Visitors and Visiting in July!

My dad had two weeks off in July and my mom had an itch to go somewhere. So they set off to Redwood National Forest and then went into Oregon.

After Oregon they came to see us. I was thrilled. My dad had not been up to see us in Washington yet and we just bought a house. I was excited to have my parents see it. My girls loved having them here. There was always something going on. We took them around town, to Rainier, Seattle and they got to see some people that we talk about.

This is on the Grove of the Patriarch's hike.
This is about a mile long.

My mom was trying to get my dad to look
at the camera.

We are standing in front of Rainier, but you
can't see it well.

Waterfall that we hiked down to. It is near
the base of Rainier.

My dad was tired and stayed in the car.

Look Rainier again.

This is the day of my birth. Happy
Birthday to me. We were
planning on going to Canada, but
on further researching we found
out it would take too long to do in
one day. Hans had to be to work
the next day so this was not going
to happen, unfortunately.

We took my parents to Seattle. My dad
hadn't been in about 40 years. It was time.
We tried doing the Space Needle for lunch,
but it was all booked, by the time we decided.
We had fun seeing Pike Market Place, driving
by the Space Needle and watching people.
We even saw a guy using the doorway of a
business as a bathroom. Grossed us all out, but
that is life in the city.

I couldn't wait to show my dad the gum wall.
He thought it was completely nasty. Does he
look tense next to this wall?

On July 14th, the girls and I headed to Salt Lake with them via Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. My dad didn't want to take the same roads that he sees while driving his truck for work so that ruled out the Boise route. Honestly, I was okay with doing that since I have seen that route a lot too.

We were able to show them the big Radio Flyer Wagon and Spokane Falls in Riverpoint Park. After the park we drove to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and showed them the resort that had the Gooey's and took advantage of a delicious treat at Dockside.

Then we were off to the Best Western in Missoula, Montana where we spent the night and went swimming. After getting in some much needed sleep we embarked on the 7 1/2 hour drive to Salt Lake City, Utah. With about four hours left and a few melt downs I was ready to be done. My girls were grouchy and I think
they were getting plenty of cabin fever. Arlee had a melt down in the McDonald's bathroom. She refused to go and fought me for about 30 minutes until, I gave up and threw her in the car. I had so many people giving me nasty looks
when we got out. I was completely embarrassed. Anyone else wish that people would just flush the toilets so we didn't have to fight with our children to sit on the automatic toilets? My life would be so much easier, let me tell you!

We pulled up to my parents and we were all so excited! We played for a little bit and then went to bed. Too tired to have visitors that day. They came the next day though and we had so much fun. Hans' family didn't get to see us as much since I didn't have a car. After the splash pad
my mom dropped me and the girls off and Hans' parents took us to my parents' house later that night. I am not used to being with out a car and I really didn't notice it too much. It was kind of hard explaining to people that they needed to come and get me if they wanted to see me, since they don't live that close, but we tried to make the most out of the time that we were able to
see family and friends. I am sorry that people felt they didn't get to see us that much, but that is just the way it goes sometimes. Especially when I am with out a car and no one is coming
to get us.

Hans has been working a lot due to the other store in the valley being down their only two pharmacists. One get transferred and wasn't replaced yet before the manager of the store had to leave to India to be with his dad, who got diagnosed with late stage cancer. Hans was working between 50 and 68 hours a week. I felt like he was back in school again. Normally
when we go to Utah we can leave on Wednesday or Thursday, but because he was filling in he couldn't leave until Saturday. I was completely bummed and asked my parents if I could ride back with them when they came to see us. It worked out great. I got to spend more time in Utah with the girls and Hans came when he was able to.

In the summer we like to do a lot of things together with mine and Hans' family. We love doing all the outdoorsy things that Utah has to offer that Yakima does not. This year we went
to a splash pad, Leatherby's, water park, fireworks, shopping, had a BBQ and a hot dog roast in Hans' brother's backyard. We had a blast. It was probably one of the best trips
that we have been on.

Not to mention that Hans and were able to go
on a night away. Here are some pictures from our date.

We were able to go out to dinner at Schezwan in Park City (Went here on our 1st
anniversary) After dinner we drove back to
Salt Lake and went to Brugges where they have Belgin Waffles that Hans got on his mission in the Netherlands. This is always a stop for us in Utah. We love this place so much. After that we checked into our room at the Anniversary Inn located in downtown Salt Lake City. This is a place where they have themed rooms. It is nice to break from the normal hotel rooms. We had the Mississippi Seranade- This room was tiny, but nice. In the morning we got breakfast that they have you order the night before. It was delicious. After checking out we went and
walked around Temple Square, the new City Creek
Mall (Hans hadn't seen it yet.)
Thank you so much to my mom and my sister Abbie for watching the girls for us so we go.
We loved our night out.

These last pictures are out of order, but I am done blogging. this post is getting a little old. Haha and blogger is giving me issues. So there you have our trip in a nut shell.

The Hoges

Q and A with Arlee

For Primary at church I was asked to fill out a paper while asking Arlee the following questions. Here is how it went:

Q:What does Heavenly Father want for you?
A: He wants me to live with him.

Q:Tell me about his plan for you?
A:Be good so you can get most of the things.

Q:Who is Jesus Christ and what did he do?
A: He is Jesus Christ. He got baptized and saved us. He brought houses down so we could live.

Q:Who is Joseph Smith and what did he do?
A: Joseph Smith was Joseph Smith and he did what Jesus did and got baptized.

Q:What makes you special?
A: Heavenly Father let me come to my family.

Q:Tell me about the word of wisdom.
A: Being an example to others so we can pray to Heavenly Father. (We haven't talked about this with her.)

Q:What is the one thing you learned in Primary?
A: Families live together forever, because Heavenly Father sent us here.

Q:Tell me about your family.
A: They help us to grow and give us a treat afterwards from eating. Some times sisters make bad choices and they say sorry. I play with Lydia. She is part of my family and I love her.

What a cutie pie. I love this little girl so much!

Happy Independence Day!

We hope you had a great 4th of July. The girls were tired when I was taking their pictures, but I had to take them. They are in their outfits. This was right before we left for a BBQ. We also just got back from boating. So you can see why they were tired.

Coeur d' Alene #8 and final of several days

After visiting the Spokane Temple we went to Coeur d' Alene. What a pretty city. The Iron Man competition was there and it was rather crowded, but we had a great time. Beach time. I love the beach and so do these bums.

Well that is until they get covered in sand and their clothes are all wet. Oh yeah and they get water dumped on them, by their dad. See below for proof.

Grandma comforting Lydia after being devastated.

 Arlee is just going to enjoy the water.

Look someone is feeling a lot better.

 Arlee and Landon were playing forever like this. I am not sure what the plan is, but they did and that is all that matters.

Getting dirty all over again... Like you are supposed to on the beach.

Sun bathing? Don't mind if I do.

After the beach we went and ate dinner at Pizza Hut. "They have Dine-in!" As Jens would say. He was pretty excited about it and it turned out to be a lot of fun. After dinner we went to Dockside. Located in a Resort Hotel near the beach where we were playing. Amy would go there on her mission with her companion. They would share this massive "Gooey". Hans and I thought that we would just share ours with the girls. Well we didn't even come close to finishing it. It was wonderful, but too much sugar for even us- the sugar loving couple. Plus we just went to Pizza Hut. YIKES! Another time Gooey, Another time...

The night before Arlee was mentioning that she wishes she could have a sleep over with Brock again like she did when we were in the beach house. (Jens and his family along with Ulla slept in the "bus"-which is a bus converted into camper. They would sleep at a KOA in it and we would be at a hotel. The only time we slept under the same roof was when they stayed at our house, but Arlee was asleep and the beach house.) So I asked Amy if she thought they could have a sleep over in our hotel room? She thought it was a great idea, so a sleep over they had. The last night that we were together. We had a sleep over with Brock Nation! They had a lot of fun. Kind of different for me though. The last time they had a sleep over was before we moved to Washington. Amy and Jens went to Greece and Brock got to stay with his favorite Auntie Chelsey. I think he was 4 at the time. Now he is 6 and seems to be a lot older.

In the morning we ate breakfast and packed up and played hide and go seek outside on the lawn surrounding the parking lot until his family came in the "bus".

This is when we would part ways. They would drive back to Utah and we would go back to Yakima. They would stay in Montana that night and then be home the day after. Arlee cried when we said goodbye to them. This made me really sad. Anytime that we have gone home has been in the early morning so she was still tired enough not to cry I guess. I cried as well, Ulla cried and Amy a little later.

Amy realized on this trip though how far away we live. I already knew, but it really sinks in when you have to drive back home.

We had so much fun and can't wait for the next adventure. Love you guys. Thanks for coming with us and we will see you soon.