finished mural

The mural is finished! Carla wanted me to design and paint a mural for the St. Philomena Center at St. Boniface. The room is used for preschool and kindergarten CCD and babysitting, so we created a "Jesus and the little Children" mural for the walls in a corner playspace. We also added a quote above the fireplace, which reads, "Let the little children come to me." It is in both English and Spanish, since there are many bi-lingual children at the church.

Thank you, thank you to all the people who helped with this project! I could not have painted this mural in a week without their help. Many thanks to Mom and Dad, Carla, and Brett! I hope all the little children at St. Boniface enjoy it!

Mice, Squirrel, Mural and an Interview

Our ground squirrel.


Brett's new plane...maybe.

Quick update on other things that have been going on here in Albany.

We successfully killed two mice that apparently moved in to our apartment when we were gone in Seattle. We have a cute little ground squirrel who has made a home in our pot of yellow petunias.

I'm headed back to Lafayette July 8–16 to help Carla paint a mural in the children's room at St. Boniface's St. Philomena Center. Brett is heading to Salt Lake City on July 28 for an interview with SkyWest Airlines. If all goes well, we will be moving again in the next few months!

Back from Seattle

Evan and Abby on the beach.


Evan, Isaac and Laurie at the beach.


"Captain Brett" in the cockpit of a SR-71 Blackbird spy plane.


Sara walks on the moon.


Abby beneath a Boeing 747.


We're aware that this post is kind of late. We got back from Seattle almost two weeks ago, but we still want to tell everyone about the great time we had there.

Brett commented that he thought it rained in Seattle, but apparently we didn't get to see any of that! The weather was pretty much gorgeous. Aaron and Laurie were gracious hosts, and we had a blast with the kids.

All of us "adults" took some time to go downtown and eat at the Crab Pot. If you are ever in Seattle, you must got to this place. With a bib around your neck and a hammer in your hand, you can eat crab legs, shrimp, and clams to your hearts content. And what can be better than eating with your fingers?

After going to church on Sunday, we loaded everyone in the car and headed to the beach. Evan and Abby proceded to bury themselves in sand, and Laurie had some time to catch some zzzzz's while Isaac slept. There were sailboats everywhere along with a handful of kites. Isaac enjoyed laying on his belly while both feeling and eating sand.

Aaron had the day off of work on Monday. We split up, and the ladies went for a pedicure while the gents went to the driving range. We met up later in the afternoon and went to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. I don't know who had more fun, Brett or the kids. Many, many, many airplanes later, we all headed home for brats on the grill.

It was a great trip, and Mom and Dad are headed out to the Seattle area on July 4. Let's hope they have just as good a time as we did! Many thanks to Aaron, Laurie and the kids for making our trip wonderful.