Bellevue Botanical Gardens

For the past few years it has been a Christmas tradition to go to the Southeast Botanical Gardens in Okinawa. They would decorate everything up and even do a huge laser show at night. It was awesome, and one of my favourite things to do there.

Since we are no longer in Japan, I was kind of bummed about not being able to go again this year. And then a co-worker told me about the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. So, of course we HAD to check it out!


Granted, they don't have a laser show or fun little festively dressed Okinawans. But they did have a unique clustering technique that made incredible light displays.



















What a great way to help bring one of our Okinawan traditions to Washington!

Just after Thanksgiving

Two days after Teresa and Clayton left, Mary, Rob, Marc-Andre and Luc came for a visit! I finally got to meet little Luc! Both of those boys are super cute. I absolutely LOVE being Aunt Sarah! :)

I also LOVE having family come visit. This was a less adventurous get together than the one with Teresa and Clayton. There was no geocaching, there was no bocce ball...but there were a lot of good conversations and good family time of playing with the boys.

Here are some of the hightlights:

Teresa and UW?

In December, Teresa will be graduating with her second Bachelor's degree, this one in Anthropology, with an emphasis in Archeology (her first was major in Religion, minor in Art). Because of this, she is working on her grad school applications, one of which to the University of Washington program here in Seattle. While here, she decided to set up an interview with one of the professors who does the Southeast Asia Archeology that she is hoping to study. It went so well! I'm very impressed with her because she seems to know exactly what she wants to study, and pretty much exactly how she wants to apply it. And I'm guessing that the professor is pretty impressed with her too. Who wouldn't be??

I'm really excited about this possibility...both for her and for me. This is her number one pick because it is such a great program for what she wants to study. And of course, it is my top pick for her too because she would be so close by again! Hopefully this will all play out and she and Clayton will be moving out here next summer.

*fingers crossed!*

Thanksgiving

What makes Thanksgiving special for you?

To me, Thanksgiving is a time filled with family, fun outdoorsy adventures, fantastic dinner spreads, and lots of laughter. And this year was no exception.

This was the first time in 5 years that Teresa and Clayton were able to spend Thanksgiving with the Cutter clan. It was such a blessing to have them here! We spent the week geocaching, exploring, playing bocce ball in the park, eating ALL the time, etc. Here are some pictures from all the excitement.









Geocaching:
In a muddy ravine..........and on a nearby beach.

Bocce Ball :) Looks like I was pretty excited in the second one!

Another cool tradition we have is putting up the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. This year, with family all living nearby, we had THREE houses to decorate. And for me, that's just plain fun. :)

I love family and traditions!