Beautiful Tulips!

Starting off with about 4 inches of new snow by Friday evening, I thought we were out of luck for any sights of spring this weekend. However, after church today we decided to take a drive north and check out the tulip fields. What a sight!! The pics are from the Skagit Valley, about 45 minutes north of our home where they hold an annual tulip festival. We've heard from everyone how beautiful the fields are and, after living here almost three years, I wasn't going to let another spring go by without seeing these vibrant fields myself. Even Ethan was mesmerized by the bold colors. I think we'll have to make this an annual drive. I absolutely loved it! What a great way to close the weekend.

I had to include this last photo. We asked a passerby to take a picture of us. I thought point and click was relatively straight forward. I guess we needed to specify that we would like our faces in the picture. I guess the mud was more interesting ...

Crazy Bird

These pictures really don’t capture this very well, but we’ve had this bird that is in love with our home. It started about 2 ½ weeks ago when I was startled by a banging noise on one of the windows in our living room. A few minutes later I heard the same thing. Upon watching the window it happened again and I noticed it was a bird. It seemed to hit hard enough that I thought it knocked itself out so I went outside to see if it was lying unconscious below the window, but it was not. The next day we went out of town. Jairo returned a few days before me and when I came home he told me of this crazy story about a bird that keeps flying into our window. After that I started noticing this happened daily in the morning and then again in the evening. Finally, a few days ago I called a veterinarian’s office because I thought we had a delusional bird on our hands. According to them, during this time of year some birds (those with smaller brains than the norm) are fooled by their reflection in windows and fly at the reflection as a mating ritual. So, apparently we have a bird trying to mate with our window. The solution …. spray hair spray on the window to dull the reflection. I have yet to get to this, but when I do, I’ll let you know if it works.

Mini Me!

I just loved this picture. Ethan is just a miniature Jairo, all the way down to the pleasant, people-loving personality. Of course, as mentioned in previous blogs, he does carry some very fine traits from his mom. Also, check out our new video "Tummy Tickler". Ethan just goes crazy when Jairo tickles his tummy during diaper changes. I think the facial scruff is particularly ticklish. As you can see, Ethan loves blowing raspberries and making funny little noises that always crack us up. Also, while playing these days, he enjoys letting out these high pitched squeals. When I go over to help him quiet down so I don't loose my hearing, he just laughs at me. He's already learned how to tease me!

Lil' Brown Bear is 4 months!

Boy, he can act like a little bear too! He may seem so gentle, cute, and cuddly, but man, if he's hungry or tired watch out! Grrrrrr! I know, I know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. :)

Really, I can't complain though. For the most part he's a very easy going kid who prefers to stick to his little schedule. Not a bad thing. At least I know what to expect and when.

He now weighs in at 16 lbs 1 oz and is 26 inches long with a giant noggin. His head is in the 95th percentile for growth. We take this to mean that he is a very intelligent child. Speaking of hunger ... he's begining to growl.

Tagged

My ol’ English friend Lena tagged me on her blog and I’m finally getting around to doing my part and tagging others. Also, thanks to Lena, I was reminded of a few somewhat interesting facts about myself.

Here are the rules (lifted from Lena’s site):
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, as we all want to know them. (I'm sure you are all DYING to know these, but please read them anyway so I feel like you do.)

• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. (If I tag you, just do it and don't complain.)

• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Here we go …

1. As a child I was hit in the head with the back of an axe. (I can hear the echoes now … “Ahh, that explains so much!”)

2. I’ve been deported from a foreign country. I wish it was some glamorous tale of espionage, but it was simply because we (my sister and I) failed to secure the proper documentation to enter Brazil. So, we spent 20 lovely hours in the Sao Paulo, Brazil airport (after 14 total travel hours to get there), just to be sent back to Cali (another 14 hours). We arrived at LAX on Christmas Eve with no family in town to pick us up because everyone had left the state to spend the holiday with extended family. Oh, a Christmas to remember!

3. I played the base guitar in a jazz band in junior high.

4. My nickname in college was Maddog.

5. I once had a 2 week stint as a car detailer for a guy who owned classic Mercedes Benz’.

6. With a great college pal, I snuck back stage during a Dave Mathew’s concert. Unfortunately we didn’t get autographs, but we got pretty close before we were kindly shown the way out.

7. During a high school trip through Europe, a friend and I got lost late a night (I guess it was really early morning) in the outskirts of Paris. We missed the last train back into the city and could not convince a cab driver to give us a ride (snobby Parisian!). So, we hitch hiked our way back. Luckily I’m still alive to tell about it.

So, for those that would like to play, you've been tagged: Jenn, Kristi, Kedra, Shelley, Kristen, & Melissa.