Our trip to Seattle almost didn't happen. The day we were supposed to fly out of DC, a HUGE snowstorm (one for the history books) dumped 20 inches of snow in our town. Our tickets were for the 5:30 pm flight and we knew that wasn't going to happen. We decided to try our luck and drive to Reagan National early in the morning and see if we could get on standby. Here is what our day looked like: w0ke up at 2 am, left house at 3 am, drove to Reagan with 4 inches of snow already on the roads, made it to Reagan safely, wait in line at Alaska ticket counter, look at all the cancelled flights on the departures board, made it to the counter, got tickets on the 8 am flight (which was changed to a 7 am departure time), waited at the gate, the plane is covered in snow, waited for the crew to arrive, boarded, sitting, waiting some more, de-icing our plane, an hour later, we taxied to the runway, surrounded by the biggest plows I've ever seen, and finally....TAKEOFF! It was a little scary because all we could see out the windows was white blurriness. Once we got in the air, the pilot announces that we were the last plane to leave Reagan - the airport closed right after because the visibility was so poor. Ethan and I thanked our lucky stars that everything went right for us that day.
This is an example of what our deck may have looked like in the snow. This photo was borrowed from our HOA website - that big mound on the left? That's a grill. It would have been fun to experience such a big snowfall but we are also glad we made it to Seattle. The way this winter is going, we may have more snow coming our way...
As usual, our trip was a whirlwind. It's always hard to meet up with everyone we want to see but we did a pretty good job this time around. Here's what we did:
Devon and her baby girl Stella flew in from Spokane for the weekend. We got to see them, Trinette and her daughter,Gwen and Erin at the local IHOP for a pre-Seahawks game breakfast. It was great to see everyone, even if it was for a short time.
Ethan and Stella
Cutie pie Gwen and Trinette
I just love Stella's cheeks! You just want to pinch them!
Making our way to Qwest Field, we passed by M's signage. Couldn't pass this one up without taking a pic!
We made it to our seats in the Hawks Nest - Row SS. I think the SS stands for Super Stairs. There were so many stairs that it made you dread bathroom breaks. But the view was awesome and even though the game was awful, we had fun. It was my first time seeing a Seahawks game at Qwest Field and Ethan's first Hawks game ever.
The Seahawks played the Buccaneers, who had only one win, that is, until they played us.... Ethan was rooting for one Bucs player, Ronde Barber. He's one of the players in the photo above. Ethan went to high school in Roanoke with Ronde and his brother Tiki (who played for the Giants).
I was surprised to see a Bucs fan sitting in front of us. First of all, that's gutsy, sitting in the Hawks Nest wearing all red, all Bucs gear. Second of all, "Big Red" was a character. And I wish I had the photo to prove it.
Kasey Keller, Sounders goalie, raised the 12th Man flag. Pretty cool, until I heard who raised the flag at the next game! Junior!
Kickoff on a sunny, Seattle day.
Did one of Hasselbeck's 4 interceptions happen after this photo? Possible.
Ethan found the Bears flag.
We had a fun day with Danica - full of shopping, eating, and Avatar! That movie is great - see it in 3-D! I am not surprised it's made $1 billion already.
Christmas Eve with the Thomas' - the only one missing from this photo is Grandpa. Unfortunately, he was home sick with food poisoning. We sure missed him - it just wasn't the same without him there.
Silly version
Christmas morning at my parents house
We went to Dean and Susan's for Christmas lunch/dinner. My cousins treated us to an impromptu concert - very nice! It's amazing how much they've grown up since we moved away!
Oscar, Paul and Angie's dog, liked unwrapping presents too.
We got to meet Abby, Jim and Amy's daughter at lunch at Hale's. Jim and Ethan worked together in Seattle and he and Amy have been through the transfer adventures as well.
The weather surprised us - it was sunny and cold most of the time. The Olympics showed themselves on a bright and clear day!
With my parents
with Ben and Cara - it was so nice to see them a couple times this visit!
Another great trip to Seattle in the books!
This is the motto for the Commonwealth of Virginia. No joke. When Ethan first told me, I thought he was kidding. But then I saw the Virginia website and there it was. And now we have proof that this statement is true. Please scroll down...
That's right! We are having a baby! We found out on Christmas Eve while we were in Seattle and it was the best present we could ever get. We told our parents, siblings and grandparents and kept it a secret from extended family and friends until we got the green light from our practitioner to spread the news. We had an ultrasound last week and got to see the baby's heart pumping strong and legs/arms moving! The due date is 09.01.10 - we could have a Labor Day baby!
There's the little guy/gal, still in the "bean" stage. In person, we could make out the parts of the baby, but the printout is still a little fuzzy. The head is on the right, the lighter part in the center is the heart and the behind is on the left. Still too early to tell if it's a boy or girl, but we should find out in a couple months. Right now, we are enjoying our free time while we have it and brainstorming baby names. We are thinking Walter Payton, Edgar or Ichiro if it's a boy. Just kidding.
My camera is not so great with night photos but here's the White House. It is beautifully decorated, with more than a few Christmas trees in the windows. We could also see the snipers walking on the roof. How festive! 
