Seattle: Temple and Pikes Place

I had Avynlea and Rylee pack their Temple Recommends so we could go to the Seattle Temple while we were visiting Joshua. We went in the morning while Fredrick was taking his morning nap, it was just me, Avynlea and Rylee that went. When we got to the Temple the guys at the front desk had us wait in the waiting room while they called down to the Baptistry to let them know we were there. Someone came up to get us and we went down with him where our recommends were scanned, and then a sweet temple worker lady took us to get the girls clothing and showed us where the locker room was. We were the only ones in the Baptistry and it was really nice and peaceful. Rylee did her Baptisms first and after she was done she got out and they had her sit in a chair right by the font to do the confirmations. After she was done it was Avynlea's turn and they repeated the same process. By the time the girls were done showering and changed they had their names ready and we were good to go. I love being at the Temple with my girls and am so happy that they have the opportunities to go so often and that they enjoy going.

We walked around the Temple grounds for a bit so we could take pictures and Avynlea took some pictures of all the beautiful flowers and plants.

When we got back, after Fredrick woke up, we took the bus to go to Pike's Place Market. Bus 27 goes by the Lutes house multiple times a day to pick up and drop off passengers at the bus stop that is across the street from them. Amos loves the bus and announces it every time he sees it drive by, so he was pretty excited to take a bus ride with us this day.

 The bus didn't take us right to the market we had to walk a couple of blocks from where we got off at the bus stop. Avynlea liked this really tall building that she saw and took a picture of it. 

First item of business was to get a doughnut. One of the stands at Pike Place sells really big doughnuts some of them the size of your face. We bought some of those and then Joshua also bought a bag of mini doughnuts to share. So yum! 

 There were a lot of beautiful flowers for sale at the market, the peonies were especially really pretty! Avynlea made sure to take pictures of the flowers as well as this funny fish at the fish stand. When we went by the fish stand we were able to see some of the flying fish which was fun. When someone wants to purchase a fish the worker takes the one they want to buy and throws it to another guy to wrap it up so they can take it. 

 After walking through the market we sat outside to enjoy the sun and the view.

 Avynlea wanted to put gum on the gross chewed gum wall so Joshua, Rylee and I went with her to do it. Rylee was too disgusted and would not turn the corner to even see the Ally but Avy and I went down and put our gum on the wall.

 Once that was done it was back to the bus stop to board Bus 27 to go back to the Lutes home. 

Seattle: All About the Cake

Mom and Heather arrived this morning which made the house even more fun. It was a rainy day in Seattle so we didn't get out much, just hung out and visited.

 Joshua and Mallory went to check out their old house while the boys were napping. Amos and Fredrick woke up while they were gone and one was a happy boy and one was a grumpy boy. It didn't seem like Amos was feeling very well and he was crying a lot after his nap, nothing we said or did or offere could shake his grumps. Mallory and Joshua came home soon after the boys woke up and Mallory was able to get Amos to stop being grumpy by having him help her in the kitchen. Sometimes a boy just needs to be grumpy for no reason, although I am sure he had a reason he just couldn't/didn't vocalize it.

Joshua drew eyebrows on Amos when he was a baby and I did ones for Atticus while in California  over the New Years. We didn't want Fredrick to feel left out so while in Seattle I drew on some eyebrows for him. 

 Mallory is an amazing baker and I was super excited that she wanted to bake a cake for us. It looked so yummy and Amos could not wait to eat a piece of cake. It was all he could talk about once he laid eyes on it. Luckily once he ate his dinner he and all of us were able to eat the delicious cake!

Seattle: Road Tripping

A couple of months ago I decided that I wanted to go to Seattle in the summer to visit Joshua and his family. I made plans to go in June with Avynlea and Rylee and then Heather and Mom found out about it and decided to join our fun. They decided to fly to Seattle to visit with Josh and his family and then drive back to Meridian with us and stay in Idaho for another week and a half. 

I was nervous about the drive to Seattle because I haven't made the drive on my own but it wasn't too bad. We stopped once to have a bathroom break and we stopped once to get gas. The short little breaks helped break up the 7.5 hour drive and it wasn't too bad.

As we were driving over the bridge into Seattle Avynlea wanted to take some pictures of the scenery. Then she took a couple of pictures of herself and Rylee.

 When we arrived at Joshua's house Amos and Fredrick were sleeping and Mallory was at work so we  visited with Joshua until the boys woke up. While we waited we put together an "I spy" picture about Dinosaurs. Avy was a happy helper and held the light so we could try to have better lighting for the picture.

 When Amos woke up he was pretty happy to see us and he liked the fork lift tractor I brought for him. He wouldn't take it from me until I had it stuck in my shoe, he thought that was pretty funny and finally took the tractor to play with it. 

 He liked having his cool older cousins there to play with and had fun playing in the bean box with them.

 When the baby woke up we put on our shoes and walked over to the park to play for a while. This park has a little wooded area to play in but be careful going in with Amos, he doesn't ever want to come out. He also likes to travel the unbeaten path and make his own trails which made it a little hard to stay up with him.

 Avynlea took some nature photos which turned out lovely.

Amos loved having friends to play with him at the park and we all took turns running around with him. He really liked this sitting spot and enjoyed having Rylee right next to him.

We cannot get over the chubby cheeks baby Fredrick has, they are so big and squishy and just asking to be smooched!

 Such a cute happy baby!

 Avynlea got to give Fredrick his bottle at bedtime while Amos cuddled up to Rylee to drink his bedtime milk. 

We are super excited for Mom and Heather to come in the morning for more family fun in Seattle!

Happy Fathers Day Kefford!

For Father's Day Kefford requested one thing and one thing only...a new tie, so that's what we got him. After he opened his gift he said he had a pair of socks that will match the tie! I said that is good because we thought about getting matching socks but he was very explicit in his only getting a tie so we did not. This sparked a debate as to what explicit means. Kefford and Ryker said I used it wrong that it is how to describe something that has not good stuff in it like an explicit movie which would have not good stuff in it. I knew about that but I was also pretty firm in that I also used the word in a correct way, some words have more then one meaning. I looked the word up and sure enough I was right, they were right also but I was more right :).

ex·plic·it

/ikˈsplisit/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

adjective: explicit

1. 1. 

   stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.

   
   

   "the speaker's intentions were not made explicit"

   
   

   • (of a person) stating something in a clear and detailed way.

     
     

     "let me be explicit"
   • describing or representing sexual activity in a graphic fashion.

     
     

     "explicit photos showing poses and acts"

     
     

     
     

We also made him a pancake breakfast with hash browns and a Steak dinner with fries and veggies. I also told the kids at home that they had till the end of the day to write him letters saying why they love him. I am such a good wife :). 

Kenedy posted a small tribute to him in her Instagram stories which I looked at on my computer and took pictures of with my phone. I deleted Instagram on my phone for the summer so I couldn't do any screen shots but the pictures of the pictures on my computer will suffice.

Kefford looking at his very small amount of instagram postings

 I had the kids gather around so I could take a picture of them with their Dad on Father's Day. We were thoughtful and included Kenedy as well. 

Happy Father's Day Kefford! You are the best Dad around!!

Another Fun Swim Party!

Kenedy put up an "ask me a question" thing on Instagram and Rylee and Avynlea wanted to ask her one so they did. I am not too sure they liked her response. Ahhh sisterly fun.

Kenedy took a silks yoga class and sent me a picture of her hanging in the air. I am a little jealous of her class, it looks like a lot of fun and I wish I could try it out. 

 We were invited back to the Lamm's Thursday night so Kefford could watch game five in the Basketball playoffs and the kids could go swimming again. Rylee wanted to invite Serena to go with us and we ended up having Serena stay the night for Rylee's first sleepover with a friend. These two were really excited and they were not a problem at all. I didn't hear them once getting loud during the night and I am glad that Rylee had a lot of fun with her.

They were super nice and included Avynlea in all of their fun. I love that my girls are so kind to let their siblings share in their friend fun. It is always better to be inclusive! These three had a lot of fun swimming at the Lamm's pool and were in the water the entire night. They didn't even get out to get their food, I turned into their waitress/slave and got them their food and treats.

They were wanting to go down the slide all together but it looks like Rylee and Serena started down before Avynlea was completely ready and attached and left her behind. 

Rylee's Life Hacks

Rylee and Avynlea love setting the tent up and sleeping outside in the summer. They have been asking to do it for a while but it has been so rainy and windy that there was never a good time until this week. Rylee helped Kefford set the tent up and then they were good to go.

Rylee asked if she could use my phone to make a movie and I handed it over. She wouldn't let us watch her and she wouldn't tell us anything about it until she was done and we could watch it. She made a summer life hacks video and it was super cute. She had some still frames that were in her movie that I could get for my blog, I love the thought and time she put into it and my only critique was to make it longer because it was so fun to watch I didn't want it to end:)

One of her life hacks was hiding money in a cleaned out chapstick container. 

And another was to put a frozen bottle of water in your outdoor pets cage to help keep them cool in the summer heat.