Happy Birthday Zach!

Again, I have a tendency not to get people at their best - BUT it’s another Dave Kidney Jr. original. However the video does point to something that is very true, I would love to have Zach, Martha and Baby Summer live just a little closer. Regardless of how far you live away I am extremely happy to have such a great brother-in-law. Zach, I am also thankful for all the smiles you give my sister and the joy you bring to our side of the family, Happy Birthday Uncle Zach!

Happy Birthday!

It's always fun to find old pictures that your pretty sure nobody has seen before. I did a little digging this morning and found this one, yes its not the best. BUT this was/is my Mom, caring for the family working on the endless amounts of meals, events and parties . Happy Birthday Mom and thank you for all your love and kindness over the years, I can only hope to become the that same kind of parent to Kaylene.

Moving along

Dalene came over last night and began work on the initial decorations. What do you guys think? I am under the impression they are awesome! Boy oh boy, I really hope that ultrasound was correct. (remeber to click on the picture for a larger image)

Further Progress

Thanks to some pretty sweet family members we have an awesome furniture setup. NOW -I just need get over this cold so I can enjoy it.

2000 Feet Up

Dad and I (and a couple of friends from church) climbed to the top of Tiger Mountain on Tuesday. It was quite a view and great way to start the hiking season.

Request for the Bump!

Yes, I did this to Jolene. We will be entering into the 3rd trimester in two weeks. Whoa! it is happening so fast.

The ultrasound better be right

Because this room sure is PINK!

Whales

Yes more whales - BUT they are so cool. Above are several shots of the bulls fighting and one charging the boat. Indeed a life changing experience. If you look closely you can see some of the fins of the whales beneath the water, these are massive beasts.

We where that close!

We never expected to be this close. However the whales had something else in mind when they decided to use the whale-watching vessel in their very elaborate mating ritual. The Captain theorized that the female of this pod of bulls (depicted above) had decided to hide underneath and around the hull of our boat. This placed us in the frenzy of dominate males trying to “score” an opportunity with the female. We watched these whales battle for an hour as they surfaced, tackled and hurled blows at each other. Yeah, that’s right, literally throwing blows. The Narrator said this was a once in a lifetime moment, something that he had only seen once before. I could not agree more. The pictures above hardly scratch the surface of the amount of photos we have of this event, thank you Roxanne.

Turtle Swim

Wow! Maui continues to be amazing, with Alyia, snorkeling and a sea turtle. We discovered an off the path beach cove, where we found an amazing coral bed, a large sea turtle and a Hammerhead shark. Yes, Pat and I swam with a Hammerhead shark.

The Beach

We finally made it to the beach, however Aliya was not to sure about the sand. We did a ton of swimming and finished off the day with Round Table Pizza.

Maui!

Here is the view from the lanai! It's so great to be here, we are still adjusting to the time. This morning we were up early (Seattle time) and we spotted our first whale about 2 minutes after I took this picture.

St. Patick's Day 09

I took a cue from my Mother and decided to celebrate St. Patick's Day right! Green was the theme and we had plenty of friends to celebrate St. Patrick's eve. We finished the night off with sugar cookies and the new tradition of watching "Darby O'Gill and the Little People".

Before the Ultrasound

Today, before the big baby reveal I caught Jolene on video, basically capturing the moment. You can also tell by my dialogue I am a very nervous father-to-be.

Head to Toe

The ultrasound went really well! We were able to get images of of the head with eye lids shut, we took a picture of the feet with several digits and of course the classic profile shot. But most important of all - we identified the gender.

After

And following the ultrasound we have an answer, it's a GIRL!

Goodbye Tzeitel

This morning at 12:10 AM, Tzeitel Kidney passed away. After a month of being sick, wobbly and tired she became very ill last night and was having difficulty breathing. This was most likely due to organ failure and internal bleeding. We took her to the emergency vet last night and it was determined her life was at an end. I will miss our black dog, she was the first thing that got me up in the morning and the last thing that got under my foot at night. I investigated what the name Tzeitel meant this morning and found this – Yiddish for "lady" or "princess". We will really, really, really miss you.

UE: Day 5 Raccoons

While working on my resume and networking I spotted these backyard friends. Apparently, the old Cotton woods in the backyard are a great retreat for an early morning snooze. So while everybody is at work these guys take advantage of this high top home - boy, do I have them fooled.

UE: Day 3

Jolene went off to work and I did not, yes it was strange and scary to be home alone. So I took off for a hike to Coal Creek Falls, it was cold but very pretty.

UE: Day 2

Table top adventures with the dudes and a few laughs. Not really looking forward to tomorrow, as Jolene heads of to work and I stay home with the dogs.