Adventures of... ME: Monday Memories Week 4

You know how I'm "shy" and don't like "putting myself out there"? Well, last Sunday, after RS, I volunteered to play the piano for the remaining weeks while I'm here. It was a graciously received offer and I am glad I can do a service for the ward while I'm here.

We started the week off watching Mission Impossible 3 and 4. It's been a while since I've seen 1 and 2, but I don't think I was missing much.

On Tuesday (Pioneer Day) we went to Northwest Trek. I love going there. Here are a gaggle of geese that were just hanging out around the path.

This raccoon was chilling in the grass. We were going a little fast to get a good picture of it, but you can see what it is and how cute he was.

Chillin on the road.

Bison

Elk

Me and Malcolm

Laura and Kira

This caribou was hanging out right by the tram. He was there when we left, and there when we got back.

Sleepy Bear

This tree looked dangerous when you look at it from the bottom up.

Another sleepy bear. I think the first one was a black bear and this one was a grizzly? I can't remember now. Either way, they were both sleeping.

This squirrel was entertaining for a while. He ran up the tree and was eating the seed pods. So funny to watch him and he didn't even flinch that we were there taking photos of him.

Coyote

Beautiful landscaping between habitats

Cougar

Golden Eagle

This statue of a moose is the first thing you see when you walk up to the gate. Such detail and a very impressive statue. Loved it so much, I had to take a picture of it. Hahaha.

I love this mountain almost as much as I love my Utah mountains.
Mount Rainier.

After we got back from Northwest Trek, we dropped the kids off at home and Laura and I went to Kate's house (Kate is in Laura's ward) and we sampled food that Kate had while she was in Ghana. She was able to go to Ghana for a month and help with their audiology programs there. It was amazing to hear her stories!

This is Fufu. It is a potato ball that you break a piece off and use it as a 'spoon' to eat the groundnut (peanut) soup with. However, you don't chew the soup or the potato spoon, you just swallow it. After being told for a lifetime to "chew your food before you swallow it!!", it was hard to be able to just swallow. I tried chewing a bite once and it was na-ah-sty. I don't remember the ingredients in this soup, but aside from the 'just swallow'ing part, it didn't taste too terrible.

Next was Jollof Rice. Sorry the picture is a little blurry... it awkward taking pictures of food you're eating when in a room with 6 other people. Haha. I liked the rice. It had kind of a spicy after flavor that was somehow pleasant.

Last, but not least, is Red Red - my favorite. It was a cooked (deep fried even?) plantain, served with a black eyed-peas mixture or soup, if you will. I cannot describe the flavor, but of the three dishes, this one I liked best. I was able to bring some back with me and eat it later... the beans were good but the plantain didn't have the same punch it had before. So there you go. Ha.

Wednesday, Laura and the kids and I were able to go with the YW group (Laura is in the presidency) to their activity on the lake. Beautiful property!

I even got my feet wet :)

There was a boat that a brother in the ward brought up, so he took the girls out on the lake. Of course, there was an tube being pulled behind as well... I have pictures of that later.

Some of the kids took sand out of the lake and threw it on the sidewalk. I decided it looked like vomit and took a picture of it. The angle of the picture doesn't really help 'make' my view of vomit look real, but maybe it helps a little.

I was able to go out on the last boat ride with the twins (it was their second time out). It was a lot of fun. I joked that if we went overboard, I didn't need a life jacket because I had the twins to hold me up. LOL.

Sunset on the lake. I just asked what lake we were at, and the answer: Lake Tapps.

Rainier from Tapps

I got a couple of pictures of the girls on the tube - by pointing the camera over my head and shooting. Since I was sitting in the back of the boat, I couldn't really turn around. I think it turned out ok!

The YW President and one of the young women in the group.

So beautiful

My new favorite place to eat in Washington: Qdoba. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their queso sauce!! They have awesome nachos :) Their burritos remind me of what you'd get at Barbacoa's... so I wasn't too taken with those. But their nachos? Especially their queso sauce? YUMMMMMYYY! I've decided to bring a restaurant back with me to Utah :) I wish.

Next group of cards and projects I worked on (these were the projects from Laura's workshop that I mentioned in the last post.)

Betcha can't guess what these will be...

Earrings!!

This was a harder card for me...

Because I have problems tying bows. Ha. But I guess it still turned out pretty ok.

You all know how I feel about coloring, right?

I added my own twist by adding the yellow stripes to the poppies. But I like it :)

I'm pulling my own weight (not really cuz I weigh about 50 times their weight combined) and helping clean around the house (Laura can do the laundry later). AND, I'm getting my leg exercise in at the same time!!

"Look! We're not eating!"

Now, I have already seen Thor, but in preparation for seeing The Avengers, we decided to watch it again :) Loved it the second time too.

Here is my most updated cross-stitch picture. All that is left now is the detail lines, some bubbles, and the words at the top. Be watching for the final product soon!
Saturday, we babysat a neighbor girl for most of the afternoon. That evening, we were invited to a fish fry at a home of a couple in the ward (who happen to have relatives living in Alpine who I know). They are a great family and I very much enjoyed getting to know them better.