Welcome to the world, Jake and Ben. Very glad you could join us. Your mama and papa are very happy to finally have you here, but no one is more excited than your big sister, Natalie. Thanks for finding time to share pictures - we know you must be busy.
It has been a while since we uploaded photos of our little girl, but better late than never. Her identical twin brothers arrive in the next couple days and that means papa won't have nearly as much time to play with his website. These photos are a collection of the past 8 months - obviously, she has grown a ton during that time.
Since our last update, Natalie turned 1, started walking, collected a few more teeth and some clever dance moves, and added a huge variety of words, animal sounds and exclamations to her vocabulary. I guess it's time we started monitoring what we actually say around her.
3 days. 105 degrees. 25 bands. Every year.
We decided it was time for a full scale family vacation so we packed up the suitcases and hopped on a flight to Maui. Our good friends, Tim, Britt, Jack and Hadley, joined us at the beachside condo for fun in the sun. The weather was perfect and Natalie seemed to truly enjoy soaking in the humidity. Our condo was ideal, affording us excellent views of surfers, whales and moonbows.
Natalie is just too much fun. She's practicing all kinds of different sounds, learning sign language, and even talking. Her first official word is "kitty", albeit a slurred version. She's also having a great time interacting with other infants and toddlers. It's wonderful watching the constant changes our little girl is undergoing.
Babies grow so quickly. In just the past month, Natalie has truly discovered the joys of bouncing in her Jumparoo, rolling over, sitting up by herself and vocalizing her every emotion. We're completely addicted to her.
With the crunching of leaves and a prospering chill in the air, the Great Pumpkin arrived in West Seattle. Our little girl is growing up quickly and truly enjoying the entire process. When she's not sleeping or eating, she's all smiles and loony jibber-jabber.
Natalie continued her travels, this time island hopping from San Juan to Whidbey. She thankfully seems to enjoy traveling which is a good thing given how often her parents like to get away. We bought her a stuffed otter at a toy shop in Friday Harbor and the otter has quickly become her new best friend. That otter's going to need a bath.
September in the Pacific Northwest can be simply breathtaking. Katrina and I took the ferry up to San Juan Island to visit her Grandparents and I snapped these pictures over 2 beautiful days. The harbor shots are from Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor, and the sunset pictures were taken on the west side of the island at Lime Kiln State Park.
Natalie continued to meet and greet during her next 8 weeks. She found new friends in her PEPs group and also finally met a few additional family members. The most exciting time came recently when we all flew down to the Bay Area for Katrina's dad's wedding. Natalie is a born traveler which makes me and Katrina quite happy. I wonder where we'll take her next.
It was an exciting month for the Williams household. On June 10, 2007, we lovingly welcomed Natalie Jean Williams into our lives. She weighed 7lbs 13oz and measured 20.5 inches in length. The first few weeks were busy ones for Natalie, spent meeting friends and family. Grandpa Neil and Grandma Carol visited from Arizona, Grandma Juanita came over at least once a week to bond with Natalie and help us out around the house, and dozens of other friends and family dropped by to bid hello. Natalie is truly a loved little girl.
Soon, many of my favorite photos will be available for sale on ImageKind.com, where you'll also be able to select the frame of your choice and have it shipped to your home. ImageKind.com really seems to make it simple for amateur photo-enthusiasts to further promote their art and has allowed me to discover other artists in the process.
Katrina and I finally made it back to Victoria. Once again, we dined at Il Terrazzo and thoroughly enjoyed another fantastic meal in one of the best restaurants on the west coast. We also visited the Butchart Gardens - my first trip. The gardens are spectacular, even on a cold, misty afternoon. In Victoria, we stayed at a place called Isabella's Suites, which is situated directly above Willie's Bakery and adjacent to Waddington Alley where Il Terrazzo is located. It was the perfect home for a night, with a full kitchen, living room, bedroom and newly remodeled bathroom with a claw-footed tub. The location was optimal, and the price is less than what you'd pay for most hotels in the city ($150 CAD).
Once again, we headed down south to find music and sunshine. Our annual trip to Coachella may have been the best yet. Unfortunately, I only carried my camera the final day in Palm Springs, when we took the tram up to San Jacinto. The valley floor is near sea level, and the top of the tram is 8,500 feet. You pass through 5 different life zones on the way up.
Chris and Julie introduced us to their favorite vacation destination, Casa Las Brisas in Punta de Mita, Mexico. The entire week was spent lounging by the pool or playing in the ocean. Drinks were always cold (and always present) and the food was outstanding. Lalo, Memo, Roberto, Octavio, Semi, Mauricio and Manuel are truly the best at what they do. We'll be going back soon! Right-click this link and select "Save Target" for your own copy of our Casa Las Brisas slide show.
We spent 2 weeks of September in Paris, Dordogne and Provence drinking wine, touring beautiful villages and dining on varied and sometimes challenging cuisine. The Hotel Abbatial in Paris, Mme Vidal's Domaine Barsac in Dordogne, and the Alloin's La Prevote B&B in L'Isle sur La Sorgue all treated us well.
A few of us headed up to Whistler, BC for an action packed weekend in the sun. We hiked, rode ATVs, shopped, ate and drank, and generally had a great time. Check out Kevin's ATV - sideways.
Our first camping trip of the summer. Katrina, Nathan and I met up with Angie and Darren on the Pend Oreille in the Idaho Panhandle. It rained a good portion of the weekend, but we stayed dry thanks to a big blue tarp and a constant fire.
We spent Katrina's birthday on the peninsula, hiking the Lower Lena Lake trail in the Olympic National Forest. The hike was pretty steep heading in but the lake destination was entirely worth the effort. This is a beautiful 7 mile round-trip hike.
Jon, Kim, Matthew, Ryan, Ranjit, Ben and I packed up and headed for the desert to check out the 6th annual Coachella Music Festival. 2 days, 99 degrees in the shade, 75 bands, 130,000 people. Depeche Mode, Massive Attack and Daft Punk headlined this year's festival.
Katrina, Susie and I packed our bags and hopped a plane to San Francisco to meet up with Scottie and Jon. The first few days were spent tooling around Napa and Sonoma counties - Rubicon, Arger Martucci, Hall, Ferrari Carano, Clos du Bois, Rodney Strong, La Crema and J Vineyard. Then we hooked up with Jon in the city and spent the day as tourists on the waterfront.
I've been taking pictures around West Seattle since we moved here in September, 2005. Most of West Seattle sits on a hill overlooking the Puget Sound and Downtown Seattle so the views are abundant. I may be a little too focused on sunsets right now, but I'll continue adding photos to this collection to add some diversity.
Expedia sent me to Honolulu for work so I dragged Katrina along with me. The first part of the week was spent relaxing and exploring. The second half was spent meeting partners while Katrina worked on her laptop, poolside. Nothing quite like resolving client-related issues with a Pina Collada in hand.
Schmacks, Kim and I decided to kick off 2006 with a Ski Day. However, an accident at the bottom of Crystal Mountain Boulevard resulted in a road closure forcing us to rent a room for the night. Drinking wine and skipping work certainly beat sleeping in the car.
Katrina and I joined a group of her friends from Western at the Space Needle in Seattle for a grand New Years Eve celebration. While our group was relatively tame, others at the Needle may have had a little too much fun. Check out the lady in the blue prom dress.
We celebrated our first Christmas in our new home with 11 other members of our family. Scott, Juanita, Angie, Darren, Nathan, Donna, Damon, Zuleida, Kimberlee, Emilee and Ron all spent a wonderful day sharing gifts, laughter and a fabulous sit-down dinner.
Bear Mountain Ranch was the ultimate test. We lost, on average, 15 balls each but enjoyed every minute of each round. Chris's brother, Tim, threw up a back to back 77 and 76 to post low rounds each day. The rest of us? Nevermind.
Group camping rules when you find the perfect spot. Katrina, Laura, Cheri, Joe, Matthew, Susan, Mag, Talia and I "roughed it" at Bridge Creek campground along Icicle Creek. Cheez-Its, cookies and High Life, the champagne of beers. It's all anyone really needs.
Katrina and I recently spent two weeks in Munich, Prague, Vienna and Salzburg. We were absolutely blown away by the culture, architecture, friendly people and cheese noodles. Oh, and we also enjoyed the beer in case you couldn't tell from the pictures.
The Parkers are outstanding hosts. Katrina and I got to experience the Whisper Lounge, Tokyo Delves, Disneyland, Universal Studios and a botanical garden in Pasadena. Oh, and we managed to watch twelve episodes of the OC in just two nights - the onset of our addiction.
A lot happened in November, so I thought I'd throw all the events together into one fun slideshow. My brother, Damon, celebrated his 29th, we celebrated Thanksgiving at Susie's with special guest, Angie, and I wandered around some of Seattle's most picturesque locations.
Katrina, aka Bird Lady, and Ryan the birdwatcher attended the Black Cat Ball and won 2nd place in the costume contest. The Black Cat Ball is an auction benefiting Purrfect Pals, a feline shelter.
Katrina and I found our way back to Hawaii, Kauai to be exact. This island is simply beautiful with its tropical foliage, verdant cliffs spilling into the ocean, and a limitless supply of Mai Tais.
Mitch, Sangeun, Laura, Nick, Matthew, Susan and Angie joined the two of us for a 3-day camping excursion on the Entiat River. This time we stayed at Silver Falls and thoroughly enjoyed our weekend with friends.
An impromptu camping trip along the Entiat River can do wonders for the soul. Katrina actually had work to do so we brought the laptop. I did nothing but sit by the river and read.
Katrina and I finally decided to visit the Japanese Gardens in the Arboretum. The weather was cooperative which made for some good pictures. We were told the crane is a rather rare visitor to the gardens.
What a gorgeous Easter Sunday. Katrina and I spent the day near La Conner at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival with her Aunt and Cousin. My mom joined us later for dinner in La Conner.
We spent a week in beautiful Sedona, where New Agers flock to Vortexes and the surrounding cliffs glow red in the sunset. The temperature was 85 every day which made for the perfect Spring getaway.
Katrina and I spent Valentine's Day weekend in Colorado visting our friends Tim and Brit. Boulder, Denver and Fraser were beautiful.
Our city has a lot to offer in the way of architecture, residents, lifestyle, and the environment. I periodically spend time trying to capture unique city scenes with our digital camera.
We spent time in Varenna (on Lake Como), Greve in Chianti, and Santa Margherita on the Italian Riviera. These pictures were taken with a Canon S-400 4mp digital camera.
These images were captured by a professional photographer, Winifred Whitfield. Ms. Whitfield owns bigvalley PHOTOART, and also worked with an assistant this afternoon.