Kayaking

Shannon and I finally bought our very own kayaks! I have been asking for one for Christmas since we moved to Washington and I am so excited to now have it! Shannon and her husband Tyler live on Lake Washington so we are going to store it there this summer so that we don't have to haul it all around. Luckily they are small enough to fit in our cars, so we have plans to paddle around the San Juan's, Cedar River and the Puget Sound. We are so giddy!

Shannon and I went and picked up our boats on Wednesday, and took them out on the water as soon as we got them home! Then, yesterday Matt and I headed back out to their place to try them out again. Shan and Tyler also made us a wonderful summer meal of chicken "kaabaabs",and we had a swell time eating out on the porch. It was such a beautiful day!

Last night Shannon and I paddled out to Boeing field and watched the planes come in. It was a great workout. I am excited to get in shape, and have a great time doing it!

Vegas baby!

Matt and I attended a friends wedding on 7-7-07 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was our first time to the city, and we really enjoyed ourselves. Although we spent forever in the airport, we arrived in time to do everything we wanted. This is me in the McCarren airport with a gigantic Horny Toad.

We met up with my parents Saturday morning, and we all headed out to breakfast and then to the Mirage. We went to the "Secret Garden" where the new baby dolphin was. He was so cute, and we also got to see a few other dolphins in the aquarium. This is us with "Lightning".There were also huge white tigers and really pretty lions. They are the performers from the Sigfried and Roy show. Oh, and here we are with them :)

We walked around the hotel a little, and went shopping in the "Beatles" store. Here is my goofy family posing in one of the hallways.Vegas was 115 degrees the whole time we were there. Even at night, the coolest it got was maybe 110. So, needless to say we spent as much time indoors as was possible. But, we did get a few pictures of us around the city. Here we are outside of Ceasar's Palace.

We were lucky to have my parents there, since they had been to Vegas before, to tour us around. They took us shopping in the forum shops, and bought us tickets to the Cirque De Soleil performance of La Reve. It was amazing! The stage was water. I cant even explain half the stunts that they did.

While we were in the mall, Matt found this really cool flying plane at FAO Swartz that he HAD to have. It was so cute watching him with it. When you throw it, it flies back to you like a boomerang. Sometimes, this man of mine is such a kid!

When the sun finally went behind the buildings, offering some shade, we headed over to Ryan and Stephanie's wedding at the Flamingo. Ryan in a co-working of mine, and it was a really nice service. Because it was 7-7-07, there we hundreds of weddings in Vegas that day, and we saw more brides than I could keep track of. It was so busy around the hotels.After the reception, we went back out into the city and looked around at all the lights at night. It is such a crazy place!

We drove over to the "Old Vegas" to watch the "Freemont Street Experience". It is a large road with a video screen above it that puts on a show every hour. It was pretty cool, but we were all a little hungry, and ready to eat. So we bought our very first "In 'n' out" burgers and headed back to the hotel for dinner.My parents had to leave Sunday morning, so the rest of the time was just Matt and I. Sunday morning we spent all the time we could laying out at the pool. It was so great. I haven't been that relaxed in a long time.Then, one of Matt's mission companions, Josh (who lives in Vegas) came and picked us up to drive us out to the temple. It was beautiful. Josh came to our wedding, so it was really good to see him again. Matt and him have stayed good friends since they left the field. Josh then drove us up to the top of a hill that overlooked the city. The sun was just beginning to set, so everything turned orange, and it was so pretty.After getting dropped off back on the strip, Matt and I walked around a bit. We watched the water fountain show at the Bellagio and gambled a little in the hotel.

We only bet with $20, and Matt made 25 cents right off the bat! But, the house always wins, and Matt and I left with empty pockets, and a lesson learned. Gambling sucks.

After walking around the city some more, we ended up over at NY NY for some dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant, and it was so good! I never get sick of tomatoes and basil.

Since we had an early flight in the morning, we decided to go back to the hotel and swim for a little bit before turning in. With only a few hours of sleep we headed into the airport at 5am so that we could get a flight back. Matt and I fly standby because his dad works for Alaska. We could only get a flight in to Portland, and from there we got 30 seater shuttle home to Washington. It was a short vacation, but we had a great time, and got to see a lot. Good bye Vegas!

More Wedding pictures

The professional pictures were finally released from Shannon and Tylers wedding. I had to post them, because they are so beautiful! Please check out the photographers, they are absolutely the best! http://www.elliepatrick.com/Married ladies! We are so happy to be wives!
Matt and I used the same photographers at our wedding, not to mention I am related to them, so they took some cute pictures of us as well!
This is a picture of the "Eastlake girls". We all went to school together.

Shannon walking with her dad, Scott. Such a sweet shot.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July to everyone! We hope it was a good one.
Matt and I went to Juanita Bay Park to watch my dad play in a band called "Under Cover". The park was really nice and Matt and I got some really yummy shaved ice from the vendors.When the gig was over we all headed over to the Bruners. Their son Brandon just got home from his mission to Mexico and it was so good to see him again. My little brother Cory and him were best friends growing up, and our families were really close. It was cute to see the boys together again!
Before dark Me, Matt, Cory and his girlfriend Alex drove to Renton to attend Shannon and Tylers party. Here is most of the group waiting for the sun to go down. We brought these really good cookies and a salad, and I was proud to say they were a big hit. Matt and I played guitar hero and ate all the food we could muster. The Hunnex's wedding pictures were released so we spent a lot of time looking through those on the computer. When the sun started to set, we headed outside to play with sparklers and light a few fireworks. Tyler always puts on the best show, and this year was no exception! We could also see the shows from Coulon Beach and Gasworks. This was the first time that we had ever met Alex and we really liked her. We're not sure what a pretty girl like her sees in "Prefontaine" Cory, but they are really cute together. I took lots of pictures of them.Matt and I had fun listening to the music and watching the fireworks over the lake. The weather was perfect and the company was lots of fun! A big thank you to Shannon and Tyler for hosting the party, making great burgers and lighting lots of huge fireworks. We had a great time.