Seattle to the Maks!

Gretchen and Everest came to visit us this past weekend. Two old friends became peas in a pod again. We walked, talked toured and explored Seattle together. Gretchen has a really awesome camera and she's quite a photographer! She's teaching me lots of stuff. She let me borrow her camera and attached here are some of our photos.

It was a blast but the hardest part was saying good bye. Until we meet again my friends...

Here Gretch and Everest get to look across the Puget Sound and see Bainbridge Island.



The kids are posing against the cool architecture of the Science Fiction Museum


Russell is offering kisses on the monorail.






Ninang and Everest love Ate Welley



Eating at the mall...







I believe...

I can fly!




I believe I can touch the sky!




We miss you Everest! Come back soon!

Everyone is asking about our house...

Ok...we live in a suburb just north of Seattle called Lake Forest Park.


Our neighborhood is called Sheridan Beach. Our house is built on the side of a very steep hill. Because it is built on this hill, its layout is rather creative.





It has three floors with four bedrooms and two and a half baths. It has a sunroom with many windows and it overlooks Lake Washington.

Beware of the Fremont Bridge Troll!

Seattle is divided into neighborhoods that have their own personality. Such neighborhoods are Magnolia known for its very posh living, Ballard known for its Scandanavian heritage and fishing piers, and Fremont where artists and free thinkers live.


















Last Friday the kids
had a day off from school so Daddy
and his brood went on a troll hunt!
Rumor has it that a troll guards the Fremont Bridge...

Our first Chicago Vistior: Tito Mike

Our dear, old friend Mike de Leon came to visit us in Seattle last week! It was so good to see him. It felt as if he was bringing a little piece of home with him. We tsika-tsika-ed on Wednesday night just like college days. And then he came over for dinner on Thursday night. We ate an American style dinner: pork roast, mashed potatoes, veggies, and some ribs from a local rib store down the street. Tito Mike brought donuts for dessert from Top Pot, the best donut place in Seattle. YUMMY! He also bought the kids drinking bottles for our future hikes. The kids went nuts for them. After dinner we all went for a walk on the trail by our house and the kids brought their water bottles.

We love you Tito Mike! Say hi to everyone in Chicago for us!

Visiting the "Experience Music Project"

We are discovering the many things to do in Seattle. One place is the "Experience Music Project" which is in the Seattle Center in downtown Seattle.

















It is a hands-on museum dedicated to the history of music and learning different instruments. The first floor has exhibits for the progression of music such as blues, rock and roll, grunge, and hip hop. There are stations with earphones where you can sample albums of many artists.
















The second floor allows you to play instruments hands-on. The kids got to play with drums, keyboards, guitars, voice, voice synthesizers, and more! Their favorite was the voice synthesizer with the option to change their voices to sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks.














See

how


tall



the

Space


Needle


is!!??






Here
are

the
Rosa

kids!!

Settled in Seattle

Well here we are. It was a whirlwind of change: unexpectedly being part of a lay off from Orbitz, hunting for a job, getting my one and only offer from Amazon, house hunting trips to Seattle, packing up the house, packing up the cars, starting work, pulling the kids out of their schools, moving into temporary housing, moving into the home we found, unpacking, enrolling and starting in schools, PPHHHFFEEEEWW! Here are pictures of me and the kids in the front yard of our Seattle house.


GOOOOooOoOOoD MOOOooOOoRnNNniiinnnGGG Seattle! The Rosa's have arrived.