Rockin' Out

We've been pretty busy recently, but on our down time we've been playing Beatles Rock Band.


It's really fun, and the best part is, you actually know all the songs! We held off getting Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour, for quite awhile. Our place is small and I didn't want to have to store all the instruments. But then, Beatles Rock Band was announced and I knew it was a must have! I got it for Dan's Birthday, but we had to wait til September for it to come out. We've been enjoying it ever since!

Our first night playing

A week later with the Collins'

Oh the Food

Dan and I go to the Puyallup Fair almost every year. We love going, but our favorite thing is the FOOD! We dream weeks in advance, about what we're going to get.


Dan took off on Friday and we headed down in the early afternoon. Our first stop, Lunch. I got a Philly cheese steak sandwich from a random booth, and Dan got a pulled pork sandwich with curly fries from BBQ Pete's!


Then, a Christmas Miracle: We ran into the Leffel's!!! We spent the afternoon fairin' it up with them. It was so fun! We saw Giant Vegetation, Dan and Talia drank Dairy Gold chocolate milk, Talia had an ice cream cone and shared a lick with the fam, Deena and I split an Elephant Ear and shared it with Martin and Talia, Dan had a scone, and Marin and Talia played carnival game and each won a stuffed animal thanks to Jeremy! It was a perfect afternoon.



We also had our first family photo booth pictures. And then the three of us slit a caramel apple on the way out. Love the fair, Love the food, Love the Leffel's!

Wicked

Last night Dan and I went to see Wicked at the Paramount. It was our second time seeing it, so I was a little nervous it would be as magical and amazing as the first time. Oh but it was! It's such a great play, and I love the music.


I love the story (it's the story of the Wicked Witch growing up), it's funny, and the music is fantastic. I was giddy from start to finish.


We also had much better seats than last time. We were somewhere in the balcony the first time we saw it, but this time I managed to get row P! We were right under the edge of the balcony. We could see it all. I could even make out the microphones! So fun. Thank you Dan for taking me!

Run In At The Grocery Store

Something happened yesterday afternoon, that I've always wanted to happen...I ran into someone I knew at the grocery store!

Let me go back a few years to explain...At our Church, Mars Hill, we have midweek community groups (CG). Our church is so large, that this group really becomes your church family. You're supposed to be in community with these people. It's more than just a bible study, you share life together, eat meals together, and help one another out. For example, these were the families that brought us meals after we had Hazel. Until recently we never lived close to our group. When we were in Puyallup, our CG was in Federal Way (about a half hour away). Then when we moved up here we started going to a group in Issaquah, (again about a half hour away). We do a lot in Issaquah, (Costco, Trader Joe's, Gymboree), so it didn't feel to far away, and it felt like we were somewhat involved in that city. We recently felt lead to change groups, and when I looked online, I found that there was now a group that met about 2 miles from our house! We've been going for about a month and a half and it's been great to really feel the sense of community IN the community we live. There's been a big push at our church to serve and be involved in your local neighborhoods. So it's been nice to go to a group where "your local neighborhood" that everyone lived in was actually the one we lived in too.


And it finally happened! I ran in to someone from our group at the grocery store! It probably sounds silly, but it made me so happy. The idea that we're getting to know the people in our city is exciting to me. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense, but as Hazel and I strolled back home from the store (we walked down today since it was so nice out), I couldn't help but smile and be glad!

My Current Theme Song

Do you ever hear and song and think, "That describes how I feel right now, perfectly!" Well, the Dave Matthew's Band, has a new album with the song called You & Me, and I feel like it's my current theme song for how I feel about life with Dan.



I just feel like, with God's provision and guidance, Dan and I could do anything right now!

Also, I really like the line "when the kids are old enough, we're gonna teach them to fly!" Get your arms ready Hazel, it's flyin' time!

Update on Booger Face

Well, things got worse yesterday. Instead of being slightly out of it and boogery, Hazel was crying really hard on and off all day, and couldn't nap. (She's doze off, and then wake up moments later crying). After every ounce of me was drained, I called and made her an appointment to see the doctor. Sadly she had gotten an ear infection. Poor poor kiddo.

She's doing pretty well this morning; she's smiley and happy. She still has gobs and gobs of snot streaming down her face, and has that kinda dazed look in her eyes, but hopefully she's on the mend!

Booger Face

Poor Hazel. She has quite the cold. She hasn't been sick much in her life, I think only one other very mild cold last spring. But this one's a doozy. She hasn't complained much at all (meaning she hasn't been fussy or anything), she just has a harder time sleeping cause she can't breath! Poor kid looks miserable. Boogs down the face, and eyes slightly swollen and seepy. She's a little more on the mellow side too, and is sucking her thumb more than usual.


My love language is definitely touch. Hazel's is anti-touch. She's never been a cuddler, and hates to be rocked. But she's been waking up at night more with this cold, so I've actually be able to use the rocking chair we bought to rock her back to sleep. I love it! But I hope she feels better soon, cause I feel so helpless when she's sick.

Shower Time

So our shower has been very weak over the last few months. Then a few weeks ago I noticed our kitchen sink water pressure was down as well. So I told Dan to look on the Internet and type, "who to call for low water pressure." He, however, typed "how to fix low water pressure." I love the Internet, and I love Dan! I'm not sure exactly what he read, but I guess that there was a lot of mineral build up in our faucets. So he switched our shower head for the guest bathroom one, which rarely gets used, and Presto Change-o, shower pressure back! He then read that if you soak the shower head in vinegar for 24 hours it will clean it out.

I had already showered that morning (before he switched the shower heads), but he hadn't. So he jumped in to try it out. He was absolutely blown away! He couldn't stop talking about it ALL DAY LONG! Here's just a few of the comments he made throughout the day.

- After his shower he came up and told me, "It's like bathing in fairy tears!"

- Later that day we were talking about life in general, and he said, "I feel really good..." I thought he meant about where we were in life, so I said "Yeah, I totally agree", but then he finished his sentence with, "I think it's cause of my shower this morning!"

- Then later that evening, I kid you not, he said, "second to the cleansing of the Holy Spirit, the shower cleans you more than anything else in the world!"

Well, needless to say, I was quite excited for my shower the next morning. I'm not sure it lived up to Fairy Tears and the Holy Spirit's cleansing, but it was quite amazing!

It went from this:

To This:

September so far

Well, it's been a good September so far...nice and relaxing.

Labor Day weekend we stayed local, having people over for dinner, going to a 3 year old's birthday party, eating eating and eating, and we went to Gymboree too.

Gymboree

Hazel loves watching Dan play video games

Top Pot Doughnuts on Labor Day morning

This weekend, we went to the cabin with Pete, Sarah, Stephanie, Grant, and Lexi. We had so much fun. We ate way to much, we played many many games of Bohnanza and Ticket to Ride, and we hiked all around.

The view for our Picnic Lunch

Grant
The crystal clear pond
Hiking
Best Friends: Hazel and Lexi
Uncle Pete Time

The rest of the month seems quite full on the calendar, but it should be fun: Movie Nights, Hair cuts, lots of people over for dinners, Wicked, work, Puyallup Fair, Birthdays...I do love my Septembers!

Thoughtless

I haven't posted in awhile, but I really don't have much to say. It's been a good week. Hazel is back to sleeping at night with no feeds (Praise the Lord)! And we've been up to our regular routine.

We've been eating good here at home. Costco sells the best steaks, the only drawback is, it's Costco, so you get A LOT of meat. So Saturday we ran some errands: Bellevue Square for Snow Leopard for Dan, and Issaquah REI for new shoes for me. Since we were in the "quah" we thought we'd hit up the Costco for some Filet Mignon! We grilled up two of them for din din with mashed sweet potatoes, and blue cheese salad. Then on Sunday we used one to make Beef Stroganoff, and on Monday we used the last in some Green Curry. Beef-tastic weekend!

We started movie night back up. We've left the 80's and are starting the 90's in full force! I'm excited to meet more regularly again.

Hazel is as crazy as ever. She's climbing up any obstacle, and eating quite well too. (She's moved beyond sweet potatoes now). As I think I've mentioned before, about ever 2 weeks Hazel has a new facial expression that she makes all the time. Her current one is cute...in real life. She scrunches up her nose and breathes fast in and out through her nose, making a cute noise. However, this particular face, does not translate well in photo! And as you can see, it made it difficult to get a bear picture on Monday...


That's all the update I can think of...

I'm excited for September. I love them here in Seattle. The weather's still sunny, but gradually gets cooler to ease you into fall. Pumpkin Spice is already served at Starbucks, but I'm not quite ready to partake. But come October, I'll be in full Fall Mode. Even Top Pot Doughnuts will serve a Spiced Chai Doughnut and a Pumpkin one too...I can't even wait to try them! I love summer, and I love fall, and I love that September in Seattle is the perfect bridge between them.

Ramble Ramble Ramble...But with colors!