David and Isabelle's Baptism

Four glorious months ago, our friends Pete and Joy gave birth to two very adorable and healthy children...TWINS: Isabelle Marie and David Aaron. The kids have been enjoying their life thus far; which consists mostly of eating (at the same time while holding hands...I mean really, could they be any cuter), sleeping and taking in all the smiles and dreamy eyes of anyone who meets them. I would say that Pete and Joy have adjusted beautifully to parenthood. Their eyes shine with pride when you talk with them. And believe it or not, doubling their family's size has brought them closer together than ever before. It brings Nick and I great joy to watch our friends love their kids with all they have to give. Joy, LeAnna (Godmother) holding David, Nick holding Isabelle, LeAnna's Daughter, and Peter

Nick was recently asked by Pete and Joy to be their kid's Godfather. With great jubilation, Nick accepted and has been enthusiastically sharing the news of his new-found role to everyone...not to mention threatening (with a wispy voice, while scratching his neck): "If you hurt those kids, I will have to break both your kneecaps." It's funny what given a title can do. He may need to catchup on some Godfather movies to play the role just right.

On Sunday, we took a trip to Bainbridge Island to be a part of Isabelle and David's Baptismal. They were sprinkled with water and anointed with oil, asked to be blessed by the Holy Spirit and commissioners of Jesus Christ. It was a beautiful site and an honor to be a part of such a special day (Isabelle above, David below). The hours following consisted of great food, conversation and watching Nick clean up David's spit-up every few minutes. It will be quite the adventure to watch these two grow up to be individuals and we look forward to their trips up to Bellingham...so Uncle Nick and Aunt Andi can show them the ropes.

The Colonnade

A few weeks ago, when Nick and I were showing his brother around Seattle, we stumbled upon a bike park underneath the freeway overpass near downtown. This is like no bike park we had ever seen. Built in what was once a blackberry-infested, drugie-dominate hangout is now a beautifully groomed bike park with more bridges, jumps, drops and steep stuff to practice on than you have ever dreamed. We gave ourselves a walking tour of the place, then after mopping up all of Nick's drool, we said we would make a trip down ASAP with the bikes and give it a spin.

Last weekend, on our trek over to Crystal Mountain to visit with the folks, we decided to make a slight detour and try out the park. We padded up, lowered our seats and tire pressure and had at it. Mind you, the biking world is relatively new to me, so although I LOVE this sport, it also scares the crapola out of me. When I see the 15 foot drops, the 2" skinny teetertodder logs and the "line" that is essentially at a 90 degree angle, I have a deep, urging desire to throw my bike aside and go mope in the car. There is nothing more discouraging than feeling like I could never accomplish such terrifically horrifying stunts. This is when Nick comes in. His rational sense never ceases to surprise me...especially when he reminds me that there is this thing called progressive skill building and having FUN. He takes my damaging competitive edge away from me and allows the fun of bike riding to come out. So I joyfully play on the lower bridges, the wider teetertodders and practice my wheelie drops off 5". Then when the guts start to surface I may follow him on a line or two of a more challenging route. One that consists of short, shallow breaths and hanging on for dear life until it is over. Then I smile, say thank you and do it all over again and again until I actually enjoy myself. Ah yes...I am learning, slowly but surely. So maybe one day I will be hitting the "fatty" drops, but until then, I will remember that baby steps are just fine. Oh and I will take pictures of Nick doing them.