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It's good to be back in the U.S.A. On my first trip to Walmart I was nearly grabbing strangers in the aisles to tell them how CHEAP food is! A huge bag of mini-wheats for $4?  A gallon of milk for under $2? 18 eggs for $1.92?? What?!!!  And we live in the cutest townhome right now courtesy of my cousin Jake & his darling wife Jenna for about half of what we were paying for our shoebox in NZ. Don't get me wrong, my heart is still soft for NZ and there's no way to replace our dear friends there. But it's also good to be back on American Soil.


We took the long way home, starting in LA to party with my mom at Disneyland...

we LOVE Luvie

We then drove to Vegas to drop off our stuff and catch a flight to Washington to see Aja & co...

we first stopped in Bellingham to smell the flowers then headed to Seattle in the greasel Benz 

 

and spent the day at the Zoo

Eyre pile!

Ana & Cam being good helpers

Ruthie being a handful!

On Saturday we hiked in the rain to a waterfall in Olympic National Park ending with a tasty picnic and my last jump during this pregnancy.

we also shivered & played at the Dungeness Bay Beach

admired Aja's growing livestock

went costume crazy

 enthusiastically helped Aja & Jonah install their fancy new kitchen on Jonah's birthday

and partied it up with 'Sloppy Jonah's' & one of Aja's fabulous b-day cakes

We were really sad when our 5 days were up. We love being with these guys.

Leg #3 was a visit to Sloan's sister, Erin, in Bellevue. She has 6 great kids and Ruthie has a special affinity for Gwen. When Ruthie first saw her at the ferry terminal, she asked her "will you be my friend?" Gwen said yes and from then on Ruthie affectionately called her "friend".

Jumping with Gwen, Ren, Julia and Marco

Seattle Aquarium with Erin & Ren. Ruthie was a wreck...

but the octopus was lots of fun!

She was swimming all over, darting back and forth and letting her legs curl & uncurl. She was incredible. 

Our last day, Erin treated us to a date to The Underground Tour of downtown Seattle. They guide you through the original streets/sidewalks 30 feet below the current streets, and give you all the history. Very interesting! After the tour, we explored Pike's Place Market and made it home in time for a delicious dinner by chef Erin and visited Aunt Julie & cousin Jenye in Redmond. A whilrwind of a visit! Too short.

(for his sister, not me. shame.)

Next stop: Reno for cousin Jacqui's wedding. It was a fun 2-day visit with the Fegert side but sadly no photos. 
I did remember to get my camera out on the drive from Reno to Orem though bc we stopped at my childhood playground in Lovelock, NV...

We lived here when I was 4 - 5 1/2. That slide is the last of the original playground equipment. It was all too familiar!

Here's our old house (yes, a trailer... but as my mom will proudly tell you, "it's a double-wide!")

we lucked out with a Cinco de Mayo carnival in Wendover for dinner

the tacos were the real deal and we loved the weird playground

And now we're settled in Orem for the next 2 1/2 months while Sloan works construction in Lehi and I just get to hang out with Ruthie-girl. Here we are at Gpa & Gma's in Provo

So things have slowed WAY down for me, which is good. I've needed this time to get re-acquainted with Ruthie and focus more on her for a while. I don't know how well she likes it though... today at lunch she said "Mom, you are frus - ter - a - ting." (bc I wouldn't let her run around between bites) Ha! Don't encourage me child.