Tulips are red, tulips are blue...

It's tulip time again in the Skagit Valley. Abby and I made our annual trip to see them and they didn't disappoint.










(Technically, these yellow ones are daffodils.)

We had a couple of Husseys stay with us

It was a homecoming of sorts this last weekend for Kevin and Becky Hussey. They returned to Bellingham to visit us, and a number of other friends, whom they left behind when they up and moved to Oregon last summer. (I'm not that bitter about it.) It was fun having them stay with us, and a great opportunity to catch up on life.

On Saturday we toutled around town with them. One of the many places we visited was the Bellingham Farmers' Market.

(Kevin and Becky)

We met up with some other friends at the market - Tim and Jessica.




We had lunch together at Boundary Bay Brewery right across the street.


On Saturday evening we hosted a BBQ at our place for all of Kevin and Becky's friends to attend. The weather cooperated and a good number of friends showed up. We had a blast together. It was like they had never moved away. We definitely miss them.

My wife is amazing

I just wanted to take a minute to tell you all how wonderful my wife is. I weed-whacked and mowed the front lawn after work today. I then ran out the door to my soccer game. I returned home to find that she had ran Lake Padden, washed the Jetta, mowed the back lawn and had dinner waiting on the table. How amazing is that? She is a blessing.

It gets even better. First off, she ran 2.6 miles in just over 25 minutes - amazing. Second, she mowed part of the lawn for only the third or fourth time in five years - amazing. Third, she washed the car, which she normally does - amazing. Fourth, she cooked chicken on the grill for the first time ever - AMAZING!

I tell you what, she doesn't stop surprising me. Isn't she just AMAZING?!

Mariners' home opener

We cut out of work early on Tuesday (April 14) and jetted down to Seattle for the Mariners' home opener. There was no way I was going to miss the return of the prodigal son - Ken Griffey Jr. We weren't dissapointed either. While he didn't hit a home run in his first at bat, as I predicted and bet he would, the Mariners did win in dramatic fashion.



Abby's family joined us at the ball game.



We also celebrated Drew's 26th birthday.





Peter and Anne Marie were also at the game, we so hooked up with them before and after the game. We went to last year's home opener with them; it snowed on us at that game.

A little beach action

Today was a good day. Church was great; working in the garden was great; and lounging at Little Squalicum Beach in the sunshine was great. Abby packed a picnic for us and we ate a late lunch at the beach. It was 60-plus degrees today; our first 60-plus day in months. What a great way to end the weekend.



Today was so great that I even decided to wear shorts for the first time in months.

A little gardening action

It was so nice today that we just HAD to get out and work in the garden. Normally we take Sundays off and have a day of rest.



The last part of February and all of March were so crummy that we weren't able to get out there and work. We did a little work yesterday, pulling weeds and turning the dirt in the raised beds. Today we finished turning the raised beds, removing some strawberry plants and relocating the rhubarb. (Side note: Our rhubarb is set to take off this year. We're looking forward to a bumper crop.)



It's supposed to stay nice a couple more days, so we'll get out there and plant our seeds before the rains return. This year we plan to grow:

1. snap peas
2. green beans
3. carrots
4. lettuce
5. basil
6. rhubarb
7. onions
8. cucumbers
9. tomatoes

On the fruit and berry list we have:

1. raspberries
2. strawberries
3. blueberries
4. Rainier and Glacier cherries
5. Fuji and Gala apples
6. two kinds of Asian pears
7. plums (new this year)

Behind these buds are our future cherries. They're about to pop. They're a couple weeks later this year, which means we might have more bees to polinate them. That's a good thing.

Anyone want strawberry plants?

We have some extra strawberry plants; anyone want some? Lemmeno. We'll dole them out in order of response to this post.

Saturday service project - cleaning Amy's Place

We spent part of Saturday with our small group cleaning Amy's Place. Amy's Place is a non-profit organization in the community that strives to get youth off the streets. They provide food, activities and a temporary shelter in the evenings to try and help keep kids away from prostitution, gangs, drugs, crime and other problems.


(Holly and Abby)


(Holly, Daniel, Dustin and Jeff)


(This was a sign in the house.)

Amy is an acronym for:
A-Advocacy and Assistance
M-Mentoring
Y-Youth

There are four couples in our bible study group. Our goal is to do one service project each quarter. Each couple takes a turn finding and scheduling a project. As of yesterday, we decided that our motto was this: A small group that serves together, stays together.