A Month in Review

Wow, I can't even believe summer has past, fall is upon us, and October is just around the corner. This past month was kind of a blur, it just went so fast! This week it has been so beautiful in Spokane. It has been in the upper 70s/low 80s with clear blue skies. The trees are just starting to turn. In fact, on my way to work, there is a very large tree with brilliant gold leaves. It is always one of the first trees to turn and every year I look forward to seeing its beautiful color.

So here's just a few notes from this past month:

The girls are doing great. Elizabeth really loves her preschool. In fact, she's sad to leave there every day. She's truly in her element with all the little kids. She's such a social butterfly, saying "hi" or "bye" to everyone she sees. And Katherine (our smiley girl) is loving her solid foods now. Today, to her amazement, she learned how to blow bubbles with her food, so needless to say, I was covered in baby food by the time I was done. The girls love to tease each other and just laugh. You can tell already how they'll be best friends.

We did have a month where someone in the house was always sick. Elizabeth was sick on and off for about two weeks. She'd just be getting over it and her fever & runny nose would come back. Katherine and I had a touch of a cold, but now Kurt has the worst of it. He even had laryngitis this week when he had a lot of meetings & presentations for work. Poor guy! So here's to next month being a healthy one!

I had a very busy month for work. We had the chance to fly over to Wenatchee and inspect a large bridge over the Columbia River. It is an old steel truss that currently carries a pedestrian trail over the river. They want to drive vehicles over the bridge, so our firm (well, lucky me) had to run the calculations. I was reviewing the plans and noticed the date was 9/28/06. Then I realized that means 1906 - it was built exactly 100 years ago! So for the past two weeks I've been cranking out an in-depth computer analysis, only to come up with a similar design that some guy did by hand and a slide rule over one hundred years ago. So my hats off to engineers in those days!

Last weekend Kurt's dad came into town. We had a nice visit. Friday night we went to the Valleyfest parade. I must say it didn't make my Top 10 parades list - just picture mostly random people walking down the street with a few floats every so often! The best part though was just watching the girls get so excited with the sights and sounds of it all. Saturday I ran a 5K run with my sister Emily. We both ran it in 28:49 which I thought was great since I hadn't actually run in about a month! Saturday afternoon we headed over to Liberty Lake county park which has a playground, walking trails, and a beach.

Well, maybe that catches you up a little bit about what we've been doing. I'm hoping next month isn't so crazy. But life is fun and it makes for never a dull moment!

Elizabeth Turns 2!

This past Thursday was Elizabeth's 2nd birthday. Oh, she had a busy, fun-filled day. She started her first day of preschool, went to lunch at McDonalds, went to the park, took a long nap, had spaghetti for dinner and a Winnie the Pooh party in the evening. She got some great gifts - a tricycle, dress-up clothes & some new outfits, a doll, books, and a shopping cart complete with play groceries. What a fun day she had - she didn't want to go to bed.

p.s. I was very proud of my cake if I do say so myself! It was actually pretty easy, complete with step-by-step instructions. It took me quite awhile, but it was well worth it! It was very emotional for me to have to cut it all up just hours after I finished!

We got wonderful news this week from my best friend Jen. She's PREGNANT! We are so excited for her and her husband. They were here in Spokane for nearly a month this summer undergoing fertility treatment.
They have been trying for so long to have a baby, we are so happy for them, they will make wonderful parents.

I've known Jen since 1987! We were best friends starting in junior high, then joined at the hip in high school, college roommates, and in each other's weddings! What a great person to have in my life - a true friend for life!