A milestone and another hike

Look! I can pull myself up. Not quite crawling, yet but standing and pulling myself up. -Harper

The pier by our apartment overlooking the Puget Sound.

For this weekend's hike, we drove a little further north to Twin Lakes and hiked Winchester Mt. That's the Canadian border behind Patrick.

That's Mt. Baker.

The water was frigid, but so refreshing for our hiked-out feet.

Our family...of feet.

Peek-a-Boo

Hysterical Uncle Marcus

Summer in the Pacific Northwest-We heart every second.

The best months of the year in Seattle are July, August, and September. We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and gorgeous scenery by going on as many hikes as possible. These shots are from Little Bandera mountain. This hike was a little more difficult then we thought, but we made it and our calves were pleasantly sore for most of the following week.

(Mt. Rainier in the background)

Harper was tuckered out after our hike...so cute.

Harper turned 7 months old on July 29. She's been on 7 plane rides, 4 hikes, and swimming countless times. She's our little adventurer. We marvel at her brilliance everyday and thank our lucky stars that she is who she is...Harper Grace Wille.

These pictures are from our hike to the alpine lake Serene. It was a bit foggy but still a beautiful hike.

This tree had fallen and was stuck on the other tree. Thank goodness it didn't give way while we were hiking!

Harper was fascinated with the rocks we found near the lake. Of course they went right in the mouth. Hooray for dirt boosting the immune system. :)

I took my turn carrying Harper in the backpack. It was heavy but doable for the last mile. Patrick can resume his backpack duties, now.

Birthday twins...We had Graham and his parents, Jeannette and Eric, over for dinner. Graham was born the same day, in the same hospital, and by the same doctor as Harper. Patrick and I love hanging out with his parents and watching the babes grow. (Like every other baby born in the past 9 months, Graham has more hair than Harper. Bald is the new black, right?)

Harper's new favorite seat...at our kitchen bar. She loves to drop her toys on the floor below and watch our reaction. And she loves watching us in the kitchen. Sometimes we drop down below the counter and play a hysterical game of peek-a-boo. She squeals and giggles with joy.

Bath time=a new favorite game for daddy...stick the foam letters on Harper's head. A-dor-able!!!

Swiped pictures from Bonnee's blog...Dallas visit July 2010

Summer Vacation-Chapter 3-Flower Mound, TX

After 3 short days in Kingwood with Nanna and Nonnu, Patrick flew back to Seattle to work and I flew to Dallas. My stepbrother, Marcus took a day off work to spend with Harper and me. We met Andrea for lunch at Pappasito's (my favorite) and laughed as we took lots of pictures and videos (videos to come).

I also took an afternoon to see my dear friends Bonnee and Charlotte (more pictures of that visit to follow as I'm swiping them from Bonnee's blog. :) )

My oldest friend, Tricia (I've known her since I was 3) came by for a visit with her mom Carm. It was such a pleasure to watch both of them play with Harper.

Patrick returned for the weekend and there was a little bit of time left to pop over to our friends, Amanda and Cody's before we went to Harper's baptism. They cooked us a great fajita lunch and Harper loved playing with their son Luke and his toys. :)

Since we were going to be in Texas and all of our immediate family lives there, we decided to have Harper baptized in the church where Patrick and I were confirmed. Harper joined the long list of babies that have worn a baptism gown made by my mother 41 years ago for her god-son, my cousin Michael. Aunt Heather and Aunt Andrea committed to being her godmothers. Nene and Papa (Patrick's parents) threw a fabulous reception in her honor with delicious bar-b-q and lots of laughs. Harper was a perfect angel the entire day. Of course during the most silent part of mass, Harper blew the loudest raspberry, eliciting laughter from all.

Daddy and Harper saying hello to home...Seattle.