Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter with Auntie Rachel and Uncle Eric who were visiting from Washington. We went to mass then had breakfast at Starbucks. Michael was pretty good at mass. A retired monsignor said mass and gave a thoughtful homily. We spent the afternoon hangin out with Rachel and Eric. I was tired from being on call and took a nap. Yesterday Michael, Kelly, Rachel and Eric went to the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt while I was at work. Michael and the other toddlers had their own roped off area for picking up eggs. Michael has been talking about Easter eggs for days!

Sidewalk Chalk

Michael recieved a new book in the mail today from Uncle Kirk - a book of North American birds/birdsongs. He loves it. It goes with his other book of birds of the world. He has developed quite a memory and can recognize bird songs from the Egyptian goose, Tinamou, Kookaburra, Harpy eagle, and many others. Michael and Kelly went to the store today and did some reading at home. We had a nice dinner of leftover enchiladas and Michael tried some chips and salsa. He likes to say, "spicy hot!" Michael and I put toys and books away after dinner then went for a walk and mommy took a nap. We walked up the street and saw some snails along the way. The wind was a bit chilly and Michael walks on his own. We hold hands to cross the street. Lately he has seen the moon out in the evening but it wasn't out tonight. The orange kitty with the skin graft on its paw was also absent. When we came home we spent some time drawing on the walkway with sidewalk chalk. Michael was in heaven and was tearing around and drawing on everything including the grass, door and benches. It was great. He really enjoyed himself. It was such a pleasure to watch him smiling and enjoying himself. He had a look of sheer joy on his face. In that moment I thanked God for being a parent and smiled. It was a wonderful moment. Then we went over the our neighbor, Angie's yard, and picked a baby lemon which Michael ended up taking into the bathtub. We finshed up the night with a bottle of milk and some goodnight stories. The latest favorites are, "Napping House", "Lunch", The Going to Bed Book", "So Sleepy Story", and "And If the Moon Could Talk. He is really getting into reading and enjoys his books. I can tell he is concentrating and seems to look at the illustrations more than he used to. We brushed teeth then he laid down for bed - with his lemons, of course.

Home at Last

After 2 weeks in Nepal I am finally home and reunited with Kelly and Michael. The work was gratfying and I had some wonderful experiences with the Nepali people. The end of the trip was the most memorable. A helicopter trip with the Nepali Army to Mount Everest Base Camp ended badly...Myself and the pilots crashed into Kala Patthar - a mountain west of Mount Everest while attempting to land at base camp. Miraculously we all survived and hiked to safety with the aid of climbers from Wales like Richard Jenkins and their guide - Dawa Sherpa. We were later airlifted to Kathmandu. SO needless to say I have a renewed outlook on life and cut the trip short to come home. I have spent the last several days recuperating from the crash. Luckily no broken bones and I will return to work tomorrow. I have had several wonderful days with Kelly and Michael. I have spent a lot of Daddy time with Michael - reading stories, giving baths, taking wlaks, and reading him to sleep. It has been wonderful . Michael's favortite stories are "Doggoes, Snoozers, Pajama Time, So Sleepy Story, and Goodnight Moon." I have marveled at how much he is talking now. He says, "Good Morning Daddy" and Good morning to the cats, his stuffed animals and Kelly. I ahve a new appreciation for what a miracle he is and how beautful he is.
I have relished the last few days with Kelly - we have been able to spend time together and catch up on the past sevarl weeks. I wasn;t sure if I was going to live when we crashed. There is nothing like to near death experience to make one appreciate to wonderful gifts in one's life. I have never appreciated Kelly more than upon my return. I am taking each day as a gift from God because today is all I get... Michael has been saying, "Daddy's home!" Thank God, Daddy's home. I am too tired to publish photos - I have almost 1000 photos from the trip. Perhaps in the next couple months I will put them up.

Missing Michael

Kelly and Michael went to visit the grandparents for a few weeks. Before the flight Michael and I tested out the satilite phones we got from cousin Tim for the trip to Nepal. I took them to the airport yesterday morning and we hung out at the airport for a few hours before the flight. Michael was very excited to be in the airport and took the opportunity to climb on evey seat in the vicinity. I took him around to look at the planes. He was very interested in planes taking off and landing. Kelly said he had a mellow flight spent mostly reading and playing. He didn't nap the entire flight! When he got to Grandma Lyn's house he was almost asleep in the crib when he sat up, looked around and said "grandma's house" and got very excited. He didn't go back to sleep! Kelly says Michael has been having fun playing with toys from all the grand and great-grandparents. He has also discovered tooting in the bathtub and had a good laugh today when he made some bubbles - that's my boy! Attached is a great photo of Micahel testing out the satellite phone. Michael has also been very interested in the typewriter in the office. Behaviorally, Michael jhas been testing boundaries. He will be told not to do something then he looks at us and does it agin...leading to a few "time outs". He also has better comprehension and overall is less frustrated communicating with us as he learns to talk.

Mr. Cool

Another nice day with Michael and Kelly. Off to church in the AM followed by Starbucks. It's becoming a Sunday tradition. Michael played with the toys in Starbucks' kids area. Later on, Daddy and Michael went to Home Depot for some parts for the shop vac. Michael's favorite song for the car ride was "Little Red Wagon." The photo is Michael clowning around with an Irish cap. Michael spent the afternoon playing with his friend Aayna.

Rainy Days

Michael's new favorite word is "lemur". Favorite food - a tie between strawberries and hummus. Kelly and Michael spent a rainy day playing inside. He is becoming quite a climber both of chairs and stairs. Daddy and Michael enjoy playing "monkeys" together, which involved a lot of jumping on the bed and making monkey noises.

Sac Zoo

We spent our MLK holiday tripping around Sac. We started the day going to mass since we missed it yesterday. This was followed by Starbucks and a trip to the Sac Zoo. There was a light rain and the zoo was practically empty. Michael has been talking about the monkeys for the past week so he was very excited to go to the zoo. Michael' s favorites were the chimps and gibbons. The tigers were pretty frisky but their enclosure was completely covered by wire so so replays of the SF zoo incident...Michael was very interested in the animals and did a lot of walking around. He loved the rain - must be the Oregonian in him! We finished up at the parrots and toucans. Of course, we couldn't leave without a trip to the gift shop for a tiger. We also stopped by for a photo before we left - the photo says it all. Later we all went over for dinner at the local malt shop - Burr's Fountain - a Sacramento institution. Michael wasn't too thrilled about the high chair so he sat in the booster seat for the first time!

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2006

Michael's first kiss - 4 months old!

Michael's best baby friend

At 4 months old, Michael's best baby friend is Aanya.

Grandpa John Visit

Grandpa John came to visit. Michael got some good story time.

Summer 2006

Kelly's best friend ("Auntie Kristin") came to visit!

Summer 2006 in Sacramento

August 2006

Grandma Jean came to visit! We had a great time and Michael had some nice naps on Grandma's shoulder.

A little light reading with Daddy

4 Months Old

Grandma Lyn was working hard but having a lot fun with Michael as he grew each day.

November 2006

We were fortunate that Kelly's Mom (Grandma Lyn) was able to come help us move and watch Michael for many months when Kelly went back to work. Cousin Alan and his wife, Malin also came to visit this fall and we had a great visit.

Uncle Kirk Visit

Kelly's Uncle Kirk came to visit once we were settled in Sacramento. It was great to see him!

1 Month Old

We were getting settled in Sacramento and it was HOT, HOT, HOT! Temperatures were over 100 degrees this July in 2006. We were very fortunate to have air conditioning.

Move to Sac!

When Michael was 1 week old, we moved from Portland to Sacramento - a 9 hour drive. He was a little trooper!

June 14 2006

Michael was born! This was the most wonderful day. We have watched him grow into an adorable, bright and very special little boy.