Seattle weekend with the Cummings!

Friday morning, Chris and I were back on the road again... this time we were headed north to Lake Stevens, to spend the weekend with the Cummings crew! His niece Jackie was having her baby shower on Saturday afternoon, so the whole family gathered at Lisa & Paula's for the weekend!! We also celebrated Jayden and Rachael's birthdays, which were on 3/24. And what better way to celebrate your 15th birthday, than go to the mall!! haha!!! The girls wanted to spend their bday money, and Chris can't pass up a chance to visit an Apple store, so it was off to the mall we went! :-) After our mall adventure, we spent the rest of evening playing RockBand and Wii and just catching up with one another... it was a nice, relaxing evening!!

Jon & Lexi

Birthday girls! Jayden & Rachael

Paula, Lisa, Paul & Jayden

Lexi gave singing a shot!

Chris is a ROCKSTAR!

Jayden... a guitar maniac!

Jon... tearing up the drums!!!

Me & Lexi... the groupies!! LOL!!

On Saturday, we went to Jackie's shower, which was at a local pizza joint and we had a really great time! Minus the fact that my team voted me as the "baby", so I got decorated with toilet paper... but I got a Starbucks out of the deal, so I guess the embarassment was worth it!! :-) After the shower, we headed to the hotel to enjoy the pool and hot tub, then headed back to Lisa & Paula's for more family time! Jack & Barbara played some of their cruise videos, which was cool... Jayden, Lexi and I spent a good portion of the night laughing and playing around... and then after Lexi went to sleep (which was a real group effort) we ended the night with a movie! Yet another great day!!

Jackie & Justin

Paul & Ana

Jackie, Ana & Lisa

Barbara, Jack, Chris & Lisa

LOVE this pic of Jayden & I!

Lexi played this game of running around the corner at me a million times!! Too cute!!!

After breakfast with the fam on Sunday morning, Chris, Jon & I visited the First Baptist Church in Everett, and then headed back to Lisa & Paula's to say goodbye to everyone. The 3 of us got in the car and followed Ana and her crew towards Seattle, however, we made one quick stop at Northgate mall to say a quick hello to Chris's friends, John and Emily. After quick introductions, and filling them in on the proposal story, we headed towards to the Space Needle to meet up with Ana, Paul & the girls! The 3 of us decided not to spend the money to go up, so we waited for them to come back and then we all headed down towards the Pier. At this point, Chris and Jon were ready to head back to Port Angeles, so we said our goodbyes and I joined up with Ana, Paul and the girls. We had dinner at a cool restaurant on the water and then headed back to Portland shortly after.

Can't see us, but it's a much better view! Ha!!

What a GREAT vacation!! I had such a great time with both my family and Chris's. I was a little worried about saying goodbye to Chris after spending 11 wonderful days with him. But I think the distraction of meeting up with Ana right away and still being surrounded by family was REALLY good for me. If I would have been alone after saying goodbye, I would have broken down in tears for sure. I am definitely ready for the goodbye's to be over!! I'm very anxious to start this new chapter in my life!! And even though my world is about to be flipped upside down... I'm excited for the future!!

Here are a few BONUS pics! Chris bought my ring in the Portland area, so Ana actually picked it up for him and he got it from her Thursday morning before we left for Kansas!!! Sneaky!!!!

Home, Sweet, Home...

but just for a quick minute! We... make that Chris... drove through the night, with minimal stops and got us safely to Portland around 9am Thursday morning. We turned in the rental car and headed straight to Ana's to crash on her couches! Our mission was to sleep as much as possible, because Friday morning we would be on the road again!! This time up to Lake Stevens, WA for his niece Jackie's baby shower and hang out with the Cummings family!


This was one of the trucks we passed along the Gorge. Pretty fitting and it brought a smile to our faces!! We were both very thankful that God blessed us with a great trip and kept us safe throughout the entire adventure!! :-)

Yet more family to meet...

Carolynn, Sarah, Lani, Me, Lily & Cat

And I do have to admit... meeting Lily's dad, might have been tougher for Chris than meeting my own!! LOL!! Chris and I rolled into his Uncle Junior's around 10pm on Tuesday evening. We chatted for a little bit, then crashed for the night. We thought we would sleep in and take him to lunch, but he had other plans!! :-) He was up at 7am, making us a HUGE, yummy breakfast!!! He's quite the host!!! We had snow on the ground when we woke up, so we packed our things and left shortly after breakfast. Well, not too shortly... because most of you know I take forever to get ready!! Ha!!! It all worked out though, because we found a Shane & Co. close to Salt Lake, so we dropped my ring off to get sized and chilled at a coffee shop while we waited for Lily to get off work!! We met her at her house and then went back to pick up my ring before grabbing a late lunch at Chik-Fil-A... yummy!!!! We chilled at the park for a little bit after the kids got out of school, then met up with all the sisters and ate dinner in downtown Salt Lake!! It was good times!!!! I wish we could have stayed longer... but I'm very thankful for the time I had!!!


We left SLC around 9pm and I had the first shift. But we hit snow and bad weather almost immediately, so Chris came to my rescue and took over at the wheel. And then ended up driving the whole 12 hrs. home. He's such a stud!! And to think... he's all mine!! :-)

Vail, CO... my new favorite!

So Chris and I opted for the Rockies on the way home! I was nervous about the weather (surprise, surprise!) but I trusted Chris and his driving, and his dad hooked us up weather reports the whole way, so the Rockies it was!! And it was beautiful, I'm very glad we went that way!!! We did hit some snow, but the roads were pretty clear the whole way. We stopped in Vail to use the restroom and Chris spotted this little park and wanted to get out and walk around. It was a gorgeous little spot, so he asked if I wanted to take a pic with the mountains in the background. Heck ya! So he braved the snow in his sandals and found a spot to set up the camera...

Oops!

After we took this one, Chris went back to look at it and said we should take another one. So he set the timer again and rushed back over to me...

... except this time he grabbed my hand, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! I was so happy, excited and shocked all at the same time!! And the best part is, we got a picture of it to capture the moment forever!!! I said YES, of course, and he told me to put the ring on... and I said "no, you put it on"!! :-) It was BEAUTIFUL!!! And exactly what I wanted!!! Chris and Ana are pretty sneaky!!!

I had assumed he would talk to my dad while we were in KS, but I had no idea he had the ring already and would propose so soon!! I was SO excited, and the tears immediately started rolling down my face!!! Shoot... the tears were still falling for a good 30 minutes after we got back in the car!!! LOL!!! We made a few calls to our immediate family members... but we mainly wanted to just bask in the moment ourselves. Who would have thought that coming home from vacation would be the best part!!! :-)