What keeps us smiling.

Liam is 18 months old now. He's happy, healthy, and extremely active. The doctor said it's no wonder he can't keep any fat on him, because he moves around so much (as Liam was doing circles around his office & playing with every toy in the room as he went).
Liam loves to repeat words. We can't even keep track of how many he knows now. Some of his favorites are "doggy", "happy", "Toby", "hello", "sippy", "binky", "blankey", "shoes", "outside", "hair", "eyes", "nose", and of course "mommy" and "daddy".

Mom's Birthday

"She's my grandma. I saw her first. You got a problem with that?"
-LiamCheck out my latest blog post Toby. I'm finally posting grandma's birthday photos from last month.

"You're a little slow, but I still like you Uncle Jared."
-Toby
How is that thing not collapsing?!"I'm excited!"
-Toby"Woah, Liam did you notice the huge dog with the razor sharp teeth we just woke up?"
-Toby
Does anyone care that Sam lost his pants? Cause Sam doesn't.
"I'm the King of this Jungle. Yield."
-Toby"Oh yea! A slide. Weee..."
-Liam"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...Woooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh"
(crash)
"I'm ok."
-Liam
"Auntie Reese. What happened to your head?"
-Sam"I wanna tin man hat, too."
-Sam

UK Day 6 - St. Fagans & Caerphilly Castle, Wales

Caerphilly covers over 30 acres and is the largest castle in Wales. It was built in 1268 and is one of the biggest in all of Britain. We LOVE castles...
"My castle!!!"
-Carmen
Did I mention that we love castles? This place is unbelievable and probably the most amazing castle we've seen yet.Going even further back in time... here we are at a Celtic civilization. This type of living could go back to about 2000 BC or even earlier.Time to go back to Seattle. Don't forget the passports!
We backpacked around London, drove the UK, and saw thousands of years of history in a single week. Just 9 hours in the air and we will be at home with Liam.
Oh yeah, did I mention we flew 1st class?
There's a first time for everything. :)

UK Day 5 - Cardiff, Wales

Bombs away. We're in Wales!
There's nothing quite like the local pubs in the UK. It's just the thing to do there. We met some great people, too.
This old sailors pub is one of the oldest in Wales. Cardiff is their capitol city, and growing like wildfire.
Complete with local brews. Brains is made just a few miles away from where we ordered it.
The Youth Hostel's saved us. No way could we afford paying for a hotel in this lousy economy. Our dollar isn't worth anywhere near the pound... only 50 pents! We actually enjoyed our stay.
Kinda funny that my first trip to the Atlantic ocean is in Wales. From here, we go East toward Heathrow, then back to Seattle.

UK Day 4 - Edinburgh, Scotland

I couldn't believe Carmen suggested we should rent a car and drive from London to Scotland. I didn't hesitate for a second to jump into a right hand drive European car! Our trip became an adventure quickly driving on the left side of the road, trying to read street signs on buildings, and navigating treacherous roundabouts everywhere we went!
We decided to stay at a bed & breakfast in Scotland a couple of nights, but it was youth hostels the rest of the trip.
The city of Edinburgh was awesome! There's over a thousand years of history here with the worlds first skyscrapers, an underground city, incredible architecture and so much more.We love the pipes!This is our favorite city in the UK.
"Look mom, Haggis! Yum."Time to wash down some of that good 'ol haggis. We enjoyed the traditional Scottish pubs.I think I should get a kilt... just to fit in.
Of course. You know I had to... after all, it's the Scottish Fire Brigade!

UK Day 3 - Warwick Castle, Great Britain

The first Warwick Castle was built in 1070AD; almost 1,000 years of history in one place! It was updated in the 12th century to look more like what stands there today. Our favorite part of the castle: the dungeon!
The castle was built on a cliff with the Great Hall overlooking the River Avon. It is filled with ancient weapons, artwork, and other medieval artifacts. It is protected by Caesar's Tower & Guy's Tower, which were once filled with soldiers who would fight off attackers from the small openings at the top.
We walked the whole thing: across the drawbridge, over the moat, through the gate, into the dungeon, up the tower, along the wall... Amazing!
I could take him, right?
Too bad our dollar is only worth half as much as the British Pound here, but this tour that nearly bankrupted us was well worth it. We almost didn't go in, but I couldn't resist.

UK Day 1 & 2 - London, England

London! (I think the 2 story bus is a giveaway)
We decided to fly here because the plane had room for us and neither of us had been here before... so why not?
"I'll smile for the picture, but what would make me REALLY happy is if I got to live INSIDE the palace instead of taking pictures out here in the rain."
-CarmenYou just don't get this kind of quality craftsmanship in the US.
Ok, we've dealt with enough rain... we decided to get an umbrella. You'd think we would have thought of that since we live in Seattle!
Here I am at the gates of Buckingham Palace, moments before being shot in the leg. Ouch!

Big Ben. Yup, it's big.

Vroom Vroom & Ribs!

"Vroom Vroom!"
-Liam
(He's been making those noises all week after riding the 4 wheelers in Iowa)

"It's... like a dog, right?"
-Liam
(He knows what a doggy is, but was a little unsure what to do when we stopped to feed the cows)
Arlan & Ruth are the greatest Aunt & Uncle I could ever ask for. They've done so much to help us out, even in the short time that I've been a part of the family. I can't say enough good things about them. Congratulations on 100 years of the Moss Family Farm!!!
"Ribs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
-Haley & Levi Moss
"Uncle Jon, can you cut me off another rack of those amazing, world famous ribs?"
-Haley
"Finished!"
-Haley
(Who obviously Haley couldn't get enough of Jon's ribs.)

Burien Kids Day

"Um, are you a dog or a firefighter? I think this guy might be bipolar."
-Sam
Operating a towing company in the 1920's would have been interesting to say the least, but it's fun to pretend... We bring over some of our trucks every year along with donated cars for the fire department to practice extricating victims in front of the crowd. It's one of the charitable things that my dad always did and we will continue the tradition.
"Looks like I found the Kit Kat Bar, which makes you guys the Losers!"
-Sam
Colby Cruz (left) & the Mariner Moose (right), in case their was any confusion... both working the Burien Kids Day at the local fire station around the corner from our towing company. Colby and I came in together as volunteers for North Highline Fire District. He is now the President of the Volunteers. The Moose and I go way back as well; ever since I started going to M's games back in 1989 we've been tight.