Seattle!!

We woke up early on Thursday morning, expressed our sadness and worry to leave Amos, were reassured that things would be ok and tried put one foot in front of the other, heading to Seattle. It was sooo difficult. I suddenly found myself without a mission, a job (so to speak) and even in a funny way, an identity. Amos, for the last three and a half years, has been the center of my attention and efforts on a daily basis. Oddly enough, I felt like only half a person, realizing that I needed to figure out who I was aside from being his mom. It was a good realization to have, one that helped me to wake up and see that I need to get some hobbies, gosh darnit!! As the day went on, we found ourselves trying to enjoy being without him: reading an entire magazine in one sitting, finishing our conversations, enjoying our meals, sitting still alot.We arrived in Seattle and immediately was reminded of why we loved living there. The air was crisp, clean and cool. The mountains were out, Mt Rainier was stunning, the water was sparkling, we were with our great friend Claire and began to slowly enjoy our trip a little bit more. I felt like I spent the entire weekend exclaiming, "It's SOOOO beautiful here!" It's true, Seattle is a beautiful place, especially when the sun is out!

When we arrived at the Wilsons' house, we again were in a deeply familiar place and was happy to be "home." Later that afternoon, we made our way downtown in Claire's Mazda Miata (our date mobile for the weekend) and picked up our favorite Thai food from Thai Tom's. We went over to see Brendan, Jessica and Ezra. The last time we saw them was last summer and we were excited to see them. Ezra is a delightful little guy, smiley, outgoing and soo cute! It was great to reconnect with them and even relived some of what it was like to have a baby!

FRIDAY

On Friday morning, we got to help Claire get things ready for the rehearsal dinner. Her son, Gallagher, was preparing to get married, which was one of the reasons we went that weekend.For lunch, we met with the Watermans. We drove to the lovely East Side and had a great long lunch with them. Sadly, I forgot to get any pictures, but I will always remember sitting outside with them in the cool shade, sipping Margaritas and catching up. I then got to go and visit my job at Bright Horizons, Overlake. It was so wonderful to catchup with my former coworkers and teachers and to see how all the kiddies were growing up. Nathan got to hang out with his close buddy, Rick, and enjoyed having a moment with him. On Friday morning, we got to help Claire get things ready for the rehearsal dinner. Her son, Gallagher, was preparing to get married, which was one of the reasons we went that weekend.For lunch, we met with the Watermans. We drove to the lovely East Side and had a great long lunch with them. Sadly, I forgot to get any pictures, but I will always remember sitting outside with them in the cool shade, sipping Margaritas and catching up. I then got to go and visit my job at Bright Horizons, Overlake. It was so wonderful to catchup with my former coworkers and teachers and to see how all the kiddies were growing up. Nathan got to hang out with his close buddy, Rick, and enjoyed having a moment with him.

After that, we decided that we would try to travel north, to visit our old house and its new family! After sitting in Friday afternoon traffic, we made it to our house!

Jim, Amanda and Sam were there, as well as (all of) our neighbors, Dan, Laura, Luke and Inga, and we enjoyed hanging out in our old place. This time things were not nearly as sad, as the previous year had helped to give us space and time from our beloved first house, as well as give us the chance to make our current house ours. After we visited for awhile, we headed south had dinner with Joel and Kletia Garies at our favorite place for fish 'n'chips, the Lockspot Cafe. After that, we enjoyed the sunset at Golden Gardens, a beach nearby.

SATURDAY

At this point, we still were pretty jet lagged and were getting to be kinda late for Seattle time, but really late for Nashville time. Thankfully, we could wake up early in Seattle, but feel like we had slept in!

Saturday brought three joyous occassions: The Jim Henson exhibit, Gallagher and Trina's wedding and Brendan's 25th birthday.

The Jim Henson exhibit:

We woke up early and went to have breakfast at Cindy'sPancake house, a classic breakfast place straight from the seventies! We met the Overstreetsand Dan and Laura Ribera there for breakfast and enjoyed such good eats. We were soon onour way to Seatte Center, to the Experience Music Project and the Jim Henson exhibit. As we waitedto get in, we were met by Jeff's friend, Sam, who worked there, and were taken around to the back door for special treatment! Later on, we had the immense honor of meeting Jim Henson's daughter, Heather Henson, who was in town to give some talks and movie viewings. It was really cool to see her and hear about her puppetry endeavors. We also got to act as muppeteers ourselves, acting as a band singing a punk version of "The Rainbow Connection." We got to be just like the muppeteers, kneeling on the ground, with our arms in the air, watching a tv screen at our knees so we could see what our muppets were doing. Someday I'll post the video!

We were not allowed to take pictures in the rest of the gallery, which was really hard for me! I did happen to sneak two outside of the doors, one of the exhibit poster with Jim Henson and the muppets and one of Kermit inside the exhibit. We got to see Cookie Monster, Gonzo, Ernie and Bert and the Manamanah Guy. There were also Fraggles and a whole bunch of things from the Dark Crystal movie.

And being the sentimental person that I am, I wore green (in honor of Kermit) and brought my little backpack from the last Muppet exhibit I saw when I was about 6, at the Detroit Institute for the Arts. There were a ton of Muppets at that exhibit and I remember really enjoying it!

This exhibit was amazing, too. It was small and not as thorough as we would have liked, but there was still something immensly inspiring about the artistry, kindness and creativity about Jim Henson that we could feel, even as we walked through and looked at his early drawings, muppets, videos, and movies that reminded us why we loved him in the first place.
Sesame Street and the Muppet Show were extremely present in my childhood and probably contributed to much of my creativity. Needless to say, it was an emotional and inspiring exhibit; a wonderful memory I will always have.

Afterwards, we went with Dan and Laura over to one of our favorite sushi places, Blue C, in Fremont. Of course, it was soooo tasty and we soon had a tower of food to eat! It was Laura's first sushi experience and she loved it! After lunch we got dressed and headed to the church for the wedding!

Gallagher and Trina's wedding:

We were so glad that we got to be there for this. It was such beautiful wedding and reception. Pastor Michael Kelly gave a great homily about marrying young and just hearing him preach was a true treat. We ate well at the reception and enjoyed reconnecting with many friends. We danced for a bit and then Nathan and I left to have some down time before our next engagement!

After some downtime at the Barnes and Noble at U Village, we went over to celebrate Brendan's 25th birthday. There again, we enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and were happy to celebrate another year with Brendan and Jessica, as we've done in many of the years past.

SUNDAY

Sunday was Rick and Vicki Jensen's last day at church. They have been in Seattle and at that church for nearly 11 years. Rick has been the music director there and Nathan enjoyed working closely with him when we lived there. They are moving to St. Louis so Rick can go to seminary.
It was bittersweet to be there on their last day. It reminded us of our last day and although we were excited for them to be closer to us, we were sad for the church's loss.

As we sang the last song, a rockin' version of "Great is Thy Faithfulness," the kids danced up front and Jim broke out the harmonica. It was a really special moment in time.

Then we all gathered around the Jensens and prayed for them and their new direction. And afterward, it again, was great to reconnect with friends at church

Afterward, Tom and Claire hosted a going away party and we hung out all afternoon and night, eating drinking, laughing and singing. Even the newlyweds came by for a bit!

MONDAY

Monday morning came very early and we said goodbye to the Wilsons. We were thankful for such a rich visit, and even though it was short, it was restful and somewhat relaxing.

We are thankful for such a great get away!