It's about that time...

Well we're getting very close to my due date! One and a half weeks to go! I'm feeling good and Russell and I are both feeling prepared because everything is ready to go for Benjamin's arrival. My mom visited to help with painting the nursery about three weeks ago. I think it turned out beautifully!

Last night we took some fun "maternity photos" with some friends of ours at Apollo Park, here in Lancaster.

Russell was very pleasantly surprised to capture this photo as well...he admitted that this was his favorite picture of the evening :P!

We'll update again when our little one arrives :). Can't wait!

Anniversary Trip to France

We have returned from our anniversary trip to France! It was Katie's first time in Europe, so we hit as many tourist attractions in Paris as we could. We also went on two day-trips, one to Angoulême, where my dad's friend lives part-time; the other to Versailles and its famous palace and gardens. The weather was warm but tolerable (especially when we switched to a hotel with air conditioning mid-week).

Our first hotel was on the Rue Champs-Élysées, near the famous Arc de Triomphe. It had a very narrow elevator:

If you go to Paris and visit the Eiffel Tower, we recommend purchasing a ticket to walk up the stairs to the second level, then riding the elevator to the top. The wait for an elevator from bottom to top looked to be over 3 hours. The wait for the stairs method: None. There are a mere 688 stairs to the second level.

 

Tokens of enduring love locked to a bridge across the Seine, with the famous Pont Neuf in the background. We were told the city comes by every couple years and cuts all the locks.

 

Sacré-Coeur basilica. We walked up to the rotunda level and enjoyed great views, as the church is on the highest hill in Paris. We also explored the crypt beneath.

A few more notable Paris sites: Sainte-Chapelle church, the Moulin Rouge cabaret, and the Louvre museum.

We also met up with our high school friend Paul, who works part-time as a walking tour guide while studying for his Master's degree in the city.

Our favorite visit turned out to be the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. Covering nearly 2,000 acres are water fountain displays set to music, immaculate flower beds, intricate tree arrangments and plenty of Renaissance sculptures. You can rent a boat and enjoy the Grand Canal at the center, or rent a golf cart and tour the expanse with haste. We preferred the leisurely route, walking though the working farm on the north side of the property as well as touring Marie Antoinette's portion of the estate.

 

Now we're back home, improving the back yard and preparing for Benjamin's arrival at the end of October. We look forward to seeing family and friends again this fall.

Things are cooking

Okie and Nema were with us on last year's Christmas card, but they'll face some competition this year: we are going to have a baby in October! We don't yet know the gender, although we will find out in a few weeks. Katie has passed the first trimester with a few days of discomfort, but the first doctor's appointment indicated the baby is healthy. We listened to the heartbeat and saw pictures of the (then) 1-inch-long "peanut." By now it has more than tripled in size!

Katie's brother Jason and his family visited us in February, and we went to Disneyland for two days.

Me dominating Katie at Astro Blasters

Garrett's favorite ride

Prior to that, Katie's parents visited. We toured a local windmill farm being built.

Nema is growing up! And chewing many unapproved items.

We flew to Santa Barbara for lunch in March.

Coastline east of Santa Barbara

Final approach

Last Saturday we went to a fly-in at Mojave Airport with a demonstration by Richard Branson's commercial space travel company, Scaled Composites.

White Knight 1

White Knight 2

I am still progressing through training at the center and Katie is looking forward to the end of the school year. We have travel plans for the summer and things to look forward to in the fall as well!

Snow on the hills