Holly's Birthday!

We took off on Saturday morning for the Leavenworth Fall Leaf Festival. On the road by 6am it was still dark Holly and Madeline slept most of the way up so I just enjoyed the soothing sounds of Nickel Creek and the fresh feel of the early morning air. Arriving early was a great idea! There was hardly anyone one there so we were able to enjoy the beauty and quaintnesses of this Bavarian village while sipping our coffee and marching along. The weather was a bit chilly so we had to stop off at the famous hat shop to pick up Madeline a new hat and gloves (her head has surpassed all previously purchased items). We were able to find the coveted "Charlie Brown Christmas ice skating rink" from dept. 56 for which Holly's mother has been searching and with a quick phone call picked up the last one. Over all a very relaxing and enjoyable day. Today? More coffee of course for the birthday woman then to church then dinner! Hope your weekend was fun too!

Today we are heading to my Great Uncle Karl's 95th birthday party!

The Plan:
Wake up 5am - shower; Pack the car with all the baby need items; drag/carry/prod or otherwise entice my wife and daughter into the car; drive to Leavenworth and buy some coffee for my wife and I; walk around perhaps get some breakfast; continue driving to Wenatchee - breakfast here if haven't eaten yet- walk around; drive to Quincy, WA where my great grandparents homesteaded and started a farming community; greet my great uncle (who still drives himself and lives at home) along with the ridiculous number of family and others who have come to witness this minor historic event.

Continue to Yakima to spend some time with my lil bro, sisters, and parents.
Come back home.

A truly inspired and beautiful plan (I do love an early morning drive).
Alas here i sit at nearly 7am because i simply did not have the audacity to interrupt the sleep of the most incredibly beautiful woman on earth. I could not disturb that porcelain face wrought with peace. Plan foiled - i now turn to my computer for entertainment.

Question Everything!

Wow! I really stink at this whole blogging thing. Holly, Madeline and I went to the beach to celebrate our 3rd year of marriage! Seems like it is going really fast.

It isn't long now till we will have 2 little ones running around. CRAZY!! We know it will be a boy and we know what we are going to name him but we are waiting to tell until he is born.

I also passed by my 1 year anniversary at CDI (much better known by their brand name MSR) my current place of employment. I am really enjoying researching water purification - most people don't realize it but as a company CDI also does a lot of work with non-profit organizations like PATH trying to find new cheaper ways to bring clean water to the third world where water-borne disease is still one of the big killers of children.
I also took a little time to hang with my dad and brothers-in-law (Ross and Alex). We went up Mt. Adams again. hopefully it will become a sort of tradition. That is my sister's husband Ross sitting at the summit. A great time - it was good to get to know the extended fam a little better - The wooden building is a hut that they use to use when they were mining sulfur from the summit of Mt. Adams - can you imagine working up there! (cup of noodle time)