaurant, made yummy food together, and the kids already miss them! Can't wait for the next time we see each other.

 

 We love having cousins, missionaries, and neighbors over.  This is something we are going to miss a lot when we're in Vietnam.

 Another Snow Day.  This year definitely broke a lot of records.  Ronin pretty much asked for sledding like every day after this big snow storm.  We're just not that big into snow sports.  We have a ski resort a half an hour away but do we care to go?  No.  I don't like putting on thick jackets or pants.  I'm more of a beach girl.

 

Going from snow to this...yeah I'm excited about Da Nang.  The kids will miss the snow though for sure.  They love love love the snow

                              


                               

Back to Modeling
I did some commercial stock modeling after college and thought I'd pick it back up again.  I submitted my resume and headshot and landed a gig with Zulily.  I've been modeling for them 5 times now and some of my work you could find here at their site.

Shop at Zulily! I am a face you might recognize. These are pics they gave me for my gig with them in February. #shopzulily

https://www.zulily.com/e/country-comfort-226278.html?tid=social_fb_ref_shareviaicon_na_modal_5662fcf70e963d241eab716d56a23be2

                                    

Thanks for visiting and reading our blog!  We like to keep in touch!!  See you on the next blog post hopefully soon