2:32 pm

It's been a long time since I've seen a new born child, I'm talking only a few hours old. I believe the last time was when my sister was born back in 1989. Anyhow, on Monday our friends Seth and Darcia were blessed with a baby boy. I must admit that seeing him there, small and breathing all on his own was almost unbelievable. Being there made me realize how amazing the gift of life and the human body is. It's all a miracle. I know I never stop and think, "Well, I guess it's pretty cool how I'm 26 years and I still haven't had to replace my bones." They're the same ones I had when I was a tiny baby! Imagine if we had to replace our bones in order to grow up. What if we had to constantly remind ourselves to breathe several times a minutes. Or when we drink water it would head straight into our lungs instead of stomach. What if when we had to dodge a flying object we would have to communicate to our hands to be on guard? "In less than a second that basketball will arrive near the chest area, make sure you are there to receive it." By the time you're in mid sentence, the wind would be knocked out of you.

It truly is a miracle. Seeing Piers Darcy there was quite unreal in a way. Two days ago he hung on to his mother for life and now he is in this world breathing and living all on his own.

On a unrelated noted, I did notice that if you have a kid, your friends are highly likely to make you delicious treats... one of the side perks.

A Cherokee?

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to go up flying with my friend Marlin. We actually didn't get to go far since the clouds began to descend upon the Walla Walla Valley not much later after we took off. Nevertheless, we flew all the way to Milton Freewater and then turned around. While we were up there he allowed me to take control of the plane for a few minutes; it surprised me how the slightest shift, drastically alter the direction of the plane. It was quite fun, despite mainly going straight.

So, you might be wondering what does Cherokee has to do with flying? Well, apparently his plane is also called a Cherokee, which is why we had to take pictures with the Jeep and his plane. What can I say, we both love our hobbies. By the way, the two pictures shot from above are the University and College Place.

First Snowfall

Apparently during our time stay in Seattle, we had our first snowfall in Walla Walla. I believe it was about an inch and a half at the most, then on Monday we had freezing rain which made the conditions even worst. The snow has all melted by now and we are crossing our finger to see if the weather will bring us more this winter! (Yes, why wouldn't I like the snow? I've got a Jeep.) Sadly it's looking like we won't be having a white Christmas here in Walla Walla... to bad.

Christmas in Seattle

This past weekend Traci and I ventured out to Seattle for the weekend to meet up with Janelle and two of her cousins. Traci took the day off on Friday so we headed out on Thursday evening so we could spend 3 full days in Seattle. Traci and I spent each night at her cousin's place, Craig & Vanessa; they have 2 kids, Grayson and Celeste. Celeste is in First grade and Grayson spends his days playing with hotwheels. Anyhow, on Friday Ronnie, Traci, Janelle and I headed down to Tacoma to visit the Glass Museum, the old train station and a cupcake store. After sight seeing around Tacoma we went straight to Bremerton to have supper with Rachelle (Traci's cousin) and then catch the ferry back to Seattle.

Saturday was a very restful day. Traci and I visited the Kirkland church and then had lunch there at her Cousin's place. After lunch we played an old card game named "Birds and Animals" and also "Connect Four by Four." In the evening we went to the Bellevue Botanical gardens where we enjoyed a superb light display. We attended the light show before and it does appear to get better each year. On Sunday We met up with Ben and visited another cupcake shop in Ballard and had some veggie burgers at Kidds Valley to continue a tradition.

I must admit that I have become rather lazy in taking pictures when I venture out. It could be that I don't want to appear as the tourist or simply that I want to enjoy the moment rather than taking pictures. Nevertheless, here are some pictures from the weekend. The two pictures of Traci and I were taken by Ben Blood

Horse Carriage Parade

Two weekends ago Traci and I attended the Christmas Carriage Parade at Pendleton. We have been attending the Parade since it began three years ago and each year the crowd gets bigger and more festive. This is the second year that I have been able to make the posters for the event so it was quite neat to see them all across Pendleton. Despite the very cold weather, there was a big turn out with (I believe) about 30 carriages.