Big-Time Update

Our computer got a nasty virus, so the we have been in the 1950's for a while (no T.V. or computer/internet). Here are some pictures that get you up-to-date on the lives of the Brownlees
Micah enjoys the tram just as much as the horses at our Mother's Day trip to the Horse Racing Track

Moms with their children on Mother's Day

Uncle Jeremy and Auntie Rene have a pond in their back yard with fish to feed

Uncle Josh and his girlfriend Avery

Micah's first trip to the zoo

Micah was a big hit at the Tacoma tradition of the Daffodil Parade. These are the princesses from local High Schools. ignore the creepy guy with the beard

Micah and Mommy get a massage

Grandpa wears a pair of Micah's shorts on his head. Micah thought this was really funny

Micah participates in his first egg hunt. He found every one of his two eggs.

Easter Weekend

Julie's dad and his wife made a trip up for the weekend. We spent Saturday hanging at the beach on one of the few beautiful days we have had lately. Mom has finely relented in allowing Micah some ice cream under the guise of much needed weight gain. As such, Micah must learn the finer points of eating from a cone, including small licks to make the cone last as long as possible.

Hope everybody's Easter is full of the joy that can only come from knowing Christ has risen indeed.

Beach Combing

Not the Red Sea, but our little slice of the Pacific is good enough. The weather got nice enough during winter (a rarity in the Pacific NW) for Micah, Julie and I to go to Owen's Beach on Puget Sound. You can clearly see by our atire that nice in the PNW is not quite like nice in other parts of the Pacific Rim. We did se a guy swimming though with a water temp. of about 40 Fahrenheit, I guess he figured he needed to get in his swimming when it was sunny.
Micah is getting braver about heading toward the water and evey took a wave over the shoes. Additionally, we are trying to get him to throw rocks into the ocean, but every effort just ended up with him licking the dirt off of it.

Dedicated to D.C.

At the risk of being labeled as a "flag waver" by our friend Chris Duester, Julie and I visited our nation's capitol during the past week. Bush was gone to Africa, so our 24 hour protest vigil of the Iraq war, lack of universal health care and No Child Left Behind Act fell on deaf ears. We did meet some very nice conscientious objectors and are now full fledged members of....well I can't say on this blog as I am sure my posts are now being monitored due to that little scrap with the Secret Service.
Besides the White House, we visited free monuments, free museums and the free zoo.
We also took this opportunity to leave Micah for our first overnight trip. He was a champ and didn't even realize we were gone. On the other end of the country, Micah's mother and I noticed every small child and wondered what Micah was doing at that very moment. We missed him but do have to note that traveling is so much more serene without a small one to feed, change, entertain etc...

Just before we left for D.C., we finally had Micah dedicated. Unfortunately, the pictures did not come out, but many family and friends joined at First Pres. which was a blessing for us. Most of all we were excited to finally verbalize our commitment to raising Micah in the knowledge of the Lord.

He has shown the O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee....Micah 6:8

Here are some pics of our trip. Viva la USA

Chico Visit

Micah and I traveled to Chico, California this past weekend to visit my sister and her husband. We enjoyed playing in the warm, sunny weather, and Micah was especially excited to love on his Aunty Jenny and her dog, Spey. Jenny teaches gymnastics and supervises a toddler gym, so Micah and I joined her at the gym for a morning of jumping in the ball pit and walking on the balance beam. Jen and Taylor pampered both of us, and Taylor, who is a professional photographer, took "journalistic" photos of Micah one day at the park. Thank you Uncle Taylor for your amazing gift of photography!

This was my first flight without my husband, and although Micah was amazing, I vowed I'd never go alone again. Juggling a toddler, stroller and carry on luggage was more difficult than I imagined. Thankfully, I was blessed to be squeezed in a seat in between two very understanding and helpful passengers. Micah loved watching the "rucks" load and unload from the airplane window and was truly an angel during the all of the flights.

Enjoy the pictures of Micah (15 months):

Gentle Reminders

Sometimes I find myself a bit disappointed by the fact that Julie and I were unable to find a house this summer (at least one that we could afford). I look around our 900 sq ft. apartment and wonder when....if we will be in a home. The checks Julie and I bring home are enough to live on, but the math just does not seem to work out in order to buy a home.
The dark days of winter are upon us, which usually are difficult for me to meander through, but just the other day, as I sat at our dining room table, the blessing poured to me in the form of a sunrise. Here is the view I saw out of my apt. window.
May God remind you daily that your needs are taken care of the disappointments of the day can be washed away with the next mornings sunrise.

Santa Train

Being in the U.S. this year for Christmas has been a bit different than our last two years. In Korea, the holiday is sporadically celebrated. Much fewer Christmas decor and certainly fewer Santas. This being our first real holiday with Micah, we have taken advantage of all opportunities, short of the mall scene, to visit Santa.
The latest visit was to Pt. Defiance Park and the Santa Train. For $2 we rode the train, got several minutes with Santa and despite the rain(surprise) and cold, had a great time with our friends, the Wiseth's.
Micah was a bit tired, but a trooper as he sat on Santa's lap and ate his biscuit. He asked for more tofu, cheese and Pediasure to help him keep his weight up during the Holidays.

Future Elf

Micah wanted to assure himself a spot on Santa's good list, so we took him to hob nob with Rudolph, Santa and Santa's helpers (some of Jim's students). I'm sure if Santa doesn't come fulfill Micah's wish list, then his grandparents will.

One of Micah's wishes is that he will gain weight this Christmas. Weighing in at 17 lbs and 12 ounces, he is vying for an Elf spot and may take Buddy's place at the North Pole this Christmas. Although Micah hasn't grown much physically, he is developmentally growing leaps and bounds. It is so nice to be able to better communicate with him now that he knows quite a few signs and words: ouch, more, hot, windy, bird, cold, food, daddy, water, milk, and shoes are some of the signs he has mastered and "amen", "bannana", "truck", and "dada" are his favorite new words. Too fun!

Bucket Boy

As is typical of children Micah's age, the box the toy comes in is a bigger hit than the actual toy. Micah loves to entertain himself by walking around with the bucket that holds his blocks on top of his head. Luckily this bucket is clear, so it allows him to avoid most of the collisions with stationary objects around the apartment.

The Buzzzzzzz around town

Since Bzzzzz is Micah's favorite animal sound to make, we dressed him as a bee for Halloween. Last Halloween was spent in Korea where the holiday is not traditionally celebrated, so this was Micah's first official Halloween. After buzzing around grandma and grandpa Brownlee's, we made our second "trick-or-treat" stop at the Boyd's home. From there, we all walked to the Proctor shopping district where hundreds of ghosts and gobblins were lined up to receive tooth-decaying treats. The best treat of all was seeing the creative costumes and not standing in the endlessly long line since Micah did not know what he was missing.

The Children's Museum

A few weeks ago, a small group of us enjoyed an afternoon at the Tacoma Children's Museum. It is chock-full of children-friendly activities and toys! A social child, Micah was mostly interested in following other children around, but once he was no longer intrigued by the social aspect of the trip, he settled down to play with some produce. Micah also taught his grandma how to stack and restack dishes, climb the rock wall, and eat a plumb; boy did she stay busy. Since the afternoon was such a hit, we returned yesterday for another fun day at the museum with his best bud Luke.

Strollin' in the Patch

Enjoy the video of Micah walking through the Pumpkin Patch.

BOOOO!

Micah made his first of many trips to Spooner Farms for the Pumpkin pickin'. The patch wasn't as we remembered it from our dating days, but it did have a couple of new additions that Micah loved. He walked around the pumpkins and enjoyed a ride on a tractor with Julie.

1 and done

No, this in not a commentary on the liklihood that Julie and I will have another. It is however a celebration of Micah's first birthday party. Micah was a trooper through the whole affair as many guest loved on him for 4 hours.
We decided to honor his "home land" by having a Korean themed party. Jim cooked Korean food and I set up the decor. We had Bulgogi, fried sweet potatoes, mandu and even sang Happy Birthday in Korean. In a Korean tradition, money, string and a pencil were placed before Micah. The one he chose, money, shaped his future...and ours...he will be rich. Who needs long life or smarts!
Micah is very grateful for all the love he was shown in the gift department. Some family even sent gifts even though they couldn't be there. We love all of you and hope you like the pictures.

Firsts...

Micah attended his first Mariners game with his Grandpa and Grandma Bechtel last weekend. G-pa and G-ma bought him a great outfit, his first tee and bat plus a glove and ball. Micah was the hit of Safeco Field as he walked back and forth from the Garlic Fries stand to his seat. Micah also attended his first Puyallup Fair. He was a little overwhelmed by all the people, but he really enjoyed his first deep fried snickers bar. Yummy!!!! You can look forward to some 1st birthday shots on the next posting.