February Photo Dump

Andrew got a new camera, so if it looks like he doesn't do anything with us, that is not true. He is playing with his fancy pantsy camera.

In February, we didn't do anything big. We lived our normal lives.

We went on lots of walks in the cold.




We bathed.




We napped and awoke from said naps.






We went to the zoo and hung out in a meerkat hole.


We learned how to climb things.




We celebrated Valentine's Day. Thanks Andrew!



(You can see that I'm not good at the new camera)

We read books.


We practiced the piano.


And brushed our teeth.


Pretty uneventful but also really great!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (in February)

We had a pretty good snowstorm a few weeks ago. Andrew and I were on a hot date at the Stake Valentine's Social/Seminar/Dance. That was pretty fun. Especially because Rachel was at home, sleeping in her bed. We looked at the window and the snow was coming down! Beautiful. We both really miss the snow. It doesn't feel like winter (especially Christmas) without snow or general freezing conditions. We drove home after doing a few donuts in the Church parking lot (CURSE YOU, SUBARU! Not conducive for donuts). And while driving home, we were amazed and laughing and horrified as we watched Washington drivers who did everything you aren't supposed to do in the snow. (I realize that it does not snow here very often and that they don't have these things pounded into their heads, but it was still amazing.) One of my friends described it as "a clumsy ballet." Yes.

We saw:

• Slamming of the breaks
• Overcorrecting
• Sharp turns
• Hitting the gas

Wow. Who knew driving in the snow was such a skill?

The next morning, we went out and played in 2 inches of the white stuff.


Rachel seemed pretty interested.


Her boots collected the snow so she was walking on platform boots. It was hilarious.


Going down the hill with Mom.


Rachel raising her arms in the sled with Dad.


A beautiful baby who loves the snow.

I think Rachel really liked it. Every time we are in the garage and she sees her snowboots, she grabs them and drags them everywhere.

I hope that it snows again soon!

Super Bowl Sunday in Seattle's Seahawk Suburbs

People here were really excited about the Seahawks being the champions and being in the Super Bowl. We wondered if anyone would be at church. Church starts at 1 and ends at 4 and the game started at 3:30. During sacrament meeting, the chapel was full of blue and green. The die hards were so pleased. Us bandwagoners were pleased that we wore the right colors to church. Rachel's dress was perfect. You will see a picture soon.

While sacrament meeting had been as full as it usually is, the third hour in Relief Society had about 10 sisters, as opposed to the usual 20ish. And instead of Primary kids banging down the door at the end of church, it was the High Priests who rushed in and threw the chairs up and set up the Seminary seating.

Driving home was weird because there were not very many cars. We all changed our clothes and got our blue and green jello, cookie dough, and ice cream, and headed out. And there were even less cars on the road going to our friends house!


Rachel playing with her friend Ethan.

We ate food and treats and were not very healthy. We cheered and had a good old time.

I couldn't help but taunt my cousin Scott a little bit via text. Turns out I texted him at pretty much the worse point of the game for the Broncos---no points, Seahawks at like 36 or something (I don't really care that much about football).

Sarah: Enjoying the game?
Scott: No offense Sarah, but go to hell
Sarah: None taken.
Sarah: I imagine the Broncos are feeling like they're in hell right now.
Scott: They should, cause I do
After the game.
Sarah: Don't cry.
Scott: You're not the boss of me.

Thanks for the great laughs Scott!

Rachel had not napped since the morning and being awake through all of church and having fun with your buddies all evening can really tire you out. She got really really snuggly, which never ever happens.


Snuggling with Dad.

And then the Seahawks won and all the Broncos looked sad and they dumped Gatorade on the coach before the game was done and it really wasn't that intense. People were screaming and setting off fireworks and we went home before the buzzed drivers got out onto the road.

And that is our tale of being Seahawks fans because we live in Washington.

Sorry and Nothing Much but Randoms and Seahawks

Sorry the pictures aren't working. We shall see when I get around to fixing it. I just have other things that need to get done, you know?

It has been super foggy lately but yesterday and (it seems like) today the sun burned the fog off and was a lovely day. We went to the park and got some lovely Vitamin D yesterday, and we will do that this afternoon too.

I feel like we are obligated to watch the Super Bowl and to support the Seahawks. Usually, I don't watch or care about the Super Bowl, and if we didn't live in the Seattle area, I would root for the Broncos, so it is kind of weird to feel obligated in this way.

Speaking of that, we learned that Rachel is afraid of fireworks when people around us set off fireworks after the win on Sunday. I can only imagine the noise people will make if the Seahawks win, when the Seahawks win. It will be bigger the the Fourth of July, and that was big.

We are trying to deep clean our house to rid it of demons in preparation of Chinese New Year. It is always something I begin with gusto and then have to drag myself to do finish it.

We have friends living in Belgium and friends who will be living in the UK at the same time and we thought we should go visit them. Unfortunately, Andrew does not have enough vacation time. Well, he does right now but we have to save it for the summer when we go to Lake Cascade with my family and then when we go to Utah for a wedding. Sorry friends living in Europe.

And that is all for now!

It's January!

Well I have been slacking but that doesn't matter. The main reason is that I am too lazy (and confused about whatever program Andrew wants me to use) to put pictures on the computer, and then to flickr, and then to the blog. So I thought I'd post Christmas stuff, but that isn't on here.

So here is a Thanksgiving picture.



And here is a very random picture from a walk I went on with Andrew, Rachel, and Wesley (Maren was running).

Yes, that is a chicken with some ducks.

We are doing fine around here. Not too much to report.

We Have A Piano!

It is a new-to-us but very old piano.



I am really happy to finally have a piano in our home. I've already been playing on it. It is really out of tune, but I am just happy to have a piano after many years of wanting one.

A friend of a friend gave it to us for free. She said that she just wanted it to go to a good home where it would be played and loved.

I am happy.

Trans Siberian Orchestra Concert

We went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO) concert two weekends ago. I am not much of a rocker and my rock concerts have pretty much just consisted of a Hootie and the Blowfish concert when I was 15 and Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band concerts at college. Love Ryan Shupe. I wasn't familiar with Hootie and kept wondering why it smelled so funny there.

We won tickets from a friend's raffle. Our seats were in a suite! I have never been in a suite, it was so sweet. The best part was that we had our own personal toilet. Here is the order of awesome things about being in a suite.

1. Personal toilet
2. Having water to drink the whole time.
3. Having a place to set your food and water on in front of you.
4. Feeling like a queen and referring to all the other people as "the peasants" for the whole night.
5. Comfy seats.
6. Being with 16 people you know because everyone from your ward won tickets.
7. Parking right across the street for FREE!

Me in the suite.

Our personal toilet.

There is horrible lighting in the suites, but there we are.

As you can tell, being in the suite was pretty cool.

The concert was fun, too. I wasn't sure what to expect as I was only family with TSO's Christmas songs. They played some Christmas songs, then had a Christmas story/music thing, played more Christmas songs, and then played other songs.












This man who was a rock singer and had Thor hair.


Electric violin power!



Andrew and I are so dumb at rock and roll. The lead guitarist said that his best friend Paul was there and he got the group together. Everyone was screaming. We were like, "YAY!" but didn't know why everyone was freaking out. And then later on the drive home when we talked with Shannon did we realize that it was Paul McCartney! ooooff! So that was pretty cool in retrospect.

The lights were amazing, it was really loud and I did put in earplugs, the music was great and fun. I really am not much of a rocker, but we had a great time. I am glad we won the tickets and I think we should go to more rock concerts in the future. As long as we balance those with symphonies because that is what I love.


In front of the Space Needle.

Here is a funny thing. Yesterday, a TSO song came on our Pandora, and it was one where they all flipped their hair like crazy. I started flipping my hair/head banging and I gave myself whiplash. My neck hurts so bad. Rock stars must have very strong necks so they don't get brain damage or whiplash after every concert. Also, they have amazing conditioner to keep their hair so smooth and shiny despite their rocking.