Christmas Time

We had a really good Christmas season. We spent a lot of time with friends and did the #lighttheworld advent set up by the church which was a perfect addition to our Christmas traditions. It was the first advent that I was legitimately excited about. What a better way to spend December than in acts of service. It was perfect.

We went to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue which just made us all miss Disneyland

We walked around the Botanical Gardens in Bellevue and looked at lights which ended up being like a 400 meter worth so good thing we went on a free night

We walked around downtown looking at displays including a HP gingerbread house display. This was super awesome, but rumor has it that some people were standing in line for up to TWO HOURS!!! Ridiculous!! We only waited about 10 minutes other wise we would have gone home. but all that aside, these houses were INSANE!!!

Andy visited us for about 36 hours but it was so refreshing to have him here. He literally played with the girls for about 30 hours and then we ran to look at the troll under the bridge and the Ballard Locks. Lucky for Andy, it POURED the whole time he was here but he was brave and ventured out with a smile on his face. It was SO good to have him here. Maybe next time he comes it will be sunny. No promises. I hear the sun doesn't come out until like July

 I really loved how the Christmas decorations looked this year. We keep saying that one day we will get a bigger tree but I don't know if we ever will. We kind of love our tiny tree now. I literally can hug it, but I love it

One of our #lighttheworld service activities was to hang the Christmas lights up for Ethan. It was very simple and I can't say that it changed his day but he had been meaning to hang them up for weeks and just never had time so Kelsey and I decided to surprise him. Not gonna lie, it was one of the funnest things I have ever done with Kelsey. It was hilarious as we were hanging from the house posts trying to get these lights around them with just a chair and her four year old arms. A neighbor even stopped to laugh at us. It was a lot of fun. Well, we got all the lights up and were really proud to surprise Ethan. We plugged them in and TA DAH!!! The middle strand didn't work. I burst out laughing so hard. I didn't fix it all winter so we always had a missing strand. Sometimes it would kick on but most of the time it didn't. It was kind of hilarious.

One day the fog was creeping up over the houses and it looked like the fog in Hunger Games. It was fun to watch it roll in.

The girls ALWAYS want to eat our food. It is a total no for me but Ethan gives in a little easier. I have to say though, I'm glad he did becasue these pictures turned out awesome (and they ate tons of soup so win win)

Cute right?!

Cute right?!

The sun came out so we ran out

Bainbridge Island

One rainy Saturday we had nothing to do so we decided to hop on a Ferry and head to Bainbridge Island. It was something we wanted to do at one point and we figured this was as good a time as any. We left around 10 and planned to be home around 3:30.

We left in a such a hurry. I grabbed a few snacks, packed the girls some clothes, and we were able to catch the 10:30 ferry. Getting on the ferry was exciting and smooth. I-90 essentially ends at the ferry dock and I've never been on a ferry so it was fun to drive up onto it and then go up onto the deck. Its scary for me, but I love doing new things. It makes me feel much cooler than I actually am.

The ride over was about 35 minutes and luckily the rain had stopped so we were able to go out on the deck more comfortably.

Once we got to the island we actually drove to a little town called Paulsbo. It is a little Norwegian looking town (because I would know) right on the coast of whatever body of water they are on. To be totally honest, I never know what water Seattle and its surrounding areas are touching. I know there is the Sound and I know there is the coast, but we are not on the coast and there are so many inlets and things that I get super confused. Its all really pretty though.
This town was really cute though. It was all decked out for Christmas and not very crowded. There was a little Santa house where Santa sat and you could go inside and sit on his lap. Best part: no line! He literally just sat in this little shack in the middle of the sidewalk for people to walk in and out of. It was awesome. There was also a horse drawn sleigh free of charge and trees everywhere. We had so much fun.
We went into this bakery that served doughnuts the size of my face and then walked along the water before the rain came.

There was a cool walk around the "lake" but the stairs all led to the water. It was kind of creepy

 

I hate doughnuts and I am never tempted by them. they just destroy my stomach and I am over feeling terrible. However, we bought this and Ethan was like, "Cami, you HAVE to try this." I am not one to exaggerate, so you know how serious I am when I say that this hands down, was literally THE BEST doughnut in the whole world. It was like doughy crack topped with gold sprinkled with rainbows and happiness. It was amazing. I mean, yes it still destroyed my stomach almost instantly so I couldn't have a ton, but it was worth every ounce of discomfort.

 

After Paulsbo, we headed over to a really fun beach and threw some rocks in the water. On our way back to the car, there was a GIANT puddle that I knew was going to be trouble. Sure enough, before I could even say stop, the girls were in the middle of this puddle. "Don't worry. they have their boots on," says Ethan. Not 10 minutes later, Madison face plants and instead of standing back up, tries to SWIM her way out of this puddle. Naturally Kelsey thought that was hilarious and started doing cannon balls. Don't get me wrong, it was hilarious and they were having a blast, but it was literally 40 degrees outside!! I don't remember why, but I did have dry clothes in the trunk (including shoes) but if we didn't have those we would have been toast!!

Madison was getting so hyper! It was hilarious

Around 3, we decided to head back so that we wouldn't be late for the 3:45 ferry and this is where all the fun started. We waited in line to board the ferry for 2.5 hours!! We got in line at 3:15 for the 3:45 ferry and didn't get on a ferry until 5:45!! It was insane. The poor workers kept apologizing explaining that a couple ferry's had emergency's so they had to leave early etc. but it was awful. Luckily, we had a few snacks and since you park and wait for the ferry, the girls were able to get out of the car and run around. It was nuts. Had we known we would have driven all the way around because it would have taken just as long.
We bought some tots at the cafeteria to hold the girls over once we finally got on board and seeing Seattle all lit up almost made it  worth it.
We are not anxious to get on the ferry any time soon, but we had such a great day. That is something we definitely will want to show people when they come and visit.

Festival of the Nativity

On December 3rd we went to a stake activity called Festival of the Nativities. It was my favorite Christmas activity I have ever been to in my whole life. We got displaced from our ward building for a couple of weekends but it was totally worth it. The stake puts together this community event for all religions, peoples, and neighborhoods. They gathered as many nativities as they could, turned the auxiliary rooms into scenes from the Saviors life, and then had musical performances of different kinds. Some were reverent and some were more Santa like. It was such a great event. So many people came! There were activities were kids, videos of the Saviors life, and I loved that all around the hall there were questions about Christmas and the Savior. The spirits was so strong. I loved how a community came together to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

At one point we lost Kelsey, and when we found her, this is the scene we found. It was perfect and beautiful.

Zipline Park

It was a sunny day so we thought we would go to the new park at the lake. I don't remember the name, but we call it zip line park because it has a super cool zipline that the girls LOVED!! Even Madison tried the zipline and did really well. They were so cute and so brave.
The park itself was also really cool. It is completely Washington themed and had super cool toys. I know we will be going to this park lots and lots in the summer. It is really close to the beach. I can't wait for summer to come.