Spring Getaway

There are so many places in Washington that we have never seen, so two weeks ago we decided to go on a mini-vacation to the Olympic National Park. We've been told by many people that it's worth the trip, so we decided to give it a shot...It was well worth it! We had a beautiful day on Friday and were able to see all the Olympic Mountains. It was a spectacular view!


We went snowshoeing in the mountains, which was a new activity for me...not nearly as hard as I thought it would be! We had a wonderful time trekking around the mountains, listening to perfect silence and taking in the magnificent beauty of the place called Hurricane Ridge.


While snowshoeing, I saw something off in the distance and I thought it was a "picnic table". Once we got closer I realized my "picnic table" was really a information kiosk with 8 feet of snow around it! We were thankful for our "table" though, since there was no where else to sit but in the snow! :)

After a full day in the mountains we returned to the town of Port Angeles, where we stayed at a lovely B&B called The Tudor Inn. Our hostess Betsy was very welcoming and served us a very beautiful, tasty breakfast.



The next day we drove to the Washington Coast, and then into the Hoh Rain Forest. It rained most of the day, but the scenery was still beautiful...just not as good for picture taking! The Hoh Rain Forest was really neat...it is one of the few temperate rainforests in the US. It was full of huge trees, moss, and ferns. And if people think Seattle gets a lot of rain, they should try living here...they get an average of 140 inches of rain a year! (Seattle only gets 32!)





So, that's our trip in a nutshell! We are so thankful to our Creator for such an awesome world to explore, and for the chance to explore it! If anyone ever wants to explore with us, the door's always open! :)

Guitar Hero

Look out America, there's some real talent brewing in Yakima! Micah has started guitar lessons, and wherever Micah is, there stands Titus in his shadow. Not to be outdone by his older brother (who is doing really well at guitar!), Titus decided to show everyone his awesome, rock star talent. Enjoy :)

Parker Palooza II

It seems like anytime Parkers get together, it's always crazy, loud, and fun, and this time was no exception! We had grandparents from Florida, family from New England, plus all the usual suspects. What was the special occasion? Grandpa Parker's 80th Birthday!! We were so thankful to be able to host our East Coast family for a few days -- they made it to Easter service at our church, and also got to do a little Seattle sightseeing. Then it was off to Yakima to continue the celebration with Kristin, Bryan, and the great-grandkids! We squeezed quite a bit of fun into 2 days in Yakima, not to mention squeezing quite a bunch of people into one house (18 to be exact!). We are so thankful for Grandpa Parker; he is a man of generosity, love, and service (I already miss his help in the kitchen!). It was a great blessing to get to celebrate his 80th year with him and see how many lives he has impacted. Happy Birthday Grandpa!

One of the many birthday cakes...Grandpa
got a bit of help with this one! :)

Easter dinner at our house.


When in Seattle...

It really is a nice view from up there!

Another one of Grandpa's birthday cakes...we
made sure everyone knew he was turning 80!!

Grandpa, Grammy, and their boys.

This was the grand finale of the cakes...by this
time he was an expert. :)

A glimpse into the parker-packed Pichura house.

Titus sporting some serious style as he gets ready to cheer Micah on!

Micah's first time pitching-- he did a great job!

Micah's cheering section
Those socks are just too cute to not show off again ;)

Because you can never have too much baseball in the Parker house,
another game started up as soon as we got home from Micah's game!

The Parker ladies-- Aunt Judy, Grammy, and Mom Parker.

I know it's probably evident, but isn't he adorable?!
Only 4, and he's already got perfect form!

David and Grandpa.

Our niece Grace and their dog Tessie.

The Pichura family

Aren't they cute? :)

Grammy and Grandpa Parker.
Responsible for...

THIS!! :)

Easter Egg Fun

A friend invited me to a girl's night decorating eggs. I haven't done that in ages, so I decided to give it a whirl. I ended up with some pretty nasty looking fingers, but some rather nice looking eggs, in my humble opinion. :) Sometimes I get carried away taking pictures of rather mundane things, and this definitely qualifies as one of those times. David kept saying "you're still taking pictures?!" So, feel free to skip this one if eggs aren't you're thing, but hopefully someone will enjoy them. (thanks Mom ;)

Spring is finally here!

After days and days of doom and gloom, Spring has finally arrived in Seattle...for a few days at least. Today everything was bursting with color...I'm always amazed at the varying colors, shapes, and smells of Spring. I took a few pictures on my walk to work this morning "just because." I couldn't ask for a better commute! :)

ABC put out a little preview of the debate that will be aired tomorrow night...noticed a few "cut and pastes", but it's pretty good! Hope you'll be able to watch!

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7165734

A Night with Nightline

We had a very different type of date tonight-- we went to an ABC Nightline debate hosted by Mars Hill! The debate was on the existence of Satan, and our pastor was one of the contributors. It was very interesting, and at times, a very heated debate. If you want to watch the edited version (the debate was about 2 hours and I think the show is only about 20 minutes), it will air this next Thursday, March 26th at 11:35pm. I won't give any "spoilers" so you'll have to watch next week. :)