score

Becca had this awesome, Grease inspired,

bowling party idea to send Matt & I off to Seattle.

It was quite the success.

There were about 20 of our teacher friends there to have one last blast.

This lady has been the sweetest surprise of 2011. Marcela, you are my soul sista!

Heidi, sassy Marcela, Fawn,  Amy,
& Daddy in the back...yep, Daddy.

Someone enjoyed herself a little too much.
Thanks Becca, we had mucho ridiculous fun times.
This will be a yearly tradition, for sure!

XI

My love & I celebrated eleven years married on Wednesday.

These pictures show what most of married life has been for us.
It starts with a sweet, tender moment.
Then something distracts us.

I am the first to start catastrophizing.
Matt has a sunnier disposition, he is harder to deter.

He holds on, even when the moment is over.
He holds our family together & leads us on.

Then we usually laugh about it later.
(See, he is still holding on.)
I love this man!

coming together

We were so blessed to have these guys around for the
 house-hunting, boy-dunking, rain-drenched Seattle adventure. 

The new Archuleta casa. It is very similar to our current set-up,
 2 bedrooms upstairs, 2 bedrooms downstairs.
But! With 2 bathrooms. REJOICE!

This little guy is growing up. He actually got in the hot tub at the pool.
Which, since he is deathly afraid of swimming, was huge.

battle for seattle

The Fremont Troll! 

Look! Mom is in the picture, thank you Aunt Lin-Z.

Crepes at Pike's.

Egg Hunt!
My parents filled around 400 plastic eggs,
it took the boys less than 20 minutes to search them out.

Collin, ever the performer.

capture

These & more at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhcseattle/5658417584/in/set-72157626460486067/
Great pictures, wonderful memories.

surf's up

zipper

Lindsay calls it the zipper. The new family that is forming in our home. A big zipper God is zipping together. As we plan our budget, look for a place to rent, or shop for road trip snacks. We are all being pushed & pulled & molded together. It is something special, something new, something terrifying. But a beautiful community is coming together.

Easter 2011

Wow, wow, wow. 

Please forgive their mother's crazed screams, she was understandably so proud.

Qwest Field, transformed for Easter. Justin Forsett, Seahawks running back,
even raised the Jesus flag in place of the 12th man flag that is customary before kickoff. 

Parker offered Aunt Lindsay his coat to dry her seat. What a gentleman he is becoming!

Kaleb hung out under the giant umbrella with Grandpa Ken & Grammy Annie.
He was so at home in this new city because they were there.

Aden jumped up out of the water after baptism, just like he shot out on his birthday.
He is so pensive,  he has usually thought things out & is ready to go when the time comes.

My man is so strong for our family.
I am so thankful for the prayers Ellen said for his mate over 20 years ago,
so glad it was me she was praying for!

The rain fell down & we were all baptized, in a sense. 

Flooded with joy, at the work of our Savior. Hot tears streamed down our faces & our hearts almost burst. I have not felt this since Parker's slippery 8 lb. 14oz. newborn body was handed to me. Matt & I, foolish 18 year olds. All our families rallying for us. A new adventure. And it is a good one, an exhausting, thrilling, beautiful tale we have found ourselves in.

road trip

I must confess, traveling in a pack of 7, I wanted to trade the swagger wagon in for a Suburban or a tour bus of sorts.

blessed

There is so much swimming in my mind from our Easter weekend in Seattle. I think the best I will do is to put it all in chronological order. That means starting with this, from last week.

Kaleb made Honor Roll!
Aden reached 400% of his reading goal!
Parker received multiple awards but his mom & dad missed his assembly...waa...waa...waa... We have such over-acheivers I will have to admit is has been hard to get to all the festivities this year. I suppose there are worse problems.

Aden learned to ride bike! It took him all of about 6 minutes to figure out. I know, he needs a helmet. We win parents of the year with this post.

Found what is left of Aden's bike helmet, & a very charming grin.

On a completely random note. My hair is long again, I want to chop it all to a few inches. Summer will make this worse.

More coming on the great big awesome adventure we had in Seattle. Happy Easter! Even a few days later, it is such a blessed time of year.