Seattle's Best

It is apparently NOT always raining in Seattle. When Andrew, Jackson and I visited in November for Thanksgiving, I think it only rained two times! We were there for a week visiting Andrew's brother and his wife and kids who just moved up there. Andrew's other brother and her fiance, as well as his parents, were also there! It was a Haverly Thanksgiving with yummy food and good times with family.




My friend Jen also lives in Seattle, so we got to catch up with her as well. Jen and I lived together in college (Go Frogs) and I don't get to see her much anymore, but she showed us around her fabulous city, shared local coffee secrets, and flirted with Jackson. Sorry, Micah.



Neither of us had ever been up there, and hadn't really thought much of the city other than it rains, and there's a Space Needle, so we couldn't stop commenting on how beautiful and fun it was up there. Not to mention the ever-abundant teryaki and assorted Asian foods... That's always a good thing.



We spent some time at the Space Needle, the Music Museum (I don't remember what it's called, but we stayed in the free part), Pike Place, Snoquamie Pass (complete with snow and skiing - though we didn't ski), the Seattle Aquarium (where we had LOTS of fun with J and took so many awesome pictures), and of course KARAOKE at the house - Haverly style. We had to bundle Jackson up well because it was COLD some of the days, but for the most part the weather was beautiful! Cold, but clear skies, and for the most part no rain! Andrew and I would go back if given the chance...and Jackson can come along too. He looks super cute in his hat with the ear flaps. That may have been my favorite part of the trip! Ha!



PLEASE check out the photo album with tons of great pictures (mostly of Jackson...) by clicking HERE and then for more (because they wouldn't all fit in one album...) click HERE TOO.

My view this morning

Ethiopian Jackson!

We went over to Ethiopia (Me, Andrew, Jackson and my mom) to meet with the people we'll be working with when we move, and to check out housing, etc. It was a great trip! We got to meet with all the people we needed to, saw what we needed to see, and did it all in the perfect amount of time. God does a pretty good job of setting appointments!

Some of the folks we'll be working with gave us really good moving advice, including what to bring, what to buy there, what to ship, etc. We'll basically be taking our kitchen appliances, electronics, clothes, and some of Jackson's stuff, and we'll be selling (LIQUIDATING) the rest! Stay tuned for said liquidation sale... We have lots of great furniture to get rid of, a car to sell, and a house to rent out!

Back to the trip re-cap:

We stayed in a fabulous (and cheap) guest house (like a hostel) and Jackson LOVED playing on his mattress, pulling up on the bed next to him, pulling up

and looking out the window, squealing at things... He had a great time! It was really only the l

ast 2 days we were there that he figured out how to climb down off of the mattress and make his way around the not-so-baby-proof room. Praise God he didn't discover that earlier! Ha! He also figured out how to climb up onto my bed at the end of the trip. Smartest baby ever.

All the Ethiopians loved Jackson. I mean LOVED him! And he felt the same way about them since they all payed lots of attention and held him and loved on him. Social butterfly.

Jackson had an amazing time being passed around from one person to another - they LOVE babies! That's a pretty great cultural trait... very helpful :)

The plane ride was loooong, to say the least, but Jackson did pretty great both ways. He's just awesome :).

It's very exciting for us to know more about what the next year holds for our family, and now we are facing a huge list of things to do before March, including some training, selling everything, packing up, getting lots of paperwork in to our company, and saying our goodbyes! It's overwhelming to say the least, and it's easy to get bogged down just thinking about our list, but it's also an incredible adventure that God has before us, so we are eagerly anticipating what He has in store for our family!

We've got LOTS more pictures from the trip, so check them out by clicking HERE!

Jackson's favorite meal: Table.

Jackson in Seattle!