Northwest Retreat

Some things never change. I had a lot of nostolgic moments on my trip to Seattle last week. I relished the rare opportunity to return to the places I grew up in. One place that brought back a lot of memories was the Sumner Food Center. Troy & I and sometimes Melody would trek about 4 blocks down the road from where we lived to spend our berry pickin' money on candy and gum. Ahhh the simple days of youth. Other notable changes - there are 2 more homes built on the lot of my childhood home (in addition to our home!) and my middle school is now a shipyard (sans ships) by the railroad... so I suppose other things do, in fact, change.

One new change in the scenery - our dear friends..... 'the Wellborns' are now happily nestled in a super cool tucked away home on the shore of a lake in Black Diamond. I was able to snap a pic of Aaron and Michele with their newest peanut: Jane. I've always known Aaron as a perpetual student - so it was a bit surreal to see him putting his dreams into reality with his dental practice getting it's roots in Issaquah. Aaron has always been talented - but it was impressive to see all his hard work realized. He even gave me a very snappy cleaning! Thanks for the polish Aaron! I have missed my beautiful and talented friend Michele. We reminisced about how difficult it is to find couples to date - and what a perfect match we were for each other - long lost loves.... the theme of the day. Baby Jane is posing with her big sister Macy and her big brother Isaac. And then in all her glory - Maddie was in rare form after her Suessical Musical practice.... I remember when she was so so small! It's so cool to see Madeline sharing the same theatrical love as her mom. And as you can see from the picture - she's as silly fun as her dad.

Of course, the main purpose of my visit was to see my beautiful, fantanbulous, incredible niece Amber in her Miss Auburn pageant. Amber looked amazing in her red gown she wore for her talent, and you can see her brother Johnathan dressed up so nicely for the event! Little sister Sammie was a diligent score keeper - sure to be a future judge! I'm just so glad she sat by me and brought some contraband: Chocolate. Sammie, incidentally, has allowed me to officially adopt her as my niece - lucky me - she's wonderful, and we share a love for Ivar's clam chowder. Just as I was sure Justin was invisible, he appeared in time for a few noogies from a long since seen Looney Aunt. Justin recently finished basic training and is fixin' to be a brave defender of our country in Iraq by June. And it was really wonderful to catch up and spend time with their incredible mother Jane. There were many memories shared, jokes told, and plentiful hugs. It was a serendipitous occurance that I missed my flight home and was able to indulge in one more day with my nieces and nephews as we spent a relaxed and casual Sunday watching the superbowl and wrestling with Julie's (Jane's sister) son Brandon.... what a cutie! Who knew my little lego keychains could bring such joy to a little boy. I just had to keep clear of his wet willies - quite a precocious 4 yr old - just like I like 'em. Overall I was just so touched by the warm welcome I had, and really proud of what wonderful young adults my nephews and nieces have grown into. I love Amber's fiery independence, Johnathan's social sensitivity and passion for the culinary arts, Justin's love for gaming, friends and rock concerts, and Sammie's generous frienship and her not so girly competitive athletisism - and of course our shared love of food! Thanks to Ken for keeping things steady and rolling along at home so I could enjoy an amazing and unforgettable retreat. Can't wait to return!