Seattle Adventures

This summer Kev got a summer internship in Seattle Washington. It is an accounting internship at PWC. It was pretty random with how it all happened, but have loved the experience. We are staying with Kev's old mission companion's family, the Staples. They have no kids at home and have been very gracious in letting us stay in their basement. Their house is in front of a forest, gorgeous view. There is a creek at the bottom of it. Love the where their house is positioned.

It has been really fun venturing around Seattle. The first Monday we were here Joyce took me on a walk, showing me where I can run/walk. It is SO pretty here. I love walking here. I walk past a park with a lake, I walk up a hill were I can see Mount Rainier. Another bonus of walking here are there are blackberries everywhere! I can not get over all the black berry bushes! One of the gross things here are the slugs! Holy cow! They are huge! Sometimes there are all over the sidewalk and grass, stepping on them is not pleasant.

 The lake I walk to everyday.

Isn't that crazy!

The first weekend we were here Kev, Kev's brother Don (who got a Job up here about a month after we found out Kev got in the internship), and I went and visited the touristy spots. We started our morning doing the Underground tour. So, long ago Seattle was built right at the water level. When the tide would come up it would flood the city. Then Seattle burnt down. They decided to build up the city, while keeping the first level. This eventually led to the underground level. It was pretty interesting. I would not pay for it again, but sort of glad I did it :) 

They put these tiles in to let light into the tunnels. So when walking on the sidewalk outside you can see these tiles around, kind of cool.

We then went to Pike's Market. It was crazy busy. We started walking around but decided it was to busy for us and headed towards the gum wall. I don't even know how the gum wall started. Who thinks, lets put a bunch of nasty, chewed up gum, on this wall haha It is so gross it is cool.

The entrance to Pike's Market - so much going on

The view on the way back to our car.

I then dragged the guys to the Fremont Troll. It is huge. It is also another random thing- who thinks to build a huge troll under a bridge!

We then headed to the Locks. It was so interesting and cool. So they have boats getting from the lake to the ocean. So they put a couple of boats between these locks. Then they drain the water, A TON of water, and let the boats out. That way, they don't loose all the lake water.

At the same place there were "ladders" or tubes for the salmon to get to and from the lake water. They had to swim up stream to get to where they wanted. It honestly looked super strenuous. The fish were huge. Don and kev were in heaven. They thought it was the coolest thing...nerds haha

The next weekend was the Fourth of July. That Friday we went and hiked Rattlesnake Ridge...along with a million other people. But it was beautiful. It was, or felt like, a long hike up to a ridge that over looked a lake. With it being such a clear day we could see pretty far.

That night we went to the park and watched the fireworks. We were so close that we had to be careful looking up, because so much stuff was falling from the sky. We definitely missed the fireworks in Idaho falls- not even comparable.

Saturday we went on a bike ride to Washington Lake. It was a great bike ride, till we had to go back home. The ride was all up hill. It was terrible! My legs hurt so bad. That night we went to a Chinese restaurant. We had heard it was really good, and there were a ton of Asians there- which meant that is was great! So we ordered our food, it comes out, and there was SO much food! We didn't realize a plate could feed five different people. We felt quite silly; us, white people, with a ton of food. Oh well, it was all really good. Afterwards, we went to a Fourth of July concert. It was with a choir and symphony, featuring Alex Boye. It was SO good! It made me appreciate our country. I also really miss singing in a Choir. We loved it!

The next weekend was my birthday, so we headed to the San Juan Island. We left about six in the morning and drove to the ferry landing. It took about an hour to get to the Island. Once we got there, we ran to our Whale Watching Tour Boat. Once we got on the boat we took off. We drove around the Island and we were actually able to see a pod of Killer Whales, there was about 13 of them. I can not get over how large they are, and we weren't even that close to them to tell. Their dorsal fin (the one on the top of their body) can be as tall as 6 foot. We were able to watch them for quite awhile. Then we went around a couple of other islands and saw seals, an Eagle, and some other animals. It was pretty fun. I would not really want to pay for the tour again, I would just suggest that you go the other side of the Island. You could have seen the whales from land.

 

Wish is it a little more clear.

While we have been up here in Seattle we have Skyped with my family a couple times. It is always pretty entertaining... mostly because Maddy is always making funny faces the entire time. I know I shouldn't enjoy that because it means she is bored, but I enjoy it.

Love her!

Another weekend we went to Alki beach and walked around. We had a pretty good view of downtown Seattle.

Can you believe this house?! So many flowers! It is beautiful!

Another weekend we went and saw Snoqualmie Falls. It was beautiful...like everything else in Washington :) It was also crowded...which is also usual for Washington haha. 

 Down from the falls

 Obviously we are TERRIBLE at taking "selfies"

Last weekend Jessica got baptized! Jessica is from Peru, she moved here a couple of years ago. We met her the second weekend we were here. It was her first time going to church, so we just stuck with her. She is SO sweet. She has a lot of health problems and through it all she has just put her faith in God. She has pretty good English but Kev and her speak a lot of Spanish together. (I am definitely going to have to learn Spanish before we move back.) I wish I could communicate a little better with her, but I still love her. We went  to a lesson with her and the Sister Missionaries. I felt the spirit so strong...even though I had no idea what was being talked about. After she said her prayer, and we stayed kneeling on the ground for five minutes she finally decided to get baptized. Kev was able to baptize her and it was really neat. 

Kev's brother, Don, and his family with seven kids moved here about two weeks ago. Don met Jessica when we did. When she found out Don had seven kids, she could not believe it. Her reaction was pretty funny. Don and his family made it to Jessica's baptism. She was pretty excited or shocked to see the entire family.

After the baptism Kev and I took the four older kids downtown to show them around. It was the first time they were able to see a big city. They thought it was so cool. So we went and showed them the bubble gum wall and blew bubbles. Then we walked to the waterfront where there were some massive battleships. Kev also bought everyone shirts. Kev loves to get shirts where ever we go... I would have never pegged him for that.  It was fun to watch the kids experience a big city.

 Sticking gum on the wall.

Yesterday, I went downtown to meet up with my friend who was in town for training. It was so fun to catch up with her. I haven't been downtown at night before so it was a new experience. I was lucky enough and caught a ride with Joyce. I am terrified of driving downtown, way to many people and hills. I would have been a wreck driving. I met up with my friend, then we all went to Red Robbins. We were able to watch the sun set. It was beautiful. 

Last night Kev got a full time job offer for once he graduates. We are 99% sure that he will accept the job offer. It is crazy to think that we are old enough to make decisions like this. It is also crazy to think that we will be ending up in Seattle, never would have thought that.

Well, it has been a fun adventure while we have been here. We leave tomorrow night for Idaho Falls. It has flown by!