Sleepless in Seattle

I really was Sleepless in Seattle because I was having so much fun. I left Grand Cayman Thursday morning of last week and flew into Seattle Thursday evening. I look forward to my annual trip to my favorite city every March with my dad and brother, but this year was especially exciting because my entire family was meeting me there. My Uncle Eddie, my mom's brother, picked me up from the airport. My aunt and cousin Marc had dinner waiting when we got home. After that we went shopping at the Seattle outlets. I was so excited to be in real stores with real brands!

Highlight: My aunt and uncle bought David a pair of tennis shorts from the Nike outlet. They haven't even met him yet, but they are the most generous people in the world and will do anything for anyone. I was in line to purchase them and they insisted on buying them for him. Every year my aunt takes me to her closet and pulls out new clothing, purses, shoes that she bought for herself and gives them to me!

The next day my family came into town. My mom, dad, and Emerald all drove in one car and Asialene, Davis, and the girls drove in another. We drove to the Seattle temple and took pictures outside. It was freezing cold. Don't you just love my dad's outfit? He loves turtle necks during the winter. It cracks me up.

Highlight: Makenna always trying to be like Savanna. She copies everything "Gaga" does. When we were taking a group picture Savanna took off her jacket right before the picture was taken becuase she said she was hot. Immediately after, Makenna started taking hers off and as she was saying she was hot too.

Every year My dad, Simon, and I eat at Ivars on the water. They have the best clam chowder in the world. We grew up coming to this place, so it was a treat having the entire family there.

This picture was taken two years ago. I thought it was so funny that my dad is making the same pose and the same face. He is hilarious! An interesting note about this picture is that this was the day David and I met on the bus. It was St. Patrick's day of 2006. So, several hours before this picture was taking I was meeting my future husband for the first time!

On Saturday morning after more shopping at the outlets, we had lunch at Uncle Eddie's house. Simon, Emerald, and I played Marc's old nintendo. We used to play nintendo all the time at his house. I was really surprised to see how much I remembered. I mean we remembered tiny little details about the game, where the mushrooms were, which tunnels to go into, etc. It makes me wonder what more important things could be taking space in my brain than silly nintendo games!

Highlight: My mom opening up a huge box of goodies that she brought from the Philippines. She left the box at their house because she knew we could just take it home with us a couple weeks later. She brought back probably ten pairs of shoes for the girls. They had a ball trying on all the shoes and different outfits. It was cute to watch Savanna helping Makenna buckle her shoes and then saying with a stern voice, "You better have Mommy do this because you aren't being very still." She's like a little mother to Makenna. It's so cute.

Here is a picture of all of the siblings. These are matching shirts our mom brought us girls from the Philippines.

Highlight: Simon singing "Love at Home" when Emerald and I were arguing.

That night was the auction. My dad did a great job and raised a lot of money for the Anacortes Youth Sports Coalition. This group has this auction every year to raise money for the youth sports in the area. They sell over 400 items in a huge variety of things. There were things such as paintings, a trip to Cabo, Mexico, to a bunch of signed sports memorabilia. It ended up being a really fun night. My mom and Asialene met up with ustoward the end of the night.

Highlight: Watching my dad auction and seeing him so happy. Also, it was really funny when I went to say hi to Asialene and my mom when they had just arrived and Asialene said, "Is Daddy going to embarrass me? He's waving at us," and immediately after my dad announced their arrival and made them stand up as he introduced them in front of hundreds of people.

It was nice spending Easter Sunday with everyone, although it was quite different since we weren't actually at any of our houses. We had a little easter egg hunt for the girls in the hotel rooms and then went to our old ward. We saw so many people that we have known for years. My family lived in that ward for 25 years, so we made some great friends. It's nice to go back and see that so many things have not changed much.

Highlight: When Savanna and Makenna were looking for their eggs Makenna hit her head. She got embarrassed and ran to Savanna and hugged her. Any time she is embarrassed or sad she'll run over and hug Savanna as tight as she can. It's the most adorable thing.

Simon flew back to Pennsylvania that morning and my parents, Emerald, and I left for Utah early Monday morning. Asialene, Davis, and the girls stayed in Seattle for a little while longer so Davis could see his mission president Monday evening. I enjoyed the long drive back to Utah with my mom, dad, and sister. It was nice spending that time with them.

On Tuesday morning I was able to get a quick glimpse of the happiest place on earth: Brigham Young University. Chelsea and Natalie met up with me for a quick visit and I was so happy to see both of them. I roomed with Natalie my freshman year at BYU and then shared a room with Chelsea my junior year. Hopefully when we come back to finish our last year at school the two girls will still be around Provo because it would not be the same without them. I was also able to see Chanel for a few minutes, although we didn't get a picture. She is still the same Chanel that we all love- she was even wearing a vintage BYU t-shirt. I went to see her at the Joseph Smith Building where she works as a TA for Susan Easton Black.

Highlight: As Chanel was walking me out the buildling we noticed that someone left a ziplock baggie of delicious banana bread that had not been touched. She picked up the bag, started eating, and offered me a piece. It was the funniest thing. I am so thankful for great friends.

Later that afternoon we went to the Provo temple. My parents, Emerald, and I all went together and it was wonderful. I hadn't been since last summer and I was missing it so much. Living so far from a temple really does help us realize how much we need it in our lives. I was so thankful for this experience.

Right after the temple we stopped by Asialene's house to say bye. Then my parents and Em dropped me off at the airport. Saying goodbye is hard enough, but the whole airport atmosphere makes it even worse! It is almost like you are doomed to cry when you walk into the building. But, all good things do come to an end including my Easter weekend with my family. It was such a blessing to have had the chance to spend time with all of them at once. I will see them again soon, so that brings a lot of comfort. I also found comfort in the fact that I was coming back to my husband in Grand Cayman. I was missing him the entire time. I can truly say that I am not complete without him!

Here is a video clip of the auction last year. Simon is auctioning a bit and so is my dad. You can hear us yelling, "Yep!" at every bid. It's kind of funny. Watching my dad as an auctioneer is one of the biggest treats. I feel like he is famous when he's up there on the stand. He is so good at what he does. It would be extremely hard to be an auctioneer. Not only does he have to talk fast, but he definitely has to think fast as he remembers what bid he's on and how much to go up or down. He also has to remember where the bid is at out of hundreds of people. As usual, Simon auctioned off a few items and did a great job. Like father like son!

For all of you Poston Junior high alumni... I have a special treat coming on my next post. My mom and I stumbled across home videos from our chorus concerts. They are hilarious (and quite embarrassing!). Anyway, I might just have to show them next week so that you all can get a good laugh. My mom and I were laughing so hard! So, Stay tuned :).