Ringing in 2009 - Seattle style

And so continues my quest to catch up on my blog.

Dallin and I got the chance to make our way up to (snowy!) Seattle to spend New Year's with his family. For any detail/specifics oriented people out there, they actually live in Redmond, just outside of Seattle, and they got pummeled with snow the week before Christmas! We went up on the 27th, but that was still enough time for a little rain to sneak in and melt a good deal of the snow. Which is hard to believe, really, because in my eyes, there was still quite a bit of snow. I grew up in Phoenix, people! Any and all snow is NEWS.

So anyway, we got in late on the 27th. Dallin slept on the plane, but I find plane-sleep impossible, so I was pretty tired by the time we got to his parents' house. The next day was Sunday, and they have late church, so we got to sleep in before heading out. It was almost dark by the time chruch was over - only like 4:00! I thought that was crazy. That night, we opened presents. This proved to be highly entertaining, as the first present each of us opened was a screaming stuffed monkey (or, in Dallin's case, TWO screaming stuffed monkeys) from Dallin's mom.

These babies stretch and shoot (like...a rubberband? best simile I could think of to describe this to you), fly, and scream...unless of course you shoot them too hard into the ceiling, in which case the screamer breaks, or stretch them too far, in which case their arms and legs fall off. Not that we encountered these problems... we just...you know...heard.

So the night was filled with the sounds of screaming monkeys, and of our laughter at the screaming monkeys. Ah, good times.

We got other presents too, of course. I got a cute Mickey Mouse t-shirt and an a-maz-ing Disney piano songbook. Man, I've wanted one of those for FOREVER. Dallin got a game and iTunes gift card, and some edited movies- "Braveheart" and "Saving Private Ryan." I got one of those too- "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which we watched after the present opening. I didn't make it all the way through. Dallin's parents also handed down their video camera to us, which is very exciting. We haven't used it yet, but when we do, I'm sure you'll know.

The next day, Dallin and his bro Dayton went snowboarding, which I wasn't really interested in, so I went with the rest of the family to see "The Tales of Despereaux" and go out to lunch. After that, my sisses-in-law and I played some Rummikub before Danielle (one sis-in-law) left to pick up her beau from the airport. D'Nae (other sis-in-law, there will be a quiz later) and I watched CSI, and when everyone got home from all their various places we had dinner and then went bowling!

Danielle and Mike. Cute picture, no?

Dallin's dad dominated at bowling. He bowled a 171! Crazy! I was proud of my 149...

The next day Dallin's cousin Janeece and her son Linus came to play with us. We had fun playing various games and laughing at Linus' antics, particularly relating to High School Musical, which he loves.

The next day was New Year's Eve, and we headed into downtown Seattle to check out the science center there.

Dallin tried to make it look like the dino was kissing me. Did this work? I think not.

Inside the butterfly room, which is awesome not only because you are in a room full of butterflies, but also because they keep it at a nice, warm temperature! I think it was the first time I took my coat off the whole trip!

A demonstration of Dallin's mad rock climbing skills.

That night, we went to a place to race go-karts. The only picture I have of this place is this one:

which is not very indicative of the whole go-kart experience.

The race was fun, even though my car broke down about a lap into it and so I had to get out and get a new car, and even though the computers were broken which meant we didn't get times or results. But you know, other than that, it was fun.

The new year was rung in at home, watching the countdown and fireworks at the Space Needle on TV, with glasses of Martinelli's to toast. Honestly, there is nowhere else I would have rather been. I had family around me, bubbly to drink, and my husband to kiss- who could ask for more?

Dallin and I spent the night (and much of the morning) playing a computer game with Dayton, which I will not tell you the name of in order to avoid further embarrassment. We were up until 5:30. That's all I'm gonna say.

New Year's Day was spent pretty lazily until we had to leave for the airport late in the afternoon. It was sad to see the end of such a great, relaxing vacation...especially knowing that I'd have to go to work the next day. I love our Harris family and am so grateful for the time we get to spend with them!

Anyway, this post has been long enough, I think...stay tuned for thoughts about 2008 and 2009, as well as a post about our trip to the bed and breakfast!