Weeks 63: Family Fun

The past few weeks have been extra full of activity.  Had to forego writing on my blog last week, so I'll be making two entries this week.

We were thrilled to have Samuel visit us during the holidays. He got here the morning of our mission Christmas party and was a great help to us. He'd already made banners for the event and sent them to us. Then at the party he was a big help. The Blatters were particularly grateful that he was able to take the mission photos.

Elder portraying Elder Hadlock & his "clicker glasses"

The missionaries seemed to really enjoy themselves for the nearly nine hours that they were together. They had a devotional, did a white-elephant gift exchange, sang lots of Christmas songs, did skits, ate, more skits, and ended on a spiritual note with a few talks and the reading of the last chapter of the Book of Mormon. We were somewhat exhausted at the end of the day, but in a good way!

While Sam was here we were able to take time off to show him around the area and even see a few new things. Despite the daily rain and short daylight hours, we still did a lot.

Sam took lots of photos. Wish I had some of them to post here, but mine will have to do!  We visited the Antique Sandwich Company, Point Defiance, Owen's Beach, Stadium High School,  and Proctor Street on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day was a "lazy" day at home for the most part. The highlight was getting to talk to Benjamin via Facetime. He looked and sounded good. He is very busy as a Zone Leader right now. They have about 22 companionships (that's a lot) in their zone and cover a large area.

We took Sam to Chambers Bay that day. It was quite cold, but Sam can't resist a trip to a beach, looking for sea life (we found crabs), and of course lots of photos

On Friday, we went to Seattle via the Bremerton Ferry. It's quite a scenic route. We took the car on over to Seattle this time though so we didn't have to do so much walking. We met up with Christopher who lives just across the street from the Seattle Center and Space Needle.  The Pacific Science Center is right there, too. We'd never been there and really enjoyed that new adventure. The highlight there was the butterfly exhibit. They have an area where you can go in and experience many beautiful butterflies all around you in a tropical environment. You can watch them as they eat, fly, etc. Some even land on you.  Great fun.

At Pacific Science Center

Had lunch with Christopher, then he had to go to work. We then visited Pike's Place Market for a few hours.


On Saturday we visited the State Capitol Building in Olympia. It's quite beautiful inside and sits in a beautiful spot. Had hoped to go to the Farmer's Market there, but it was closed.

Peanut Butter Temptations

I was grateful for Sam's help on Sunday with Peanut Butter Temptations. We made them to take for Monday treats at the office. Missionaries love them. Some folks will appreciate that Sam unwrapped a miniature Reese's that had five wrappers on it!

Well, that's the summary of Week 63 here in the WATAC. Having Sam here, seeing Christopher, and talking to Benjamin were definitely the highlights of the week.