Memory Making...

Daniel, double-fisting at the casino on the
penny machines. :)

My adorable parents, Rosalyn and James!

Sunday was more of a bittersweet day rather than sad. I thought that when Sunday came I would be a mess. My parents came for the week... and they left Sunday. This was there first trip to see my husband and I in Washington. They took a 850 mile road trip going North from the warm and sunny Bay Area (CA) to a gray and wet Washington. But they brought the sunshine for the first two days! Unfortunately, Daniel and I both had to work... but I got off early enough to still have time to play with my parents. They spent their time at what they call "Disneyland" which is also known as the large casino- Tulalip. This was always on the penny machines that Daniel and I think are such a blast...! We went to the best buffet I have EVER EATEN AT IN MY LIFE. Yes, in CAPS because I couldn't believe how tasty and fresh everything tasted. They would make fresh pasta in front of me, saute my stir fry to my liking.. and I believe they had over 10 ice cream flavors... including gelato. To continue with this delicious buffet, it had the LARGEST DESSERT BAR I HAVE EVER SEEN AT A BUFFET. And that's exactly where we all got sick- or at least the men at the Root Beer Float stand. :)

In the midst of cooking....

Another night, Daniel and I came home to a FULL COOKED MEAL- Shrimp Scampi with rice and bread! Holy Cow! I had no idea how good of a cook my Momma Bear was! (No offense Mom!) We enjoyed a night at home with our Mom&Pop meal and some TV (we just got "big kid" cable)! 

XBOXing.

Friday was our first day off and I made breakfast- Banana Pancakes! But one of the best parts was watching my parents play the XBox Kinect with us. They liked it so much, they are buying one. One thing they wanted to experience was the "Day and the Life of Daniel and Jamie"... and so on Saturday mornings, when he and I both have work off we try to play our Kinect together and enjoy breakfast! Generally, it's one of the more fun mornings and we love it!! And obviously, so do my parents! (hahahahaha) 

Momma Beat got hops!

She got "re-trained"
by the Best Shark!

Later that day we drove to the downtown area and walked the adorable stores on First Street. We found a couple of fun items but we were all WAY TO EXCITED for happy hour at The Repp. The Repp would be one of the hardest reasons for me to move. They have the most inexpensive and delicious tasting happy hour I have ever been to. We devoured prawns covered in honey/garlic goodness, battered mushrooms, flatbread pizza(s), and yummy/warm to the soul martinis. We sat, we chat, we ate, we were delighted to be in each other's presence!

Daddy doin' what he
dooo best!

 In Snohomish there are plenty of places to also play pool! So we turned up the Led Zepplin at the Billards and went out there like sharks- Daddy and Daniel killed us. But it was fun! And worth it! But I have to say, Saturday was the MOST ADVENTUROUS WE HAD BEEN ALL WEEK!


Saturday we took a late start but went to visit Daniel's family and their beautiful new house and cute town of Granite Falls. That town doesn't have the best reputation and I understand that, but I just love it. Something is so sweet about a small, one-stop light kind of town and I love it! We had breakfast and chit-chatted and then the four of us headed out to the mountains. Let me begin with it was a super cold day... and I didn't realize we were really going to hike. But Daniel took us out to the Big Four to hike up to the ice caves.

The Big Four.

 I have never been to the ice caves but I know it's super cool! As soon as we got there, a large wind blew threw the mountains. That should have been the first red flag... but of course not, we needed an adrenaline rush! We continue up the trail and through the mountain. We hear cracking which Daniel thought were gunshots (it's legal over there- I guess??) and hail... but we continued on. Finally, we stop at a fallen tree and we slowly move on. Just a few minutes later we hear a BIG CRACK, we look up and what we were all joking about was true- we were really going to get a bonding experience kind of an adventure.

Trying to stay warm hiking...

Waiting for M&D!

The BIG CRACK were LARGE trees, TALL TREES, timbering. This was all happening less than 200 yards away from us. Daniel and my dad are standing there with their mouths open trying to record it on their phone (which didn't work) as I am yelling, "I'M DONE! I'M DONE!" No one of course is listening to me but my mom saying, "Jamie, BE QUIET... we need to hear the trees." I am freaking out, my mom is definitely unsure and then you have the boys- standing there, laughing and thinking this is awesome. As the trees are domino-ing towards us, we run! My dad is running with his phone recording and "interviewing" everyone else running down the mountain. It was possibly the funniest moment I have EVER had with my parents and Daniel. 

Rain in our faces!

The bridge!

One I will NEVER forget. Best quote of the day was from my daddy: "You know, if I didn't go back to the car to get my sweatshirt... we could have been dead. So, I'm a hero! You should be thanking me right now..."




Four things I learned through the Big Four Experience:

1. If you want a near death experience, hike in the middle of a storm.

2. My dad is a hero- in his eyes that is... hahaha.

3. I miss adventures with my family.

4. There couldn't be a better way to end the trip!

We ended our trip with an abandon train track bridge over the river, Fred's Ale House, and my Momma Bear and I playing scrabble... and ME almost winning! This trip meant more to Daniel and I than I think my parents really know. I don't know if they really understand how much we enjoyed being around them, making our own memories with them, in our world. I know it took a lot for them to come out and we are incredibly thankful that they took this time to be with us. 

My parents, they are truely amazing! They are givers! They are prayer warriors! They are listeners! They are servants! They are spoilers! They loves us! They pray for us! They let us live! They don't intrude! They truly are amazing! I miss them like crazy, but having them come out makes it just a little easier to live in a different state. :) Daddy and Momma Bear, thank you for coming out here! Thank you for enjoying our life with us! WE LOVE YOU!!! SEE YOU SOON!! XOXOXO