Happy Father's Day

to all our excellent dads, brothers & brothers-in-law. 

We love you very much!

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"I heard it's Father's Day," little Jeffrey said. He looked up at Kathryn and asked, "What is so great about YOUR dad?"

 "Well...he is a great protector..."

"Kind of like this?" Asked Jared. 

"Sort of..."

 "He had many identities, almost like a superhero. He worked and served and supported us in our life decisions..."

"Kind of like this?" Asked Laura.

"Sort of..."

 "He has many traits that have been passed along to his kids and grandkids."

"He is there for our special days," says Laura, "and he makes me laugh!"

 "He is fun to be around," says Jared. "I remember him calling me a little beast."

"Ah, I understand," said Jeffrey. "I hope Grandpa gets to take a little nap today - just like me!"

Another Jeffrey picture

Another sneak preview of Jeffrey at 10 days old.

 

Little Jeffrey 10 Days Old

Jeffrey West

 Born 5/18/13 - Mount St. Helens Day

7 pounds 14 ounces

20 inches long

 

Siblings meeting each other for the first time on May 18th, a few hours after Jeffrey was born.



I loved this shot because Laura looks a little shell-shocked. :)

Tom and Jeffrey.

Hanging out in the recovery room together.

 Dancing on the floor.

 Little bird legs!

 Tiny little ears!

 This is what he looks like in his carseat.

 Grandma Stephanie - doing double-duty with our family and Kirk's family this week.

 Jeffrey and his cousin, Becca, who is about 18 months old.

 His favorite sleeping spot - his dad's chest.

 Handsome little man after his first bath at home.

 Squishy face!

 This is what we see a lot of during the day...not so much in the early hours of the morning.

 Kathryn and baby.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom, we are so grateful for you. Here is something to enjoy when you have a moment!

One of the things we did today was attend the Spring Piano Recital where both Emily and Laura played the piano. Sadly, I didn't get Emily's on video (I was sitting off to the side) - she played really well! Maybe Kirk got it on his phone. I recorded Laura's performance (I awkwardly used my laptop because it's our best "video camera" right now) and hope you enjoy a flashback to the beginnings of my piano days...

Happy birthday, Kayden!

Springtime in the NW

The babies are coming! The babies are coming!

Just a few more weeks for both Lindsay and Kathryn. 

 Easter 2013

April 14, 2013

But, I wanted a SISTER!

You can actually see her mind processing her feelings about having a brother rather than a sister...then testing out a new reaction, and getting a good laugh out of it.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday, Dad! We have been so lucky to have multiple visits with you this year. We wanted to wish you a very happy day and to say we are grateful you and Mom make such a great effort to visit when you can and that we have a great time with you when we're together. Thanks for being a great Dad and Grandpa!

Here's a little gift we made so you can enjoy a year's worth of visits again...

Capturing "a moment"

So, we are trying out iMovie for the first time EVER. My greatest accomplishment has been figuring out how to download old video, VHS, mini-DV analog video to digital video. Now that we bought the video capture gadget made by Elgato, it's smooth sailing with all our dozens of technologically-outdated recordings.

Click here to see our favorite 3 minutes from Christmas 2011.

Seriously. He went nuts.