Monday, May 27, 2013

I'm Sailing!

My Dad's HOTM (Hobby of the Moment) is sailing. He took some courses in San Diego earlier this year and he recently joined the Seattle Sailing Club in hopes of earning his Captain's license so he can live his dream on the open sea. A captain's license is no easy feat. It requires hours of sailing with an instructor and copious knowledge of the ship and orienteering. 
My dad invited us to tag along about 3 weeks ago and we all jumped at the chance because we knew it would be something like this:


Ironically, we felt a lot like Bob on our sailing adventure. No one was actually tied to the sail, but Darel was asking for it the whole time. If it weren't for our instructor Steve, we would have roped her right up. In preparation for our big sailing day, we watched White Squall, and buffed our Sperrys. 

Here we are totally excited to learn how to sail.



Instructor Steve took one look at us and decided it was best to keep his information to his only official student, my Dad. We did however learn lots of terminology and some sailing basics.




Captain Ahab himself.
"Let Ahab beware of Ahab."


Bob.






"I sail! I'm a sailor! I sail!"








Where is a plank when you need one?



Unfortunately, it was not a great day for sailing. The weather was gorgeous, but there was little wind so we Tommy Boyed it out on the Sound and enjoyed a little nap time.







No wind gave us plenty of time to take a thousand pictures of our Sperrys/ourselves.
Pretty sure Steve thought we were nuts.












This was right after a barge made some serious waves. 
"White squall! White squall!"





We saw plenty of wildlife - dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, birds, etc.





Pretty sure my Dad will get the rest of his sailing hours without us hooligans, but it was a blast soaking in some sun in Puget Sound. Seattle might be the greatest and most beautiful city on the planet.


Monday, May 20, 2013

Ate (Ah-teh) Smart

Here are some pictures of Sister (Ate) Smart her last day in Yakima.
We miss her already (even though she technically doesn't enter the MTC until Wednesday, she and my parents left this morning for Utah).

Cole is so excited for Aunt D to be a missionary. If you ask him where he is going, he almost always says "Peru."


We snuck in a Jordan family pic. I'm 19 1/2 weeks which means I'm pretty much halfway.
Huzzah!



Sister Smart gave a fabulous farewell talk in church about love/atonement. 
She shocked us all with her maturity as she delivered such an inspirational message.
No doubt she's going to kill it out there in the mission field.


Plus, she's a total Betty. 
Cutest sister missionary in San Pablo for sure.


We took one last sister pic.
(We were even able to go to the temple as sisters last week in Portland. It was awesome.)


We missed Shea, but he is making the big bucks in Indiana, so we're proud of him too.


The kiddos with their favorite Aunt D.







"AIRPLANE!! I SEE A AIRPLANE MAMA!!!!!! WOOK DEE DEE! A AIRPLANE!!!"


Ally and D. 
If you ask Ally where she is going on her mission she says, "To the penguins." Which means Orsorno, Chile (where Aunt Chi Chi went).


Deeds and Ev.


A few weeks ago before Shea left for Indiana, Darel went through the temple. Our entire immediate family was able to be together for that, which was really special.


So excited to finally go get dinner.


Darc and Brent were still tan from their trip to the Caribbean. 


Nick and I were still pasty white from our life in Eugene.


Sibs forever.



Yeah, D!





The D's.




Everybody.




I'm super depressed that Darel is gone, but can't wait for her to have such an amazing experience out there. She will be a fantastic missionary and we're all proud of her decision to serve a mission.
We are sure going to miss her inappropriate dancing and ridiculous comments, but we all know she's made the right choice. Plus, I've already invited myself to go with my parents to pick her up in San Pablo, so I can spend the next 18 months planning my vacation.

We miss you D!


Please ignore the naked child in this picture.