Blackberry Pickin'

 

 

Can I just say I love this little girl to pieces?

We're Kidless!

Ha ha, just a funny way to say "empty nesters".  That's a funny phrase too.  It's not like we raised little babies, fed them and taught them to fly and then one day just kicked them out of the nest.  Well, actually that is sorta how it happened.  But the important thing is that they wanted to go, or at least they were "ready" to go.  Ready to fly!  Now whenever we are out and about, we think, "well, we should probably hurry and get home so we're there for the boys".  Then we realize there is no one home waiting for us, so we might as well stay out and have some more fun.  And that's what we did this last weekend.  Thursday night was ward temple night, and then instead of rushing home afterwards to tuck our little darlings into bed, we stayed at the Doubletree Inn at Seatac.  Such a nice room!  We were overlooking a lake surrounded by small trees and bushes, so it was super private, especially considering we were just a stone's throw from a huge international airport. 

 

Friday morning Keith went to training, and I got to stay in bed and finish reading The Hunger Games Trilogy. It was nice to finally get through with it and find out how it ended.  Then I went to the fitness room and walked a few miles on the treadmill and met Keith for lunch at his conference. 

Friday night we ate at Panera Bread for the first time, super yummy, then shopped at Ikea and Southcenter, putting about 5 miles under our belts getting around those two huge places.  The pictures above are for Devin.  Since we were so close to Seafood City we had to get some pictures for him!  After all those miles we still had the energy to go dancing at Maxi's at the Doubletree.  It was an older crowd, so we sort of fit in, and the music had a nice groove to it.  We haven't been dancing in a very long time and it was fun to dance with my sweetheart again. 

Saturday Keith went to class while I worked out, shopped and relaxed on this patio by a waterfall and pond.  Pretty tough schedule I had. 

 

Instead of rushing home when Keith's training was over, we just hung out in Seattle for a few hours, having dinner at Ivars, and enjoying the perfect Autumn evening on the waterfront. 

 

 

 

Keith found a good Seahawks jersey at one of the Pier shops.

 

 

 

And we got up close and personal with the Seattle Great Wheel, just finished a couple of months ago on Pier 57.  It's huge!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It certainly adds to the Seattle skyline.  The night we were there the line for a ride was way too long to consider going on it ourselves.  So we just enjoyed the beautiful sunset from the gound. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not having to rush home definitely has it's perks!

Earth With Her Ten Thousand Flowers

 

Earth with her ten thousand flowers

 

Air, with all it's beams and showers

Heaven's infinite expanse

 

 

 Sea's resplendent countenance

 

 

All around and all above

 

Bear this record, God is Love

 

 

I love this place.  This is the Scott Paul Trail which intersects with the Schreiber's Meadow Trail, eight miles of varied terrain at the foot of beautiful Mt. Baker.  After a couple miles uphill in the woods, this is the first view of the mountain.

 



 

Great view of Squak Glacier and Sherman Peak.

 

 

I loved every flower we saw along the way. 

What a view!

This is the infamous Railroad Grade.  GRRRR!  We will conquer you yet!

 



 

The suspension bridge.  Almost as exciting as rock hopping across the river.

From every angle we had a great view of this mountain.  The weather was pretty cooperative too.

 



Picture perfect!