The Annual Catch-Up Post

Well I've let myself go again, blog-wise that is.  It seems that every so often it's easy to slip out of the routine so here's a recap since the last one...

Nick graduated with his Master's degree from the University of South Florida and we were lucky enough to get some time off and make the trip down to be there for his ceremony.

We also got to meet Emily, Nick's girlfriend which made for a great family meet and greet.

Since we were all together for the first time in a while, we made a vacation out of it and Nick and Emily showed us around Disney World.  We went to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and wrapped up the day at Magic Kingdom with and awesome fireworks show!

Mom and Dad were also able to make the trip out to Seattle after school got out.  We made the obligatory visit to downtown Seattle and saw Pike's Market with the flying fish and made our way up into the Space Needle.

The next day we took the ferry over to Bremerton and grabbed some lunch-such a fun trip on the ferry boat!

 Since I had to work for part of their visit they relaxed and enjoyed some down time-of course this included a visit to the casino :)  On their last day, the sky was finally clear enough to see Mt. Rainier at the dog park where we take Della.  Such a beautiful view!

We've also been really enjoying having the water so close to us.  Della LOVES swimming and access to the Puget Sound is super easy!

We've been able to enjoy some local events around Kent and Seattle.  First, we had our first Fourth of July on our own and were able to find a great place to view the local fireworks.  The next weekend we got to experience Kent Cornucopia Days with streets and streets of vendors, local businesses and friend food.  Most recently, we made a trip up into Seattle via light rail for the Bite of Seattle, a food festival in the city center with lots of delicious food and drinks.

 

 Des Moines Fireworks Show

Kent Cornucopia Days

Bite of Seattle

Finally, we were able to visit Ben's mom and brother's family in Wichita for a long weekend to celebrate Ben's mom's birthday-so nice to spend a relaxing weekend with them!  We didn't get many pictures but during our visit we drove over to Greensburg, where Ben grew up, and got to see the World's Largest Hand-dug Well!

We're excited to have Ben's mom make a visit up in the next couple of weeks!

Washington has started to feel more like home and the move has made for some exciting times lately!