Hale meets the chicks

We have discovered that Hale is a true animal lover. We have been with a few dogs lately and Landon and I are surprised that Hale is completely fearless around them. He'll accept kisses on the face or get knocked down by a tail wag - and he is totally delighted. Maybe being around the baby calves at the farm has broken him in? We're not sure.

Landon had seen that there were baby chicks at the co-op, so we stopped by on Saturday so Hale could see them. Needless to say, he loved it.

Finally some sun!

We've had two sunny Sundays in a row. Hale really enjoys being outdoors in the warm sun. Last Sunday Landon pulled out Hale's big tractor for him to play with. I played with my camera and attempted some pictures despite the bright sunshine.







Hale's new spring hair cut.



He was so excited about driving this big tractor that he almost went straight off the deck a few times. This is Hale at top speed heading straight for the edge and Landon trying to rescue the little piece of equipment.

Welcome Spring!

This week my photo challenge was Spring! It was a little hard to get into the spirit because spring has definitely not arrived in western Washington yet. I decided to dress Hale up in his camo hat outfit again - since I liked the way it looked in the last pictures I took of him. We found one little tiny sign of spring (a blue flower) which I killed by picking it and using it for a prop. I think it was worth the poor flower's sacrifice though - I really like the way the pictures turned out. Here's a collage of my favorites.

Hale's b-day celebration

Here's a few pictures from a little celebration we had with Hale for his first birthday.

Eating his cupcake:
He wasn't a fan of carrot cake I guess. I should have gone with chocolate.





Trying out his new wagon with Rocklyn.



A birthday hug from cousin.

I'll eat what Daddy eats!

Hale is definitely a Daddy's boy. I knew this even before an old man pointed it out to me at Starbucks.

Hale is becoming choosier about what he will eat. He is not always interested in his finger foods. Many pieces are quickly flung from his tray. But anything Daddy eats is delicious. Today Daddy was eating toast. Hale ate toast.

Happy Birthday Hale!

It's hard to believe that he looked like this a year ago...



We thank God for you, Hale. You are a wonderful blessing to us!

Week 9: Favorite Drink

For week 9 in my photo group we took pictures of our favorite drink. I first experimented with milk - but it turns out that skim milk isn't very photogenic. As I was drinking my morning coffee I got the idea to take a picture in my reflective carafe. I think it made a fun picture. My group even picked it as photo of the week which was really cool!

Click on this picture to see a bigger version...

Orcas Island

Mom and Dad Trautman have been visiting with us for the past week. We were blessed with a rare sunny day so we took the ferry to Orcas Island for the day.



Orcas Hotel for lunch:







On our way to Mt. Constitution



At the top of Mt. Constitution. The upside of going in March: we were the only ones there!







Dinner on the ferry home...