westward ho!

or what others around here would say,

"from the right coast to the west coast".

we finally went back to seattle.



after landing we left the kids with the grandparents and

went on a little vacation of our own.



we were able to join a few of our close friends
for a weekend trip to whistler, bc.
home of the 2010 winter olympics.


i am sure the guys wished we were hiding bikinis
under all of those warm layers of clothes.





let's do it!





my friend leslie made a call before following me down the hill....
"yes, i would like to increase my husband's life insurance!"






waiting in another long line for a chance at first tracks.

how many grown adults can safely fit in an suv?

i think we had at least 10, packed so tight it had to be safe.

with 20 of us in all,
we looked like a herd of cattle as we tried to find a restaurant
to seat us all on a saturday night.

this is our 'we survived the day' photo.

here we are exhausted from an early 3:30am departure to canada from seattle.

we arrived and were on the slopes by 9:30am.

skied through lunch

(like a true skier would, thanks to my brothers for teaching me that long ago)

to finally arrive at the hotel for check in at 4:30pm.

once we were in our room the power went out.

starving, wet, and stuck in the dark

we some how managed to get a group of 20 showered and out the door

to a restaurant for dinner by 9:00pm.

i could barely keep my eyes open.

when the trip was over

we all left thinking the same thing:

we needed one more night to laugh, play games and ski hard.

or maybe we just need to plan an annual trip?!

what a vacation!

other highlights include:

visiting grandma and grandpa bean

and grandma and grandpa bishopp

family night with cousins and

tompson's baptism.

friends to play with

seattle aquarium with grandpa bishopp

a visit with great grandma and grandpa bishopp


golfing with grandpa bishopp

driving a tractor at the golf course

this was as good as disneyland for the boys.

"you can be close to me, but please keep your hair at a distance".

(not to gross you out, but there black lice eggs on that blanket, i was picking them out of my sons pesticide treated hair. when we got home i shaved it all off to end the insanity).
i still dream about little black bugs.

cabin time with the cousins

there are15 boy cousins

all around the same age.

can you say heaven?

skiing with grandma bean

she's got the skills and the patience!

skiing with dad and mom




planet earth in hd was a hit!

have you ever seen them?

my dad enjoyed it as much as the kids.

they left with a mind full of random facts to share with others at the airport,

at school and at church. that is a good thing and a bad thing.

i am sure people think they are cute, but very strange.

"we belong here!"

is what my oldest was pleading with me as we packed to leave.

we'll be back soon enough.