giving thanks in seattle

Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple was spent in Shoreline, Washington (North Seattle) with Kent's family. We debated staying in California, but we both wanted to get out of town for a few days. Kent's sister, Paige, and her husband, Eric, graciously opened up their home to all of us. Kent's brother, Matt, and his wife, Laura, came up as did Kent's mom and dad. It was great getting to know my new in-laws better. They're all wonderful and I love my new nieces and nephews. We actually have 51 nieces and nephews when you combine our two families. Love the little people.

Here's what we did:

We went downtown on Wednesday and it was great. Here we are in front of the needle. Can you go to Seattle and not take a picture with that structure in the background?

Lunch break. Kent, Sommer and bunny-ear making, Ridge.

The Pacific Science Center was awesome. I liked the Butterfly room (felt like I was in a tropical jungle in freezing Seattle) and the human size checkers board. Kent won, but it was still fun.

Pike's Place. Fun, crowded market famous for its fish. I actually bought something there-a pressed flower pendant. I'm such a sucker at outdoor/farmers' markets.

Ridge (blue shirt) got baptized on Thanksgiving. We were so happy to be there. Aren't those kids adorable? I married into the right family. Good genes.

Ella and Sommer. Such cuties.

Cannon. He was so fun to play with. He has a great imagination.

Soccer Kent with Laine.

I was amazed at Kent's foot skills. He popped that ball high in the air with one little flick!

Our trip on the high seas to get a Christmas tree with Paige and family. We took a ferry over to Kingston to pick out the tree. Quite an adventure. The wind stole my scarf soon after this picture was taken. 

Luke, Shanon, Kent, Ron and Eric being blown by the wind.

Kent at the Christmas tree farm.

We took turns jumping over this irrigation canal. Of course one of the kids managed to fall in, but it was worth it.

We didn't get a tree, but we got lots of ideas for what we want.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving and are grateful for our many friends and family. Thank you, Paige and Eric, for letting us visit. Hopefully, we'll return to Seattle soon.

esquire kent

July 2008 California Bar Examination

Application Number: 2593

File Number: 132535
Name: KENT MERRILL SOMMER

The name above appears on the pass list for the July 2008 California Bar Examination.

Kent did it! 3 years of law school, 3 months of intense study for one final outcome and a sentence that reads, "The name above appears on the pass list for the July 2008 California Bar Examination." As our friend, Dave, pointed out, it is kind of anticlimactic considering how much time, preparation and stress go into taking the bar, but those 15 words make Kent official. He is now Kent Sommer, Esquire.

Kent and I didn't start dating until his last semester of law school, so I didn't see him his first year when he basically went to school, studied, ate and slept. Conversely, he only had to go to school a couple of times a week while we were dating so we saw a lot of each other, but we only saw each other once or twice a week while he was studying for the bar. That was also the entire time were we engaged. Luckily, I was distracted with wedding plans. So distracted, in fact, that I missed the earthquake we had in July while Kent was taking the bar. Absolutely didn't feel it. How is that possible?

Anyway, I am so proud of Kent. He is an intelligent man and he prepared extremely well for the bar exam. He always kept calm (although I know he was nervous and stressed) and came out successful. By the way, Kent's calm demeanor is something I am so impressed by. Before we looked at the results yesterday, I think I was more anxious. My stomach was in knots and I felt full of anticipation, but Kent was just as even-tempered as ever.He is really good at keeping a level head, but he definitely showed some excitement when he read that he had passed. I was looking at the screen, but he put his hand in a fist and brought it down with a silent "yes!" We had to reread the sentence a couple of times just to make sure it really did say "the name above appears on the pass list". Such a great feeling for him. I can't imagine the weight off of his shoulders.

Here's what we did to celebrate:

Texted a few family members and friends.

Drove to Huntington Beach to eat at Thai Wave Restaurant. Their curries are so delicious!

Then went to Hollywood to a techno concert put on by a Dutch group called Kraak & Smaak. We didn't get there until 11pm so I was tired before they got on stage, but then the party got started. I felt like I was at a disco tech in Europe. Everyone dancing, doing there own thing to the best live DJs with live singers and instrumentals ever (I love Paul Oakenfold, but these guys might have topped him). Good show, good dancing. Definitely worth going to bed at 3am for. Thanks for the tickets, Dave!

All in all, a great evening. I am so happy for Kent and I am excited to see where he and we will go over the next few years.

something's in the water

I have decided something must be in the water because everyone I know is pregnant. Well, not everyone, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I know at least 10 girls that are expecting the first part of next year. There are probably more, they just haven't told anyone because it's too early. Kent thinks I am only now noticing this phenomenon because we're married, but I don't think that's it. 2009 just seems like a popular baby year. I feel as if it's "the thing to do". I jokingly remarked to Kent the other day, "Everyone is doing it, maybe we should too." He immediately told me he wouldn't give in to peer pressure. I'm surprised he didn't say something like, "If everyone was jumping off a cliff, would you too?" As if having a baby is comparable. Although, maybe those two things aren't too different from each other. Once you jump, there's no turning back.

To all of our friends expecting, congratulations! We are only 3 and 1/2 months into our marriage, so we probably won't be joining the baby bandwagon quite yet, but we are so happy for all of you and would love to babysit.

lord of the rings revisited

Every Sunday, Kent and I think we'll get around to writing thank you cards for the wedding gifts we received. It's something we know we have to do and want to do, but unfortunately, it has happened two times in a three month period. Total cards written=maybe 20? And those were mainly for my shower. Talk about procrastinators. We should probably just combine our thank you and Christmas cards at this point.

Anyway, part of our "thank you card routine" is to put in a movie. We think we'll write while we watch. That tactic hasn't worked very well yet.

Titles thrown out for last night:

Legacy (trying to keep the Sabbath)
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Life is Beautiful
Flight of the Concords (an episode or two)
The Testaments (once again, trying to keep things spiritual)
About a Boy (Kent asked me about this one at least 3-4 times)
Mean Girls (hilarious, but not in the mood)

Kent mentioned the Lord of the Rings and for some reason I thought, "Yes. I want to see the old, wise trees demolish that evil wizard." Really, that's the reason I wanted to see it. I love when the trees (ents) destroy Saruman's ork factory. That part doesn't come until the end, but I was glued to the entire movie, and those Lord of the Rings movies aren't short. I think we put it in at about 10pm and it ended at 1am. I was shocked when we checked the clock. I'm pretty sure Kent wasn't though-he took a quick snooze about half way through. He did wake up to answer the following question:

Me: Kent, I wonder what would happen if a human and an elf mated. What would you get?

Kent: Santa Claus.

I couldn't stop laughing.

We watched The Two Towers, but all of the Lord of the Rings movies are amazing. It's hard to comprehend the genius behind the filming, acting, costumes, scenery, music, etc. Most importantly, the story itself is phenomenal. J.R. Tolkien had quite the imagination. I love the many themes-power struggle, pride, be nice to nature, love your brother, forgive one another and of course basic good vs. evil. I've only read the Hobbit and I loved it, but I've never taken on the Lord of the Rings series. I should though. Books are always better than the movies. Too bad I already have to finish about 10 books I've started. My follow through has been terrible lately. Any good books you can recommend that will hold my interest?

Long story short, we didn't write any thank you cards yesterday, but we did get a great dose of the Lord of the Rings. We might have to watch C-SPAN next week. Maybe then we'll get something accomplished.

BTW-Here's a video of one of my favorite parts. I'm starting to feel like I should be a part of a Quill and Sword Club or something. Dungeons and Dragons might work as well.

the milkman

This year for Halloween, Kent and I dressed up as a pair. Since we're newlyweds, it seemed appropriate. About two days before Halloween we started thinking of things we could be. Well, at least we tried to think of costumes, but nothing great came to mind. I can't remember what Kent thought of, but I either wanted to be Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or cookies and milk. FM and FM would have been great, but how would one represent those companies? I thought I could dress up as your typical 1950s housewife and Kent could dress as a businessman with a briefcase, but we'd have to wear big signs to let people know who we were. Even then, I just don't know that we could have pulled it off.

So, we went with the cookies and milk idea and here's what we looked like:

Not too shabby for a late night trip to Walmart to gather costume supplies.

The glass of milk flanked by Pocahontas and a Jonas brother.

I love that Kent wore tights. If it happened every day I might get concerned, but pulling them out every once in awhile is hilarious.

We ended up going to our ward's Chili Cook-off, Halloween Carnival and Trunk or Treat which lasted an hour. Literally. We almost missed the entire thing because who knew it was only going to be an hour? Apparently, there is no such thing as 'fashionably late' at family ward functions. It's in and out. We did receive the 'Booby Prize', but we're not quite sure why. The judges weren't sure either.

After that, we headed to a predominantly singles Halloween bash in Laguna Niguel. For some reason, we felt slightly uncomfortable. We think it was because we felt awkward in our costumes or maybe it was because we were the only married couple there out of 60+ people? It was great to see our friends, but we might mingle in smaller singles groups next time. Either that or we just need to get over it and be fine going to singles' parties still.

All in all, it was a fun Halloween. We loved handing candy out to the little kids at the Trunk or Treat and we enjoyed observing all of the creative costumes at the singles' bash. We may never be 'milk and cookies' again, but now our meagre costume closet consists of : a cupcake, a riddler outfit, an oreo and a milkman. Let us know if you're ever in the market for one of these costumes. We can help you out.