Thanksgiving in Seattle

Brace yourselves folks, this is a long one!
We rented a mini-van, borrowed our friends' dual screen DVD player and GPS, and headed to Seattle, WA to see my family. It's about 750 miles. With 2 2-hour stops, we made it in about 16 hours. The girls were fantastic. We were all sooooo glad to get to Seattle. A good and long-time friend of mine helped us get a phenomenal deal on a hotel. The first night we were there my mom came and watched the girls swim.
It was a packed trip with many very important things happening. As you'll see, we were there for a very special day:

My sister, Becky, gave birth to Nicholas Andrew on Tues morning. What a blessing that we got to be there for that!

One proud Grandma!

Evelyn could not get enough of baby Nicholas, she adored him! I think she'll really like having a baby brother.

The girls were so happy they got to hold him.

Hannah was thrilled. She kept laughing and saying "he tickle me!" He was touching her arm with his hand.

Another important event: We got to say goodbye to my sweet almost 95 year old Grandma, Alma Emmaline Jacobsen. She didn't pass away while we were there, but a month ago we sure didn't think we'd get to see her before she does move on.
We were so happy to get to see her and I know she was too. We visited her as much as we could.
Next, this is one of my greatest friends, Sunny. She has lived in Virgina and Sweden for the last many years. This is the first time I saw her in about 3 years. She was driving to her in-laws for thanksgiving and our hotel was on the way. What a treat! What beautiful children she has!


We had a nice visit and delicious dinner with the Vassaus. They were one of the two families that shared the Gospel with me. They have done so much for me. We had a delicious sandwich platter prepared for us by Chalonn. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of our visit with the Redds. London and Hannah were in the other room and I thought it sounded pretty quiet. I went to check on them and found that London was helping Hannah use the potty (Hannah doesn't use the potty). She had taken off her pants and diaper and Hannah was sitting with her feet, arms, and head sticking out of the bowl with her bum in the water and as happy as could be!

These are three girls that I have known since first grade, Jacqui, Laura, and Becky. What great girls!

My mom and sister threw me a little family baby shower. My dad and his wife, Karla, were able to come.

This is me and my sister 2 days before she had the baby.

The Cousins!

Hannah was sure the gifts were for her. She insisted on putting on some of the clothes.

Evelyn was a good helper.

Really, two people should not be getting that many gifts for one person. My mom and sister spoiled me and the babe.

This was thanksgiving day. We had a wonderful dinner of turkey, ham, rolls, beans, potatoes, glunk (family fav and tradition), stuffing, and MORE!My mom's boyfriend, David, did most of the cooking. Something compelled him to buy a 22-lb turkey for 4 adults and 2 kids! Needless to say, we came back to Rexburg with leftovers!

It was a full and wonderful trip. All of us are exhausted and so grateful for all that we were able to be there for and all the people we were able to see! Thank you everyone for a wonderful and memorable trip!