While Merce was here...

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo behind. So I mentioned that my friend Merce came home with me from UT. While she was here, our spring break turned into "April Break" as we had quite the time doing tourist stuff. I LOVED having her here. She was a member of a ward where I served for over half of my mission, and I loved her then, but was too busy to know her on a deeper level. So we've been in touch through the years, and during those two weeks we laughed harder than I've laughed in ten years. I really needed that, and I didn't even know it. She helped me around the house and raved over every new thing I showed her...pinewood derby cars, the pool at our YMCA, the frogs we caught, Snoqualmie Falls, Pike's Place Market, my kids, the daffodil fields, Easter egg dying, the San Juan Islands...she loved it all.

I took so many pictures while she was here. It was like every five feet she'd marvel over something else, and want a picture. We laughed a lot about this. If we were somewhere totally normal, she'd notice the clouds and need a picture of them. So I took them. Anyway, so I won't be in many of these pictures, but they represent a very, very good time for me. I miss her a lot, even if we have talked every day since she left.

A lot of these were me letting her loose with my camera...

It was a nice day, and Ruby was enjoying a snuggle with Stone on the lawn chair...

Catching frogs...her first time. We caught three that night!
Merce loves clouds and flowering cherry trees...

our house...Merce loves Seattle... and Pike's Place Market...Ruby loves Merce...she even cried when she left...She loved the ferry... The view from Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island...so beautiful!She loves reflections in the water...She loves red bark on trees...She loved turning rocks over to discover little crabs...I love the way the islands in the puget sound overlap and surround you...We loved our little cabin looking over Deer Harbor! We had to share a King Size bed, and I was worried about snoring, so she put in ear plugs and promptly started to SNORE! I wound up on a loveseat in another room for like five hours before she woke up and realized I was gone and gave me an extra pair of ear plugs she had. Then we both snored happily. If only I'd known about the plugs sooner. She loved Snoqualmie Falls... She wanted a picture with this man because he fixed the little paddle ball toy that the girls had. She was sure it couldn't be fixed, but he fixed it!

She loved the Pinewood Derby...

She loved dying easter eggs, decorating easter egg cookies, stuffing plastic easter eggs, hiding easter eggs...she loved the way we celebrate Easter...

I love Merce! I miss her and can't wait to visit her in Barcelona soon (positive thinking).