Forks Day One

Well, our trip is officially over. It was a beautiful 4 days. We started at 2:30 in the morning on Friday. Yes, you read that right, 2:30. My threat worked and Brandy and Jermaine and Sadie all made into the car. Little did they know, I totally told them we had to leave 30 minutes before we actually did (well I guess they know now). So I wasn't panicking when we when got started at 3:45am instead of 3:30, I knew we were good if we left at 4. Which was lucky considering we needed a 7-11 stop before we were 1 mile on the road :). We got to the airport with plenty of time. Baggage check was fun, right Brandy. She accidentally left a water bottle in her carry on. I know they have to be serious, but smile a little people! So we go on our 6:45 flight to Cleveland. It was a teeny plane, but my first flight in 14 years. We were finally on our way!!!!

The sun rising on the East Coast!

All of my worrying and fretting about late planes and lost luggage were for nothing. Our connecting flight was just enough time to grab a bite to eat and get in line. This plane was huge and packed! Our seat mate was nice enough, though. We made the poor man move three different times to use the restroom.

On the plane to Seattle! Thankful I remembered to turn off the flash.

The time changes and current times were weird. It felt like it was MUCH longer than the stated time. Plus we were hungry and antsy to get going. (me very much) We did have to wait at Hertz for our car (to be fair they did offer to upgrade) but we were slightly annoyed that our car was not ready when we booked it nine months previous. However, it all worked out. The car (Lola) was awesome and had a great GPS (Lilly) to go along with Brandy's Iphone (Sophie) We were not getting lost!

Lunch at Vince's in Seattle

After a stop for lunch we were feeling better. I got a Caprise Salad, it was yummy! Brandy had to find some coffee (I was getting rather antsy at this point) I did feel badly that we flew across the country and into the coffee capital of the US and she had to go to a Starbucks in a grocery store. But finally, we were on our way!!! We were tired, but excited. We followed Lilly's instruction to the ferry. I've never been on a ferry, so I was excited. We missed several time slots and were hopeful we would make this one. There was ONE car in front of us and then the line stopped moving. We thought we had missed it, but no, they just hadn't started loading yet. We had made it and were on our way!!!

Entrance to the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry.

We were able to get out and walk around. The thing was huge, tons of seating, but it was the decks we were heading for! The air was so clean and cool (ie, freezing) but it was so refreshing after the horrible humid summer we had.

Did I mention it was windy?

Heading there!

 The trip was short but gave us the refresher we needed to finish the last leg of our 3,143 miles journey. After getting off the ferry, we past a dozen "cute little coffee shops" and finally stopped in New Townsend. She coffeed up and I guzzled a mix in. This town was the start of something new. Politeness! The Seattle people were nice, but these people were over the top! It was so amazing. So after that detour, we headed along down 101 through Port Angeles! We were giddy at this point! We were getting close. Then the magic happened! We made a curve in the road and suddenly were alongside a lake! The most beautiful, serene, green lake I'd ever seen. After trying to get a dozen pictures out the window, we found a turn out and stopped.

Lake Crescent.

I even took a video of this place without narrative, just to capture it's beauty. Just amazing, so still, so quiet. We stayed here on the side of the road reveling in the peace. This was just a teaser of the peace that was awaiting us in Forks. We also got some really cool shots of the mountains on the drive.

Somewhere between Kingston and Forks.

Finally we see the turn off for FORKS!

We screamed like, well, girls. We found it pretty funny that as we headed to "the rainiest place in the continental US" that the sun would be shining.

Sun setting in the West Coast.

Then we saw the lights, those horrible blue lights. We were getting pulled over coming off the mountain. I was digging out the registration, she was finding her ID. Then we meet him, the nicest police officer ever! He tells us (in a slight Canadian accent) That we were going 10 over and "that's not too bad." He wanted us to be safe on our journey "Wow, you're from Maryland" "Are you here for the Twilight thing?" "Where are you staying?" "Oh, they are the nicest people, you were lucky to get a room there this weekend." "Now, calm down, I'm not writing you a ticket, I wouldn't want to ruin your weekend, I just want you to stay safe." And we were off. see I told you these people were amazingly nice. Brandy wouldn't let me get a picture of his car. :)

About five minutes later, we see it!

Forks Welcomes US!!!!

Courtes of nice man.

 We stop, run up the hill giggling all the way. We take each others pictures. A guy stops asks us if we want our picture taken together. He says he wants his too. He said he was just on the way through and wanted to make a friend jealous. I didn't believe him. However, it was so nice to be doing something Twilight related without getting those looks. :) We found our B&B The Miller Tree Inn also known as The Cullen House, without a problem.

Our innkeepers Bill and Susan greeted us at the door with smiles. Took our bags to our room. We came back downstairs and saw all the amenities of this fabulous place. It was decorated for Bella's Birthday.

Happy 19th Birthday Bella, again.

People sent them these caps to make this, like in the movie.

Our room, all the way at the top.

I was very excited to meet Pocket Edward. He has a blog at The Cullen House. I've been following it since I knew we would be staying here. 

 

We then made a dash for dinner at the only Mexican place. It was really good.

Our mini fridge was stocked a few drinks, but Brandy wanted wine and I wanted water, so went to Thriftway! Which is next door to Forks Outfitters! Just like in the book.

And after a 20 hour trip, I crashed, which is a good thing, because oh, what the next day would bring. :)

FORKS!!!

So I've been back for a week and I swear everyday that I'll blog. It's so hard. My camera didn't load in order for some reason, so I have to sift through ONE THOUSAND AND FORTY EIGHT photos to upload. I'll get to it, I promise. I leave you with my link to Brandy's Blog about the first day of our trip. Forks Day One!

Little Miss' First Birthday!

My first pink cake.

We had a birthday party for Little Miss on Sunday. It's the first first birthday we've have in 4 years. Also the first girl's party I've ever had! We had a great time. A few friends, lots of kids, and gobs of pink. I can't post pictures with her face, but here's a few others.

pink and brown!

Princess High Chair.

The porch!

Some of the kiddos!

:)

Jackson saying grace!

Present time.

The birthday crew, this is only three families!

She loved this blankey!

The 'small' toy a friend had for her...hmmm

 

Women of Faith Conference, Over The Top!

A group of 26 women from Newington went to Women of Faith this past weekend. It was held in Washington D.C. at the same time as the Restore America Rally. It was crowded. :) We got up way to early on Friday and drove into Maryland and took the metro into D.C.

It was an incredible time. Being surrounded by 20,000 women and listening to amazing speakers. There were wonderful stories, fantastic music, lots of tears, lots of laughs, and lots of walking.

I couldn't tell you any one moment that was better than the other. It was just incredible. Mandisa and Steven Curtis Chapman had me in tears. Patsy Clairmont and Anita Renfroe had me in fits of laughter. The women we were traveling with made it all even better.

There are a few stories to tell though. First, during one of the breaks, they aired a video clip for World Vision. It was an amazing story about a woman who sponsored a little girl and after 8 years, actually got to go to Africa and meet the family. It was tear jerking (and was half the weekend). So I decided to 'just go look' at the table for World Vision. There were a few tables and a few people walking around with kids photos. I had a small stack in my hand and there was a lady next to me looking. She flashed a little boy's photo at me and said "isn't he cute?" I replied "yes, he is" and went back to my pile. I looked back at his photo one more time and noticed his birthday. (the lady was looking at him and another boy). His birthday was July 13th! My birthday!!! I literally took him out of her and and said "he has my birthday!" She said "Well, I guess he's yours then." So we are now sponsoring Nicholas from Colombia.

Second story. Brandy thought it would be fun to meet up on Friday night after the conference for coffee or just to hang out for a minute. She was in D.C. for her orientation to seminary! So we did. At 10pm after the conference Elisabeth, Brandy, Jermaine, and I wandered D.C. to Brandy's coffee shop place. I had water. Then they decided that it would be better for us to take the metro to their car and then would drive us back to the hotel. Hmmm...good plan in theory. Sadly Brandy's handy dandy Iphone 4 didn't like Jermaine and sent us on a tour of D.C. I felt so badly for Elisabeth 26 week pregnant and going on 24 hours of no sleep.

So at 1:45am we finally laid down to sleep. Only to have to get up at 6 for another full day of the conference and a 3 hour drive home. (sorry Elisabeth!) However, it was fun to see them. BUT, Brandy and I are only 10 days away from seeing each other again for our Forks, WA trip.

So that was that. It was great, a wonderful experience, that I totally plan on doing again next year. So here's to an "Over the Top" year!!!!

9 years and counting.

Yesterday was our 9th anniversary. I had plans for a year by year photo blog. But the three little boys we've created in those 9 years took my attention! :) My wonderful hubby brought home flowers, chocolates and two books. The books are touring NYC books. We have been trying to decide what to do for our 10 year anniversary next year. I wanted NYC, he wanted something more beachy or hiking. I've only been to NYC once with my mom. I loved it. The teeny part of me that is single and childless is such a city girl!!! That part has never been allowed toexist (and I pray it never is)...however, I love the city. So the books were his gift to me for next year! NYC for our 10th anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I so excited.  Also, the red card sang our wedding song! "I Could Not Ask For More!" So cool.

We did go out this year though. Since we have been foster parents (a year tomorrow) we haven't been out alone. We had to have an approved sitter with our first placement and just never got around to it. With this county, we just have to trust the person. So my amazing friend Charity watched the kids at our house yesterday. We went to dinner at Red Lobster and giggled the whole way through.

We then went over to LifeWay book store. I love bookstores, but can't take kids. I just zone in them. I love browsing and deciding! I was sitting on the floor at one point with a pile of books. The lady from the store looked a little concerned. :) When we finally left, it was dark. We looked at each other, then at the clock. We had been in there for an hour and 15 minutes. It felt like minutes!

That was all. A great, much needed, night with my favorite person in the world. I have loved every minute of the last 9 years. We've been so blessed, so happy, and together! :)