Look out Michael Phelps

A couple of weeks ago Jackie successfully scaled the pool wall from end to end as her Dad, Mom and Giddee watched.

"I Drive!"

We can't go anywhere in the car without Jackie saying "I Drive". Sometimes we cave and let here take the car out for a spin (not really). It takes a couple of minutes to pry Jackie from the wheel and to reconfigure the car after she clicks and flicks every button within reach.

Milkaholic

Sadly, we discovered Jackie sneaking milk drinks between meals recently. Mom and Dad suspected something was wrong when we discovered milk drops on the couch and floor. The biggest shock came we when opened the cabinet to to put away dishes and found this:

First Birthday Celebration!

For Jacquelyn's first birthday I went a little overboard.  I wanted to plan an extra special day for her surrounded by those who love her most.  We invited family and friends and were so blessed to have 42 people cram into our house to celebrate a very special first birthday.  About half way through the party the A/C went out on a very warm Texas summer day but our friends and family were great sports and continued on with the celebration. Special thanks to everyone who came and made this an extra special day.  I will forever be grateful to my mother who came into town early to get the house ready and prepared all of the food.  I am so blessed to have such an amazing Mom. I hope I can be half as great to J as my mother is to me.

The invitation that started it all.

J eagerly awaiting the arrival of her guests.

Rear view of J's party outfit.

Aunt Cindy came early and brought some extra food to help accommodate all of our guests.  Since she was there early she also got to spend some extra quality time with J.  Thank you Aunt Cindy for all of your help.  I don't know what I would have done without you and especially Mom to pull this party off. 

Fully dressed and ready to party!

J's personal smash cake.

My adorable cousin Megan and beautiful Sittee. (and a huge thanks to Megan's husband Aaron for taking all of these great pictures)

As always I was running behind.  Here I am still setting up after my guests have arrived.  Better late than never I guess.

We were so lucky Rebecca and Addison were able to join us for J's special day.  They came in all the way from Odessa to be with us. 

While I was running around entertaining friends and family Lise stepped in to take care of our guest of honor. 

Giddee showing off his granddaughter. What a proud grandpa.

Dad was outside manning the grill with the help of Bryan and Clint.  Mark was a good sport and even wore orange for to stick with the theme of the party.   

When it was time for cake we stripped J down to her birthday suit fully prepared for her to dive in.  She choose this time to be very dainty and refused to get dirty.  This made clean up very easy.

This is my favorite picture of the day. Look at those beautiful eyes.

While we cleaned J up from her birthday cake our family and friends enjoyed the following slide show looking back at the wonderful year we had.  Because the digital age has made it so easy to take and store pictures this slide show is lengthy.  I won't be offended if you turn it off after a while, it is just under 15 minutes.

Then it was time for presents!

Did I mention after we cleaned her up there was a wardrobe change.  When planning the party I came across two outfits she just had to have so we made sure to wear both and show off for everyone.

J playing with her new toys.

Coming down from her sugar high.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast with family and continued the celebration.  Here is our sweet girl excited for the new day and so happy to be 1 year old.

This is a special picture for J's Dad.

Huge Apologies

I want to start this post with an apology to our loyal fans.  I am sorry for our absence and even the demise of our custom URL.  As Jacquelyn has aged our blog has fallen by the wayside but we are back and better than ever because we have almost a year to catch up on.  If you are wondering what we have been up to since July, don't worry you are about to find out. 

Loyal readers welcome back and enjoy!

Love,
Rachel, Mark and J

iPhone Blogger App

This is a test of the iPhone Blogger App. It's not aesthetically pleasing at all and it's about 5 years too late. In my opinion, this type of app is better suited for the iPad.

Here's a picture of Jackie at Alki Beach:

Celebrating our Nation's Independence

Happy 4th of July!

North of Seattle there are tons of working farms.  It seems like there is something growing year round in this area so we decided to head out to Biringer Farms in Arlington, WA to pick fresh strawberries. 

We have arrived!  J is not sure what sort of adventure we are taking her on.

J was still unsure of what was going on as we climb onto a trailer pulled by a guy on a tractor wearing rubber boots and waiters.  He was also smoking a hand rolled cigarette.  It really made you feel like you were in the deep country.

Not really wanting to get dirty when we first started picking J decided to just stand by our strawberry basket.  

After watching me pick some berries J got the hang of it and started picking a few of her own. 

Our pickings were delicious!

I am looking forward to the next fruit/vegetable/flower that will be in season.

Discovering Discovery Park

All of the beautiful scenery and surrounding nature Seattle has to offer make you want to spend all of your time outside, even if it is raining. Mark has been wanting to go hiking for months now however I like to enjoy more relaxing views of the water.  One beautiful Saturday we decided to get out of the apartment and enjoy some of nature so we made our way down to Discovery Park in Seattle to enjoy the best of both worlds. 

We were able to test out the new all-terrain jogging stroller on some hiking trails as we made our way through the lush forests to the beach. 

The view was beautiful.  It was a gorgeous, clear day.  You could see mountains in every direction.

J was so excited to see the water and get her hands in the sand. 

If you look hard you can see Mount Rainier just above Jacquelyn.

Mark and J were even brave enough to take a dip in the water.  Brr, it was cold! 

Dress Up Day at School

One Friday, J had Dress Up Day at her daycare.  She was told to wear her Sunday best so we thought we would give her Easter dress another debute.  Here she is all dressed and ready to go.

My Little Water Baby

More fun times at the pool!

Thank you Vivan and Brian for this adorable swim suit. It is pefect for swimming in Seattle.

Getting away from the heat

June was an exciting month full of family and fun times.  After life calmed down from the wedding and Father's day we had some family come to visit us in Seattle.  Jacquelyn's Aunt Vivian, Uncle Brian and Cousin Kirsten came all the way from Singapore just to meet her. And her Granddad and Nana flew up from Texas to spend time with all of us and to escape the blazing Texas heat.  We had a wonderful time seeing the sites of Seattle and eating some great seafood. 

Jacquelyn helping me pack for our weekend. 

She looks like a little super hero here with her bib on backwards.

While we waiting for Viv, Brian and Kirsten to arrive we did a little sightseeing.

Here is a great picture of Jacquelyn with her Dad, Granddad and Nana at Snoqualmie Falls. 

It was such a pretty day we spend some time enjoying the nice lawns and gardens that surround the viewing area of the falls.  Jacquelyn decided to show off some of her walking skills (or should I say attempt at walking) around a park bench.  She managed to get her self in some flowerbeds so Mark had to rescue her.  Here is he steadying her next to the bench in a safe mulch free zone.

J is exploring some of the more historical features of the falls.

Then it was off to Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo. 

We had a nice relaxing time at the park, enjoying the cool breeze, watching J play in the grass, eating ice cream and loving the sounds of J laugh as she rode around on her Granddad's shoulders.

We had a great time with our family as we toured around Seattle.  We were to busy having fun that I forgot to pull out my camera a number of times.  I hope to add more to this post later of J and her Aunt and Uncle. 

I was able to capture this picture of Kirsten with her little cousin while we were enjoying the botanical gardens at Ballard Locks.  

Thank you so much to our family for coming out to Seattle to see us.  We had a wonderful time!