It's time to get ready
Though you always look your best
The next step requires
For you to get dressed

Roses are red
These next ones are too
To continue this hunt
Here's what to do

Drive 3 miles south
Next to Woodland Park Zoo
There in the gazebo
You'll find the next clue

An update

So, here's a well past-due update on our activities:

Sarah is still working at the day care (just approaching 3 months now) and is also working one on one with a girl with autism 2 evenings a week. In her spare time she tends to get sick (so far she's had three colds, two fevers, and one stomach bug). Health benefits coming soon! At least the work is fun :)

Jon successfully built his own guitar amp without being electrocuted:

He has also found a couple artists to record via craigslist. He recorded a two-song demo for a high school pop-punk band which can be heard here. He is also doing a bunch of songs with a pop/rock singer/songwriter that are yet to be completed. The pay isn't much at this point, but it's something. Next week Jon will also start tutoring two days a week.

We were happy to have a few friends visit last week. It was really refreshing to see some familiar faces! We enjoyed hanging out, trying new restaurants, and making butternut squash gnocchi with them. Yum!

We hope to have more visitors soon. This means YOU! We still don't have room for anyone to stay with us yet...but hopefully by fall. Well, we could accommodate one or two if you're willing to sleep on an air mattress in our kitchen/dining room. Just an idea.

Golden Gardens Park

A couple weeks ago we went to check out the sunset along the Puget Sound at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard. The colors weren't as vibrant as an Arizona sunset, but it was still really pretty. :)

Waiting for the sunset:

Behind us:

Climbing trees to pass the time:

And finally, sunset:

Whew. Finally...

Sarah got a job today, after over 3 months of searching and interviewing! She has to make it through a 90-day probationary period to gain permanent status & benefits, but we have no doubt she can do that. The position is at a small, family-owned child care and the owner and staff seem like a nice group of people. They like her quiet and calm nature :)

Marshmallows

So we have a bag of miniature marshmallows that we have been trying to get rid of since Thanksgiving when we made Watergate salad. Last night we decided to light some tea light candles and do some small scale marshmallow roasting. Yum!

Christmas in Arizona

It was so nice to be able to visit with our family and friends in Arizona for Christmas! We were thankful to find fairly cheap flights which made that possible. It was a little stressful trying to organize when and where to see everyone in such a short amount of time and having to get rides/borrow cars. We got see almost everyone we wanted to, but we know there are some we did not get to see, and we sincerely hope we can see you the next time around!! Thanks to everyone who helped get us places--we really appreciate it!

Again, we failed with the pictures...(or the lack of)...we were too busy catching up with all of you to take pictures!

But for some visual stimulation, here are some pictures of Jon's most recent project--a footswitch pedal for his amp. He used his dad's workshop when we were in AZ to build the housing and just finished wiring it up with the lights and everything today. We decided it wouldn't be a good idea to wire it up in Arizona because it might have looked like a bomb when we went through security at the airport. Jon is happy with how it turned out!

Thanksgiving

This year we had our first Turkey Day apart from our families. It was weird, but we still had a nice Thanksgiving. Our friend Joe came to visit some family here in Seattle so we got to spend Thanksgiving with them. They were fabulous hosts...and it was so nice to spend some time with an Arizona buddy! We hope we get more visitors in the future :) Sadly, we have no pictures from that to share with you all...sorry!