Thursday, September 28, 2006

Saturday night




Eliza and I will be attending a bike race at Marymoor Park on Saturday. The style of racing is cyclecross, which is basically riding a road bike through mud and carrying the bike over obsticals. It is a hoot to watch. The beer garden will be open and races start at 3 pm.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Introducing...

Emily & Anthony Maier!!
Yes, my little sister got married today. We were blessed with a gorgeous fall day while Emily & Anthony stood beneath the trees & said their vows to one another.
It was a special day & proof that a great wedding can be planned in four days!
Many blessings & prayers upon the new family; Anthony as he travels back to Iraq, Emily & Tillie as they continue to adjust to life together & eagerly await the return of husband/daddy.
Congratulations Emily & Anthony!!

Wedding day photos

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Happy Birthday, Kristen!

Today Kristen Louise Gough is 26. I am very blessed to have known her for 20+ of those years! Some of my favorite memories:
-playing Barbies in the sunshine in my backyard
-the hundreds of times we met halfway between our houses
-telling ghost stories in the hot tub at her parents' house
-Sylvanian workshops
-swimming in the lake on Whidbey Island & riding the ferris wheel at the fair
-creating silly comic books together
-going early to school so we could play & sing on the piano in the back of the Loyal Heights auditorium
-standing across from one another being silly holding the doors open at the end of recess
-all the good times at the Emmanuel youth group (warm fuzzies!)
-and singing, always singing :)

Happy Birthday to a very special lady.

Whidbey Island

Over the weekend I took the ferry to Whidbey Island to celebrate my good friend Kristen's birthday at her cabin with some girlfriends. She & her husband Kyle had planned a wonderful evening for us girls & we enjoyed a marvelous dinner, cooked & served by Kyle, fun times visiting & laughing, & then snuggled up outside to watch Fried Green Tomatoes (Kyle is a master at outdoor theater). We slept on the deck in the cool fall air & went for a nice walk on the island roads in the morning. We ended the trip with pastries & tea in Langley & my trip home was very enjoyable as I had Aleah to chat with.
Thank you Kristen & Kyle for a marvelous time!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Weekend in Spokane

We spent an excellent weekend in Spokane watching Lisa, a family friend, get married. It was a lovely wedding and a magnificient spot..Priest Lake.





Quiet Sunday Evening

Levi is catching up on his sports news & I am planning what I can accomplish this week on my many projects. We just returned home from Spokane, tired but happy after attending a wedding & visiting with Levi's folks. And we're a little behind on our blogging...
After the birth of our niece last weekend, we headed down for a little day trip at Mt. St. Helens. We were rather tired, but enjoyed seeing the differences in change on the mountain, especially comparing the region managed & replanted by the forest service to the monument region which is left completely alone to progress naturally. Nature is truly incredible & diverse (let's see that it continues this way!).
Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

More on the birth of my niece

My little sister, Emily, was admitted into the hospital on Friday morning & moved into the first stages of labor. After battling Friday afternoon holiday traffic, Kathryn & I arrived at the hospital in Shelton around 5pm. The activity was definitely building & we quickly became part of the labor team consisting of my stepmom, Carolyn, & a family friend, Kelly. As night fell, Emily's contractions became more intense & closer together. It was amazing & scary to be there with her, watching her struggle to bring her baby into the world. After two hours of Ems giving her all, it was clear that the baby's head was not going to fit through the birth canal. The doctor assured Emily that as the mother, she had done everything she could do & called in the operating team to perform a c-section. While I know Emily was disappointed she could not bring Tillie into the world on her own, I thank the Lord that we have the medicine & experienced doctors to perform a safe surgery for both the mother & the child. We first saw Tillie when the nurse brought her into the nursery while Emily was in recovery. Her funny little conehead was a testimony to how hard her mom worked to bring her into this world!

Our brave, strong little sister, exhausted but happy.

And an exhausted but happy Grandma (trying out Tillie's hats).

Grandpa was pretty darn tired too! Uncle DJ stayed as long as he could, but had to go to work. He returned in the morning to see his niece for the first time.

I am so in love with this little miracle already!

Daddy is currently serving in Iraq, but we were able to get word to him fairly quickly that Emily was in labor. He even called in the evening & Ems talked to him between contractions! He has now heard of the birth of his baby girl & will be here soon for two weeks of leave with his new family. Congratulations Emily & Anthony on baby
Tillie Anne Maier!

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Welcome...


Tillie Anne
Born September 2nd, 2006 at 12:38am
Weight 7 lbs, 9 oz
Length 22 inches