My uncle's front porch

Seattle in August is absolutely beautiful. The flowers are blooming everywhere and the air is so fresh and invigorating. I was able to spend a few days of rest and relaxation here after my Dad passed away.

Dad

Difficult to see, but it is a poster I made for the family day we had in his honor. The pictures are of some of his airplanes and cars. I especially love the black and white of him in his suit and tie. The little red plane was his racing plane, named "Miss Carol".

Dad lived a very full and adventurous life. No one could ever say he did not live life to it's fullest. He found much joy in the natural world that surrounded him and wrote often of his little critter friends that paid visits to his feeders. There are so many wonderful memories that I will cherish forever and I may post some later.

For now it is enough to say that he is missed terribly and I am forever grateful that he was my dad.

Beka is 19

A late post about some of the things that have been happening around here over the summer.

Kids went to camp, we celebrated birthdays, Sarah broke her leg playing soccer, and I flew out to Washington just in time to say farewell to my dear Dad.

So, here are a few pictures to go along with what has been happening in our lives.

The Broken Leg

Happy 13th Birthday Susannah

Susannah was treated to a special lunch by the Westfall Grandparents on her birthday, September 1st. Tim, Abby, and I tagged along to celebrate.

The wait staff serenaded her and brought her a hot fudge sundae with candle aflame on top.

How hard it is to believe that she is 13 already!

Happy Birthday Susannah!

Grandma's Attic

Out of all the sights we saw in Tallahassee this was the kid's favorite. This was part of the Florida History Museum, which was a wonderful place to visit so we could tie up all of those Florida history loose ends we had dangling. This room was filled with antiques and vintage clothes to dress up in. Just the place to let off steam and have fun pretending to live back in the days of switchboards and wash boards.

Tallahassee

The old capital building in front of the new capital building. It is hard to imagine that people had to protest the tearing down of this lovely old building as the "powers that be" had intended on making it a giant courtyard in front of that ugly tower in the background.

The kids called it the candy cane building because of the red and white striped awnings. So cheerful, clean, and welcoming.