midwinter break

Last week we had Midwinter Break, which meant Connor had no school which meant we could play! Yippee! We still had a few things on our schedule, but we were not near as busy as we are in real life. Tuesday was Connor's birthday (he is 5 now), we met Natalie and gang at Kid's Quest and went to lunch before spending the rest of the day together at my work. On Wednesday just three of us went to the Museum of Flight for a couple of hours. I really like the "airplane museum, " the boys like it too and did a really good behaving themselves. Then Thursday my boys and I met, Natalie, Leah, Mason and Mac at the Seattle Aquarium. The Aquarium was great, it wasn't too busy and they had a couple new exhibits/activities that were way fun. I full on lost Nolan. Not fun. I don't know what happened, but he was at the front desk quite pleased with himself when I finally found him (they called my name over the loud speaker just as I saw him sitting there, not at all afraid). What a naughty kid. He was not happy that he had to have a timeout in the stroller for a little while. We all ate lunch at Red Robin, the 5 kids did pretty good. I just think restaurants should be better at serving families with children. Like honestly, how hard was it to have a basket of fries ready as soon as we ordered? Obviously extremely difficult. It took over 20 minutes to get our food...the natives got a little restless, but there were very few tears and no drinks were spilled (at least I don't remember any). Last week was just a preview of Summer Break and that is exciting. I like having a schedule to stick to, but it is much more fun to have free time to run around town without an time restrictions.

my boys

Micah 2008

Jeremiah 2007

I love these two boys. My friendships with them are two of my most cherished relationships. I feel blessed having them in my life. I feel especially fortunate that even though I moved away we are still friends. I love that we have been friends for over 6 years, I love that they have been to my house, I love that they love me (because if anyone knows of my weaknesses it is these two) and I love that they ALWAYS put a smile on my face. Micah and Jeremiah I love you.

micah sue and rachie were here

(it is hard to get a normal, handsome smile at of Micah, but look I got one)

(click on this one, Steph and Rob are so funny, you will laugh)

(I really like this picture of the two of them)


(the shops under the market, still part of the market, I just don't go down there too often)

(gorgeous colors, with the sun setting)

(over in West Seattle, you can almost see the city lights behind them)



(Micah Sue and Rachie meet the troll, he is nice and creepy at the same time)

My friends from Provo, Micah and Rachel, came for a couple of days to visit. It was so wonderful to have them here. I was able to get President's Day off to play with them. Steph didn't have classes and Rob got off from work early, it was one of the first times I really got to hang out with them (other than Sunday night dinner). Micah and Rach explored by themselves in the morning then around 3 we met them at Pike Place Market. We ate free samples, listened to some street performers and took a lot of pictures. I love the Market and although it was a little chilly it was such a gorgeous day. We walked down by the waterfront, ate some fish and chips, went over to Alki to see the Seattle skyline from that side. We ate a burrito that is the size of a baby, for real, it is that big. Next time I go I will take a picture. After we dropped off Steph and Rob we drove to the Seattle Temple. It was so fun having my friends at my home. Look how much fun we had, who else wants to come for a visit?

valentine's palooza on location

All the ladies and their crafty creations. This year we held Valentine's Palooza in Lynnwood at my parents house. It was a small party, but very fun and quite girly. I even made a card! I can't wait for next year...put it on your calendar. (P.S. Friends from Provo, I missed you ALL very much) Nicki spent the whole time at the Palooza, crafting is not her favorite, but she made darling cards for the men in her life. Emily had too much on her plate that day to really attend the party, but she stopped by long enough for a quick photo shoot.

super bowl sunday and mcdonalds "play place"

I don't know why I am so bad at updating this thing, especially because I really like it when blogs I read are updated frequently. But, what can I say, I am a slacker. Super Bowl Sunday was spent at Mom and Dad's eating delicious tacos that Dad of course made. Leah and I danced to a little "Free Falling," it was a Super Sunday! Leah loves the McDonald's play land which she calls the "play place." It is so cute when she says it, not so cute when she didn't want to come down from the very top and I had to crawl up after her to bring her down. But she is just so darn cute.

this is me...

Kaitlin tagged me a while back....here are my answers to "7 things you never knew you wanted to know about me" (I renamed it). I am tagging Abi, Elyssa Mae, Ammon and Easton. My friend Kendra's kids were tagged, it was fun to learn more about them. Now the WWW will get to learn all about the crazy Shaw kids!

usa. When I straighten my hair (maybe once a week), I get a lot of compliments. I mean, A LOT. It is nice, people are kind. But, it makes me wonder what the heck my hair looks all of the others days of the week. Is it really that bad? I should obviously be embarrassed to out in public with curly hair. I am not. However, I should find time to "brush" my hair more often. That should be a new goal, but I might be too lazy for such things.

duha. I am so excited for summer (have I mentioned that before?), yesterday I bought 2 new pairs of shorts and tried on my last year's summer clothes. I am so excited.

tulo. I cleaned and organized my bedroom, I even vacuumed in preparation for my houseguests Micah and Rachel. I am so excited to have 2 friends from Provo come spend a couple days with me. The sun is shining and I have tomorrow off, we are going to have so much fun!

upat. I am moving from my darling apartment that I have lived in for only 1 year. So sad. I couldn't find a roommate to replace my current roommate that is leaving. Where am I going? Oh, I have no clue. Don't even worry I am about to be a thirty-something homeless person. Thanks in advance to all of my friends and family that will let me sleep on their couch. And their husbands that will be helping move in 3 weeks. "I grow up to be a loser" (from Disney's The Kid, so funny and fitting).

lima. I have given up sugar/sweets until Easter. My own version of Lent. Emily is doing it with me and she is rocking it. I am so proud of her! We allow ourselves one dessert a week. Last Friday we had dessert at Claim Jumper-YUMMY! We can eat sugar free stuff and up to one Chocolate Chip Fiber One bar a day (they taste like cheating, they are that good).

unom. Something cute happened at Church today. I was sitting down the pew from the missionaries and half way through Sacrament Meeting one of their investigators walked in. Man, you should have seen their faces. They were so happy. I think they exchanged low-fives (a high-five would have been inappropriate in the middle of Sister Suber's talk) and I know they wanted to do a little dance. It was darling, and it brought me back 10 years ago to my mission. I have known that feeling before and I even felt a little of that today with the Elders! Way to go!

pito. I am really happy. I know that my happiness comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ and from my knowledge in a loving Heavenly Father that knows me. I will be provided for. I am not worried. I don't know very much about my future, or shoot even the next few weeks, but I do know that everything always works out. I am always blessed. In the World Wide Training Meeting it was mentioned again that "when we do what Heavenly Father wants us to do He WILL bless us." I know this to be true. I have seen it and I see it every day. This is one of favorite topics so if anyone is struggling with this please let me know and I will tell you what I know...I am so blessed.