Earth Day

We didn't do much this weekend. John had class all day yesterday and Josh and I both felt a little sick, so we didn't even get out of our pajamas yesterday, just laid low and watched Cars.

Today we got outside for some soccer kicks. Our trees are blooming beautiful pink flowers but also unfortunately shedding them all over the sidewalk, and we haven't swept them away this weekend, so we have some pink petals in these photos.

Josh running down for a big kick:


Practicing his footwork:


Fierce face = big hard kick coming, probably accompanied by a grunt or a victory cheer (he yells out "goal," "score," or "I win" when he feels he kicked a really good one. I have no idea where he learned those things. I suspect John.


He was very proud of this picture:

He loved that he was wearing his Brazil soccer shirt from Gammy and Poppa while playing soccer.


We also want to send some birthday love to our niece (Josh's cousin) Sela, who turned 2 today!
Happy Birthday Sela!
We love you. Hope you had a fantastic birthday!

Also, a second shout-out to Uncle Bud, in case you're checking. It was nice to talk with you yesterday, and we do love you!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's 60th birthday! Happy Birthday Mom!

Here she and Mrs. Tai are checking out the flowers and stuffed strawberries she received Friday at work. By all accounts, the stuffed berries are delicious! Wish I were there!

Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls

While John was at a Saturday practicum for school, Josh and I headed out to the Gorge to see the waterfalls.

This was our first stop, Wahkeena falls.


This is the picture Josh took all by himself:


From the trail up to the higher parts of the falls, we could see the Columbia River and, equally important to Josh, the train tracks. He was very excited and loved the hike. At 8 mos pregnant, I had a tough time keeping up!


It was very green and the air smelled so fresh.


At the bridge across one of the upper falls:

We took turns being scared: Josh of the water and wind blowing out strongly from the falls, me of Josh peeking through the openings of the bridge to see what was below (answer: a giant drop!).

More waterfalls

Here we are at Multnomah Falls. Josh decided it was "cold" here (from the wind and water coming off the waterfall, again) and had a tough time smiling for a picture, he just wanted to goof around. But this one turned out good enough.


He liked Ponytail Falls more, even though we got wetter here.


Josh decided to climb the hill that rises from the pool at the foot of the falls to the road. It was slippery from water spraying out from the falls, but he did a pretty good job.


Hi Mom.

Reading is fundamental

Josh has a couple of books he will "read" to us, because he has memorized the story and can tell it to us by reference to the pictures. Here he is reading us a book about Diego, an armadillo, and a jungle race:


(This was first thing in the morning, so I had to edit out our morning bed-heads. Trust me, the big white space is prettier!)

Happy Easter!

Easter presents

Actual caption: "ooooohhh"


The dinosaurs, camera book, and flute were the biggest hits. I only got pictures of him playing with the flute for now:


All great jazz musicians must learn to play in shades.


Here he is putting on his fierce face.


Just being happy:

Pregnancy girth

People keep asking how big I am. I am huge. This picture is really unflattering and will be replaced as soon as I take a better one, but for now you can see my size here. I look like a pinhead because my chest and belly are so large they dwarf the rest of me.

Only 7 weeks to go!