Playing at the park

We had a great Memorial Day weekend, and I hope everyone else did too. It's always nice to have that extra day off to make it a three-day weekend. My family even came to visit on Saturday.

As you can see, Kyah had a blast playing with Grandma and Grandpa and her Aunt and Uncle.




















My sister and brother-in-law brought Isabella and Abby and I found some time to love her. : ) Her and Kyah couldn't look any more different.






With it being Memorial Day weekend and all, Abby, Kyah and I took some time out of our busy schedule on Monday to remember those that have and are protecting our country. We're thankful for the extra day off, but we're far more grateful for those that have sacrificed their lives so we can enjoy freedom. We casually wandered around the nearby cemetery to honor and remember the fallen. It was especially difficult to read the names of men who were younger than me and had died in war. It's hard to fathom what they've done for us.

Sailing

For the first time in my life, I got to go sailing. Hard to believe, isn't it?! Who grows up in the Pacific Northwest and has never been sailing? Me, I guess. Now, I've been on the water many, many times and in lots of different boats; it's just that none of them have ever been a sail boat.

I was pretty excited when I found out that our friends Matt and Chelsea were chartering a sail boat and sailing to Bellingham. Abby, Kyah and I got to spend Friday on the water with great friends. And would you believe it, it was the nicest day of the year. The sun was blazing; it was just gorgeous.

We dressed the part well, if I don't say so myself.













Matt even let Abby steer the ship for a while. She did a great job, too!


It was a beautiful 30-foot sail boat.


Abby and I blessed to have so many great friends to enjoy life with. They all came for the weekend and sailing adventures. We found time for a stroll down memory lane - we visited Western Washington University's campus, since most all of us graduated from there. This picture was taken on the stairs in front of Old Main.

Walk for life

Abby and I have participated in the Walk for Life the last four or five years, and this year was no different. Yeah, it might have been drizzling, but that didn't matter. It's a celebration and we love going. We even had the pleasure of Abby's family accompanying us. We joined hundreds of others and walked two miles to support the Whatcom Pregnancy Clinic and the invaluable community service it provides.

This year was particularly special because we got to take Kyah with us.

Playing and swimming

The weather was so gorgeous on Sunday that we just had get outside and play. We couldn't let our sweet little girl get sunburned, so Abby adorned her with this great hat. Isn't she cute?

She's really big into standing. She's never been one for tummy time. Try as we might (daily) to encourage her while on her tummy, she just never likes it. But she LOVES standing. She'll grab at our hands wanting us to help her stand. She's to the point now where she'll let go of our hands while standing to reach out and grab something else, like the couch. She's pretty good at standing on her own while holding onto the couch.



We just finished our first swimming class. Probably more accurately described as play time in the pool. She was a champ and never cried, unlike many of the other kids. She didn't cry when the pool wasn't heated three of four classes, or when we dunked her under water, or put a life jacket on her. She was her laid-back, smiley self the whole time. I got in the pool with her the first two lessons and Abby the last two.



If you look closely, you'll notice that Kyah's bottom two teeth are visible. She has a third one coming in on the top, and it looks like a fourth (on the top) is trying to cut through too.

While I'm on Kyah updates, the girl has been a dream sleeper for us. For the last three to four months, she's regularly slept anywhere from 11 to 13 hours a night. Can you believe that? She'll go to bed between 6 and 7 at night and then not get up until around 7 the next morning. This last weekend, we even got to sleep in until close to 8. That was awesome.