another Auntie outing

Changing up my work location seamed to free up a little extra time for me.  I feel most all my clients followed me however I haven't felt as busy which is a good thing.  Last Sunday I asked Doranda if I could take the girls overnight and return them Monday.  It was a surprise to them.  They got to my house around 7.  We watch Frozen (first time for me) had popcorn and went to bed.  In the morning it was so beautiful outside! Around 60 and sunny so the girls and I tried to see how many parks we could play at in one day.  We only got to 3 before it was time to head back. 

Tucker sometimes feels left out so I asked to take him on Monday afterschool for a few hours too.  I'm not as good at knowing what boys like so I googled things to do by his house.  I found a bowling alley and arcade that sounded fun.  I asked Tucker what he wanted to do and he said go to the dollar store.  So we did all that then got him some dinner at Red Robin. (his choice)  I can't believe we went there and neither of us ordered fries! I had fun bowling it but I think Tucker's favorite part though was getting tickets at the arcade to win stuff.  He got 360 and was so excited he couldn't stop talking about it.

 I'm glad some of my 20 nieces and nephews live close enough to get to visit often. It was a fun day but I was worn out after!

Celebrity sightings

This post is just kinda for fun....I was thinking about how many times I have got the pleasure of meeting someone famous.  I'm pretty sure none of which would remember me but its been fun along the way.  These of some of the pictures I could find from over the years. I think all have been in the last 12 years or so.  They are not in time order.

John Paul DeJoria

Karolyn Grimes ZuZu (It's a Wonderful Life)

Phillip Wilson (top hair stylist in the world)

Robert Irvine (restaurant impossible)

Taniya Nayak (HGTV)

Marcus Trufant (Seahawk)

Justin Forset (former Seahawks)

OCC

Paul Tuttle Jr. (O.C.C.)

Jessica Simpson



razor clams

David, Sam and I went to the ocean over Valentine's weekend.  We took the motor home and thought we could easily get a camping spot...I mean who camps in the winter time right... Luckily a few days before we went I looked on line at the state campground and to my surprise they were full! I couldn't believe it.  I did however find a smaller one down the street that still had some sites left.  Since it was Valentine's (not why we went) we decided to make stake and lobster for dinner.  It was delicious. We did decide to go though because there was a razor clam dig.  David's never done it before and I have only went a few times with other people who knew what they were doing and I just gave them my clams so I really didn't know what to do with them after either.  We had to get a license, buy some rubber boots (I had some) and buy a clam gun to get them with.  You can only dig on certain days and times.  You have to check the state web site to see where and when.  Our first attempt went ok.  They were a little harder to spot then I remembered and a little more work to dig them. That could be because we are getting older I guess.

David's first clam

my first clam

some of the clams

The first day we got about a dozen together but seamed to dig like 50! David's back got sore so we stopped for the day.  I wanted to try again the next day.  Right before low tide is the best time to try.  We went again the next day and were a little early so we weren't finding much, but then the it must have been time because all of the sudden they were everywhere.  David didn't want to dig that day because his back still hurt but I did and I got my limit of 15 in about 30 minutes.  Yea.... It was really packed to because it was gorgeous day out and Presidents day so lots of people were off work and out of school.  Once we got home David cleaned them while I showered and cleaned up.  Then I made some homemade clam chowder.  It turned out pretty good for our first time.  We will probably go again next year.

all cleaned and ready for the soup

clam chowder

Arizona

I know I don't post often but sometimes I really think I don't have a lot to post about.  I mostly just go to work or on vacation, so here is another vacation post.  After having a busy and hectic holiday season David and I finally got a chance for a little get away in January.  We went to Arizona to visit my relatives.  We coordinated the timing so David could go to the Barrett Jackson Auto Auction at the same time. At the time we planned the trip to Az. I was blessed to still have all my grandparents.  Unfortunately before we made it to Az. my sweet, sweet Grandmother Dora (on my Dad's side) passed away.  Right when we got there we went straight to my Mom's parents wedding anniversary party.  They were celebrating 69 years! Not only did I get to spend a little time with them I also saw some of my aunts and uncles I haven't seen in years! We didn't stay to long, we got there late and everyone else was finishing up.  That's ok though we wanted to watch the Seahawks playoff game that was about to start.  Yea, the Hawks won! The next Morning we headed to the car show.

This one was a big year for the show, a collector named Ron Pratt was going to be selling off most of his private collection which contained some of the finest cars ever, worth millions (each).














After we got a chance to go there we meet up with my grandpa Swift and got to check out his new place and took him to the Olive Garden for dinner.  The next few days we went back to the car auction and back to my grandpa's too.  He took us to see where my Grandma's ashes are kept.

 We also had breakfast with him and got a chance to visit and catch up some.  It was nice to get to spend time with him and my other relatives too.  I told my grandpa I would write a blog about this trip and post some pictures too.  It took me a while to post though because I was planning on going back to Az. 2 weeks later to watch the Seahawks plan in the super bowl and post about both trips.  We had it all planned out.  We had our flight booked our car reserved, we were going to stay at my aunt Patty and uncle Duane's house, we even bought a parking pass to the game.  We new the tickets would cost a lot and had budgeted for that but everyone told us the game tickets would go down in price so we waited to purchase to the tickets and after waiting and watching the tickets kept going up, and up, and up... I heard of people paying up to $14,000 per ticket on the top level! It was just crazy! at those rates I would rather have bought a car at the auction.  Needless to say we didn't go. We watched the game at home and had David's family over.  David could some great bbq for us.

 

 Luckily we could cancel everything for a full refund.  This weekend we are going to try our luck with razor clam digging....Maybe I will post about that to if it goes well...

Family Fun

I'm so happy the summer is here not only has it been sunny and hotter then usual but I get to spend more time with my family.  I'm expecting my 20th niece/nephew this summer.  Unfortunately they don't all live close.  I wish they did!  First I got to spend a day with Penelope and Scarlett.  We had so much fun.  We went for pedicures, went to the park, watered the garden and many other fun activity's.

Then the very next day 4 of my nephews got to spend an "Hour of Fun" with auntie!  This started with a trip to the Rootbeer store.  Where the boys all got to pick 2 pops each.  One for now and one for the car ride home to Spokane.  We then went to Black Bear (frozen yogurt) the boys loaded up their bowls with lots of yogurt and candy.  Surprisingly I refrained from having any. I'm trying to cut back on sweets but man its hard!  Our last stop was to RiteAd.  The kids each got $5 and 5 minutes to spend it.  Most of which they spent on junk food of course.  I offered to stop off at the park on the way hamoe but only James wanted to so we skipped it.  They had to head home soon anyway.

I've been trying to find a time to take Mallory and Andrew to Red Robin but it just hasn't worked out yet, However I did get to hang out with Mallory all day last Monday.  I asked her what she wanted to do and she said make a cake.  So we spent quite a bit of time making it just right.  She even got to crack the eggs!  Before that though we stopped for a donut.  I asked her if she wanted to go the donut shop close to home or the far one with crazy donuts.  She picked the far one with crazy ones, but when we got there she just wanted a plain chocolate long john.  We had McDonald's for lunch then played in the sprinklers in the back yard.  It was a fun day.

I do really wish my family lived closer so I could spoil them more often!

UTAH

David, Sammy (dog) and I decided to go on a road trip this year for our family vacation.  It's not Europe but it was just as fun!  We took the motorhome and headed out toward Utah.  The first night we didn't make reservations and was worried about the campsite being full.  Luckily it not only had openings but we were the only ones there!  Which surprised me, because it was a Saturday and pretty nice out.

Farewell Bend State Park

 

Next we ventured on to Nathanael's (my brother) house.  We got there a little later then thought though, driving in the r.v. was slow and we lost an hour time change.  Thankfully Mary-Anne had made us a yummy dinner and Kim (or Isaac) made dessert!  It was great getting to play games with them after even though it was only a few hours.  The next morning we headed onto Moab.  I had no idea there was so much to do and see there.  We went to Arches National Park, Canyonlands N.P.  and Dead Horse State Park. 

double arch

Landscape arch

Delicate arch

Besides all the beautiful hikes we went canyoneering!  I was pretty nervous ahead of time but loved it!  This included hiking and repelling!

Morning Glory bridge/arch which we repelled down from

Moab is know for it's 4xing trails so we rented a modified jeep and the next day did some off-roading.  David really enjoyed this part, but me not so much.  I guess I didn't know what I was getting into so it scared me when it wasn't going as I imagined.  Although David pretty much knew what was going on he said it was more adventurous then he thought the trail would have been.  After we got back I googled the trail name "Steel Bender" and found out it is one of the most extreme trails in the country!  We took Sammy to but she slept during most of the 5 hours it took to go only a few miles.

Steel Bender Trail

I totally could have stayed a few more days but in the morning we had to start our way back.  We stopped at Goblin Valley S.P.  for one night.  The weather was nice and we had tons of fun climbing on all the formations.  This place was pretty cool but the pictures don't do it justice.

Goblin Valley

 We took 2 more days driving back and stayed at winery's both nights.  Hopefully we can go back someday and venture to other great places too!  All and all everything went well, even the weather.  We also had fun trying to take "selfie's" (photo's).  I tried to save a few good pictures for Christmas cards still.