Congratulations Law School Graduate of 2008

WAHOO!! We've done it! Louis Graduated last Sunday after three brutal years of studying Law at UW. It was a beautiful day, one of the first in a long time, Louis' parents and sister (with kids in tow) were all here for the event. Dar even got a chance to walk across the stage with Louis when he got his diploma. Hesitant at first, it's all Dar talks about now, he must have enjoyed it more than he let on. It was an enjoyable relaxing weekend. After the ceremony we went and walked around downtown at the space needle a bit. It was fun. Unfortunately the celebrations didn't last long. Come monday morning Louis had his nose back to the grindstone working on his BAR prep. By wednesday he was exclaiming he was burned out already and sick of studying. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less, it is a pretty grueling course. And of course it comes just after finals, no real break. Luckily it's only for a month...of course I may not have much of a husband left, he might just go into hibernation for a while once he can be free of the shackles of study.

Way too much time and money!

I've always known boys like their toys but these two boys have had tons of time invested into these two toys. After the first one I said, never again, boy was I stupid to cave so easily for the second. Oh well, they had fun and some good quality time together as brothers. Sure, the nights with no sleep, driving 4 hours to kill them selves for 4 days are worth it, right, when they are done and you are looking at the finished product. I kept reminding them they aren't as young as they were in High School, but miraculously they survived....all four of them! I have to admit that the cars are very beautiful specimens of the classic car. So, Greg, Louis, here's to a job wonderfully done. :)

Baseball Boy!

Dar is so much fun. He is all into baseball and soccer at the moment. Everytime we turn around he is asking us to pitch the ball so he can hit it. We decided to take some pictures of his favorite sport, here they are. We got him the jersey and hat in preperation for Louis' 30th birthday because I got him tickets for the Red Sox v. Mariners game which was conveniently playing here in Seattle! GO Red Sox!! Unfortunately they lost. :( Oh well, it was a good game nonetheless.

Fluke of Nature

The last weekend of april sent us to visit with a friend in Vancouver, BC. Unfortunately, a strange phenomenon occured in the wildlife which I have never before experienced. I was attacked by a bird...yes, you read that right. Maybe the bird thought my hair would go good in it's nest. Maybe for some rare inter-species over protectiveness that is yet to be discovered, she was defending my son! I don't know. We were on a rather long walk, and just barely seeing our destination when Dar decided he didn't want to go any further. I had been trying to coax him along for a few minutes when we finally gave up. There was this beautiful bird we had been admiring, and Dar hadn't moved from that spot, when we tried to move on. The bird apparently was witnessing this battle of wills. I went back, picked Dar up, and kept going through his protests. I had made it a handful of steps when the bird dives straight for my head and attacks me, either with it's claws or beak, I don't know. As soon as I ducked it continued flying. It left a good bruise. The next day I was the resident spider web catcher on our hicks of another forest path.

I am pleased to report however that this was an incident which was isolated to that region only. We have spent the last several days hiking through beautiful rainforest paths on the Olympic Peninsula and not a single bruise that was animal inflicted. Also, the only cobweb that was discovered was found by my mother-in-law.

Big Boy Bed

With the impending move hovering in the near future we decided to make a few changes for Dar now in stead of once we get to Japan. We've read studies that one way to ease the stress of a move on a toddler is to not make any changes that coincide with it. But to maintain what they are used to. So we had a true Craigs List experience yesterday in picking up his new Firetruck bed. Once we had it set up he was ecstatic! He was jumping on it and kept saying he wanted to drive it. The next demand he made surprised me, he asked for firetruck jammies...which of course we don't have. Louis and I had to run up to wal-mart anyway so we went in search of them and found two pairs that were mercifully on clearance. Never having been freed from behind bars, we were anticipating a long drawn out process for bedtime with him continually testing his new freedom. Luckily once the firetruck jammies were on, he must have decided that they belonged with the bed. He didn't get up once to my shock and relief. However, the morning routine was something to be desired. I was awakened at about 4 with him climbing into bed with me, and his normally wonderful wake up time of 8:30 painfully became 6:40. I think the bed was a big hit, he's up there playing quietly in it now!

Let the planning begin!

Hello! I've decided to join the 21st century in order to keep in touch. Phone calls seem to become more outdated and there seems to be less time to make them. Since we will be moving to Japan later this summer, they will undoubtedly become incredibly more expensive as well! So, I need a long distance solution to feel connected. TA DA! Here we are.
We are very excited about this new development in our lives. Louis, who is fluent in the language is thrilled to establish himself in his new career. I'm looking forward to the challenge, change of scenery, and growing opportunities that this will absolutely present. I'm ready to become the busy bee that always accompanies such a change. I have precisely 3 months to decide what will be stored and 4 months to be packed up and ready for our 3 month stint as nomads. Lovely, I simply love having the chance to conquer a challenge! It can be so fulfilling. So bring it on!