A Vineyard Wedding

Just an hour until sunset, I can no longer see the sun as it’s behind the old growth forest; this gives the sky an orange cast that’s almost too perfect. To the left I can see the endless vineyards rolling …

Our Beach Day

FINALLY. Beach Day arrived. We deserved to sit on the beach after the four days in the car we endured. We decided to go with a more private beach called Mickler Beach. Not a lot of foot traffic here, but plenty of million dollar mansions and white sand to look at!

Aedan went to Atlanta with my dad to meet up with Sam for the Atlanta Peach Tree Road Race Expo. So he unfortunately missed this trip. But it was fun because it was a girls day! This was the kids first time ever at the Atlantic Ocean, and Corah’s first time ever at a beach of any kind! She hated it at first. The heat, humidity and wind probably didn’t help. She warmed up to it eventually. She loved to watch her sisters play.

The twins were in their element. Seashell picking. Sand castle making. Swimming. Being a mermaid. You know, all that little girl stuff.

Stephani. This girl. I’m just saying, no one has friends like me. This crazy girl signed up for a four day road trip across the country with four children. She is bananas. I am so grateful! So yes, I bought her a Margarita! Love you Steph! Thanks for your willingness to help. I literally could not have done this trip without you!

And who doesn’t love a nap on the beach? That is pure bliss. Corah, you look lovely my dear.

Road Trip Day Five: Nashville to Jacksonville

After spending yesterday being a tourist, we woke feeling refreshed and ready for the last day of our road trip. We wanted to get there so bad! We had a 9 hour drive ahead of us.

Did you know that Tennessee looks like a tropical rain forest? Wow! Dense forest, rivers and lakes! That made for a lovely low key drive.

Georgia has a wonderful welcome center with really clean bathrooms, so if you are driving through STOP there.
Atlanta was a short drive from the Border of Tennessee. Along with Atlanta came plenty of traffic. I was surprised! It was Monday afternoon. I would hate to see it on a Friday evening…

Moving through Georgia, we hit traffic again just outside Macon. We were at a dead stand still for at least 20 minutes. This wasn’t my favorite thing. I just wanted to get to Jacksonville!!

We finally made it to the Florida- Georgia Line. I played “This is how we Roll” in honor of that moment. If you got that, you are my friend for sure.

Jacksonville is a short drive from the Border. I couldn’t tell you how happy I was to get to my dad’s house!
Stephani has one more day with us before she flies back to Seattle. We will spend the whole day at the beach tomorrow! Thank goodness we made it!

Road Trip Day Four: Nashville Rest Day

We had an amazing suite at the Hilton suites in a suburb of Nashville called Brentwood, which definitely helped with our amount of sleep because the kids had their own room! The kids were so over that road trip, as were Stephani and I, so getting back in the car in the morning was tough.

It was a short ride to the Grand Old Opry! A country music icon, the Opry is a weekly concert venue that hosts the biggest of the country stars! I had to go see it, but to get in was a fortune, so we did a quick drive by. It was a magnificent building, full of southern charms.

We then got to downtown Nashville and decided to do the County Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I am definitely not the biggest country music fan, but I was impressed with the history of the genre. I learned a lot! I love the banjo and barnyard roots of country. This eventually influenced new genres such as bluegrass, indie rock and folk rock which are my favorite genres.

My girls love Taylor Swift, so they had to add art to the Taylor Swift Education center, of course. They had a blast, but Aedan’s face says it all. He wasn’t impressed.

Walking the museum gave us an appetite for southern cookin! Using the TripAdviser App, Stephani found a gem. We went to Puckett’s, voted Nashville’s best BBQ for good reason. We had to order sweet tea of course, and wow that stuff was sweet! Im used to unsweetened, but we had to indulge in the southern treat. The food was spectacular! Seriously some of the best southern cookin I’ve ever had! It was so good, I didn’t even take a picture because I wanted to eat it so badly. I had prime rib with gravy, potatoe salad, BBQ beans and corn cakes. Oh. My. To die for!

After lunch we walked down to the river front, and explored the cobbled streets. Old brick buildings have such southern charm.

Nashville is more of a bar town however, so there isn’t much to do with the kids. Walking through the streets gave me a bit of a headache too because it sounded like battle of the bands. Each bar has live singers blasting, and when there are 14 bars in a block in gets super loud.

I would love to go back to Nashville without the kids and enjoy the live music! Corah knocked out while we were pushing her in the stroller. Poor baby had enough! And when we got back to the hotel, I knocked out too! We were very glad for the day of rest. Tomorrow we are off on the last leg of our journey! Jacksonville Florida, here we come!

UNTIL NEXT TIME NASHVILLE!!

Road Trip Day Three: Kansas City TO Nashville

I woke up refreshed after a fantastic night of sleep in Kanas City. Pit stop at Starbucks and a store for coffee and supplies and on to the road to St Louis we go! Missouri is very lush and green. It’s also where the humidity starts. We can feel the heat!

The kids have been a dream! We haven’t had nearly as many meltdowns from the littlest one as I expected either. Today the road was good to us! We got to St. Louis quickly and decided to stop at the iconic Gateway Arch for a picnic lunch. Many of you might not know that I lived near to St. Louis for about 18 months, in a little tiny town called Troy, Illinois. Seeing this area again brought up a lot of memories for me! We enjoyed our lunch under the arch, snapped some pics and then headed out. Corah did have a bit of a tantrum when it came back to getting in the car. The heat and tiredness got to her. Poor girl.

St. Louis

Back on the road again, across the Missouri river, we made it quickly through Illinois. I absolutely adore the little red barns and farm houses scattered across that state.

Kentucky is SO green! I had no idea! It’s like a tropical rain forest!

Finally we made it to Tennessee! I was so happy to reach Nashville, which will be our stopping point for two nights and one full day. I cannot wait to go be a tourist tomorrow!

NASHVILLE! Tomorrow! YAY!

Road Trip Day Two: Cheyenne TO Kansas City

Someone lied to me: The internet to be more exact. Travemath.com told me the drive from Cheyenne WY to Kansas City MO would be around 9 hours. Well it wasn’t. It was more like 10.5 hours of misery.

We woke up refreshed and ready to start the day. That was until Google maps informed me of our massive drive ahead. So I did what any Washingtonian would do…I headed directly to Starbucks!

Coffee in hand we started south to Denver from Cheyenne. Colorado is just breath taking. I love everything about Colorado. We lived there for almost two years while Sam was in the army. Our twins were born there! We always said if it weren’t for Utah, we would be moving back to Colorado. Seeing it again today didn’t disappoint!

Kansas. What a boring state! There is a whole lotta nothing going on there! I told Stephani that it felt like we were driving on a treadmill! The scenery never changed, and we felt like we weren’t going anywhere! The kids held on pretty well for the first five hours, but after that it went a bit downhill. But considering the amount of tourture we were putting them though, they did pretty dang well. 10 hours of driving and not that much complaining (even from a teething toddler)! I’m super impressed!

Kansas City is just over the border into Missouri. NO MORE KANSAS! Four states in one day….not too bad.

We didn’t have time to stop at a local restaurant in Kansas City, because we got in so late. That bummed me out, but our hotel is super comfy! We are off to Nashville tomorrow! If no one has lied to me, it should only be about an 8.5 hour drive! Stay tuned!

Road Trip Day One: Salt Lake City TO Cheyenne

Okay, Okay, I know we are crazy: I am aware that we just arrived in Salt Lake City Utah. I only had ten days to unpack and get my home in order before I left for my four day road trip to Jacksonville Florida where I am set to meet my husband on June 30th. Luckily, I don’t have to drive alone! My best friend from High School, Stephani, is joining in my absolute craziness of a four day road trip with four kids.

Thankfully we went with an easy 6.5 hour drive for our first leg of our four day journey. We are driving from Salt Lake City, UT to Cheyenne WY. I wanted to break the kids in before we get serious about our driving time. Plus, I kept forgetting things and we didn’t get on the road until about 10am.

Day one has been super easy! The kids have been occupied in the back while Stephani and I had some fun conversations including discussing what she will be seeing when she goes to Italy in the fall! Um…just a bit of jealousy!
The scenery has been impeccable! Western Wyoming is way prettier than I remember. Many beautiful rolling hills, greenery and amazing rock formations! Among some of the children’s favorite scenes were wild horses, grazing cattle, and hawks! I know tomorrow’s drive through Kansas won’t be quite as appealing.

Whenever possible, I enjoy supporting local restaurants during road trips instead of fast food chains (gross). I am a huge fan of the app “Urban Spoon.” If you don’t already have it, download it today! I am a big foodie and this helps me find incredible restaurants! The app has restaurant ratings and you can sort them by how much money you want to spend. Its fantastic. We used to the app to find a really rad burger place in downtown Cheyenne called 2 Doors Down. It was delicious!

Tomorrow we drive from Cheyenne WY to Kansas City MO. Approximately 9 hours of driving time! Stay tuned!

What Im going to miss about Washington

Recently, I wrote a blog about Why we are moving to Utah: It kind of felt like a bash Seattle session. While I am more than ready to leave this state behind, there are many things I will miss about living here.

The children and I moved to Washington from Illinois in 2009 while Sam was deployed to Afghanistan. We were preparing for him to exit the army life and start his civilian life by getting into school. Literally a week after Sam got home he was attending school. Sam’s dream college since his boyhood was University of Washington. This is the ONLY reason we moved here. We knew all along that we wouldn’t stay here. We have definitely enjoyed our four years, and we will miss many things about our life here.

1. Coffee: Yeah, I said it. Seattle is the coffee Mecca. We created the coffee culture in America. I won’t be able to find a coffee shop on every corner. I will have to travel quite the distance to get my coffee in Utah. In fact, I might just open up my own coffee shop! I will miss the many amazing coffee shops available to me. If you are looking for a great one check out Anthem Coffee in downtown Puyallup.

2. Rain: Yes, more controversial statements. Hate on me all you want, but I love the rain. I love the gray skies. I love the smell of the air after it rains. It’s refreshing. It makes EVERYTHING grow. It is so green here because of all that lovely rain. Rain Rain Rain. I will miss you.

3. Forest: I will miss looking out my front door and seeing a forest. We live right by the Swan Creek Park which is 290 acres of forest. It is absolutely gorgeous. Huge evergreens all around you. Stunning. I definitely won’t be getting that in Utah. Time to get used to desert plants.

4. Mt. Rainer: The main reason I am in love with this area. It is taller than most of the mountains in Utah. It is so massive that you can see it from all over the west side of the state on a clear day. Ridiculous.

5. Mild weather: It’s almost never too hot or too cold here. Even though we are very north, we have the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, which keeps us in a mild state of weather year round. The summers here are incredible.

6. Hipsters, the Creative culture and laid back attitude: oh, Seattle. You really have my heart. The west coast is famous for its laid back culture. Seattle takes it up a notch. Literally, anything goes. No judgment. We invented hipsters and I love it. Also, what city has more creativity in it? We invented grunge! Many big businesses call Seattle home: Starbucks, STRIDELINE, Amazon, Jones Soda Co, Zillow, Nordstrom, Zulily, Microsoft, Eddie Bauer, Costco, Zummiez and many many more!

7. Local farms and the ability to grow nearly everything in my garden: I love love love Local farms. Everything grows here! My garden grows so well I have a hard time keeping up with the eating part of the growing season. I also almost never water my garden because of the rain. Brilliant.

8. Seattle Seahawks MANIA: After being season ticket holders for 3 years, its going to be sad to go to a city without a football team! How depressing! We will rep the hawks no matter where we go! But I will miss that hype the city gets when we go to the Superbowl again next year!

9. Most of all, MY FRIENDS: I came here in 2009 not knowing anyone. I got plugged into church and met some of the nicest people ever. My kids went to a Christian private school and I met even more amazing people. I worked two different jobs and got to know even more people. Then I went to TCC and met even more people! My children have so many friends here! I have been blessed by so many incredible people. I have learned so much from you. I will cry knowing I am leaving you behind. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to meet you all. We will miss you all so much! And just so you know my new house a guest bedroom! Please come visit me!

Tiphani and I

My fellow MOPS leaders

The birthday twins and their best friends, Grace, Lexi and Tanner

The Moser and Talkington family are now bonded for life ❤

We will Miss you Seattle! You’ve been so good to us! Ciao! Until next time!

Olympic Game Farm

No less than five people have recommended that we go to the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim Washington before we leave the state. That is a lot of people saying the same things, so I had to check it out! I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone by seeing my sister Jana and her sweet family as well. Mission accomplished.

First, I should say, I have a love-hate relationship with Zoos. I love animals of all kinds, but I hate seeing them in cages. I especially dislike small unnatural habitats. If you live in the Pacific Northwest and are looking for a well done animal park I would recommend Northwest Trek without a doubt. The animals are roaming 635 acres of private land that is their natural habitat. Visitors ride throughout the park on trams to view the wildlife in their natural world. It’s incredible. Please go check it out. However, I wouldn’t recommend the Point Defiance Zoo at all. The animals there are living in horrible conditions, with tiny enclosures and they almost are always sleeping, probably because they are so depressed. So if you are from here that will give you a little clue as to how I believe animals should be treated. The Olympic game farm falls somewhere between the two extremes.

The Olympic Game Farm is a drive through Animal Park, where the animals presumably have a decent size enclosure that they are free to roam. When you arrive, you pay per person, and you are given some safety rules of course: don’t open your doors or leave your vehicle, for all you dumb people out there. You can either buy their whole wheat bread for $2 per loaf, or bring your own. When you first drive in, directly in front of you are animal cages with a bear and a wolf in them. Immediately not happy about that, since I had assumed this would be a free roaming zoo. Well, moving on. Your first stop, and only time you can leave your vehicle, is an observation tower on the top of a hill overlooking the park. If you go on a clear day like we did, it’s definitely worth the stop! Gorgeous views!

Get back in your car, and you can enter the park! First thing we see are peacocks. Aedan and Morgan went in Aunt Jana’s car so they could see more, since our van windows don’t roll down. Kenley and Corah rode with us. As soon as we get through the entrance, I see Aedan and Morgan hanging out of the window with HUGE smiles on their faces, enjoying the lovely peacocks. Instantly I knew we had spent our money and time wisely; these kids were going to have a blast.

Did you know peacocks hang out in trees? I thought they were land birds….

albino peacock!

The first big creature that we encountered was a Yak. One big guy was hanging out way in front of the others, probably because he was the hungriest. He was all about that bread. Now let me think for a second, is bread a natural food for Yaks? Nope. This is not making much sense, but this is the closest anyone can get to a yak. The children are laughing hysterically when the yak’s head ends up in their dad’s lap inside the van. These big guys aren’t afraid of us AT ALL. They have been here a long time and they know how to get food. They are gentle and docile. The scenery is nice, there is plenty of shade for these animals and it seems like a very big enclosure that they are free in. Next stop: bears!

Aedan hanging out of Aunt Jana’s car.

Kenley feeding the Yak

Even Corah fed him!

Sam petting a yak! What?!

great scenery

The enclosure for the bears is a bit smaller and also guarded by a dinky fence which is terrifying until you notice the electric fence in front of it. Now I know why those bears aren’t going near the fence. This part was thrilling for me because I absolutely love bears. They are on my top favorite animal list. I have never seen a bear this close and was shocked to see how big their claws actually are! But seeing the bears sit and wait for cars to pull up, and then wave on command for food was a little depressing. Felt like a circus show. I left feeling a sad for them.

not being mean here, just asking for bread

look at those claws!!

its a little frightening how close this bear is to my daughter Morgan!

The next big place that you drive through is the Elk, deer and buffalo enclosure. This was my favorite part by far. There was a warning sign before you go in that states that you must keep moving at all times because these animals are so large they can cause damage to your car. However, almost no one was following that rule, including us. I literally had NO idea how big elk were until I saw them duck into an SUV in front of us. WOW! These animals actually put their entire heads inside your vehicle in hopes of a piece of bread. They also follow you as your drive! It was insane! This was scary for Kenley, but Corah didn’t mind at all. I could hear Aedan and Morgan in that car behind us laughing up a storm!

elk vs. ford explorer

elk is the same size as an SUV

I feel the need to tell you that a buffalo is nearly the size of our minivan. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t go into that part of the farm if I had a smaller vehicle. That would be alarming. Sam had a buffalo head in his lap and was petting him. He could have gotten that buffalo into headlock. Until you experience, that you aren’t really living. These giant beasts come right up to you and shove their giant heads in your face! You can’t help but laugh! Did you know that buffalo tongues curl up like a Giraffes? I had no clue until one licked my hand trying to grab some bread! EWWW!

eww he licked me!!

Again, bread isn’t a natural food for these animals, so to that part, I am not a fan. I did think that the enclosures, with the exception of the bears, were big enough for the animals to freely roam comfortably. I wish that this wasn’t a for profit animal farm, instead I would rather see it be a non-profit farm giving money back to the rehabilitation of the wolf, bear or buffalo which we all know aren’t exactly “safe.” Having said that, I did enjoy my time there and seeing these remarkable creatures up close and personal. Who can say they’ve pet a buffalo? Um, I have!

I am petting a buffalo!!!

After we left the farm, we went to a grocery store and bought some picnic supplies. We joined my sister at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim to enjoy lunch together. It was a hot day by Washington standards! The kids played in the park together. My nephew Haven is so adorable! I am sad to be leaving my sister, brother in law and nephew behind! We are excited for our new adventures, but goodbyes are NEVER fun. Love you Ward Family!

Why are we moving to Utah?

Why are you moving to Utah? I get that question about three times a day. I try my best to answer that question, but there really isn’t a short answer.

We first visited Utah in 2011 for a wedding, and were completely impressed with what we saw. The mountains surrounding Salt Lake valley are so impressive. I was in awe! Mountains have always been my favorite type of scenery. While we were there over the weekend, everywhere we went the people were friendly, and everything from shopping centers to neighborhoods were impeccably clean. From that day, we decided we would come back to look into communities for a possible move someday.
In 2013, we finally made it back. We spent Sam’s Spring break in Salt Lake City. It was then that we decided for sure that Salt Lake was the place for us. You see, here in Seattle, we are known as the crazy family with four kids. Almost no one has more than two kids in this area. I get comments almost EVERY day about this: “Are those all yours?” “you’ve got your hands full!” “you must be crazy!” “Oh, I could never handle that” “blah blah blah blah.” While in Utah, for the first time ever, we got comments by complete strangers about how lovely our family was, how well behaved our four children were, how blessed we are! Finally! People that understand our values! We instantly knew this was the place for us. Every shop and restaurant we walked into, our large family was welcomed and our children weren’t seen as burdens. Seattle is a beautiful place, but it isn’t as accepting of large families.
Our final trip to Salt Lake was in March of this year. This trip was to look at specific neighborhoods, schools for the children, and homes. We were successful at every endeavor! Our new home is in a fantastic community called DayBreak in South Jordan, Utah. Located just 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City, this community was named community of the year in the WHOLE of the United States in 2012. It is really ALL inclusive. They take care of your front lawn, we get free internet, running trails, pool, splash pads, gym, and community center. We live a very short walk away from a lake that we will have free access to kayaks and paddle boats. We also live a short walk to the light rail that can take us directly to the airport and to downtown Salt Lake. Not having to commute by car is a HUGE bonus. If the I-5 here in Seattle has taught us anything, it’s that we absolutely hate traffic. The children’s elementary school is less than half a mile from our house and is rated very high! We are absolutely in love with this neighborhood and so excited to be able to raise our children in such a family friendly environment. Not to mention the house is GORGEOUS. I literally cannot wait to move. 3,000 square feet of pure bliss! Our home here is only 1,200 square feet. Talk about some much needed breathing room.

So here are the main reasons we are moving:
1. Family Atmosphere in Utah: the Mormon culture in Utah is very accepting of large families. That carries into every aspect of life, not just in the church. We are not Mormon and will not convert, but I respect them and their choice of religion. I love the culture they create, and they are wonderful people. They have some of the same values we hold, certainly more than the carefree, anything goes attitude of Seattle (which also has its perks, NOT trying to hate on Seattle right now)
2.Cost of Living: Everything in Western Washington is SO expensive. Everything from food, to utilities costs an arm and a leg. We are getting approximately 2.5 times the house in Utah for only a few hundred dollars more than what we pay here. We also pay about $350 a month for our utilities here and we expect to pay not much more than that in Utah even with the extra 1800 square feet. We also won’t have to pay for Private School anymore, since the public schools in Utah are leagues above the district we live in currently. That alone is $700 a month in savings! We cannot afford to live in this area anymore! Salt Lake is way more reasonably priced.
3. Sam’s Business: Sam’s business is taking off! His Strideline Sock in Spokane has been a huge success. He is about to launch his Salt Lake City Sock, and his Denver Sock. He also has plans to do a Phoenix sock. Salt Lake City is the most central to all of these cities. His success is greatly linked to his ability to travel to these cities. Eventually we want to have a presence on the East coast as well; Utah is a lot closer to that than Washington. Click here to get to Strideline-Spokane’s Facebook Page.
4. Financial Industry: Sam is only a month away from graduating from the Foster Business School at the University of Washington with his Business Finance degree. That is the ONLY reason we moved to Western Washington in the first place! This has been Sam’s dream college since he was a boy. His degree will give him so much opportunity. Believe it or not, Salt Lake is the new New York City in terms of the financial industry. Most of the big banks have moved to Salt Lake because of the ridiculous cost of living in New York. Sam will have SO many banks and investment firms to potentially start a career in.
5. Mountains and Outdoor Living: So Washington also has this, but definitely not to the degree of Salt Lake Valley. We are so ready to explore new territory!
6. Winter and Summer: Yeah, Washington definitely doesn’t have this. We want snow, like a lot of snow…like 8 feet of snow. Call us crazy, but we LOVE winter. Western Washington shuts down when two inches hits the ground…pathetic! Oh, and summer, that would be nice too. It is SO mild in Washington that I have been caught on more than one occasion wearing a light jacket in July. Also pathetic!
7. It is our Choice: this might sound rude, but no one in our extended family has EVER lived in Salt Lake City. Finally we can tread our own path and make our own way! We are so ready for this new adventure!