The Fremont Troll

Another "Seattle gem" I've never seen before...or heard of in this case that we visited as a family. Some people in Fremont, a neighborhood in Seattle, decided to collaborate on a art project that would promote neighborhood pride and unity? Basically it is a huge statue under a bridge that provides a background for tourists' pictures.

Tradition?

When I was about 3 or 4 my mom purchased some cute plaster figures for Halloween that we so lovingly painted you can see my pumpkin HERE...then when I was about 13 or 14 we repeated the activity with Christmas figure...I did a bear....Then this year my mom found some more figures...So I guess it's an every 10 year tradition? This was a first for Evan, my brother-in-law, and my nephew...you can see my Sister's family's figures HERE

My figure is the gingerbread-man and Evan made the gingerbread house (unintentional matchey matchey)

A Seattle Gem

My Parents have now lived in the Seattle area for 6 years and I have yet to see this rear Seattle Landmark. Honestly I hadn't heard about it until recently...and without further ado...

THE GUM WALL

Yes she added to the masterpiece

Evan and the famous fish they throw at Pike's market...right above the gum wall

The space needle...which is not near the market contrary to popular belief

The water fountain in front of Key Arena...we each took turns running up and touching the fountain...A little more fun in the summer!

Paris, France

After a 13.5 hour train ride we made it to Paris. We saw all the major site plus some. Two of my memory cards are MIA, so a lot of my proof is missing, but I assure you we did it all. We had a great time and even made a few friends in the crowed hostels.

MADRID

We took a three hour train ride to Madrid, Spain...We planned on being there for two days, but the train schedules were different than anticipated so we ended up only being their for 8 hours. I really liked the feel of this city. It may have been because it was a Sunday and families were walking about in the parks and such what ever the reason I liked the city and the people. The two major sites were closed that day so we only got pictures of the outside of the buildings...The Palace and the Cathedral.

Barcelona!!!

A friend of mine emailed me a couple days before Thanksgiving and asked if I'd accompany her to Spain and France...and I thought hmmm OK!! So here are some pictures of Barcelona, Spain. Highlights included climbing on top of a giant lion...because I could and drinking our of a fountain to "insure my return to Barcelona"

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Norby family tradition calls for setting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, but since we were in Utah it had to wait a couple days. Luckily we live close by the to Walmart, where they sells trees. We marched right over there and picked out the perfect tree. My super strong husband carried it home all by himself. It took some work to fit it in the stand, but we got eventually got it to fit. Evan was not too pleased with the sombrero wearing Santa Clause I bought to commemorate our move down south, but he smiled with it anyways.