Welcome Kayli!

We had the opportunity to go to Yakima again this past weekend, our second visit in the past three weeks. This time, we were able to visit the newest addition to the family as Kayli Rose Button had been born just a couple of days before.

It was to be a long day driving all the way to Yakima and back in one day but we were determined to keep this trip to the single day as we really didn’t want to miss church again this week, we didn’t want to impose on a family with a new addition and we really wanted a Sunday at home most of all.

We left home at around 6:30 AM on Saturday which was probably a mistake. The kids had been up very late on Friday evening since it wasn’t a school night and although we figured that leaving early meant that they would sleep most of the way to Yakima, it instead meant that they were cranky and fought most of the way to Yakima. “She touched me!”, “Tell him to turn his game down!”, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum.

To the “Big 3” struggling automakers in Detroit: Invent a family vehicle that somehow encapsulates children in their own soundproof cubicles and you will have a customer for life. They’d probably still make faces at each other through the glass though.

We stopped in Ellensburg which was along our way since that is the place where Valerie and I lived, went to school and worked for about three years when we were first married. We have many fond memories of our time there so we always enjoy stopping by. Look for a more detailed blog post later about some of our adventures there. The kids were less fond of the memories since all but Sarah hadn’t been born by the time we moved away.

We finally arrived in Yakima to see Kayli and family. She is a very sweet little girl. She looks just like her older sister Kelsi. We were happy to hold her and see that Keri was doing well too. We were glad the Buttons were able to put up with our universally grumpy family and allow us to visit.



We are sure that in a year or so, she and Zachary will have some great times together. The kids just love having cousins their own ages to play with.
It was eventually decided that instead of destroy the Button’s house, we would go out to lunch at the local Burger King where the kids could run wild in the playland and get out some of that pent up energy while we visited.





Apparently Burger King is not only home of the whopper but also of the strictest fire-marshal in the state…



He is probably uptight from all that flame-broiling going on.

After our visit, it was time for us to pile in the van and head on home again. We were unhappy to find out that the conditions over Snoqualmie Pass which had been great that morning were deteriorating and by the time we were up in the mountains, chains were required on all vehicles. Thankfully, I had thrown the chains in the van earlier that morning almost as an afterthought.



It was no fun kneeling in slush to put these things on and getting soaking wet in the process. Even with the chains it was one of those very memorable white-knuckle drives over the pass, slipping and sliding side to side while being passed by semi-trucks doing 60, seemingly immune to the conditions.



Needless to say, it was a big sigh of relief to finally be home and tuck the kids into their beds that night.