Baltimore with Daniel and Luke's Families

Luke called days before Thanksgiving and invited me out to Atlanta via a buddy pass. I got there in time to drive with them from Atlanta to Baltimore to spend the long weekend with Daniel and Dalynn's family.

The day after Thanksgiving we drove out to the countryside to pickout a Christmas Tree.

At the Christmas Tree Farm

The kids had a lot of fun, but I think the dads may have had more...

Dalynn cheers Luke and Daniel on as they heft the tree up on Daniel's rig.

They did it!

I stayed with Daniel and Dalynn's family for over a week in which I was able to spend a few days in Washington DC thanks to Dalynn lending me her car! I was able to do a session at the DC temple one day. I went to the Middle-Singles Ward and a few of their activities.

One hightlight was an afternoon spent with the girls at the Museum of Natural History. I got to see the Hope Diamond and did lots of walking.

One afternoon Dalynn and the girls took me out to see Gettysberg, a place I had never seen before. This is a picture in the front of the Museum with Lincoln.

One of the best parts of the trip was time with nieces and nephews. They are so cute and growing ever so fast!

Noah climbs the girls bunkbeds.

Karly shows me Gweneviere's picture in her school (back in Atlanta).

Berry smiles for the camera.

Back at Will & Jenni's

I made a second trip to Washington this summer; this time to help out with the "last days" of Jenni's pregnancy. There's not a whole lot of news to share but we'll send pictures as soon as the little fellow arrives - sometime this week.

I'm still shopping for a car and am even more confused. I thought maybe I'd find something here in Seattle since there's more cars to choose from, but I may be taking the bus back to Idaho Falls after all, which is fine. That's what I've planned all along. It's just if I did find something, that would be great too.

Fancy isn't going to happen. Inexpensive makes me scratch my head. I think I might be interested in something and then I wake up the next morning feeling blah. I just want something that runs well, won't zero out the bank account and is reasonably enjoyable to drive for the next ten years. I've scoured Autotrader, Kelly Blue Book, Craigslist, KSL and more. Help!

Visiting Will & Jenni

In June I headed over to the family reunion early and spent a few day with Will, Jenni and Preston at their place in Seattle.

My nephew Preston was a lot of fun to play with. He's a growing one year old with a little toddle left in his step. I was amazed at how much his language grew in just a few days. "Oh, my goodness." He picked up on my expression overnight and had us all laughing.

One day we took a trip to Camano Island to see Ron and Carolyn Southworth (Jenni's parents) and Ron's art show, in which he was awarded "Best in Show" among other accolades.

Check out his website! http://www.ronsouthworth.com/

In the afternoon we took a trip to the beach. Preston was fascinated with his stick and Will (my brother) took him out farther into what we later learned is quick sand. What boy wouldn't love to have these kind of adventures with his dad? I always knew Will would make a great father. He's also a loving husband, which is tender to watch.

I got to listen to Jenni while she was composing a score for an independent film. I'll just say there's a lot of detail involved. She was doing all this while coming in at the eight month pregnancy mile marker.

http://www.jenniferthomasmusic.com/