new grill

Last week and weekend the weather here was amazing - sunny and in the high 70's. We decided to spend our last wedding gift card on a Weber grill. On Saturday we had ourselves a BBQ. We haven't been able to use it again since it's been raining all this week.


putting the grill together

With the nice weather comes beautiful flowers. Here are a few shots of the rhododendron bush in our front yard. We also have irises (I think), but I don't have any photos of them.


you don't want to know how many trys it took to get this shot


Fun WA Fact: the rhododendron is our state flower


Nollie

Swenson family reunion

FRIDAY
Mike's parents arrived in Seattle on Friday afternoon. They stayed at a small B&B in Ballard. Steve, Mike and I went over to check out their place in the evening where we received gifts - cheese, chocolates, and a bridesmaid dress! We then went to the Hi-Life for dinner.

SATURDAY
Mike got up early to skate the Ballard bowl. Nollie and I walked down to meet him and Steve before we all went to Cafe Besalu to meet his parents.


ready to drop in


in the bowl

At Cafe Besalu we all had coffee and pastries. Yum! Even Nollie got to enjoy some dog treats at the cafe.


Mike, Nollie, and Irene


Ken enjoying his mocha

Next, we went to the dog park at Golden Gardens where Nollie acted like her usual lame self and didn't play with any of the other dogs.

The big outing of the day was to Mt. Rainier. We drove up to Paradise where there was still a HUGE amount of snow on the ground. Then we drove down the mountain a little way to do some hiking. We thought we drove far enough to get away from the snow, but the farther (and higher) we hiked the more snow we ran into.


at Paradise


tree moss beard


obligatory photo with Mt. Rainier


on our hike


nice face Steve!


what Mike's looking at

After a very busy day we all went back to our house for pizza, Yahtzee, and Office Space.

SUNDAY
First, we walked to St. Alphonsus for Mother's Day mass. After mass we went for breakfast at Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe. Later that night we had a Mother's Day BBQ at Steve's house. Nels, Topher, and Claire were there too.

MONDAY
Mike's parents flew back to Wisconsin this afternoon. We hope they had a good time visiting!

our weekend fun

On Saturday Steve, Nollie and I went to Green Lake for a walk. It was a great day to be outside, despite the fact that my new shoes gave me blisters. I guess I shouldn't have worn them for a 3 mile walk! Mike stayed home to work on his research from Madison.

Saturday night Mike and I went on a date to the Santa Fe Cafe on Phinney Ave. It was delicious! After that we got some coffee. We're becoming your typical Seattlites (is that what you'd call us - I'm not sure).

Sunday Mike and Steve went up to Alpental snowboarding. Sunday was the last day it was open for the season. It rained the whole time. But it was sunny in Seattle where I was!

warm weather

We've been enjoying the warm, 70 degree weather. Mike has been skateboarding quite a bit - and even rode the Ballard bowl. He was a little scared, but went early in the morning so not to embarass himself too much. We've also been taking Nollie to the dog park at Golden Gardens a lot since the rain has let up. She met two goldens there today named Mollie and Max.

Last weekend we had Steve and his friend Natalie over for a little dinner party. I made lasagna, garlic bread, and Ceasar salad. After dinner we went for drinks at a bar in Ballard. On our way home Mike and I stopped at Denny's for breakfast.

Work has been getting better for me. I testified in my first case here in Washington on Monday. It was in Vancouver, which is practically in Oregon - three hours from Seattle. The defense attorney was a piece of work. His questions weren't difficult, but he did yell at me. Eh. I keep getting more responsiblities at the lab, which is good because it makes the day go by faster.

Mike's still doing his thing at SDOT. He's really looking forward to starting his abandoned mine project or possibly doing some costal work.

Our first Wisconsin visitors are coming next week. We can't wait to see you!