Anniversary Weekend

This year's anniversary weekend was epic. With Lisa's, Mine, and Heather's anniversaries being on the 18th, 19th, and 20th respectively, we decided this year to have a "Big Kids Only" weekend away in Seattle that included all of my siblings, their spouses, and my parents. Jamie joined us for Thursday and Friday, and again, she fit right in! One thing I LOVE about my family is how accepting everyone is. I love that I can just invite a friend and everyone welcomes her with open arms. I think by the time she left, she felt like a part of the family.  Brad and Lorraine watched our kids for us while we went up to Washington for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It was incredible!

On Thursday, Mom, Dad, Quinn, Lisa, Heather, Dylan, Keith, Scott, Jamie, Sean, and I spent the entire day in Seattle. We left in the morning and headed up to Bellevue first. I was doing some genealogy on Ancestry.com and learned that my Great Grandparents (my mom's dad's parents) were buried in a cemetary not far from the temple. Since we drove right past the temple, we stopped there first since Jamie had never seen it. Then we headed to the cemetary. It was fun seeing where Frank Alfred Paul, Sr and Martha Cornelia Lipke were buried. These were names I was very familiar with, and it was fun to see that their final resting place is in the "Garden of Gethsemane".

Next, we headed West on I-90 and parked on Seattle's waterfront. We saw a cop on a gigantic horse and we got a picture of Mom with them, because she thought the grandkids would think that was the coolest thing ever. We went to Pike Place, the waterfront, ate at Ivar's, visited the Fremont Troll, and enjoyed the gorgeous day. It was fun having a party of 11 to traipse through Seattle with. 

After we were done in Seattle, Jamie, Sean, Lisa, Quinn, and I headed up to Lisa's. William met us there, and we spent the evening playing games and staying up way too late laughing and talking. We woke up bright and early on Friday and headed another hour North to Anacortes. We spent the day in the San Juans crabbing, longboarding, playing volleyball, eating good food, and relaxing with our feet up. It was so nice to not have our kids there! Lisa and Quinn brought their kids since they all had crabbing licenses, and it was so fun to be able to hang out with my nieces and nephews and get to know them a little better. It was also nice that if anything was wrong, I didn't have to deal with it :)  My family had been crabbing in this same location about 3 weeks before. They were very successful in their crabbing ventures. This time, however, we only got 10. That is definitely a record for the least amount of crab ever caught on a crabbing trip. This was Jamie's first time on a boat for longer than 20 minutes, first time crabbing, first time in the San Juan's...the list went on and on. I am so glad that she was able to have so much fun with us, and that her trip to Washington was eventful and exciting! Sean, Jamie and I left around 4 to take Jamie to the airport to catch her flight (sad), then headed back to Enumclaw, where we cleaned and prepped the boat for the lake the next day, and played games before heading to bed.

We woke up, again, bright and early on Saturday and headed to Lake Tapps. Dad, William, Stephen and I left at 7 to get to the lake before it got busy. We all took our turns in the water (except Dad who drove the boat) and had a blast on the smooth, glass-like water. Stephen and Will decided to wakeboard at the same time, and it was so much fun to witness that. They are both so good and enjoy it so much. I got in the water after them and wakeboarded. Didn't just "attempt" to wakeboard but actually wakeboarded! I didn't do anything fancy, but I stayed up once I got up...and I got up every time I tried. Woot Woot! I was stoked.

The rest of the family (including Sean, who opted for kid-free sleep in the morning instead of a clear lake) arrived around 10:30, and we spent the rest of the day waterskiing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, and napping on the beach. Again, it was so nice to be able to be on the boat, or nap on the shore, and not feel guilty about Mom watching the kids for me. Don't get me wrong, I missed my kids, but it was nice to hit the reset button :)  

That's me!

 

After the lake we headed back to my parents house where we ate dinner and watched the awesome crashes I caught on video that day on the lake. Sean and I packed up and headed back to Portland around 9:30 that night. William tagged along with us for the drive home, and it was nice to be able to sleep in the back seat while the boys kept each other company. Fastest 3 hour car-ride ever :)

It was such a fantastic getaway, and I am so glad that I have the type of family that a "getaway" consists of having everyone there! I know we won't be able to beat this next year but that's alright...this one was great enough to last awhile. 

I cannot believe that Sean and I have been married for 7 years. It has been a long, trying, adventurous journey, but looking back, I wouldn't change (most of) it. I am so grateful where we are currently, and am so glad that we have each other to lean on through thin and thinner (I don't know about the thick part yet. We haven't been there yet ;) ) I look forward to the next 7, 17, and 70 years with you Babe, and am excited for the journeys that are to come. Thanks for being here, and for going through this life and eternity with me! Happy 7th Anniversary Babe!