Saturday, April 25, 2009

An afternoon with Puri's!





Lucy & I had quite a treat the other day! We had a fun little visit from Nisha & Teresa Puri! Nisha is my good friend Rashmi's sister & has always been someone I LOVE to be around! She's energetic, funny as all get out, kind, caring & smart too! Nisha is a teacher & I can only imagine how much fun her students have! Teresa was wonderful with Lucy, she watched her while Nisha & I took off on the pontoon boat in the sunshine! Thank you both so much, it was a perfect way to spend an afternoon & we'd LOVE to do it again any time you're free! Teresa, next time we'll get you out on the boat too! Love you guys! PS... pretty soon it will be GRANDMA TERESA!! Counting down the days!!
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7 1/2 months & oh so cute!


Ever wonder how a tulip tastes?


Deeelicious!


Creeper... but not a crawler... yet!


Thank you Auntie Ally for this adorable little outfit! We love you so much! My sweet sweet cousin, Allyson, gave Lucy this cute little ruffle bum outfit! Allyson lives in Seattle & shops all of the cutest little boutiques - everything she's given Lucy is 100% ADORABLE! We love you so much Auntie Ally! Lucy & I will make a trip up to see you very soon - PROMISE!
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Our bathing beauty!



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Work party on the cove!



Lucy with (L to R) Brett, Zach & Brandon - the 3 hairy Horn boys!






What awesome friends & family we have!! We are so blessed to have such helping hands in our lives! The day before Easter Randy had a little work party out here assembeling & installing our new boatlift. It's quite a massive contraption, so it took a lot of burly boys to get it together & then down into the water. Mark ended up wearing his drysuit & spend a good portion of the time in the water (burrr!). Lucy & I had fun making everyone breakfast & then listening as the dominant personalities showed their colors while assembeling the lift! It was funny to listen as the all knew their idea was the magic trick! ;-) Needless to say, it was a great day & we're so thankful for all of their help! It's safely floating in the water & once the piledriver puts the poles in place, we'll be in working business & will be able to put the ski boat in the water!! Woo hoo!! Summer's right around the corner!

A day with Uncle Mark!




A couple days before Mark left for the Boston Marathon, Lucy & I were able to spend the afternoon with him - it was great! I wish I had a few other pics from the day, but these are good ones of when we stopped by Randy's parent's house to say hello. Dennis & Susan always love seeing Mark & we had fun walking down to the lake to see their latest project - the beautiful boathouse! At their house, there's always a project going & it's so fun to see how active they are! As for the rest of the day, Mark went with us on our weekly trip to Trader Joe's. He figured out one of my incentives to drive up to UP - right next to TJ's is Great Harvest Bread & when you go in they give big delicious samples of their tasty treats... Needless to say Mark enjoyed both his & mine! It was priceless to see Mark wearing Lucy around in the Ergo carrier as we shopped at a few stores - he's such a good uncle & it's awesome to see what he thinks of to show Lucy. We love you Uncle Mark, thank you for a great day!!

Fast forward a few days & then Mark ran the BOSTON MARATHON! He was incredible! He slashed 6 minutes off his time (and it was a much harder course with hills) & finished at 2:51:31 which puts him in the qualifying time for both the New York & Chicago Marathons! He's now settled on Chicago (although I think he'll end up accomplishing all 5 big ones - NY, Boston, Chicago, London & Berlin) and will be heading out to the Windy City in October! We're sooooo proud of you little brother!

The yummy teething biscuit!




What a tasty treat from Aunt Rashmi! Just before Easter we received the cutest little package from my good friend, Rashmi & of course Lucy's favorite item was the edible one! I have never given a baby a teething biscuit that I can remember... so I had no idea what a mess they make! It was hillarious & Randy swore that Rashmi must've known it would create such a muddy mess (of course right after her bath... leading to a second bath!) It was hillariously funny as she had "mud" on her hands, face, pj's & hair! Thank you Rash for such a delicious treat! I'm waiting on pins & needles to hear when Rashmi's little bundle is going to make her big arrival - any day now!! Love you!
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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Go Marky Mark Go!

These photos are from a 10K race Mark won in Seattle back in November 08 during his training process, I don't have a whole lot of running pics of Mark because he's way to fast for me to keep up with! But, I think these photos capture a teensy weensy bit of the feeling of sheer joy & accomplishment that comes from participating in such an incredible event. Isn't he amazing???





Well, tonight I'm so filled with nervous energy, you'd think I was the one running the Boston Marathon! Tomorrow is the big day, my little baby brother, Mark Christian Amondson will hit the streets of Boston, Massachusetts at 9:30am EST for 26.2 miles filled with 25,000 runners, big hills, tall buildings, Fenway Park, and more emotion than a person could imagine. In order to qualify for tomorrow's big event, Mark's had years of training that lead to him achieving a stellar qualifying time at the Sacramento Marathon (2:57). Although I'm not a runner myself, I'd venture to guess that as a 26 year old male, he's probably in the fastest bracket, making it most difficult to qualify for. Needless to say, he's incredible. Running has been an absolute gift to Mark in many ways, his talent in this area has connected him with awesome friends around the country. I pray for God's watchful hand on Mark tomorrow as he starts the race in the early morning & finishes in what we hope to be glorious sunshine! Mark, I am so proud of you!! I love you so very much!! Lucia is your BIGGEST FAN, we're cheering you on all the way! If you listen closely, you'll hear us cheering all the way from here in Olympia! Go Marky Mark Go!!!!!!!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter!




Lucy (7 months) & Great Grandma Ruby (91 years)






So, the night before Easter was one of the most relaxing perfect nights that I can remember! This is rather selfish, but Randy went to bed at 7pm & then Lucy at 8pm... I was still quite awake, so I clicked away online checking out recipes (a favorite passtime), found a couple I liked & had ingredients for, put in a girl movie on the little kitchen TV (thank you Randy, that was my wedding gift from him=) & away I went on a little Martha Stewart moment! While watching a substellar movie that we've had from Netflix for the past 2 months (Jersey Girl), I managed to make quite elegant looking chocolate dipped strawberries (milk & white chocolate), sugar cookies & a tasty pea salad - all for Easter Sunday & all last minute ideas!
Then came Easter!
What a fantastic day as a family! Although we did not go to church (still keeping Lucy away from big groups with this late flu season), we were able to enjoy a wonderful day with my family down in Centralia. Randy, Lucy & I arrived just as my parents were leaving for church - we came down early because that morning at 8am on the buzzer we lost all power, water & phone - we needed to take showers & get ready for the day. It worked out very well, I made put together a salad, fed Lucy & we all showered & changed just in time for the rest of the family to come home from church. Last Wednesday was my dear old dad's 55th birthday, so we were able to celebrate that all together as well as Easter. My dad's brother, Gene, came down from Vashon Island & my grandma Ruby just returned home from a winter in Phoenix, AZ. After a yummy dinner & a delicious homemade carrot cake made by my incredible mom, we had the best time playing charades! With Uncle Gene & my brother, I knew it would be fun, but then Randy really came to life as well - such an animated group, it was a blast!
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Thursday, April 9, 2009

Brady!




What a great afternoon! This is the sweetest little boy in the world! (well, in OUR world that is!) My cousin Jaymie's little boy Brady is now 2 years old - how did 2 years go by so quickly?? Brady is so gentle & sweet with Lucy, he looked at her (stroller to stroller) & said, "Look, she's cute!" Little boy B melts my heart, he gets his genuine sweetness from his supermom, Jaymie. Jaymie's a few years older than me & we've always been close cousins & friends. Some of my most memorable moments in childhood are with Jaymie - we always had a blast... splashing in Grandma's pool or jumping off the houseboat to take a bath in Lake Shasta! I love you Jaymers & I'm so glad we can raise these two adorable munchkins together!
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A sunny boat ride




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