Seattle, WA Day 2

It was an early rise and shine for Byron and Colby. Colby has been planning to fly out to Utah for his missionary reunion, but suckered his Dad in driving him nearly an hour out to catch a standby flight from Seatec to SLC. I believe they left sometime around 3:30 am. Next to rise and shine was Courtney. She had school to head off to around 7:00 am. Between Colby's midnight laundry activities and all three gathering themselves up for the day meant I didn't have the most sound sleep anyone could have asked for. Besides, the couch bring nice and soft, it was almost too soft that it caused either back or belly pains depending upon which side I slept. I was able to get the boys bathed, dressed and feed fairly easily, then I followed suit. With a little weird belly sensation most Lilly from last nights Mexican restaurant, I was able to down an apple and pop tart before heading our for the day. First and foremost scheduled item on the list is fie everyone to go to Pikes Market, downtown Seattle. While there Aysia and Lauren bought little hair twisty-thingy's, Aidan a blue toy snake and Alec a wooden puzzle toy. I think everyone was pretty excited about their stuff. Another highlight was for everyone to chew a piece of gum and place it on the "Wall of Gum". Little Alec wasn't quite into the idea of of ridding his gum and instead said, "I want my gum." Oh yes, let's do not forget about the little donut shop too. Two dozens of assorted treats were purchased and downed in no time. Yummy yummy! For lunch, Iver's was the place to be. Salmon chips, cod, and chicken strips were a delight. The kids all fed leftover french fries the the seagulls. Bryon, whom had to work, joined us later at the Seattle Aquarium. What a fun place to be. Lots of interesting sea creatures to see in there nearly normal habitat and a fun hands-on exhibit fur everyone to participate in by touching plants, starfish and others alike. My kids were going bonkers with all there was to see and do. As the day grew on, we return to the Holmstead's home for a pleasant homemade pork tamale dinner prepared by Byron. I thought that that was even better than Iver's! During dinner Byron confirmed a fishing trip that him, his friend Barry and I round be venturing on as of Friday afternoon. At a $175 a pop, we will be driving to the Portland, OR or Vancouver, WA area to fish a large river all day Saturday. This is a bit troubling for me because I know my crew and I should be heading back fit Salt Lake City then. This means I will have to plan on leaving early Sunday morning in order to get the kids home in time for bed and school the next morning. Since the trip has now been confirmed, I'm going to hope for the best with my three little ones doing okay with Lauren and Courtney caring for them Friday day and maybe Saturday. Hopefully Jan will be home Saturday though. The $175 doesn't grow on trees where I come from either. Please be fish in Washington! Good night for now.

Seattle, WA March 2011

Today Aysia, Aidan, Alec and I arrived in Marysville, WA at 1:00 pm. We brought, Lauren Romero, the kids cousin with us on this bit of adventure in our life. Rebecca, whom isn't particularly happy with me right now, was reluctant to come along with us. This trip started rather spontaneously yesterday late morning when I was essentially asked to leave. Leave meaning to leave home on a more permanent basis. In an effort to get Rebecca to calm down and to take away the daily pressures of tending to our children, I offered to have her go out for the day and do whatever she wanted. Minutes later I changed that offer by suggesting that I take the kids with me to Seattle, WA. Not putting up a fuss, she helped pack the children and put together a tote full of snacks. It was sometime around 2:00 pm yesterday afternoon I was was able to pack the Trailblazer with the crew to begin the long journey that awaited us. With the weather still in our favor, full bellies from lunch, and a tank full of gas we were off northward on Interstate 15. A race of how far to travel in what daylight remained. Thankfully for my Sister Jan, she contacted us and offered to reserve a hotel wherever we wanted to call it quits for the day. It turned out to be in Pendleton, OR, a nine hour drive. The last couple of those hours was wearing in the children. Mainly for being cooped up in a sitting position for multiple hours and the fact the they were still awake beyond their normal bedtime hours was grueling. Changing timezones probably didn't appeal to them either. On our way to Pendleton, WA, we stopped in at Wendy's in Boise, ID for dinner and gas. It was a long awaited unstop drive from Salt Lake City, UT. The kids assured me that if we drove any further, bladders would surely explode. Waking up this morning at the Holiday Inn Express and piering from our third floor window was a beautiful sight to see. Green farm lands in every direction and a distant mountainside with a low cloud line covering it's peaks was breathtaking. Although I was able to take a couple of pictures of this view, I find that the lens is simply unable to pick up the subtleties of mother natures beauty. I had a little snicker for myself this morning because I had imagined everyone waking up and quickly dressing to go downstairs to the hotel Lobby for a continental breakfast. Instead, Lauren was compelled to take a quick shower and Aysia followed suit. The silly part about this is a had asked Aysia to simply wash her face and dampen her hair. The next thing I knew was that she was showering. Awe well...at least a couple of people in our party smelled refreshing. I cleaned up Aidan and gave Alec a sponge bath. Then, it was off to breakfast where scrambled eggs, sausages, cinnamon rolls, cereal and juice came to our nourishment. I felt bad that the kids didn't go swimming at all. That's usually is something of a delight when staying at a hotel somewhere. They had talked about it a few times during the drive yet I was uncertain as to where we would even be staying for the night, if at all. This morning it should have been an option, but I didn't seriously considered UT because all I wanted to do was to push forward towards Seattle. Note to self: Listen to your heart more and go ahead and make quality memories for yourself and your family. There is no need to rush all the time and miss those precious moments in life. Sometime an hour or more outside Pendleton, we pulled over for more gas, pitstop and snacks. Again, my kids (and Lauren) are pretty silly. I instructed them to chose a drink and a food snack fir the next leg of our trip. Each grabbed varying drinks and a snack. Not just any snack either. I think they're thinking that we might not be eating or stopping any time soon so they don't simply grab a normal sized candy bar item, but they grab the largest thing they can find. Lauren grabs a big bag of beef jerky and Aysia does the same thing. Alec grabs a super king-sized Oreo brownie package. Aidan struggled a bit trying to decide which large bag of candy to take then settled on gummy bears (after his mommy's heart). I told Aysia to choose something else so that she and Lauren could share their treats with one another. My little dear Aysia. You are so precious! I wish Amanda were here to spend time with us and with you in particular. You are growing up so quickly. You are nine years old going on sixteen and wanting to be accepted by those who surround you. I know it's tough going through such times in life as you are, but you'll one day look back on all this and be amused. I love you so much along with you mother! We will always be here for you! Aidan and Al are such wonderful boys too. I hope and pray they'll grow up loving and supporting one another and caring for their sisters. I certainly don't question that they'll do this anyway. I more am hopeful that my lacking as a good and loving husband and father does not warp you thinking that what I do or don't do is acceptable by any stretch of the means. We are here to find the true purpose of life. To learn more about where we came from, who are Heavenly Father and Savior are, and what responsibilities and blessings we have to create eternal families of our own. There is a ginormous difference between believing and doing with "no" gray lining in between. Ok...back to Seattle. Jan and Byron caught up with us later in the evening where we had previously arranged to go out for dinner. The Holmstead's treated us to their favorite Mexican diner which everyone enjoyed. Even my little ones ate fairly well. As the evening grew on, we all watch Tangled, a Repunzle story from Disney, on Byrons' huge LCD TV and stereo system. It wasn't too long after the movie that my kids eagerly readied themselves for bed and crashed for the night. I think their internal clocks are still on mountain standard time. Gotta love it baby!