Jordan's Birthday

Today we celebrated Jordan's 2nd birthday. It was a small gathering and he received what he enjoys most, cars and trucks.

Our final Day in Seattle

We went to a beach that was only a few miles from our house. The weather was overcast and we did get a few sprinkles. While we were there we hunted for small crabs because it was low tide. All you had to do was move a stone and you could see them scatter.

Next it was time to head to the airport. This was the first real challenge for me since I had been driving all week in Seattle but all I had to do was follow someone. We were able to get to the airport but not without a little stress. The flight home did not go as smoothly as the trip there. We hit some serious turbulence over Montana and it really scared Megan. She turned as white as a ghost. We made to Minneapolis and stayed at Curt and Marti's house for the night before heading for Harwood the next morning.

Monday

Today is Mom's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today we took a ferry to Friday Harbor.

We packed a lunch and rode the ferry for about an hour and landed at Friday Harbor. We were only on the island for a short time but were able to do some shopping for souvenirs. Part of the fun of the ferry ride is the scenery and the chance to catch a sight of a whale. Unfortunately, we did not see a whale but had fun anyway.

On the way back we decided to eat at a Teryaki restaurant. The food was delicious. Janelle's cousin Tera met us there and we had a nice visit. We also stopped at Trader Joe's and picked up a few items before calling it a day.

Sunday

Today we drove to Snoqualmie Falls. We viewed it from the top and decided to take the hike down to the bottom which I think is about two miles. Well, going down was easy enough but the walk up proved to be a little more challenging. We took some rest stops along the way but all of the kids (and adults) made it. Next stop was an outlet mall near by. The scenery was incredible with mountains on all sides.

That night we decided to treat ourselves (Curt, Marti, Janelle, and myself) to some fine dining. Grandma, Grandpa, and Sister were nice enough to babysit for us. We went to a seafood restaurant on the Sound called Anthony's. The food and the view were incredible. We had a wonderful time.

Wedding Day

(Brothers on the deck before breakfast)

Today started with the traditional brother breakfast with the groom. Curt, Jerry, and I headed to Denny's and had one last visit with our "single" brother.

Next we took the kids to the Seattle Zoo(Woodland Zoo). It was a very nice zoo and we ended up rushing through the end because we ran out of time. http://www.zoo.org/

(We thought this would make a good picture with Janelle's "love" for gorillas.)










(Cousins Jaden and Morgan walked holding hands all week, it was so cute!)

Next came the big event, the reason we were there: The Wedding of Jerry and Jenny. We started with pictures that went smoothly and a lot faster than past weddings I've been in. The actual ceremony was beautiful. When the choir sang it was like God opened heaven and his angels were singing. Everything went smoothly, a little hot, but very nice. Megan passed out programs and then carried up a candle with Mandy during the procession. Jaden and Morgan were the ring bearer and flower girl and took the show. Curt and I were the best men (Jerry was never really good at making decisions. I think I was the bestest man and Curt was the best man.) Next the wedding party headed to the reception in a limo. We did take a couple of stops on the way including burgers and fries at Dick's Drive-In Burgers. Next came the reception/dance at Arch Bishop Murph HS were Jerry teaches. The DJ played music into the night and the Zander clan showed Seattle how to party by being the last ones on the dance floor into the early morning hours.

Day 3

Last night we spent our first night in the house we rented for the week. It had a view of the Sound that was unbelievable (of course I forgot to take a picture). The view was nice but it also had lots of space for everyone. The top floor was the master bedroom and bathroom which my parents and niece Mandy occupied. The middle floor had the kitchen, dining room, living room, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We took one of the bedroom/bathrooms and my aunt took the other. The bottom floor had a bar (with a big screen TV), 2 bedrooms, an empty room, and a bathroom. Curt, Marti, and kids had that floor to themselves. It was a nice place to park ourselves for the week.






Today we headed down to the Pike Place Market and the Pier. If you have never been in Seattle there are a ton of little shops that sell everything from fresh fruit and fish to hats and sunglasses. Here is a good video that shows a little of it along with the famous "flying fish."

Pike Place Market .

Since we had talked so much about the Space Needle to the kids we thought we had to go up and look at the view. Little did we realize it would take a second mortgage on our house to go up to the top. It cost Megan, Jaden, and myself $32 to ride an elevator to the top and look out the sides. The kids were interested for a few minutes and wanted to head down, but with that kind of money I thought we should be able to stay the night. Well, maybe not the night, but I was determined to at least get some of our money out of it. We walked around and looked at the view and did many of the interactive displays.






We also road the monorail. http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/Seattlepix1.html

Seattle, Day 2

We woke up and drove to Seattle (45 minutes). Jaden and I had to try on our tuxes to see if any alterations had to be done. Jadens fit but my pants were too short. They would have to get a new pair sent in, but another wedding had been canceled and there was a pair of pants that happened to be my size in that party's tuxes. Luck for me, not so luck for them.

We then went out for pizza and shopped a little before heading to Jerry's pad to change for the rehearsal and the Groom's Dinner. The wedding is at St. James Cathedral in downtown Seattle, a beautiful church. After rehearsal we headed to the Spaghetti Factory for the Groom's Dinner which in North Dakota would not be a big deal since they were only a few blocks apart. But you see this was at 5:30 pm in downtown Seattle. We left the church and about 45 minutes later I dropped everyone off at the restaurant's door. I then spent another 20 minutes driving around trying to find a parking spot. By the time I went into the room were our party was, there was only one seat left on the opposite side of the room from my family. I sat down and met some new people, Bill from CA and Doug from Idaho. They drilled me about questions of North Dakota but we had a wonderful conversation.

After a nice dinner we headed out to the house we rented to spend the night. More on that later.

Got to be a long day for Megan, Mandi, and Jaden