Small Town, USA

I finally figured out why we like this neighborhood of Magnolia so much. It's like living in Small Town, USA- but just up the street from a good sized city. Yesterday was a perfect example: There was a preschool fundraiser at the Methodist Church, selling children's clothing and toys and I headed up there to see if I could find some summer shorts for Odessa. I ran into a friend and saw many other familiar faces. Faces I see at the gym, the grocery store, the post office. When I got home, Ada, Odessa and I walked to the corner to watch part of the Little League parade when all the teams march down the main streets. They throw candy, the High School band plays, all the village businesses sponsor a team, the main streets were all closed. Late in the afternoon when we were all stir crazy from packing, the girls and I headed to the grocery store down the street to see if they had any more boxes. We turned in their Easter Coloring contest pages, hoping to win the $20 grand prize! We met Stephen on our return at the park and played in the perfect afternoon weather. And to cap off our evening, we walked around the corner to the Pie restaurant and split a couple pieces of pie. You don't get more "down home" days than that. I told Stephen they just need a cheap diner to round out the place. Ichiro's Teriyaki will have to suffice- Teriyaki is like diner food around here- cheap and plentiful. Owning our own home will be exciting, but leaving Magnolia is hard to do.
Monday night we hosted the Linfords and Manijeh at our home to thank them for being our grandparents-away-from grandparents here in Seattle. They are such wonderful people, we love them all 3 dearly. We often run to the Linfords at the gym here in Magnolia and the girls shout "Sister Linford!" Which makes all the patrons stare and the rest of us laugh.
I made the traditional St Patrick's Day feast for them. This is a terrible picture, but I wanted to capture the moment.
Friday we met our friend Julia at the Zoo and enjoyed the sunny weather along with half of Seattle. School was out and the kids were all there at the zoo. I ran into 4 other friends besides Julia!

This tiger was licking the other


I love giraffes!


I liked this shot of the wise old gorilla and the young behind



Say goodbye. It's time to focus on moving. . . .