end of summer

I keep finding more and more pictures from this summer.  These last few are various parts of our road trip from Philly to Utah.  The road trip home went as follows... Delaware to D.C. to Little Rock to Dallas to Albuquerque to Utah.  Crazy fun trip!

We stopped in Little Rock to visit Greg's Uncle Dan, his wife Katy and their family.  It was a hoot, I wish I would have taken more pictures. 

The first thing the kids wanted to show us was the

banana spider that lives on the side of their house.  It was creepy!!

 Me and Gracie kissing a giant wooden man.

Playing at the splash park.  It was INCREDIBLY HOT. 

Like... the hottest you could imagine.

 This little girl just went over to Greg and wanted to hang out by him.

She didn't say anything, just wanted to chill.

Little cutie.

Dan and Kate took us to a park with tons of Cypress trees.  It was neat.

There was actually a poisonous snake right near where Greg is standing.

Greg squeezed in... and SQUEEZED out.  He didn't know if he'd make it.

Blurry, but so cute.  Clara loved Olly.

Next we went to Dallas.  We visited basically every part of Greg's mission.  It was a lot of fun being in the places he served and better understanding what it was like.  We got to eat in some of his favorite places and visit the people he served.  Also, we had the chance to visit my grandma Chambers and go to dinner with my cousin Ricki.  I love my dad's side of the family and don't get to see them near enough.  Greg hadn't met my grandma before, so that was really neat.  They kept joking around with each other and she would say "I just feel like I've known you forever"... It was just fun being there for a couple of days.

At dinner, granny ordered the seafood sampler.

She was embarrassed by how much food she ordered, so funny.

 Quick stop through Albuquerque...

At the top of the hill after riding the tramway... The longest in the world!

Our first time at four corners

The kids at four corners...

They are all such good sleepers...I love how Olly is sleeping between Toby's arms.

Good kids.



employed

I got a job at the...

Can you guess?

(ask these guys for a hint)

 

The YMCA!

I will be working part time in their child watch area.  Basically being a kiddo all day, doing crafts, sports, games, blocks... you name it.  I am really excited to have a job working in an upright environment!

This was my first experience with a group interview where there were twelve applicants and two interviewers.  Here is how it went down.... First, they had us sit in two rows facing each other.  The interviewers would throw out a question, and we would discuss the question with the person sitting across from us.  Such as... "what is your most embarassing moment?" or "what is your dream vacation?".  After about 5 or 6 questions, we moved into a circle and each person was asked an individual question more directly related with working in child care.  That was basically it!  It was fun, but I was definitely nervous because I didn't know what to expect.

After the group interview Wednesday, I had a follow up interview Thursday.  During this interview, they asked me to come Friday to spend about an hour in the child watch center to see how I like it.  So, that was this morning, and at the end of the hour, I was offered the position! 

I am grateful for this blessing and most definitely recognize my Heavenly Father's hand in directing my life.  I am happy to be in a work environment where I can share my talents and be uplifted by sweet little spirits!!



seattle

This fall, we went up to Seattle to visit Greg's grandpa and his wife.  While we were there, I had my first Ivar's experience.  Ivar's is Greg's most FAVORITE place for chowder.  We all know I don't love seafood, but I gave it a fair shot.  Greg ended up eating all of his own clam chowder and the majority of my salmon chowder.  Enjoy a few pictures of Seattle and a video of us at Ivar's!

Yep, its all GUM.

Actual size of the world's tallest man!

Pay a quarter and see a shoe worn by the worlds tallest man.

Totally worth it :)

Pay special attention to the sign on the wall.

Ivar's from Nikki Bean on Vimeo.

I'm pretty sure Seattle is on my FAVORITES list.

DC

Living on the east coast provided us with so many fun places to visit!  On our way home, we stopped through Washington, D.C. for a day.  Though only a short visit, we had a lot of fun!

riding the very long LOOOONNNNGGG escalator to the metro

Waiting for the metro to take us to the mall.  The metro in DC is WAY cleaner and cooler than  NYC.  Maybe New York can take some hints.

Eating from the hands of a caveman in the Museum of Natural History.

Not to mention, i had a glorious summer tan... I miss it dearly.

guess who!!  While in the museum, we learned a bit about Greg's heritage.  He is obviously a direct descendent of neanderthals.  I'm not lying. 

Take a look at the sign below.

it might as well be his silouhette.

After walking through a few museums, Greg's feet began to ache really badly.  He wanted to find some moleskin to put over his four new blisters.  Also, some insoles for a little extra support.  We walked a healthy distance to the nearest CVS pharmacy.  We ended up right by the white house!  We  hadn't planned on walking up that way, but it worked out great!

The back of the whitehouse.  I thought it was kinda funny there was a uhaul parked outside.  Also, there was a sniper on the roof with a gun.  Intense!

Beanie at the front of the whitehouse.  It isn't as impressive as I expected.

Washington Monument.  This was actually the tallest man made monument until the Eiffel Tower!  Betcha didn't know that one.

 The World War 2  monument has towers representing each of the states.  We snapped some pictures of all of the places we had lived this year, up to this point. 

starting with California! 

We lived in the Santa Clarita Valley at the beginning of the year.

Next, Utah. 

This year, Utah was more of a place for a few pit stops.  Good ol Roy.

Then Delaware.  We were in the Philly office with APX.  

Bear, Delaware, to be specific.

After snapping some photos, we decided to lay on the edge of the WWII Monument pond and cool down our feet.  It was a good break after being on our feet all day.  This picture is our view from where we were laying.

and here is Bean's "my feet hurt" face.  I felt so bad for all of his blisters.  Yeouch!

taken sideways with my phone and it WILL NOT rotate... oh well!

 We walked up to the Lincoln Memorial just before sunset. 

It was the perfect time of day.

Our farewell to the city.  A bicycle taxi ride back to the Metro.  Saved our exhausted selves and extra 30 minute walk.  Totally worth it.  The guy was super cool too! 

Farewell DC!!

good wife

I'm a good wife.

Why? you ask.

cause I go birthday shopping for beaner, even when I'm sick.

bangs and pumpkins

Yep, I decided to cut bangs.  I did it one night on a whim... with a little support from my bff (thanks Sarah).  I'm actually liking them quite a bit.  Also, I spent a day with a craft project so my house could actually have some Halloween decorations.

Here are some photos for you!

 

 

 the letters stand for Greg Nikki and Bean... it made sense to me, but I've had quite a few people not understand...