360 days down, 5 days to go

Rich is only days away from crossing the finish line of his fellowship and we are jazzed. We've had some great distractions in the last 30 days giving us a reprieve from all the anticipation that makes the days seem longer.

Rich and I left Mitchell with Grandma, Grandpa and a bag full of marshmallows and made a trip to visit his BFF Steve in Orange County for a surprise birthday party. I won't tell you his age, you'll have to guess.














Here is what some of us party goers looked like when his age was revealed. "Man that's old!"














All weekend we had a chance to spend time with Steve's family and friends (the family you get to pick) and laughed and ate and laughed and ate and laughed and ate. It was a very special time, one that spawned inside jokes that will be repeated for years to come. For those of you that were there I will never think of public bathrooms the same again.

We returned home to a visit from Aunt Rosie with cookies in hand for the boy. We did not take a single picture as we were too busy playing.

The temperatures in Seattle have not been above 75 degrees in about nine months, which makes for some chilly days when the wind is blowing. Here Mitchell sports one of mommy's sweaters at the park on a June-uary day when mommy learns "just because it's sunny doesn't mean its warm".



















For Father's Day we met Grandma and Apaw (Grandpa Steve's handle) at the mall for Mitchell's first hair cut. I have several minutes of video but have tried three times to upload it with no success. I will keep trying.

The haircut was followed by a "Seattle picnic" indoors. Did we get a picture of Daddy and Grandpa? No. Why would we? Mitchell's the one that Father's Day is really about right? Here he is working on a new art medium during our picnic.














Mitchell can be messy, but he does not let his hygiene suffer. One of his favorite activities is brushing his teeth. He likes to do so upon waking, before breakfast, after breakfast, after playing, before snack, after snack, before story time, after story time...in fact if we let him I think he would brush his teeth all day.




















Rich was presented his certificate of completion for Fellowship during a ceremony at Salty's on Alki Beach. One of Rich's attendings had some nice things to say during the presentation of his certificate. I'm hoping to post the video soon.

And here we are with the Seattle skyline at our back, the Space Needle just over Rich's head, looking so relieved to only have five days of fellowship left!