Seattle and Sand Hollow

Two weeks ago Justin and I went to Seattle to visit his family. We were able to do a lot of things with his family while we were there. We flew out of Las Vegas at 5:30 on Tuesday night and Jon picked us up from the airport around 8:00. The next morning he and his wife Laura had work so we drove Jon to work and then took his car to see Snoqualmie Falls. It was overcast that morning and a wonderful break from the 105 degree heat we've been having. Justin and I were able to snap a few shots of us with the falls. I like having a 3rd wheel someone like James or Keaton to tag along because then they can be the designated picture-taker with the promise to take their picture in return. I used to always do that on geology field trips: "You take a picture of me and I'll take a picture of you." sort of deal.

After Snoqualmie Falls we explored the cute town of Snoqualmie and grabbed some hot chocolate and a mini coconut creme pie to split at lunch. Then we went to Coulon Beach and enjoyed looking out at the water and watching families feed the birds pieces of bread. We drove back to Puyallup to Jon and Laura's house to do our Insanity workout. We waited around until it was time to pick up Jon from work. We headed to Tacoma and explored the famous glass art exhibits and checked out the yachts on the water. Jon drove us to Target to kill time until dinner, and then we met the whole family in Gig Harbor for Lunchbox Laboratory. They do all sorts of burger creations there which we certainly loved. We split an almond joy milkshake too: yum! From there we traveled with Justin's parents to stay the night at their house.

Thursday we all took the Ferry and headed into Seattle for the day. We hit the Pacific Science Center which was AMAZING. There were kids everywhere. They say they see up to 1,000 kids a day between all the field trips. We watched a documentary in the IMAX theater on coral reefs. We explored the butterfly exhibit and pretty much everything else the place had to offer. We made an appointment for a chocolate tour at Theo's Chocolate which allowed us to sample as much chocolate as we wanted. It was surprisingly informative and enjoyable! We drove back to the ferry after that and made our way home. Justin's parents got us all Subway while Justin and I exercised and then we played games late into the night.

Friday Jon and Laura had work off so we met together at Point Defiance for lunch and then hit the zoo! Justin and I went with Joe while his parents, Jon and Laura went the other direction. My favorite animals were the walrus and the elephant. The walrus were HUGE - much bigger than I realized - and they were showing off for us by doing fun turns in the water. Similar story for the elephants: we got to see them while a zoo keeper told us about their stories and one of them showed us one of her old circus moves. They were fun. That night we all had dinner at Jon and Laura's. I made pasta salad and watched Clara so the family could play Seven Wonders. Justin's parents headed back and we stayed there for the night.

Saturday we played soccer golf which was so fun! A golf course in Lakewood has a soccer golf course attached to it, meaning for every hole of golf, there is a hole for soccer golf on the same patch of green. It's golf, but with soccer! Different holes would have par 3, 4, or 5. Justin ended up with the best score after 18 holes. This was my favorite part of the trip! The weather was fabulous! That night we had dinner again at Jon's house but we also had the Hunters join us and we got to try out Jon's new game Werewolf. It's like mafia on steroids - Justin and I played in in college with our frisbee friends back before we were dating. We drove back to Silverdale with Justin's parents that night.

Sunday we went to church, then played games and had lunch until it was time to go to the airport. We landed in Las Vegas around 8:00 PM and my friend Rachel picked us up. This was the longest visit to date and we were blessed with amazing company and Washington summer weather. It was good to see so much green after so much desert.

This past weekend Justin and I decided we wanted to go camping so I made a reservation at Sand Hollow. I camped there on a geology field trip two years ago. It is all sand and it has a reservoir, so we were looking forward to some fun in the water! We arrived at our campsite around 4:00 PM and it was WINDY. We tried setting up camp but with the wind we bagged it and just headed to the reservoir. After swimming around for a few minutes it became apparent that the 50 mph wind gusts were not going anywhere. We planned to make a fire to cook our dinner: that wasn't happening in this wind. We also had Justin's two-man tent to sleep in: good luck staking that down in the sand with the wind. As the wind continuously blew grains of sand into our eyes we decided camping would be miserable... so we bagged it! Instead of driving home we decided to have an adventure in St. George! We hot a room at the Ramada, explored the strip mall nearby and had sushi at the Ninja Sushi and Steakhouse restaurant. That night Justin enjoyed watching hockey and soccer in our room. #nocable

Saturday we headed home after some continental breakfast. Saturday we had amazing weather. The high was only 90 degrees! We got home at 11:00 AM and after we put everything away we hit the pool at our clubhouse and then had a BBQ that evening with the camping food we didn't eat. We went to the park and played a few games together and then tossed the disc around and went for a walk. It was heavenly! We went to How to Train Your Dragon 2 that night: I didn't love it. The first one will always have a special place in my heart, though.

Today I gave the lesson in Relief Society on the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood which I supplemented with Elder Oaks's most recent Priesthood Session General Conference talk "The Power and Authority of the Priesthood." By using both I was able to clear up a lot of misconceptions concerning women with the priesthood. We had a great discussion even though we were hurting in numbers (there were about 10 other ladies plus me).

With today being father's day I have a lot to be grateful for. I have the most amazing father! I am so blessed to call Seth Beal my dad. I am so proud to be a part of the Seth and Shelley Beal clan! We have an amazing heritage; it encourages me to live up to where I come from. Dad is the most humble person I know, and he is by far the smartest and the wisest. Honestly, words don't do him justice. He's simply amazing. Happy Father's Day Dad! You're the best.