SEATTLE

This past weekend Dave and I flew to Seattle for Chad and Erinn's wedding. Erinn was Dave's first co-anchor in Lewiston. She and I quickly became like sisters and she's been one of our favorite people since then. I was honored to be one of her bridesmaids and Dave was honored to work a camera during the wedding :) We left the boys with Guy and Amy who were nice enough to take them for a few days. The boys had a great time playing with Hannah and Brinlee and big thanks again to the Mackays for taking such good care of them.

When Dave and I flew in Thursday we had a couple of hours to kill before the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner started. We made our way over to Pike's Market and took in all that was Pikes. It was awesome! We got to see the fish-throwing-singing-men, all the fresh produce and flowers, the biggest doughnut I've EVER seen, and the ferry boats. Dave bought me this hugh beautiful bouquite of flowers for $13! He's such a sweetie. We decided to go eat at a nice restaurant for lunch instead of riding the ferry. We ate at The Metropolitan Grill and it was divine. Our steaks were amazing and the banana fosters was so good that we ate way more then we should have.

Then we went to the rehearsal at the Hollywood Schoolhouse (where the wedding took place). After that we drove over to Chad's parent's house for the rehearsal dinner. They have an amazing house that overlooks the water and Mt. Rainer. Chad's family is so nice and friendly and we had such a great time getting to know them better. They are the most athletic family ever...seriously. His Grandpa played goalie for the US soccer team when they won the gold in the 70's. His Dad played football for Penn State and still looks like he can play with the best of them. His Uncle played college football and then for the Seahawks for a bit. His Mom was on the cover of Time Magazine in '79 for playing college lacrosse and totally kicking butt at it. His sister played soccer in college and Chad was drafted right after high school (for baseball), but decided to play college ball first. Like I said, pretty athletic.

Friday we got to sleep in and it was fabulous. It was so nice to just take our time and snuggle and get up when we wanted to. I went over to the schoolhouse and played makeup artist for a few hours. I did Erinn's makeup and 3 of the bridesmaids. Then Dave and I went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Bellevue. Again, awesome food.

Then I went back to the schoolhouse to get ready myself and we took pictures and did all that pre-wedding stuff. The ceremony was beautiful. It was very personal and touching and the vows were so cute. We then went inside for the reception. Now being the Utah Mormon that I am, I haven't been to a lot of non-lds weddings. This one was just like what I've seen in the movies. Open bar, lots of good catered food (not that I have anything against chicken salad and nut/mint cups), no receiving line, and lots of dancing. It was a blast. Saturday we had 30 minutes to spare before we had to be at the airport, so we drove to the space needle, paid $6 to park, got a picture or two of us standing outside of the needle, walked back to our car, and drove to the airport. Sweet.

I must say, I missed the boys like crazy, but being able to sit down at a restaurant and hold a civil conversation and eat peacefully and then also getting to sleep in two mornings in a row...priceless. Obviously I don't get to eat out (at a good restaurant) often or sleep in a lot :)

When we picked the boys up Saturday, Dave put Lincoln in the car to buckle him in his seat. Well Lincoln jumped in the driver's seat and played around for a minute before Dave made him crawl back to his car seat. Dave buckled Lincoln in, shut his door, then proceed to open the driver's side door with no luck. Lincoln had locked the doors while he was playing up front and was now locked in the car in his car seat. Luckily the car was running with the AC on AND that the Mackays have a police officer and tow truck driving man that live 3 doors down. They both came and had the doors unlocked in no time.

All in all it was a perfect few days and I'm grateful that we were able to support one of our bestest Chindens. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Coder :)