A Baby Shower ... NC Style

The major event that brought Brady & Becky to NC was when Sherry's friends hosted A baby shower for Rachel & Baby to come.

Below Rachel opens some gifts and poses with Sister-in-law Amy (also preggo - due with 3rd baby in Dec) and her mom Sherry.

The day after the shower Becky & Brady headed with Rachel to the Wood's new home in Charlotte. Her hubby Conrad and two boys were great hosts. Conrad even baked an incredible pound cake for us to snack on over the next few days. Their new house is big, brick & beautiful... and the city of Charlotte is an awesome place to live. If it weren't for friends and family here that we love so much, NC would be a hard pull to resist. We will all definitely be going back as a family for more vacations! A HUGE thank you to Conrad for taking Becky & Brady to the airport on Tuesday morning at 4:30 am. He is a saint, and he even tried to catch a starbucks on the way to the airport which sadly does not open in NC until 5:30 or 6! Thank you for making us feel so welcomed :)

Becky & Brady Head South

In honor of the newest addition to the Wood family (Michael Asher Wood, due Sept. 23rd) Becky & Brady headed to NC for High School friend Rachel's baby shower. The Moman's in North Carolina were amazing hosts. Becky & Brady hardly lifted a finger! We had some Southern firsts... Banana Pudding & Lemon Ice Box Pie (both of which Becky has the recipes for to recreate in the NW).

Mike took Brady on his first boat ride from their dock in New Bern, NC (this is the most awesome dock, steps from their home its complete with water, ceiling fans, lighting and electricity!).


Amy (Daughter in law) brought her boys into town Laz (3.5) and Cyrus (1.5) so Brady got to watch the big kids run around and get his fix while he was away from his big bro.

Girl's Night Out

In honor of Sommer Carbone & Becky's birthday's (we share the same one on June 28th!) our fabulous mom friends had a night out. We started at the tides, made our way to Anthony's (where we were hit on by a yacht full of old men) and then ended with margaritas at Puerta Vallarta. Good times and good memories!

The Girls - L to R... Heather, Becky, Cynthia, Kjersten, Sommer, Rachel & Krista (silly waiter in the background)

Heather, Becky & Cynthia

Rachel, Krista & Heather

Kjersten, Sommer & Rachel

Take us out to the ballgame...

On a last minute whim (literally about two hours before the game) we decided to head up to the game with the Karhan family. It was a beautiful night ... we all got plenty of sun, "game food" and our baseball fix from the cheap seats high at Safeco Field. Sadly the Mariner's lost the game, but they're still doing pretty well this season. Bring on the baseball!

Joe, Caroline, Nicolas, Kiersten, Chris, Becky, Brady & Matt
Hugs all around! We love baseball!

Can you tell Mattie loves this?

Chris, Caroline & Mattie skipping to the game...

Brady & Nicholas kept their baseball hats on for about 2 minutes...

Caroline & Mattie just kickin' it at the game.

Cute Kids huh?

Boys Bonding Weekend

Chris and Mattie spent the weekend together while Becky & Brady went to North Carolina for a long weekend.

Chris ran Mattie wild for five days... and very few naps. One was on Chris' shoulder in downtown Seattle one afternoon when Mattie finally crashed!! Both boys were troopers and Mattie is truly attached to his daddy after his whirlwind weekend of fun!

Waiting for the ferry to Seattle in Bremerton & lunch with Uncle Kelly @ Red Robin before walking around the waterfront.

Play dates, park trips and many dinners with friends later... (really just two days later) here is Mattie on the train to Seattle to watch a Mariner's game with Daddy & Uncle Kelly!


The game is not complete without bringing out a train... Mattie's first love!

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th! We had a great time down at the Freedom Festival on Ruston Way in T-town with the Amidon's. The kids got to go on a fire engine...


Brady had fun watching the "big" kids!
At the Jumping Jungle toy... Faith Amidon went down the big slide with a big smile!

Mattie, Dylan, Chris & Aaron went on the "biggest slide ever" as Mattie called it...

We cruised along the food, booths, carnival's, music and airshow for the afternoon. Here are the boys...

We ended at Becky's parent's to watch a fireworks display from a neighbor's barge on the bay. Complete with blasting music the barge put on an impressive display at eye level as the fireworks flew up from the beach. Here are Kindra, Dylan & Faith snuggled up on the deck watching fireworks.

Chris' Adventures at the US Grand Prix & the Windy City

Chris got to go to the US Formula 1 race this past week in Indianapolis, IN. A huge fan, he diligently gets up at 1, 4 or 6 am (depending on where in the world the race is taking place) to watch the race from home... so being there live was very cool for him. (This is his second trip.)


Our friend Kendra Capozzi lives in Chicago and drove down to the race with Chris...

A little tailgaiting with her cousin Matt before the race. (Kendra hadn't seen him in 20 years!)

With some time to spare in Chicago, Chris got to really see the windy city. Here is the "L" train...Mattie will love this..

He took a boat tour...

And took in the HUGE city (he had no idea just how big - and cool - Chicago is!). We'll definitely be going back as a family to check it out when the boys are old enough to appreciate it.