Seattle ~ The whales

Even though we still had two days (one relaxing and lovely day that involved church and

reading and doing pretty much nothing for hours, as well as one day of traveling home),
our last big adventure happened Saturday evening. And it was incredible. Beyond incredible.

Because we went on a whale watching tour.

(Now anyone who knows me even slightly, is mighty confused by the sentence you see above.
The ocean freaks me out. A lot. Well, not the actual ocean, just the idea of the amount of water
it takes to make an ocean. And how deep it must be to be categorized as a genuine ocean.
In addition, whales also make my heart race and my head feel dizzy. Again, nothing against
whales, but definitely something against the idea of a mammal that is so large that it needs to
live in the volume of water it takes to make an ocean. See where this is headed? In a large
circle that never ends. Exhausting I know. Sympathy cards can be sent to Jacob at any time.)

(Anyway, for anyone who made it past that last paragraph and is still concerned, I am

apparently just fine with oceans and whales when I am on a medium-sized boat that goes

fast and feels safe and gives me a rush the likes of which I have seldom experienced.)

Now where were we?

Oh yes, whale watching tour. At sunset. Jealous yet?

 But before we get to those gigantic, water dwelling ladies and gentlemen, take a look at this
please.We stopped here shortly after we left the coast because it is as beautiful as all get out.

And because you could all see this incredible eagle's nest from the same stopping point.

And because our captain apparently knew a bird would fly over and I would get this lovely shot.
(That would be ruined by Blogger when I uploaded it and a brown tint was added, but I'm not bitter.)

And now on to the actual whale watching. Well, after we drove for
approximately 45 minutes or so to get far enough out to see some orcas.

Oh there you are fishy, fishy. (No need to pull up your email to write and inform me that whales
are actually not fish. I know. I just thought "fishy, fishy" sounded better than "whaley, whaley.")

And another whale joined the party.

And showed off his powerful tail.

A little more driving to see if we can add more whale sightings to our resume.
(Can you stand the beauty of sun and water? I, for one, cannot.)

Bingo! Isn't it gorgeous?

And just because they knew it would do something to my heart (in a good way),
a few of them brought along a friend. Did I mention it was incredible?

Guess what is one of the few things I love more than a breathtaking sunset?
Yes indeed, a sunset over water. Be still my overwhelmed heart.

And without question, no contest, my favorite whale photo of the evening.

And then I died and went to heaven. Or rode for an hour back to shore with this
view behind me. And the man I adore with every part of heart sitting next to me.

When we got back and headed toward the ferry to take us home, this view greeted us.

I am so blessed it is ridiculous. So very, very blessed.

I'm trying so hard to never forget it.

To be continued...

Seattle ~ The ferry

The next morning, we made our way to the coast of Washington to take the 

ferry to the San Juan Islands. We wanted to explore a little bit, but mostly, 

we had some grand plans for the evening (post coming next). 

I absolutely loved the ferry! I don't know what it was about it, but it was

calming and relaxing and the views were just plain gorgeous. We rode it three

times that day (once to, once between and once back). Two of those times it

was almost completely empty and those were my favorites for sure.

It was a tad on the large side.

Before we left port, we saw dozens and dozens of these birds who had built

their nests near where the ferry docks. They were crazy cool looking.

Oh I loved it. A lot.

To be continued...

Seattle ~ The beach

After our fabulous hike, we headed to a couple of nearby islands
that looked like they would be fun to explore. And they were.

See the view of the bridge (well, both bridges) from the beach? 

Yeah, that is where we were standing earlier in the day. Yikes squared.

I love this shot for some reason. And lucked out even getting it because

I did it without actually looking in my camera. Yee to the haw.

I spy a cool looking bird.

Mr. Handsome. I adore him.

My idea of a selfie. Impressive yes?

And the end of our first day in Washington. Oh man, I loved it so much.

To be continued...

Seattle ~ The hike

After our awesome bridge experience, we headed down to the head of the 

hiking trail and spent a few hours hiking and enjoying the beauty of Washington.

It is so green there it takes your breath away.

The hike included a gorgeous view of the water. 

Not to mention that incredible mountain you see in the background.

That tree was so crazy tall. I couldn't get over it.

And more beautiful views of the water.

These trees were so wild. They looked like they had a sunburn, all red and peeling.

I have an abnormal fascination with/love of ferns.

 Good grief, we had a wonderful time. And there was so much more to go.

To be continued...

Seattle ~ The bridge

Jacob and I had the opportunity to get away, just the two of us, on a fabulous vacation. 

Because neither one of us had been there, we decided to give Seattle a try.  We had two

of the greatest people ever (thank you Taunya and Jonny!) taking care of our kids 

(more on those two later) and we were beyond grateful to be gone for several days in a

row (something we have never done in 15 1/2 years of marriage). It was so incredibly 

fun and so ridiculously relaxing. It will forever be one of our favorite memories.

After flying into Seattle, we grabbed our rental car and drove just over an hour to our hotel.

We decided we wanted to spent most of our time (if not all of it) in nature and on the water.

And boy did we. We spent the rest of that evening relaxing and planning the next few days.

The next morning, we slept in a bit (happy day!) and then took off to a nearby state park called 

Deception Pass. As we were headed to go on a hike, we came upon an incredible bridge.

And stopped to take a better look. Which made perfect sense to someone who is as

terrified of heights as I am. It was so high folks. Sweet waffles, it was something else.

 

 These first two views were just amazing.
And then we started walking on the bridge.

The views continued being amazing, but my stomach had dropped so far,
I think it went missing for a while. And yet, it was completely worth it.

 This crazy seaweed, mixed with the incredible color of the water, was just amazing.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Even with a missing stomach.

To be continued...

Gracie girl at ten months

Two years

A few months back, Jacob's parents let us know that they would be leaving soon to serve a

mission for our church. We were not especially surprised (we knew they have wanted to serve

when the time was right), until they let us know where. Beirut, Lebanon. Um, come again?

I wasn't aware that was an option for missionary service. But I was wrong.

And so today, off they flew. It is strange to think they are gone and when they return, so much

will have changed. When we stopped to think about how old each of our kids would be,

it put things in perspective quickly. But it is right. And we are beyond grateful to have parents

who make the choice to do what is right, rather then what is easy. Even if we will miss them.

We said goodbye to them on Sunday and took some photos before we left. It wasn't until we
downloaded the ones of them with our kids that we realized they were completely blurry.
We were pretty devastated, as Jacob's camera is usually great about capturing high quality photos,
but I was grateful we at least got this one. And that I could alter lighting enough to see the

three of these fine people together. This picture makes me smile and fills me with gratitude.

I am eternally thankful for Jacob's parents. They raised the most caring, loving, kind, hard-working,
loyal and just plain good-to-the-core person I have ever known. And it is the privilege of my life,

and eternity, to be married to him. My gratitude for their goodness and their sacrifices and 

their willingness to be who they are as people and as parents is more than I could ever share.

They are good, good people. And the people of Lebanon, who will have any kind of

interaction with them, be it one time or dozens of times, will be blessed because of it.

As we have been.

"God our strength will be; press forward ever,

Called to serve our King."

 

We love you Rex and Nancy! Our prayers are with you every single day.

My sick babies

One with a major ear infection and one with strep throat. We are not a big medication family,

but today I'm so very grateful for antibiotics. Seeing these little ones sick is so pathetically sad.

World Cup party

We hosted an Allen Family World Cup party this afternoon. The Allens are soccer crazy,

to say the least, so we thought it was an appropriate excuse for a gathering.

We interrupt the World Cup to bring you a fun gender reveal for one of the 

upcoming cousins joining the Allen family at the end of this year. It's a girl!

And a gathering around the 4th of July wouldn't be complete without a cherry

spitting contest. See all of those serious spitters (did I just say that?) standing

 by their record distance? Grandma Wally and Grandma Alice would be proud.

And except for feeding these people some lunch, the rest of the time

 was spent watching two World Cup games. Good, good times for sure.

Independence Day

These photos pretty much sum up their relationship at any given time