The Murray Family: Washington!

Better late than never (I hope you agree) and although this post is very late, I'm excited to finally write about our fun and exciting trip to Washington this summer.

First, we had some excitement (AKA drama) as we drove up to my parents' house in Richland. Our car, which we had just gotten major mechanical work done on, was running weird--slow to accelerate, jumpy tachometer, etc. About 10 miles west of Burley, ID, it stopped. We thought we had run out of gas as the gas light doesn't work and we rely on the tripometer to fill up. We were just considering jumping the barbed wire fence to talk to a farm house when a ID State police officer came up behind us. He took Michael into town and brought him back with a gallon of gas. But the car still wouldn't start. We ended up calling a tow truck and getting towed to a mechanic. A very nice, honest man who gave me some hope for the gild. It turns out our distributor was missing a bolt, which caused it to come detached from the engine. Thus, our car died. After a quick bolt replacement, (and a lighter wallet) we were on our way again.

I was very excited to give my neices Madeleine and Lydia the tutus I had made for them. They were super easy to make and since both my nieces are girly-girls, I had high hopes for their approval. I wasn't disappointed. They loved them, and it was so fun to see them running around in them. We also brought our nephew Asher a BYU ball as a sort of we-love-you-too-even-though-I-didn't-make-you-anything gift. He loved it too, so it all worked out wonderfully. (It probably helped that he's inherited his mom and dad's obsession with BYU.)

Lydia, modeling her tutu

Maddie, being a ballerina

Asher, showing off his BYU ball (thank you cheerleader hat threw it right to Michael)

Relaxing after FHE

Lydia on the slide

During the week that Michael and I stayed with my parents, we took Madeleine to Swim Lessons and Lydia to the park while we waited. Lydia, who will turn two soon, definitely has the strongest personality of any child I have ever met of that age. She knows what she wants and goes for it. We were kept busy running around after her from slide to swing to bridge to tunnel and all over again. Don't even get me started on her reaction when another little boy though he could have a turn on the swing. (And no, she did not want me to hold her doll so she wouldn't fall off the playground.)

What you don't know is she is actually reaching for her doll
that I stole in order to get her to look at me :-)

Laughing at Uncle Michael

Maddie "being pretty" after swimming lessons

Maddie "helping" me make cookies at Grandmas

On one of the nice summer nights we were there, we had a barbecue at a nice park by the Columbia River. Emma's the only one that actually went swimming (except for Teddy Bear). The rest of us spent more time talking, cooking and eating.

Teddy Bear

The Columbia... and Hannah and Emma

Tinker Bell (Italian Greyhound)

We also were able to make a trip up to Quincy, town of my childhood and home of my grandpa Ashby. It was nice being back on the farm. My brother-in-law Paul brought his remote control car and he and Michael had fun using the tractor to make a track for it. It got some good air off some of the jumps they made.
Of course, we also had a cookout and sat around listening to fun stories from Grandpa.

Grandpa Ashby on the tractor

Harry showing off

Talking about the war

Nice view of the jump Michael and Paul made

My younger sister Hannah had EFY in Tacoma, and Michael and I decided (sort of last minute) that we would take her and then spend the might in Anacortes at Michael's parents house. We spent some time in Seattle, visiting the Asian district and the sculpture park before heading up to Anacortes. The traditional Anacortes activities (kayaking, sailing and beach bonfire) had to be packed into one day, but we did it, and had a fabulous time.