jesse's farewell week in {washington}!

This post has taken me so long for a few reasons ... {one} upon getting home from vacation ... boston came down with croup so there was a needy child in my arms 24/7!{two} i had the big young women lesson on sunday {three} i have been debating on going private ... yes i know i have said i never would {and for now i'm not} but i have decided to make a few changes, you'll notice the watermark on my pictures and for now i hope that protects them from getting used inappropriatly and i might have to do more in the future. wow! i still wish we were up in washington! it's been hard to come back to reality! but this was a trip to remember and i took over 800 pictures to document it! i won't share all of them but will try to do my best to do it justice!

day {1} ...we got up there at 2am wednesday morning and after a little sleep {thanks to mimi!} we had a fun filled day! to say this is heaven is an understatment! the boys found their spot on the riding lawn mower pretty fast and bos rode on tone's lap for a good 5 hours the first day! he fell asleep twice on the mower ... the first time, we laid him down and Tone went back out to ride and as soon as he fired up the mower Bos climbed out of his crib and we heard his little voice saying "doddy! doddy!" running down the stairs to go join him again! the second time he crashed, mimi took a much needed nap with him since she stayed up all night playing with the boy! {see pics below} i love that he fell asleep clutching his race car tightly in his hand too!

{Bos learned he loved the 4-wheelers too and fast became a staple on Jesse's lap!}

Baylee got a new princess dress {which she still has to wear for a little bit every day!} she was so excited that mimi remembered exactly what she wanted!

Bay had fun inside and out and i caught her chattin it up with uncle Jess outside ... love those times!

i know this is picture overload but there's a couple more from this day that i loved and have to share!
{bos loves his buddy cocoa!!}


day {2} ... Jesse, Mimi, Bay and I went into Montesano and Bay got to pick out a chick to go with Grampa Arlo's other chicks! {13 in all now} she was so excited and got to hold a duck and some bunnies there too!

Cindy and I drove up to Seattle and picked up Sis and miss Presley! It was so fun to have them get in {even though we missed Kamdin, Logan and Brydon} ... while we were there Bay was being taught to do this ...

and then that wasn't enough so she learned how to do it this way ...

we all met up after at the Ranch House for some of the best BBQ and ribs out there! it is a favorite and we love to go there whenever we visit!

day {3} ... we woke up to Ken, Nin and Luke getting in! yay! the girls did lots of baking ... we needed lots of cookies for Sunday and we made them! yummy! {if you want the recipes go HERE!}

the boys did lots of ... riding! of course :) we played with the kids alot too! it's fun to all be together!


day {4} ... was much of the same! Sarah, Payton, Meg and Aly all got in town for some family time! Jesse got himself the "mission-do" ...

That night all the boys headed into Seattle for some Supercross action! Villopoto won that night, which was cool because he is a Seattle born guy.



day {5} ...The big day! The church was packed ... I think it was a first that the overflow and the gym had been used in a meeting. Jesse looked so handsome in his mission suit! He sang "Take My Life" by Michael McLean and it was so awesome! We all cried through it however! His talk and testimony followed and he is ready! It was so awesome to see him ready to go serve the people in Brazil! On a side note my cute mom and dad had made the journey up to Seattle for the weekend and came down for the meeting {thanks!!} We headed back to the homestead for some visiting and {good} food! It was packed ... what a tribute to Jesse and all the lives he's touched for good! {I took so many pictures ... this is the best way for me to show them even though I want to highlight a few!}

{you might have to pull this up big to see all the little pics ... sorry!}

{Baylee was so excited to find a cousin to play with ... thanks Bella for being such a fun friend! Brandi, you wanna move closer?? Bay asks to play with Bella every day!}

{Grandpa and Rex were serenading us all with some good ol' songs! it was a perfect setting!}

{lukey is so stinkin' cute!}

{love my cute sistas! and niece!!}

day {6} ... wow! how fast the time has gone by! today was our last day together as a family before Elder Burbidge took off on his adventure! Jesse got to some packing before we took off for the afternoon ...


We decided to spend the day at Schaffer State Park ... they grew up going there and it was a great place to go! the kids {loved} throwing rocks in the lake ... Jesse swam to the other side and started climbing to the tops of the trees! it was cool! we roasted hot dogs and made s'mores ... it was great! {again ... picture overload! sorry!}

{i love this wall! i had to share these of bos and bay!}

{jesse let me take his pic there too!}

{these little boys are the cutest buddies!}

{i don't usually post pics of myself since i'm usually the one taking them ... but it was cool because you can see Brady's Oysters cool little beach shop in my glasses}

we had a great feast for our last dinner too! Tone and I stopped Brady's Oysters to load up on the crab and Cindy made awesome potato fries and steaks and Neil contributed some shrimp too the meal! it was great!

We were cleaning up and getting ready for Jess to get set apart to become 'Elder' and Bay got a little ride in with Maddy ...

then she took Uncle Neil for a ride ... literally! he tied himself to the 4-wheeler to keep her in control and true to her daddy, she cranked the trottle and the rope went around Neil's leg and he landed flat on his back and she started to drag him before Grampa got her to stop! She gave a sheepish smile and then went slow for a few minutes :) {Neil, you're a great sport!!}

As we got ready for Jesse and Dad to come down ... Nin played hymns on her guitar and sang ... it was so cool! She's so talented!

Dad and Jess came down all dressed up

and Dad gave a Family Home Evening lesson ... he read us the conference talk by Elder Pearson and reminded us that there is opposition in all things and that Faith and Fear cannot coexist. It was great council for all of us to hear again! He then set Jesse apart with such a powerful blessing and it brought a wonderful spirit into the home! It was great that we could all share in it!

Jesse wrote on the wall from the hymn 'Who's on the Lords Side' ... I know he definitly will be!

day {7} ... we all were up and going pretty early and got the cars packed up! we decided to head back to the promised land of Utah instead of journey up to Seattle to the airport and backtrack on our way home. we all left the same time and wished Elder Burbidge the best of luck! Watch out Brazil!!

It was a fun filled week! We will miss swinging, feeding chickens, riding dirt bikes all day, playing in the hot tub, cooking, catching frogs and spending time with the family!!