Washington Family Reunion

Wednesday, August 4th, we left for Washington state for a family reunion. Reagan was returning from his mission from Japan and Mike's grandpa (on his mom's side) was celebrating his 90th birthday with everyone. We were also celebrating that fact that he is a surviving soldier of World War II (he was on one of the first boats to land on Normandy).

It was kind of a stressful day on Wednesday because I had a test early that morning in Baton Rouge and then had to hurry and get back so we could get to the airport on time. (I ended up missing the rest of lecture for that day which covered all the information for the last test - the day after I would return. Needless to say I had a busy and stressful week ahead of me.)

This was Shalom's first airplane experience. She didn't handle as great as we'd hoped. She did fine until we had a layover in Memphis, and she was fussy almost the whole time. We got really lucky though because we had a seat in between us on each airplane. She at least slept two hours of the four hours going to Seattle. It was a long day day because we didn't get to bed until 2 in the morning our time. Then, we had to gear up for a busy, busy week ahead. We got to stay at his Uncle Andy's house; so in the morning we visited with him and his wife and two kids, Maya and Sofia. They just fell in love with Shalom.



The next morning, we met up with Mike's mom, his sister and her husband (Ema and Josh), his brother, Titus, his Aunt Anna, his family friend, Colin (from Hawaii), and his old boss/family friend and his family for breakfast. It was fun catching up and letting everyone meet Shalom for the first time.

After breakfast, we went to Pike Street Market to walk around, and then we went to the Seattle Center to the big water fountain. Later in the afternoon, we drove three hours east to Othello where his grandparents live. His grandma prepared homemade tamales, mexican rice, chicken, tortillas, and more. Mmmmhhh, it was so good.





(I really wish I could get this picture bigger.) The next day, we had a family reunion on his dad's side in Tricities. Almost everyone from his dad's side (aunt's, uncles, cousins, grandparents) came to the airport to welcome Reagan home off his mission. It was so fun to see everyone and for them to meet Shalom. A lot of them I had not seen since we got married four years ago; so it was nice to have this family reunion. (Although, facebook really helps to be able to keep up with everyone so it almost seems like it wasn't too long ago.) I wish I had more pictures, but our camera got lost. I had to steal this one from someone. It was so good to see Reagan, finally, after two years. Mike's really been missing him. It was really exciting, though, to see all of his younger siblings happy to see him and to have an example of another brother that's a return missionary.


After our family reunion for a few hours, we drove an hour back from Tricities to Othello to have dinner at his grandparents and a baby shower for Ema - due on Dec. 21st (my same due date last year), Tiffany (his cousin) - due in October, and for me (eventhough Shalom is already 8 months). It was really too nice of everyone to get her more gifts.



I love, love, love these two pictures of her. These pictures really do portray her true personality. She is just a happy girl; always smiling and laughing.



Saturday, we all went out to eat lunch for Aunt Anna's 50th birthday!



Shalom with her Uncle Reagan. We call Reagan Papa Zero - kind of like Coke Zero - no quite the real thing but almost as good.

Shalom and her Aunt Ema.


The man of the hour - Grandpa Guerra (the one with the orange lei) with his sister and cousins.


We don't really get to spend a lot of time with Ema and Josh so it was really nice to spend more time with them. After four years, this was the first time I got to know Josh a little better. I don't think I've ever laughed and joked around with him before. He was a lot of fun.

Uncle Andy and his wife, Julie, and their girls Maya and Sofia.

Aunt Lisa and her husband, Chris, and their kids Ryan and Lizzy



We all danced the night away until midnight. This family can go all night!


Shalom was able to sleep amongst all the music and partying. She is too sweet.

She was so wasted the next day she was too tired to even drink her bottle.


Sunday evening, Monday, and Tuesday Shalom stayed with her Aunt Laurie (Mike's dad's sister) and Grandma Joan in Yakima so I could study for my test on Wednesday. Mike and his dad, Reagan, Titus, his other brother, Josh, his sister, Kayla, and his cousin, Charlie all went to go climb Mt. Stewart. They all said that they had a blast but it was very hard at the same time. They said that they go so cold they were all huddling close together. They started hiking at 3 in the morning on Monday with a 5 mile hike into base camp and the rest was actual climbing. I wish I had pictures of their climb, but Mike lost it somewhere on the mountain. :(

Well, I took my test on Wednesday, and I did not end up passing the test or the class. It's definitely put me down. It's been a week, and I am trying to keep myself busy and build back my faith in myself and my faith in God. I studied every chance I could get, and I felt like I was ready for it. I am really trying to understand the reason for this if there is one. I haven't really been in the mood to talk to anyone, but I'm getting better every day. Shalom sure does keep me in good spirits. I turned in an appeal form for the progression and retention committee to decide whether or not they'll allow me to progress in the program.