Last day in the States

 The day before we left for Japan, we said a few more sad goodbyes. My dad was going camping with the scouts so we said goodbye to him that morning.

 After saying goodbye to my dad, we went out to Scott and Kelli's for some early morning boating time. Our boys had been scared of going on the boat the whole time we were in Washington, but after forcing them on, they ended up loving it. I can't wait for the day when we have our own boat! We all had so much fun. 

 We started out on the wakeboard. There were two kinds of people wakeboarding. There was me, taking it easy...nothing fancy. At least I can do it, right??

And then there's everyone else! Justin, Scott and Kelli are all really good. They make me look really bad.

Scott

 Justin

 Kelli

 We also tried out the wake surf. Now that is a serious leg workout!!

 Could there be a prettier view??

After the boat we met up with the rest of the cousins for some pool time. It could not have been a better "last day". We wanted to go out with a bang! 

We tried to get to bed early, since we had to leave at 4am the next morning. It's so hard though when you know you are moving across the world, not sure of when you will have a chance to come home and visit. It has been really emotional (for me at least) but I'm happy to say that we are feeling settled and more at home. We feel lucky to have spent time with both families that have been supportive of us through it all. Now all we need is for them to come visit us, because we are already missing them like crazy.

(I am finally caught up on the blog and can now blog about Japan!)

7 years

 I surprised Justin (well sort of...he caught on after looking at our credit card bill) this year for our anniversary. We stayed the night in Seattle on 5th Ave, just down from Pike Place Market. There is something about Seattle that I love, and it made for the perfect getaway! No kids and endless conversation, with no interruptions. What could be better? 

A big thanks to my mom for watching the boys.

 This was the view from our hotel. We were loving it!!

We ate at the Pink Door in the alley behind Pike Place. There's no sign, just a pink door. Their bruschetta was super yummy.

I think my favorite part was just wandering around Pike Place. It's especially fun to do with no children, which I haven't done since I had Jack. 

 We kept saying if we lived in Seattle, we would come and get fresh flowers from here all the time. They have hundreds of huge, beautiful bouquets. We picked one up for my mom for watching the boys.

 We noticed a little dentist office on the second floor, close to the entrance of the market. I wish that was Justin's practice. Then I really would be going to get fresh flowers all the time!

 We hit up Starbucks...twice. This one is the original Starbucks. Now there is one on every corner!!

 Love it.

We came home a little early to say goodbye to these guys. They were leaving for Idaho that day and since we were flying out to Japan a couple days later we wanted to make sure and say our goodbyes. 

It was a great anniversary, and it's been an even better seven years.

 Here's to the next seven!

Mt. Rainier

 Whitney and Kevin were staying at my parent's house with us, and we decided at the last minute to take a quick drive up to Mt. Rainier. I'm so glad we decided to go! I love being up in the mountains. We used to go up in the mountains all the time growing up and it's fun for me to see my little family up there. Plus it's amazingly beautiful. I can never get sick of this view. We even saw some climbers almost to the top in the telescope.

 Right as my dad was taking a picture of us, a big gust of wind came. It blew my hair straight up and blew dust in Justin's eye. I thought this picture was hilarious.

 There we go! A little better :)

Brownell Reunion

 As soon as Justin made it to Washington, we officially started the Brownell family reunion. It was just my immediate family. We don't even remember the last time we were ALL together. Justin wasn't able to be at Whitney and Kevin's wedding, so we know it was sometime before then. Whenever it was, it was long overdue! The boys were so excited to have their daddy back after three weeks. I love when they get so attached to him after we've been apart. I'm not going to lie, it's a nice break for me! Anderson wouldn't let him out of his sight. Justin had to sneak away to even use the bathroom.  For the reunion we camped in my parent's back yard. I love their back yard. It's huge and I love that my kids have endless amounts of yard to run and play. Someday, we will have that. Hopefully before my kids are too old and don't want to play in the back yard anymore.

 Of course Sophie had to join in on the fun!

 We camped, watched The Lorax outside, roasted marshmallows, had dutch oven dinner and cobbler. We played lots of outdoor games, set up the batting cage, and played a mean game of volleyball. We also had family pictures taken and Whitney and Kevin blessed their little Finley. 

 The batting cage was a big hit. I think I recall my mom beating my dad on this one!

You put together a great weekend Mom and Dad!! Hopefully the next time we are all together is sooner than later! It could be tricky with us now living on the other side of the world, but I'm crossing my fingers.

He's Three!

Happy Birthday to the cutest three-year-old on the block!!