This Joy’s Life

Here is what we’ve been up to this week for those of you who simply MUST know.

A visit to Jenn’s new house and a park out in picturesque Issaquah:

A girls night out at the Purple Cafe in downtown Seattle:

A birthday party for Mason who turned 1 on Saturday:

And today we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary (see previous post for more related to that). Sorry, no pictures from today. Got to keep you coming back for more . . .

Today we celebrated the 4th by joining EvanJenn and family for Evan’s first birthday party on Camano Island. We were at the historic Kristofferson Farm and had a “blast”!

Clara, of course, found the tractor right away:

We enjoyed watching Evan blow out the candle on his cupcake:

He couldn’t wait to get his hands on it, as you can see:

Jack, meanwhile, couldn’t wait to get his hands on Clara’s:

And Carter couldn’t get his mom to give his to him fast enough!

Then we all went on a hayride around the wooded property over to pet the goats. All the kids and grownups alike enjoyed the ride. Here’s Jack with his Nana and Papa:

But Aaron, who was our driver wasn’t having any of our shinanagins and threatened to kick us off the ride if we weren’t careful:

Evan, better listen to your dad when he tells you “no.” He ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie! (wink

When I’m holding Clara and she wants me to put her down, she says, “Uppy dow, uppy dow!”

This evening, though, we went up and down, up and down the elevator outside the P.F. Chang’s at Bell Square with JackGwen and EvanJenn while we waited for our dinner to arrive:

Sometimes, you’ve just got to do what it takes.

Well, Seattle’s weather may not be co-operating, but as everyone is in denial, calendars are filling up with summer fun and vacays. We’ve gotten to visit with two groups at the Seattle airport as they have headed home from Alaska cruises. In May, we saw Praful and Chetna (Yashan’s parents):

And today we spent an hour or so with my uncle Ross and cousins Sheryl, Mark, Hammy and Emmie:

It is nice to live so close to the airport for moments like these! I admit, seeing them makes me a bit more homesick than I already was and am looking forward to our trip home in late September; I can already picture Clara riding around on a tractor in my grandmother’s pasture.

Yes, something like that. Taken at Woodland Park Zoo yesterday morning. Yesterday. When it was supposed to be sunny and nice but was chilly at 52 instead. Granted by the afternoon the temperature had increased by 10 degrees. That’s something, I suppose.

At the Zoo, Clara got the opportunity to pet the goats, which she really enjoyed:

As well as see the flamingos and came home with a stuffed souvenir of her own:

The day before, we went to the Luna Park Cafe, a 50′s style diner, and Clara, Jack and Evan enjoyed a ride in the batmobile:

That afternoon, Clara and I played in the backyard while Evan and Jack enjoyed themselves at a nearby park. I love Evan in his wife-beater. He’s gonna be the tough guy (but in a good way), I can already tell.

And Jack, like Clara, loves him some slide!

Jenn talks more about their adventures at the park on her blog.

Summa, summa, summa-time!!!

Well, girl, you made it to the “terrible twos” and it hasn’t been “two” terrible so far Here’s hoping it stays that way. Why be the rule when you can be the exception?

Let’s look back at the big birthday weekend you had: Family BBQ on Friday night and a birthday playdate with all your friends today. Who did we sing Happy Birthday to? “To youuuu!” “Cake? OK.” “More cake? OK.”

Bal-oons! On the run with Dora the Explorer Nadia and Luke at the sand table
Carter: Hmmm, birthdays = presents. Me likey.
Mason just can’t escape his paparazzi Jack and Clara in the ball pool
More ball pool, Luke? Ok. I see you lookin’, Evan.
It’s not a party until someone’s got food on their face! Right, Ava?

Folks back home in Jaw-Ja, brace yourselves: It hit 70 in Seattle today. Yes, that’s 70 DEGREES I’m talkin’ about. Layers fell off like hot cakes; sunscreen was slathered like butter.

And off to the park went Clara and I with Jack, Gwen, Evan and Jenn:

Meet Clara’s boyfriends . . .

There’s Jack Devereux, Clara’s number one boy:

But what happens at The House of Fisher stays at The House of Fisher. You know I’m talkin’ about a playdate with Carter Christiansen 2 weeks ago:

(Daddy’s planning to have a talk with this one about his intentions with our daughter. We can’t quite put our finger on it, but something tells us he could be trouble. One of those “bad boy” types.)

And boyfriend number three . . . Well, he’s on deck right now, but we can tell he’s gonna make up for the lost time of being born less than a month ago pretty quickly. See for yourself:

Jenn & Aaron’s baby boy was born last night (Thursday, July 5, 2007) at 8pm on the dot PST. He was 8lb. 7oz and 19.5″ long and he’s got TONS of hair. See for yourself, as Gwen and I went to visit them at the hospital this afternoon:

We hosted a Baby Shower for Jenn today. Enjoy the pix!

Teresa and Nadia:

Clara and Nadia:
Carrie, Gwen and Jack:
Theresa and Martina:
Jenn and Melany:
Vonnie and Jack:
Jenn and Carousel:

The End.

I’ve got a few pictures to post. The first is of Jenn Ling in her preggers state – only 11 weeks or so to go!

You’ll see that Jenn and Jack Devereux (4 months) are in competition to see who can become the roundest:

The jury is still out on that one . . . Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake!” and Nadia Hutson took that to heart on her first birthday, as you can see:



News on the Clara front you won’t find shocking – She’s fast becoming a “daddy’s girl”:

Caution! Kids at Play!