Washington Wedding

We loved finding our way back to the west coast to celebrate another Shannon family wedding. We didn't have as long to stay there this time due to school having already started. 

We had a great view of some of the mountain peaks coming in on our flight to Seattle!

We spent Friday morning experiencing Seattle. We checked out the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum and it was pretty incredible! Willow and I had blown glass on Shaila's wedding trip so we had a bit of an appreciation for the process and were in awe!

We'd spotted this cool playground from the tram when we were in Seattle for our cruise. It was fun to bring the kids to check it out. 

We explored the market a bit. It's so beautiful!

These cookies were HUGE!

We saw them throwing fish!

The drive to the Bellingham area was beautiful! It's amazing how the landscape changed on the drive.

We stayed with Scott and Mariah in a rental house and tried to balance helping with staying out of the way. We were able to enjoy a little hike before the wedding. The photos that Owen requests crack me up!

The only photo we got of all of us dressed up! Owen was beyond thrilled to wear a full suit for the wedding. I wish I had better pictures of the beautiful views at the venue. Unfortunately wildfires in the area made it rather hazy but it was a beautiful valley with huge trees!

Mariah did all the floral arrangements for the wedding and they were beautiful!

Shaila made pinch pots for all the guests!

Owen's favorite reception activity: 

Our flower girls are all grown up!

Meaera's Wedding    8-19-23

Shaila's Wedding    7-10-21

Our wedding    7-23-05

When Michael was a kid he had asked his parents for a catana. His mom told him to make a list of 50 reasons why he needed one. One of his reasons was to cut his wedding cake. Owen was in awe and took advantage of the offer to use it when we had brunch with the bridal party the day after the wedding. 

He successfully cut a banana!

We checked out another park before heading back to Seattle for our flight the next morning. 

The Seattle airport is not our favorite.... Lines lines lines!! This was the line to get to the terminal after dropping off the rental car. "My oh my!" is right!!

We didn't exactly allot this much time for security!! They were already boarding our flight when we got to the gate. Whew!

We were welcomed home with a beautiful sunset behind a different but still beautiful mountain line. 

Better pictures from the wedding:

Tennessee Getaway

Chris and I were able to getaway for an anniversary weekend in TN to attend the wedding of a girl I babysat through college. Her family means a lot to me with how much they took in this CO girl out in FL on her own during college. I stayed with them one Thanksgiving weekend and Dr. Bruce played "dad" when I was needing to put my foot down about the mustard colored car the dealership was trying to make me lease. It was great to see the Bruce family again and enjoyed getting to know Noah's family that we sat with at the reception. 

We were completely confused on our drive when we suddenly saw a "Welcome to Georgia" sign. Both of us learned that GA is a bordering state to TN. Who knew???

We stayed in a cute one-bedroom cabin!

They had a fun bike track at the campground.

We drove a little further to be able to see my friend Sarah from college. They were on their way to FL for a beach week so it was a brief visit but felt great to see her again...as if no time had passed!

We took a hike to see Bridal Veil Falls. It seemed appropriate :)

Chris always enjoys exploring off the trail.

The waterfall didn't flow into a stream or river...it ended in a SINKHOLE! It was so bizarre and a bit disconcerting!! 

We ate lunch at a place recommended by Allison and Noah. It was clearly a favorite among the locals based on the line! We enjoyed their free popcorn while we waited...nicely...

Watching brides dance with their dads makes me cry these days...especially these two! 

It was sweet of each member of the family to take time out to chat and catch up with us! It was touching to hear them retell what they remembered of me during those days even though it was over 20 years ago!

On the way back Sunday morning we stopped at Rock City Gardens to check out where you can see 7 states at once. We knew we had a long drive ahead of us so we didn't take too much time but we did enjoy the cool geography of the area and a lot of the architectural details. It'd be a fun place to visit again with the kids some day. 

The pathways were pretty cool! Definitely not "one size fits all!"