For Christmas Break 2014 we headed up to the Seattle area! Steve used the rest of his vacation days for the year and had enough to take 2 full weeks off! It was so nice to have him around and be surrounded by family for the time that we were up there.
I currently have 3 siblings that live up in Washington (1 in downtown Seattle, 1 in Maple Valley, and 1 in Olympia). My parents decided that since most of the family lives in the west that they would make the drive up to the PNW (Pacific Northwest) with my 3 younger siblings. One of my brothers and his family lives in Boise (1 hour away) and they drove up as well. My sister and her family live in North Carolina and tried really hard to find plane tickets to make it as well, but they were too expensive and they decided to wait and make the trip to Seattle at the beginning of January (they are up there right now). 8 out of the 9 siblings were all together and it was GREAT! The last time 8 of us were together was at Steve and I's wedding in SLC (December 2011). The last time all 9 of us were together was almost 5 years ago.
Steve, Logan, and I left really early on December 23rd and made it to Tacoma, WA around noon. The first place we stayed at was my brother-in-laws (Creed) uncles house. His uncle was out of town on business so a couple of us stayed at their house with my sister and her family. This house was BEAUTIFUL! We thoroughly enjoyed our time staying in this house. We started the night by prepping for Christmas and made Christmas treats and side dishes. I made a couple of batches of Puppy Chow (Muddy Buddies) which is one of my favorites.
My niece (Ella) enjoying some puppy chow!
The boys playing Wii
The girls cooking (in LOVE with this kitchen)
Logan and my sister Holly
The next day (Christmas Eve) we headed up to Steve's parents house in Snohomish (1 hour away from Tacoma) to say hi before we headed up to his Grandpa's house later
Logan with his Aunt Dakota (Steve's step sister)
Passed out on daddy (he looks so kissable right here)!
We then headed up to Marysville (30 minutes away from Steve's parents) to spend Christmas Eve with Steve's Grandpa, Mom, and siblings. It has been a long time since Steve's siblings have all been together on Christmas with his mom.
Logan with Grandma Ticer (Steve's mom)
Logan and Addie were playing with each other during dinner.
Logan and Aunt Stephanie (Steve's sister)
L to R Back: Craig, Grandpa McCasland, Steve, Mark
L to R Front: Tiara, Stephanie, Cerissa, Addie, Me, Logan, Diana, Staci, Violet - Robin (Staci's husband) was taking the picture.
All of Steve's siblings were there, except for Christy. His siblings are in bold.
Logan, Steve, and Grandpa McCasland
Logan opening his 1st Christmas Present! Thanks Diana and Mark, he loves chewing on his Dumbo!
Christmas Day we started our morning by opening presents back at my brother-in-laws uncles house in Tacoma. It was a relaxing morning.
While we were waiting for Creed and Holly to wake up we pretended we had a fireplace and listened to Christmas music.
Logan opening his present from Mom and Dad. He got some plastic blocks!
His other present he got from Santa. It vibrates and rolls around. Now that Logan is getting more mobile he'll inch his way towards it and try to catch it.
Steve really wanted an iPod shuffle to listen to music while he's skateboarding and skiing. He was really happy.
Logan's 1st Christmas!
We then drove down to Olympia to spend the rest of the day with all of my siblings and parents at my brother Shawn's house.
Logan and Aunt Jenna (my younger sister)
My niece Ella and my dad
My sister-in-law Traci and her daughter Melissa
Logan loved playing with his Aunt Courtney!
I finally got a picture of my brother Landon and Logan. He wouldn't let me take one of him in Wisconsin with him back in November.
And this is my family (minus 1 sister in NC).
Back L to R: Evan, Me, Jenna, Landon
Front L to R: Ryan, Holly, Dad, Mom, Jordan, Shawn
Oldest to Youngest: Shawn, Shalyse (not pictured), Ryan, Jordan, Holly, Kelly (Me), Landon, Jenna, and Evan.
3 cousins close together in age (Jake: born Sept. 25th, Melissa: born Sept. 17th, and Logan: July 27th).
Playing Wii
Everyone watching family videos
December 26th: Most of my family drove to Bremerton to catch a ferry to Seattle.
It was really cold in the front of the ferry so we put Logan's snow suit on....he wasn't a big fan of it, but it kept him warm.
In the distance you can barely see Seattle.
Pike's Place is always a must when visiting Seattle. It was really packed so we weren't there long.
After visiting Pike's Place we decided to all go over to the Ballard Locks. For those of you who have never heard of the Locks it's basically a place where boats pass through to go from the salt water of the Puget Sound to the fresh water of Lake Union and Lake Washington. There were 3 boats that came through the locks and unfortunately my phone was dead and I couldn't record it. The boats come in and the "door" shuts....water then lowers and the other "door" opens on the other side and the boats are able to leave. It was really neat to watch for the first time.
There aren't any fish this time of year, but we'll have to come back in the summer when there are more.
After visiting the Locks we headed to my sisters apartment in Seattle for dinner. Her husband served his mission for the LDS church in Italy and made some killer Italian food. The brushetta was a BIG HIT!! Thanks Creed!
My parents with 9 out of the 12 grandchildren...this was the best we could get with all the kids :)
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Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!!!
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