First Time Visitors on Tour

Snaggletooth Comes Into View

Besides Luke's mom and sister (Peggy and Angie) who came to visit us last week, we had another snaggletooth come to visit and we got a really good picture of the pair this weekend.

But not to fret, one of her front teeth showed up today, Easter Sunday! So hopefully in a few weeks she'll have all four of her front teeth and won't look like baby Dracula anymore!

The Characters of Easter

Speaking of Easter Sunday, our pastor gave a really great sermon that was pretty refreshing from the typical traditional Easter Sunday Sermons. He focused on the characters of the story and to emphasize the 'reality' of the story. So we learned about Pilate, Judas, Simone of Cyrene, Barabbas, Joseph of Arimathea and Thomas. I really enjoyed learning about some of the smaller "characters" that I never even thought about before. Because I know about Pilate, the judge guy who washed his hands of the fate of Jesus and of course there was Judas one of the twelve disciples who proactively betrayed Jesus (although who felt deep remorse for what he did and hung himself). But I hadn't heard of or maybe didn't remember the significance of the roles played by Simone of Cyrene, Joseph of Arimathea and Thomas. Who are they you say? Well look it up for yourself as you may be surprised at their small yet significant role in the story:

Simone of Cyrene

Luke 23:26, Mark 15:21 and Matthew 27:32 Wouldn't it suck to be standing along the sidelines and be pulled into the story like that!

Joseph of Arimathea

Luke 23:50-53, Mark 15:42-46 and Matthew 27:57-60 What a nice old man huh?

Thomas

John 20:24-29 Ah right, the famous "Doubting Thomas" He's even famous on Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubting_Thomas

And with that note "...Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

Baskets of Fun

Because Luke and I don't drink coffee on a regular basis, I made Easter baskets for Peggy and Angie filled with coffee and chocolate treats which turned out really cute. I wish I had pictures, but they opened them as soon as they arrived (so they would have their coffee each morning while they were here) and I didn't get a picture.

But here is a picture of Alyssa after church with her Easter basket in her fancy Easter dress my mom bought for her. Her basket was filled with a couple of small soft balls, a wooden lamb, a pink plastic slinky and a pair of maraca's (which was her favorite toy from the basket). That's the thing with the little ones, you never know what they'll like, I thought it might be the slinky.

And of course here is a picture of Alyssa when she found

out there there was no candy in her Easter basket!

Family

So as I mentioned before, Luke's mom and sister came to visit and did the whole touristy thing which was a lot of fun. We toured Pike's Market, the First Starbucks, the underground hidden city of Seattle, the locks, a water tour of houses around Lake Washington (including Luke's boss's house-the well known Bill Gates, hehe) and the amusement park at the Space Needle/Experiencing Music Project area. We also ate at some fantastic restaurants including an amazing quaint Italian restaurant and along the water for some authentic sea food (of which I didn't take part, Alyssa and I had Chicken. hehe) Oh and of course we went to the Microsoft store where Angie (Luke's sister) bought a geek t-shirt and coffee mug...actually she bought a coffee mug at almost every place we toured! hehe Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Luke, Alyssa and I on the boat tour. The weather was fantastic for the ride!

Bill Gates House Sleepless in Seattle Set House

Lunch at the little Italian restaurant where there were only 6 tables inside!

Myself, Alyssa, Angie & Peggy at the Underground Tour of Seattle

During the tour someone laughed really loud and scared Alyssa so we walked off on our own for a bit. Gosh - so sensitive! But then was of course happy again when her Aunt Angie held her. :)

Here's myself, Alyssa and Angie with the copper firemen who unsuccessfully fought the downtown fires of Seattle. It's not their fault that when some melty wax exploded and caught fire the store next door was a dynamite storage center AND the entire city was constructed of wooden structures! At least miraculously no one died!

Luke, myself, Alyssa and Angie outside of a downtown building covered with vines.

Peggy, Angie, Luke & Alyssa at the amusement park next to the Space Needle/EMP building eating cotton candy and snow cones...well except for Alyssa.

Last but not least, we have a picture of Angie & Alyssa outside of the Space Needle. Angie couldn't convince us to go up the needle, but we did go into the gift shop where she surprisingly did not buy a coffee mug! :) Next time we'll treat her to dinner at the space needle to make up for us not wanting to go this time around.