April

April

April brought Isabella's first awareness to jelly beans. She discovered that the little, colored oval items tasted good. She also realized the best way to get more eggs is to unload her cousins basket and fill up her own. Our smart and savvy Easter egg hunter!

Isabella straight chillin' with three out of her five cousins. I don't think there is enough pink in this picture. We need more PINK. All the men sigh in our family praying for the blue color to be introduced.

Every year, we go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Usually, we go the first week, but this year the weather was so cold that we ended up going late in the season. Most of the fields were not opened, but we caught a few great shots with Isabella. She has officially grown taller than the rows of tulips.

March 2009

March

St. Patty's Day Race.

March marked the month of my first 2009 race. I ran with seven other lovely ladies from Stroller Strides in the 25th annual St. Patty's Day race in Seattle.

It was raining. It was snowing. It was miserable, but wonderful all at the same time. I felt like we truly accomplished something through a 3.75 mile race. We discovered we are tough women!

Isabella met her new cousin Julia Reese Benthin the 23rd day of this month. Isabella officially has three girl cousins by blood and two girl cousins by relations. This equals a six pack of women in our immediate family. The men are begging the Lord for a boy amid the princess dresses and shrieks of happiness. What a great family!

Parker made his first business trip to NYC and Toronto this month. He took at least twenty pictures of the Chrysler building. He is in love with the building! It was a fast paced adventure that gave him a taste of the city.

February 2009

February

Each year I host a Valentine's Tea Party to honor all the women that I love in my life. This is my fifth year celebration. I wrote a personalized note to each one rehearsing each of their beautiful qualities.

New friends. Dear friends. Heart friends. This annual tradition was inspired by a lovely experience at Queen Mary's near University Village. Through many holidays, I've been given elegant tea pots and sets that I dearly treasure. One day, I hope to host three tea parties a year for various reasons, but right now I've got one down.

January 2009

January

Amid the beginnings of new year resolutions, we celebrated Parker's 30th year with some close friends.

His menu stated this:

So the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be... Perhaps the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. Martin Luther King, Jr. 4/16/63

My husband shares the same birthdate and Dr. King and candidly marks him as one of his ideal leaders in the art of cultural revolution.

We feasted, we laughed, we could barely hear the music the conversation roared so loudly. It was an exquisite night.