... to Rio Blanco.

Happy birthday Linda!
A week ago I went out with a couple friends from work to celebrate Linda's birthday. We went to Rio Blanco in Auburn, not far from work. We had a great time celebrating, chatting and eating Mexican food. Linda has been going here for 10+ years so she is well known at the restaurant. We of course had to tell the waiter that she was turning 18 and that they needed to sing happy birthday to her. It was nice to hang out with my coworkers outside of work!

... to the King County Fair.

Ah, the King County Fair. It's just so popular that they decided to let it be free! Yeah, that should tell you something. Me and the muff went to check it out. We saw the 4-H dogs, cats, chickens, goats, cows, horses, rabbits, alpacas and oh I don't know, oh yeah pheasants. We watched the kids tractor pull and yeah, um, I really don't remember what else there was to the fair besides getting some scones. Me and Kathryn though ad fun with the alpacas. I think that one was trying to eat me. The cats were pretty spoiled. This one was well, I think it is kind of ugly. It was nice that the fair was free and nice that it so close. Good times in Enumclaw.

... to reach Auburn.

I have been part of a King's Kids team called Crimson Bridge, for over 10 years now. I have been on staff for I think half of that time. Crimson Bridge always divides into smaller teams for our summer outreaches. This year was my first year leading a team. I led a team into the wilds of Auburn, our home town. My team was amazing though! They were pretty much willing to do anything! On Monday we served the city of Auburn by volunteering to clean Game Farm Park. We raked pine needles and pine cones for three hours, and I did not hear one peep of complaining! Wednesday we went to the Auburn Food Bank to help sort two big crates. We sorted 2200 lbs. of food which may seem like a lot but in reality that only lasts half a day at the food bank. Thursday was a day to minister to our pastors. We split up into two groups and went to 6 of the 7 pastor's homes to do lawn care and wash cars. It was a blast! Friday, we spent an evening at Centennial Park overlooking Auburn just praying and debriefing the week so far. It was so nice to relax with the team. Saturday was our last day of outreach. We watched the kids at the Pentecostal Church at Muckleshoot's grand opening of their new facility. The kids were great!
Overall, it was great to help out in our own community. I think the home team outreach can only get better from here!

... to Lake Ozette.

My family went on a backpacking trip last weekend to the ocean by Lake Ozette. It was definitely one of my favorite family vacations! We got there Thursday and hiked out about 5 miles. It was sprinkling just a little bit but then the sun came out in the afternoon. Friday we spent the day running around climbing rocks, swimming around in the freezing cold river and basking in the sun. Which did not turn out that well since me and Alison got some pretty bad sun burns and my legs look freakish now. We invented rockshoes, our version of horseshoes. We also gathered up some garbage off the beach and played a couple games of bowling with a round buoy. There was a nice swing made from a buoy too. We saw lots of animal life during our trip; deer with their young, an otter, eagles, a seal, and some whales off in the distance. It was really cool! The tide pools were awesome!! We wanted to go swimming in them but we ran out of time. It was a very nice relaxing weekend, we were only sore a little..

... hosting a wedding reception/shower/open house... thingy.

Whew. One of the responsibilities of the maid of honor is to throw some kind of bridal shower. So that is what I did. I really detest those chessy games people often play at showers so I avoided those. Alejandra also wanted to have everyone meet Devin so I tried to make it an open house. We had a decent amount of people show up at my house. The food was scrumptious! Thanks to everyone who helped! I had people make a little note to give to the couple and then I hosted a little interview with the couple. The questions were pretty fun I think. All in all, I think I pulled it off; with a lot of help from many other wonderful people.


P.S. Congrats to me this is my 100th blog!

... to mini golfing with my dad.

Happy Father's Day!!!
Father's day is here and gone and my sisters and I wanted to do something fun with my dad. Mini golfing has always been a favorite so we took him to the Putting Zoo in Bonney Lake. It sure was nice weather for it! Afterwards we took him out for a milkshake at Wally's. We threw in a few DVDs and candy for good measure too. We had a blast hanging out with our dad!

Dad, you are one of the most amazing people ever. You have so much wisdom and knowledge. You seem to know the perfect moment when to share your wisdom when it is most needed. Thank you so much for setting a godly example for us. and for caring so much about our family. I love you tons Dad! Megabomb

... to Kathryn's Graduation!!

Wahoo!!! Hey everyone my little sis has finally graduated!!! Woot woot!!
My little sister, Kathryn Irene Murray, has officially graduated from Enumclaw High School. The commencement ceremonies were held at the White River Amphitheater on an incredibly cold night. (Wow has I freezing!!) The ceremony itself seemed a bit long, nothing compared to Alejandra's, but the speeches started sounding the same. One of the highlights of the evening was having my grandma participate in the whooping and hollering. Yea, apparantly my sister Alison was not ringing the bell hard enough so my grandma grab the bell and started beating it against the railling. Later she started beating it against my mom's chair; that's when it broke. It was pretty funny.
So congratulations Kathyrn, you made it and you made it with honors! Love you!

I would also like to give a shout out to my cousin, Adam, who has also graduated from a Kent school. I forgot which one, I get them all confused. He won the silent and strong award. So congrats to you my amazing cousin!

... to hear a talented musician.

Again this blog is about my little sister Kathryn and her amazing fluting skills. She is quite the flutist! I went to her final high school band concert. She is in the Wind Ensemble with Mr. Breakfield. (Wow is he a character, I had him when I was in junior high!) The band did an excellent job! They did a pop concert so they played songs like the pink panther, Andrew Lloyd Webber medley and Star Wars. It was very enjoyable beautifully done! Good job muff!

... to a bloody end.

!!!Warning!!! Those of you with weak constitutions, should not continue reading this blog!!!!

Yes, there is a bit of blood involved, along with needles. Alison cleaned out all her Army medic supplies from her closet and thought we should put some of them to use. So she taught me how to give an IV... on herself. It was great fun really. We both enjoy the medical field and all that that encompasses. So this was quite a treat for me.
Alison is a great teacher and was very patient with my morbid excitement. Of course our parents were not too thrilled with our makeshift hospital, but hey what would you do on the field?
She taught me how to prep the needle/catheter thing, how to properly clean the arm and find the vein. I was a little nervous at first, especially when I poked through her vein. Luckily my dad was nearby and showed us both how to save it by moving the tube thing around. It worked! Alison did not loose much blood really. (Thats after the fact and I emptied the syringe onto her arm for added effect.) Thanks Alison for being such a great patient!

... while watching her baby sis grow up.

I definitely got a hot little sister, (both of them are hot of course.) But really Kathryn looked amazing for her senior prom, and I might add that her date was looking pretty sharp himself. I was so proud of her, she just looked stunning. They had fun, (from what I hear.) The ball was in Tacoma at the Temple Theatre, and then her group all went bowling. Some of them kept their dresses on which made it all the more fun. She is so cute, I love ya tons pookie!