4 years!

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that much time has passed, but then again, they have been a very packed 4 years. This year we're just sticking around the house, enjoying some family time. I bought H1 a box of dark chocolate covered strawberries (his favorite) and he got be a Swiffer wetjet (which I'd been eyeing for a long time now). I'm making corned beef and cabbage (a favorite dinner) and we're just going to relax for a while. In some ways, it's a bit reminiscent of the night we got married. After the ceremony, we came back to the apartment completely exhausted. Both of us were hungry because with all the talking, we barely ate during the reception. After a brief debate, we went to Taco Bell and grabbed some dinner and then came back, sat on the couch, and watched How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and fell asleep on the couch! Our wedding was a lot of fun with all our friends and family there, but it was tiring all the same and I had just graduated college the week before.

For our first anniversary, we went to Gatlinburg, TN, and spent a few days hiking and browsing through shops. For the second, H1 bought season passes to Colonial Williamsburg and took me there for 3 days of sightseeing and tours--I had never been before at the time and absolutely loved it. Back then it was about a 3 hour drive from where we lived, and we had no idea that God would land us right there in the future! On our third anniversary we went strawberry picking in the mountains near Charlottesville and to a restaurant called the Melting Pot. That would have to be some of the best and most expensive food I've ever eaten. If you haven't been there, it's worth the experience. It's a fondue place and I would say the food is completely worth it. I was about 5 months preggo with H3 on our 3rd anniversary too!

All that leads up to today, celebrating 4 years of marriage and our wonderful little family. We've been through 5 moves, 4 jobs for H1, 3 jobs for me, sadness with the loss of a family member, rejoicing with the addition of a new one, and joy in watching God's plans unfold. Here's to the celebration of 4 years and looking forward to many more!

~H2

Moving and such

The last couple weeks have been tied up with moving from one rental house to another, pretty much just across the street from each other. We didn't get a u-haul or anything this time because a friend from church let us borrow his pick-up truck. Basically it's been a bunch of trips back and forth and we finally moved the last thing over last Friday. This is the first time we've moved since H3 was born, and it's taken me a lot longer to unpack than I ever imagined it could, so keep that in mind when you see these pictures! I'll post more once everything is unpacked and set up.

Our backyard (that needs to be mowed)

Front view of the house (I'll do some landscaping after we've gotten the inside unpacked!)

Living room (still unpacking)

Part of the master bedroom

Den-ish area in the kitchen, complete with fireplace

Laundry room

Kitchen (note the stove...it's about 35-40 years old and either undercooks or chars just about everything.)

Shannan's room

More of Shannan's room (I love her closet)

Dining room

Cabinet in the dining room

Third bedroom that will be guestroom one day....for now it's the location of everything from our storage unit

And that's the first tour. Like I said, it's a mess! I'll try to get some more pictures up soon of our progess. Right now I'm only getting to a few boxes a day because of my class and some other daily necessities that have finally started to demand my attention (laundry, meals, H3, etc). We're getting there though! I'm guessing we'll be here about 2-3 years, depending on how H1's job goes. If we stay in this area any longer than that, we'll be looking to buy a house, but for now it's the renting thing. Stay tuned!

~H2

Back from WA

From April 11-18th, H1, H3, and I took a trip out to Washington to visit family and friends. My parents flew out from OH at the same time and stayed with my dad's brother, Craig. We stayed with Bethany's family (my college roommate), whose house in conveniently located in the middle between my dad's side of the family and my mom's. Easter Sunday we went to church with Bethany's family, and then had a delicious lunch with them before heading to Uncle Craig and Aunt Peggy's for the afternoon and dinner there. My cousin, Eric, was there as well. We really enjoyed saying hello to everyone and introducing H3, who spent most of the evening on Peggy's lap! Monday afternoon we drove with my parents down to Lacey, where my mom's parents live. Her brother and sister came down as well (one from Orcas and one from Snoqualmie). It was the first time the three of them were together with my grandparents in over 30 years. We had a wonderful dinner and spent as much time catching up as we could. The last time I saw Dayton and Ally (cousins) was a couple hours at a McDonald's when I was 10. We're all pretty close in age though. My grandmother was able to talk a bit, which is more than we were expecting, and she recognized all of us and called us by name. That may seem like something small, but she has dementia and we never know who she will recognize or what she will remember. The nurses at the convelescent home said she talked about our visit all week, especially about seeing my mom and holding H3. She and my mom hadn't seen each other in 19 years.

On Wednesday we went up to Seattle, toured the Space Needle, and had lunch at the restaurant below. Thursday was a trip to Ellensburg to see where I was born and to visit some family friends. We stopped at Snoqualmie falls along the way. So beautiful! Friday morning we went back to Lacey to visit my grandparents again without everyone else around. Originally, my parents were going to come with us, but my mom came down with pneumonia and was hospitalized on Thursday night. They didn't release her until Saturday afternoo, just in time for their flight on Sunday morning. We flew out on Saturday morning. That's the basics of the trip in a nutshell (a very small nutshell...maybe pistachio shell?). I was going to blog a bit about what's happened since we got back, but maybe that will wait until tomorrow. Below are some pictures we took while out in WA (Facebook will have to cover the rest, since there were so many!).

My grandmother and Shannan

H1, H3, and I at Snoqualmie Falls

My parents, H1, H3, and I atop the Space Needle

At Pike's Place Fish Market

My grandparents, Cousins Ally and Dayton, H3 and me

4 generations

My mom, her siblings, and her parents

Bethany and I at a garden in Tacoma

Pretty garden!

Walking along Puget Sound in Tacoma

Aunt Peggy with H3

Bethany and H3 on Easter morning