Spring has arrived!

Spring arrived last weekend! We enjoyed temperatures in the 70's all weekend long. Kent worked really hard on the back of the house. He replaced the wood that held the gutters in place. It was practically falling out in places because it was so rotten. His choice in wood will last much longer than the fiber board that was there before. We bought an outdoor fireplace last weekend and enjoyed hot dogs over the fire last weekend with Caitlin. We love a campfire, so you can't beat having one in your backyard!

The tulips and daffodils are now in full bloom and the garden is becoming more green every day. The trees in the neighborhood are starting to get leaves. I love this time of year!

The other project we had was to paint the back of the house. Kent power washed it and then we went to work. We couldn't believe how bad it looked once you put up the new white paint!!!

We are now so proud of our patio in the back! Below is a photo of a window in Scotland that we were reminded of when we looked at our new clean white and blue house! (Now for the flower boxes...!) :)

California

For the last few days of Spring break we took Annie's high school band down to Anaheim, CA. They had a great time visiting Universal Studios, Hard Rock Cafe, Disneyland, California Adventure, and the Santa Monica Pier.

They attended a great workshop at Disneyland that simulated being a professional recording studio musician and on Friday they performed for a 1/2 hour at the Disneyland park. Students were well behaved and we had a great time in the warm weather.

Enjoying the beach and the Santa Monica Pier.

Patio Furniture!

Will anyone play with me? Please!?!

This is our new patio furniture that we bought at Costco this afternoon. We're really excited for the weather to warm up so that we can use it! Last year we finished the patio but it was too late in the summer to find patio furniture in the stores!

My camera lens is "stuck" in after I took this photo... this may be the last photo for a while! :(

I Thought It Was Spring!

Winter does not want to leave! We had a blanket of snow cover our tulips on Friday. The weather report looks promising with highs in the 50's for this week. Hopefully it will melt all of this snow!

We have one flowering tree outside. What a sight; snow piled on the blossoms!

Baby update

Baby's head is in the center, the mouth is to the left. There is a leg or arm off to the left pointing straight up!

Yesterday we went in for our 20 week ultrasound. It was nice to hear "looks normal" over and over again. The baby wasn't in the right position to get very many good photos... but above are the ones were the best she could get for us. She gave us the due date of August 18th... a little later than the other due date of August 11th. I guess we'll have to wait and see on this one! She also told us that our baby weighs 10 oz.; over a half a pound. Lots of fun!

Showing off the belly!

Back in early February at 14 weeks.

Tonight after my high school band concert at 20 weeks. I'm 1/2 way there!

It's not quite as obvious from the front... this is probably the last concert in this outfit!

Baby News!

We are happy to announce that we are having a baby girl! We should have known... that is the only gender than run's in John McCabe's (Annie's Dad) family!

Remembering Tage

In 2006 we visited Kent's Grandfather when he was still living in his own house in Nanaimo, BC.

Britta and Tage standing outside of Tage's house.

Busy Times

On Wednesday, Kent and Annie organized the North Central Washington Middle School Band Festival. It was a lot of work setting up all the percussion, making the performing schedule, and preparing our bands for the festival but it turned out to be a success. We were very happy with the way our bands performed at the festival; they all received superior ratings which is the highest rating possible.

On Thursday night Annie had her 6th-8th grade concert in Leavenworth. She has 120+ students in her middle school program and is really happy with the progress she's made as a teacher in the last four years.

Annie conducting her 1st year beginning band: 6th grade.

Sadly on Thursday night we found out that Kent's Grandfather passed away earlier that week. He was an important part to Kent growing up and his spirit and great stories will be deeply missed. Friday afternoon, Kent and his dad Bing drove to Nanaimo, BC to meet with family members at attend the memorial.

While everyone was gone, Annie got a chance to work on cleaning up the garden in front of their house. Between sun breaks and light sprinkles she got one small section cleaned up. It will take MANY more days to get the rest of the garden looking good (but that can wait for Kent's help!). At least the tulips will now have room to grow and be seen! This photo was taken at 18 1/2 weeks pregnant. Small changes are starting to be seen and she's starting to feel the little "butterfly" tickling more often now!

A Look into the Past

Annie and Grandpa at a birthday party!

Caitlin and Carol on the Logan T. fishing boat.

Caitlin and Annie in front of our Grandparents house (Petersburg, Alaska) ready for Easter dinner.

Carol, Caitlin and Annie dressed and ready for Norwegian Independence Day in Petersburg, Alaska.

Annie and Caitlin using hair dryers for the first time! :)