To All A Goodnight!

Albert Krush also known as Santa Al sadly lost his fight with cancer on July 1st. Al had been struggling with cancer for over 4 years! In reality that was way longer than what the Dr's originally told him he would live. During these last few years Al had been able to do so many things and I'm so glad he got that "extra" time per se. 

His memorial was held on the same day at Michael's mom's memorial. We actually had to leave Carol's memorial at 1:45 in order to get the kids home and then leave for Al's. Our friends Brandon and Elaine were kind enough to watch the kids. We really wanted them to be at their Grandma's memorial, but we thought it would be pushing it to have them attend two memorials in one day. 

The memorial was held at Greenwood in Renton. We were actually late because of all this construction on I-5. Thankfully we didn't miss everything. This wonderful picture that my Dad had made for Al was right up in front. It's probably my favorite picture of Santa Al....The Man In Red! 

Out in the foyer Ellen had one of his Santa suits hanging up. 

On the mantle and all around the foyer were photos of Santa Al and even this beautiful article that Ellen scrapbooked about Al. 

For the reception it was only fitting that we had cookies and milk! 

Jim and Norean flew in from Minnesota to be there to honor Al. Also Dianne and Jim came over from the peninsula to pay their respects. It was a truly wonderful time honoring an amazing man of God. Al touched so many people during his life. So many hurting and sick children were blessed because of his work as Santa. He was so special in so many ways and he will be missed. As you can imagine it was an emotionally exhausting day with two memorials for two amazing people. It was worth it though to celebrate and honor both of them!!! 

NW Trek With Friends!

 Our friends Brandon and Elaine had never been to NW Trek before and since we have annual passes for it we thought it would be fun to have them come along with us. Why pay full price when you can get in way cheaper with a pass holder!!! 

Michael took the day off so he could come with us. That morning I told all the kids to pack their lunches in their backpacks or a lunchbox and then to get a light coat on. Of course Zeke didn't listen to me so he came with no coat and short sleeves. Silly kid!!!

First stop was the bathroom. 

Trying to get a normal picture out of this kids right now is almost impossible! 

Jackson recently saw the orthodontist for the second time and he had his bands changed out and got blue this time. His sweet face is already changing so much! 

Ella Grace was not so happy about Zeke being in this picture, but I did get her to smile nice! 

Then I took an 'all by herself' picture! 

We found the snail!!! I've heard that it moves around the park and can sometimes be hidden and hard to find. Every time we've come it's been really easy to find. It would be fun to have to actually hunt for it though! 

We got tickets for the first tram of the day. It was a bit breezy out, but still nice. The view from the top of the hill was breathtaking!!! We saw lots of animals....almost all the moose. The only ones we didn't find were the herd of female bison.

After the tram we went to the picnic tables and ate lunch and then headed over to the Trek Kids play area. This is the where our kids want to spend all their time. 

After a while Brandon and Elaine headed out to check out more animals and we stayed and hung out with Christina and her kiddos. They came just to play in the play area. We stayed at the play area for 2 hours before we decided to call it a day. It was such a gorgeous day made even better by being with good friends!