A quick stop in Seattle

After my Henley reunion and on the way up to Vancouver for our Alaskan cruise, Heather and I made a quick stop in Seattle to visit some our close friends, DeAnna and Corey. DeAnna was actually due to give birth, but luckily for us, their baby was a little overdue, so we got to chat and play around for a few hours.

This was the first time we’d seen Hannah since she was a just an infant, and she was not shy in playing with us. She chased me around with a hose (and she is one quick little girl; she got me several times unexpectedly), she jumped on Heather’s lap, and she was very free with her hugs. It was great to see them; our only regret was that we only had a few hours before we had to leave.

Return to K-town

I couldn't believe it has been so long, but when I went back to Klamath Falls for my 10 year high school reunion, I realized that it had been about 9 years since my last trip to Klamath. And as I traveled the narrow, two-lane highway of 97 passing Chiloquin, I remembered why it has been so long: Klamath is out in the middle of nowhere! But despite the two 3 and a half hour flights and a 5 hour car ride in a rental, the trip was well worth the time and effort.
At this point, some of you might be asking, "But I thought you graduated from Woodinville High, not Henley?" That's true, but I spent most of middle school and all but my senior year in Klamath, so for me, that was the more worthwhile reunion.
Here are some pics of the trip:

Me in front of Henley High, home of the Hornets and former school of almost-track star Dan O'Brian.




The view from our old house. If we had a better camera, you would be able to see Mt Shasta in the background.


Before the official reunion, I had the chance to see a few old friends. First, I stopped by the Becerra's new beautiful home at the Running Y and visited with Kara and got to meet her two adorable kids.


We had a great time with Brother and Sister Becerra, too.


Next, I got to chat it up with Angie (Todd) and Stan Miller and meet her family. I even got to play a new version of chess with their son, Blake. I called it Destrusto-Chess.


I was also very grateful for the chance to stop by and talk to Travis before he had to run off to work.


Then at the actual reunion, I had the chance to catch up with a number of old friends. Here I am with Matt McDonald.


I like this picture of Ang and us.


And here we are with Nikki (Jaeger), Jessie (Horsely), and their husbands.

MORE MEXICO!!!

So Todd and I wanted to post a few more pics of our amazing Mexican Extravanganza in Puerto Vallarta. We had such a great time with all of Todd's siblings and spouses-- we only were sad that Tyson and Diana couldn't have been there. We missed them! Like mentioned before, Todd and my camera broke so we borrowed these pics from our fellow family members blogs.


Here is the amazing house that we stayed in. It was just a heavenly hacienda right on the beach-- totally awesome. You can see that one nice place was the hammock hanging in the tree- we all enjoyed reading there. (Todd took the picture of the dome-- he is really proud of himself.)

We went on this day excursion with snorkeling, hiking, and boating. It was a fun day and we really enjoyed the hiking and the snorkeling-- there were tons of fish all around. Climbing up the rock was fun too-- todd jumped off and I slid down the rock like a slide. It actually didn't even hurt. The only thing we could have done without was the booze cruise back- people getting drunk and doing crass things-- not really our cup of tea.



Here is all of us downtown in the flea market where we were doing a little bit of bargaining!

This is a cute little unknown restaurant Los Arboles (the Trees) and it was the best place we ate all week. It was definitely off the beaten path and the boys had to go through a political rally to get to it. But it was worth it.

The girls were actually shopping before hand. I got this really cute purse and some awesome real silver earrings at a great deal- we found out from the locals where to get the good stuff.

The boys meantime were trying to get to us through the political rally. So they decided to make good use of being stuck in traffic and ran to go get some of the t-shirts they were giving out. They had to prove they would wear them so they put them on right away. Then they had to run down the street in the middle of the city trying to get back to the car. It was a pretty hilarious sight with three caucasion boys wearing the same shirt all smiling big for Nacho Guzman for President. It made waiting in traffic all worthwhile. Anything for a free t-shirt!




The best things we did all week was just sit and enjoy the scenery and the waves. Here are some shots of us boogie boarding. The first is Kyle, Nate, then Alyson (and she is even pregnant!), and me! Hey I know what your thinking but mine was a big wave too-- but the shot was just taken after I had rode it all the way in! REALLY!

Priscilla's Wedding

So a couple weeks ago, my best friend growing up, Priscilla, just got married! It was a beautiful wedding in Austin, Texas, although it was a bit hot. I was privileged to get to be in the wedding as the matron of honor (yes- matron since i am married, although matron sounds really old, huh!). It was so wonderful to see Pris so happy and to know that Adam is such an amazing guy for her. We actually got to spend a good amount of time together before and after the wedding (since Pris needed some help packing up her house to move to Nebraska). Todd and my family (Mom, Dad, and Jenny) got to come for the wedding too, so it was great fun to have everybody together to celebrate Prissy's big day.

Pris and Adam at their BBQ Wedding Rehearsal. Isn't that sign adorable!

Pris before the wedding with her soon to be niece and nephew. Look at Priscilla's dress. It is actually her mother's wedding dress that she modified to fit her. It is so uniquely Priscilla.

This is the old mansion on the grounds where we got ready for the wedding and here is a picture during the wedding ceremony.

Adam, Pris, and me right after the wedding ceremony. Priscilla said her mouth was hurting from smiling so much the entire day.


Todd and Pris dancing at the wedding (I like to share my dancing husband!)

My great long time friend, Joel was at the wedding too! It was fun to catch up and spend some time together!

This is Pris and Adam listening to me give my toast to them at the reception. We have known each other since 3rd grade and been best friends since 8th grade, so I had a lot of fun stories to tell-- some funny and some sentimental. I cried a little and so did Pris. Even Adam gave me a big hug and was crying. It was so sweet.
Note- take a look at the cute peacock feathers in Priscilla's hair-- peacock was her wedding theme and it turned out very cool.


I love my Priscilla!

Mexico Ziplineing and Repelling!

From the last post, you all know that Todd and I recently came back from Mexico. We had such a great time spending time with the family and enjoying the beach. Sadly, our camera broke right before the trip so we are going to have to wait to get our pictures because we need to use pictures that others took. We did buy some pictures from one of the coolest things we did during the week. We went on a zipline, repelling "outdoor adventure" as it was called. Todd and I did this once before on our honeymoon, but seeing Todd's mom and dad and all the family during all these activities together made it completely new and definitely worthwhile. It was such a fun and memorable experience. Here are some of the highlights.


After a boat ride and a 4x4 through a humble little village and up the mountain, we rode donkey's the rest of the way up.

Then we started down the ziplines!


Todd being superman.


Trying to zipline upside down.


Repelling down a waterfall and ziplining into the water. We tried to see who could make the biggest splash.


The last zipline was set side by side so you could race somebody. The guides pulled Todd and I even further up then normal and then they shoved us down the zipline. As you can see, I clearly won.


A group shot of everybody!

The Best Aiport Sign Ever

So this last week, my family and I had a fantastic adult only vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We had an amazing time, but I'll get more into the details of our trip later. For now, I wanted to let everyone know about the coolest airport sign I've ever seen. There were several of the same signs hanging from the airport ceiling. Both sides were dominated by a large picture: one side of kids playing in a tree in a park and the other side of a couple in wedding attire twirling around happily on a beach during sunset. Above and below these touching pictures were these words:

Above the pics:

"What would you do for true love?"

Below the pics:

"I'd would conquer great teats!"
(Yes, the sentence contains grammatical errors and it was "teats," not "feats.")

Then, in loud, bold lettering:

"Do it!"
"The Airport Mall"

This sign gave me flashbacks of my time in China when I would see signs and advertisements all over in English that made absolutely no sense. I think the creators of this one decided to blend the romance from diamond commercials with the energy from Nike commercials. It almost worked out.