Kansas Trip Part 2

November 25, 2020

We woke up to snow. Strong winds stopped at about 1:00 am. We stayed the morning inside cozy and warm while Jacob made us all breakfast. Moments like these are to be taken in their fullness. Anything that evokes a sense of coziness are some of the moments I look forward to in life. 

After we had breakfast and lunch we visited Greensburg's museum. Here we learned a bit of the town's history especially of the infamous  F5 tornado and the devastation it left behind.

The aftermath of the chaotic tornado caused people to leave but others stayed and rebuild.

There's a cute nostalgic ice cream parlor just before one enters the town's museum. My husband and his parents love sweets so naturally we stopped for some ice cream scoops. The library is just across the hallway. I was surprised that it's a decent size library for such a small town. I wish I would have had the time to browse.

Being here visiting family made us realize how much we cherish the power of family bonds and God's abundant blessings. Being intentional with family is what life is truly about ... creating memories.

After we had our ice cream we stopped by the town's water tower, the Big Well. The water tower was also destroyed as were most of the buildings during the May 4, 2007 tornado. It since has been rebuilt and showcases pictures of that fateful night.

This well is the world's largest hand-dug well, built in 1887. The well survived the event and remains a central attraction.

Here we are at the very top of the tower.

... here we are looking down at the well.

And here's us looking up.

It was quite an informative day. We enjoyed learning all the town's history and browsing their souvenirs.

THANKSGIVING 2020

The snow didn't stick around for long. The following day we walked over to the park to stretch our legs. Surprisingly it wasn't windy but mostly sunny and cold.

A father is respected because he gives his children leadership .... Appreciated because he gives his children care .... Valued because he gives his children time .... Loved because he gives his children the one thing they treasure most -- himself.

After the park we were chilled to the bone so we got cozy on the couch and enjoyed the rest of our slow afternoon waiting for the turkey to be ready.

Now that I look back, I just realized I hardly took any pictures of the day. 

This was Riley's serving. One green bean, lol! I don't have a picture of my plate or of the kitchen with all the delicious food. 

I am sure we had some type of dessert. I just can't remember what it was.

I "borrowed" this picture from my MIL. This is the only picture that was taken of all of us on this Thanksgiving day. 

We are thankful that we got to spend Thanksgiving with family. Ultimately, it is not about the food but the gathering in love and worship for all that has been given to us.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give

thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

A Holiday Outing

 The Rialto Theater in downtown Tacoma hosted the play A Christmas Carol. It was a nice occasion to dress up a little and enjoy a December evening out.

It was our first time at the Rialto Theater. I thought it was very nice looking. The seating was a bit cramped. The seats were very narrow and the rows were very close together. As much as I wanted to avoid touching shoulders with the man on my left it was just impossible.

Overall it was a decent play. There was a part in the play where one of the men insinuated sensual advances on a woman and I thought it was inappropriate in a family production even though the audience found it humorous. (it's been too long I can't quite remember which character this was).

Riley appeared to have enjoyed it.

After the play we had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was busy. Sometimes I do like the rush of the holidays ... only for like a few hours because once I get home from a busy day or night I like to change into cozy clothes and get cozy on the couch. It makes you appreciate a quiet cozy home that much more. 

A just because fact: There used to be three Spaghetti Factory's near us. One across the street from the Seattle waterfront, another one in Tukwila (south of Seattle) and a third in downtown Tacoma. The one near the waterfront closed. The building was turned either into an office building or lofts. The one in Tacoma serves fried calamari only. One of the times we went to the one in Tukwila I was craving calamari and noticed they didn't offer it at that location. That was irritating. 

The following day after the play we drove back to Tacoma after church and went to Corina Bakery. They have quite a bit of a pastry selection.

I got a lemon flavored cake. I love cake. It was very moist.

I believe Jacob got a cinnamon roll. It was pretty big so he and Riley shared it.

Finding coffee shops that sell delicious sweets has turned almost like a weekend hobby for us. So, after first service each Sunday we have been going to different ones. This one, Corina's is definitely one we'll come back to.

Victorian Country Christmas

(I hate that I haven't been consistent with blogging these past several months. I tend to forget and those times when I do remember I just don't feel like blogging. Going through the pandemic has sucked big time. It's unbelievable and disgusting how the Left abuses their power to control people. It's discouraging and I'm sick and tired of it as a lot of Americans are. Maybe this is why I haven't been blogging much this year. I'm just trying to concentrate on the good and on God. Hopefully I will continue blogging after this post.)

Well, let's go back to December 2021

Typically I put away Thanksgiving/Fall decorations on the 1st of December. Decorating is fun and putting away decorations from holidays that have gone by to bringing out decorations of the impending one makes life fun and my home cozy. (just sharing this one picture, sorry)

December 3rd is Lincoln's birthday. Baby Lincoln turned 2 years old. We celebrated Lincoln with the Happy Birthday song and a delicious dessert.

I like to mail out my Christmas packages the first week in December because of how busy the post office gets during the holidays ... not to mention how rude people can get during this busy time as well. They complain about how busy places are (nothing new) when they are also adding to the "busy" by being out, lol. It's both comical and a bit annoying to me.

I'm a bit bummed that I couldn't get a good picture of this Christmas even we went to. There really weren't good decorations around promoting the event so this semi blurry Nativity scene will have to do.

The event is called, Victorian Country Christmas - Singing Nativity at the fairgrounds in Puyallup. It's put together by a Christian family that have been performing in it for years.

There's also several pop up stands selling all sorts of  Christmas decorations and goodies. I especially like this peanut brittle. It's soo good.

... and they sell candy too.

It's such a great family event. I wish there were more wholesome family events around.

An Evening at the Fair

Last year, Riley was into Michael Jackson so much. He watched his videos on YouTube and memorized all his dance moves. My sister bought him a couple of MJ outfits. And there wasn't a day that MJ wasn't playing on TV.
The Puyallup Fair happens early September and to our surprise we saw that there was going to be a Michael Jackson impersonator. Jacob looked the guy up and discovered that this guy has a successful MJ Show in Las Vegas. He saw some of his videos and saw that he was pretty good so Jacob went ahead and bought tickets to go see him at the fair. We kept it a secret from Riley.

We got there in the evening but still somewhat early for the show so we walked around for a bit. Jacob and Riley got on a few rides while I went exploring and came upon the planting patch at the garden. I thought it was so cool that the fair has a large garden where one can take a break from the busyness and the noise. Such a wonderful reprieve.

Upon entering the garden I immediately noticed a lot of grapes hanging from a large trellis.

These windows caught my attention and thought it was a nice focal point. I especially like the hanging basket on top of the white window. Looks pretty. And vines are pretty too.

When I saw this next pumpkin/gourd display I was in awe. I've never seen anything like it. How cool is this?!

I saw several varieties of sunflowers but this particular one is the prettiest of them all in my opinion. It's just gorgeous! I believe it's name is teddy bear. The name suits it just fine.

The black-eyed Susan is also in the sunflower family. It's pretty too.

The garden also had giant pumpkins, cornstalks, and a variety of flowers.

We walked over to the stage where the MJ Show was, sat down and waited. We didn't say anything, we decided to let Riley figure it out himself. He had no clue! lol. It was fun seeing him smile once he realized why we were there for.

When he first saw the impersonator he got super excited and said he looked just like MJ. His mind probably couldn't grasp what he was seeing since he knows Michael died. I have to admit that it was a trip seeing this impersonator. It's so crazy to see the lengths someone will go to look like someone else.

It was such a good show and Riley loved it!

Once it was over we let Riley play a few more games. I really dread it when he wins a stuffed animal. I just don't like them. They take up so much space and after a few days he doesn't even play with the thing.

There's only one reason why I like going to the fair ... fair food as in snacks and sweets. We no longer eat like a meal there because more often than not the food is mediocre. It's really a waste of money. I also enjoy seeing the pretty fair lights throughout.

It was such a fun evening. I hope Riley remembers the MJ Show for the rest of his life.

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of 

years; people grow old by deserting their ideals. 

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up 

enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

Family Christmas Fun

Planning events is something I've always enjoyed doing. Throughout the years we have constantly enjoyed weekend outings because to us, weekends are to make fun plans since we're pretty mellow during the week after Jacob and the kids get home from school and work and after we eat dinner then it's bonding time, even during homework.

I'm glad that there's plenty of Christmas celebration events all around us. Sometimes we do end up missing out on certain events because we're attending others but it pays off because these events we go to are a lot of fun.
On the evening we decided to go to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue the fog was so thick. It was a bit nerve-wracking but as we continued driving it began to clear out.

The fog does look gorgeous though.

This snowflake lane event is held outdoors so we always hope it wont rain down on us. Thankfully, the several times we've attended it hasn't rained but boy we've frozen our tails off once or twice out here.

It's really a fun event. It gets very crowded. Just before the dancing starts the performers walk up and down the street and pass out candy cane lollipops and pose for pictures.

Riley always making faces.

And of course, seeing Santa is so fun. Although America has exaggerated the true St. Nicholas, seeing our version of Santa brings back nice childhood memories.

The following weekend we were back in Bellevue but this time we took Riley ice skating. I have to admit. I am afraid to ice skate because I fear falling and injuring myself. However, I'm willing to give it a try if it's just Jacob and I, that way I can totally concentrate on my skating and not have to worry about Riley or having to skate all by myself risking falling flat on my bottom. I need to hold on to Jacob's hand for support.

Riley had tons of fun. Next time though, he's bringing his bike helmet. We did see several kids with them on and that's smart because knowing Riley, he'll fall. This way his head is protected.

Riley did get to skate on his own for a few minutes while Jacob stood right beside him. Oh, he totally thought he was an expert by then, lol. Jacob did mention that the ice skates hurt his ankles because the sides were pressing in on them.

After they were done with skating we headed on over to Bellevue Botanical Gardens for the Garden D'Lights event. It's pretty cool because they have so many colorful decorations of all kinds.
Naturally, it's more awesome there physically than what's shown in pictures.

There were 3-D lights spread out throughout the gardens. It definitely added to the experience.

I'm pretty sure we'll be going to these events again this year. We're actually looking forward to them, God willing.

Christmas season is wonderful. Lots of festivities to go to, watch fun Christmas movies, lots of baking going on but most importantly, it's because of Christ our Savior that we get to enjoy all this. To Him be the glory ... always!

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, 

and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.