It's been a long day...

We departed Ogden last night at 10pm. I drove through the night stopping once just before Boise, and then again in Yakima, WA. It was about 7am when we got to Yakima and at this point Shanda took over the driving duties and I slept part of the remaining 3 hours of the trip. Driving at night had the advantages of not having the constant barrage of "are we there yet?" Nor the constant bickering among the children, "he touched me!"

We arrived in Seattle and drove around looking at the sights. We were all taken aback by the beauty of the city and the enormity of the city. After checking in to the Hotel, we drove into Bellevue, WA to see the Temple, and then on to Aunt Irene's home. We had a great visit with Aunt Irene and were overwhelmed by her hospitality. The kids had a great time playing with a ground squirrel and shooting basketball hoops. And we were treated to the best pizza any of us has had in a long time, by Aunt Irene. On account of the $35/night cost of parking a car in Seattle, we asked Aunt Irene if it would be OK, leaving our car at her house while we were away. She obliged and we are very grateful for her help and accommodating.

The registration for the council was an experience. Without kids it would have been rather boring. However with 3 Richey boys bouncing off the walls and escalators, and Maleah dancing around and singing to herself, I'm afraid we were quite the spectacle. A quick glance through the list of attendees and I'm certain that we have the largest number of family members attending... sheesh!

Meeting some of the people behind the company was pretty neat, and I was overwhelmed by the amount of "resources" in the company. Following that we were able to enjoy a very nice buffet style meal. All the attendees and families were in one giant room, with live music, and probably 20 different stations where people could "belly up" and get their grub.

We are now back in the hotel room, relaxing and preparing for a very busy and "hopefully" fun day tomorrow.