September Sun

September is always an incredible month in Seattle. This year is no exception. Solid sunshine every day for the past two weeks. Today is September 15th. Keri and Trey spent all afternoon in the backyard on the lake. The water trampoline was the center of their fun.


September on Cottage Lake



Trey and Keri playing a little chase



Keri showing some muscle



Trey bouncing high



Trey doing one of his patented head stands



Trey loves to jump and crash!



Keri and Trey doing some synchronized jumping



Time to call it a day!

Sleepy Cove - Playa del Coco

This is the first part in a series of blogs about our recent family trip to Costa Rica. We left home on August 2nd, 2008 for this land known as "Pura Vida". We would stay there for 11 fun-filled and inspiring days. The impetus of the trip was to retrieve our oldest son Bryant. We hadn't seen for him for two full years. He had been there serving as a missionary of Jesus Christ. We intentionally arrived a few days before we were to scheduled to reunite. The thought was to squeeze in some vacation time on a beautiful and secluded Central American beach. Once we were with Bryant we knew it would be a different kind of vacation. He would have us hurriedly traversing the country to visit people and places with no time to rest. We were absolutely right! Since we were visiting in the rainy season we headed up to the northern coast where it stays the driest. Our first destination was Sleepy Cove - a beach house perched high on the hillside overlooking the ocean. It was located in the small beach town of "Playa del Coco" also known as Coco Beach. It was without a doubt the perfect vacation destination!

The Welcome Sign to our Sleepy Cove rental



View from our room at Sleepy Cove



Kacie & Trey in the infinity pool!



Jamie & the boys take their turn



Stairs down to our bedrooms at Sleepy Cove



Trey loves to splash!



Entire family in the water



Dad and the Boys



Sisters trying to catch some rays



Kacie & the boys enjoying the water



Kacie hasn't moved all morning!



Trey kicking back



Jamie soaking it up



Kacie catches a sunset to remember



Keri & Trey feeding the local mapache



No doubt Warren enjoys Sleepy Cove!



Life gets more simple with Warren asleep



Trey on the rocks at Playa del Coco



Running the beach at Playa del Coco



Laying in the muddy beach water



Jamie at work in the sand



Who is that tiny man?



A note to BSO - Brent Sorensen



Trey and Dad enjoying some small waves



Trey tasted salt water more than once



Trey won't leave the beach!



Playa Hermosa - a neighboring beach


Raul and Lucia are the on site grounds keepers of Sleepy Cove. They are both from Nicaragua. They cross the border to earn better money. We became good friends with both of them and enjoyed some fine Nicaraguan cuisine. The family favorite was Nacatamales -- tamales Nicaraguan style. They are fantastic. That night Marcio, Daniella, and Ethan joined us for dinner as well. Marcio is the son of Luica and Raul. He married Daniella when she was 15. Trey's favorite was the Nica Tacos. Everyone loved the famous Arroz con Pollo as well.


Lucia w/ banana leaves for making Nacatamales



Lucia hard at work on the Nacatamales



Nacatamale in its initial stages



Nacatamale wrapped and ready to go



Nacatamles in full production



Final product at the dinner table



Marcio, Daniella, and Ethan join us for dinner



Lucia making Nicaraguan Tacos



Nicaraguan Tacos in full production



Trey at work on a Nicaraguan Taco



Trey hanging with Raul



Warren looking like an angel



Warren losing his shorts



1 more day on count down to Bryant



Trey wants to jump in one last time



Warren waving goodbye to Sleepy Cove