Happy Memorial Day

Wish we had warmer weather, a little bit of sun, a nice BBQ. I don't know of any Memorial day parades in this side of the state.....But wishing a happy Memorial day anyway.

A picture Millie made yesterday.

Happenings in May

Well it is that time of year again. Millie graduated from pre-school last week and she definitely is excited about starting Kindergarten in the fall. Wow!

We had 2 great years at Alpine Co-op here in Snoqualmie. I will really miss being so involved in her school year and being able to work in the class 4 times a month.


Next step-Kindergarten!!

We found this dress last week at Costco and Millie has been wearing it A LOT since then. I was working in the kitchen and when I came around the corner, I found Millie in her dress, her cowboy hat and riding on her pony. So of course, we had to take some cute pictures for Mike to see!



Another day, (but the same dress!) we are outside playing with bubbles.

__________________________________________________________________

Pre-school Picnic at Centennial Fields

Millie enjoying a picnic at the park with her pre-school friends. Every year the school celebrates the last day with a picnic. (Unfortunately this is the 2nd year of chilly, rainy weather at our picnic.)

But the kids just bundled up and got to play a bit in between rain showers. They always have fun when they get together to play!



Even though we live right down the road, Millie and I had frozen fingers and toes on our wet, chilly ride home.

Despite the slow start to Spring we are still giving our garden a go. Here is our lettuce growing in pots this year to avoid being eaten by our large slug community here.

Flowers are in bloom.

Our shade and herb garden is growing too!

Keeping our garden warm under tarps this year.

The sun is coming out! Yeah

Millie is having fun on her swing! We are so happy on those very rare days this spring when we get some sun.

Commissioning ceremony

Earlier this month, Millie and I headed over to Spokane to watch Michael (Mike's son) get commissioned into the Army at Gonzaga University. He also graduated from school that weekend with a degree in Political Science. Michael will soon be heading off to Massachusetts as a part-time member of the National Guard.

Michael with Millie (his step sister) and JT (his step brother.)

All the kids posing at the reception.


One last picture of us together!

A beautiful rainbow back home in Snoqualmie. Congratulations Michael and wishing you best of luck on this new chapter of your life!

Nick of Time by Tim Downs

This was a fun book to read. I don't think you can go wrong with a good crime thriller/mystery. I believe that this is the sixth book in what is know as the "bug man series." It is called this due to the main characters job as a forensic entomologist. Nick studies bugs that are attracted to human remains. His work helps to solve crimes.

In this story, Nick is getting married to Alena. Alena is a dog trainer who he first met when her dogs helped locate a dead body. These two eccentric characters seem to be a perfect match for each other. However, a mere four days before the nuptials-Nick finds himself driving to Philadelphia for the monthly meeting of the Vidocq society. Being among a group of forensic professionals consulting on cold cases will surely allow him to feel useful and normal.

The story takes a twist when Nick finds himself caught up in a murder case involving a good friend. Nick continues his travels to the Poconos all the while becoming more and more distracted with solving his friends murder. So Alena decides to track him down to find out if he really is pursuing a killer or is he running away from something else.

I was immediately drawn to the characters of Nick and Alena. I loved the sarcastic humor and banter that was found through out the story. It made for a fun, lighthearted read that kept me guessing who the bad guys were and if Nick would ever make it down the aisle in time. I did find the ending a bit far fetched. I don't believe for a minute this would ever happen in real life. But I guess that is what makes reading fun. I was also really surprised by the final few pages. The ending is not what I think will happen. I know that there will be more in this series and I would not hesitate to read more about Nick and Alena. They are both two characters that made the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Easter!

Yesterday we had the sunniest, warmest day since the summer. We woke up to sun and it stayed that way all day. We walked down the road to the Easter egg hunt. How lucky are we that it was right down the road.

Lots of eggs and no one really around us!

Loading up the Easter basket.

Suddenly the hoard of children made it down to our spot! Luckily we had already filled up our basket!


On the walk home.

Stopping to look at our neighbor's pretty flowers.

Looking into our backyard. I am so grateful for those two days of sun. We really needed it. (Today-Easter-we are back to pouring rain!)

Our tulips finally opened up in the sun.

Our first picnic of the season. We may not have another picnic for a long time, my online weather chart shows rain for the next 10 days +, but fingers crossed that will change. We made it to 67 degrees today and it felt hot!

We miss you Mike, Happy Easter to everyone we love!

Cougar Mountain Zoo

On Wednesday Millie's preschool took a field trip to Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah. This was our first visit, but we really had a great time. First of all, despite the chilly day, it was really nice out, there were not many other visitors so we got to spend lots of time up close with the animals and we were allowed to feed them.

They had lots of macaws, lemurs, reindeer, deer, alpacas, wallabies, a bengal tiger, cheetahs, emus, and cranes. Unfortunately the cougar had died of old age, so we did not get to see the cougar on this visit.

Class photo.

Time for snack.

The reindeer gets a snack, too.


Millie and her friends.

Sunday, April 17th-122 days to go

It's 12:42 p.m. on Sunday and we are missing our Papa (Mike) a lot...and we are really sad.



Now it's 2:29 p.m. and we still really miss him, but feel like things will be okay...



Now it's 3:13 p.m. and we still miss Mike and are back to feeling sad..

Stay safe in Iraq, don't work too hard and remember, we love you! Can't wait to pick you up in 122 days!!