Last Sunday. Oops.

With all the Oscar and Golden Globe buzz surrounding it, we decided to go see Slumdog Millionaire on Friday night. It was excellent and my mind is still reeling about the belief and meaning of destiny in our world. This movie prompts worthwhile conversation and deep thoughts - my introvert side was whirling with thoughts in my brain - we both highly recommend it. Saturday morning was girls breakfast with Ashley and Nola in West Seattle. We then took Nola walking along the wather at Lincoln Park. When she got tired, she would just give in and crawl, it was pretty darn cute. Andrew played frisbee with Joe, the other half of his bromance. After a nice walk with the dogs and some shopping, we headed south to Kent to have dinner with The Peeples and The newly wed Sumners. Out for coffee and a visit to the farmers market this morning, a trip to the grocery store, then some baking, walking, resume perfecting (eek!), phone calls, bird watching, turning the heat up, game playing, ...and evening has fallen!

HOT Dish....

I know what you are thinking, Andrew is talking about Erin again, and it's true, but there's also a little Minnesota tribute going on here... Yeah, that's burger.

Porter on the other hand, while awfully cute posing with his brother, can be quite the persistent pest when he wants his Hot Dish!

Here are the 3 musketeers on the way to Lincoln Park.

Day of Hope

Today will be remembered as a historic day. Our nephew Jack will forever get to say, I hung out with Barack back in '08, man, that is one righteous dude.

True Story: this really is our nephew Jack!

Erin and I both were able to witness the speech live, although she in the awkward din of the Hospital waiting room and I in the surreal company of corporate america...Regardless, today we are proud and will work to take into action the promise of the new day.

Kate Elizabeth Turpin!

Everyone is healthy and happy down in Texas!! Congrats!!

Sending all our love and hugs!

Weekend Re-Cap

Congrats to the Texas Turpins!!! Our niece Kate Elizabeth was born on 1/9/09 weighing in at 7lbs. 2oz. and cute as can be! It is safe to say that lots of pics will follow!!!

The rest of the weekend, summary style:
-First homeowners issue - Leaky roof, getting repaired on Monday. Thank goodness Hampton was licking the floor and we decided to look up.
-Friday dinner: Erin ate bacon for the first time in over 3 years. So gooood.
-Marley and Me. See it, you will love it. Of course Hamps and Portie got to sleep in bed that night.
-Cleaning. No different really than any other weekend but I appreciate a clean house so much.
-Shopping/Errands: Focusing on Andrew and his desire for a new wardrobe. The mall wears us out, but it was a successful trip.
-Dinner at Cactus on Alki, then West Seattle Bowl with friends. Since these Turpins tend to get a bit competitive over games, it was a relief that each of our combined scores for 2 games was 226! Whew.
-Comcast fixed our internet this morning.
-Waffles and coffee for Sunday breakfast.
-Studying, Target
-The coolest Alki beach sign ever for the den
-Burger night with the Walker/Barge duo over at B and Ashley's tonight
-Then I will come home to watch the Red Carpet and Golden Globes on DVR!

Love me some Bloedows, Lehdeburs, County Road YY and Pickwick (blend)

So we are still catching up. But it's because we had such an awesome time back in Minnesota, that it takes a few posts to really get there. We had three great days in Winona with Col, Erin, Corey, Mary, Jay and Jane. Started it off with a great trip to Chula, and just kept trucking from there. Mom's new house off of County YY (on the other side of the river) is awesome. It was great R&R and back alignment out there. Not to mention good Wisconsin cheese and killer summer sausage. The homemade Baileys is pretty darn tasty too as the lovely ladies below can attest.

We made it out of Southeast Minnesota after New Years in Pickwick by having some tasty Pickwick Blend from Mugby. It was just a perfect topper to a great trip!

Baby Mania! Sweet Madelyn and Newborn Nova

Talk about a cute babie and proud papa Corey. Maddie is just the sweetest thing and here chipmunk cheeks are so awesome! It was a blast hanging with Corey, Casey, Jen, Jo, Mar and Aunt Erin. Watching Maddie as she explored her new world. The light in her eyes was amazing as she began playing around in her new jumper (thanks Aunt Jane!). I have a feeling that will provide hours of satisfaction for her. Maddie's Aunt and Uncle in Seattle were so thankful they got to spend some time with Daddy and Daughter.

It was also a special day because in addition to Maddie, we got to meet the Newborn Nova Joy Deitering. She is only four days old in the pictures below. Looks like someone is going to be a great mom, huh? She has so much hair! And she just cooed the whole time. Shawn and Jill, here's to you, may your beautiful Nova Joy be blessed.

Back to Minnesota

So we're getting caught up on the blog a bit. Not sure if I'll have enough time to get everything I need to say about how great our trip to Minnesota was. I'll give it a try and see where it goes. It started with a rendezvous at the Chatterbox in St Paul. It was so fun to see Brandon, Beth, Brian, Ryan, Megan, Ballard, Susie, John N, Ricky, Nick, Dhalia - it's nice to come home to good times with good friends. Thanks everyone!

This was just the start of our great trip...

Christmas Traditions

So another year and another successful Whidbey Christmas beachwalk with the TurpMurphFords. It was a gray dreary day, but considering all the snow that had been falling, it was a bit of a nice break - until we started to lose feeling in our fingers!

After our time on the beach, it was time for to settle in for libations on Hastie Lake. The Bedfords always put on a good show, and despite the fact that 4 year old Tane is as large as me (well at least 3/4 and i've got him by 29 years) I came through unscathed. Erin had a good time sharing a laugh with the ladies.

cheers to traditions, the Whidbey Beach Walk stands tall in the Christmas heritage.

Indoors

With all of the snow that we had in Seattle leading up to Christmas, you would have thought there would have been time to update the blog. Erin and I spent a lot of time indoors because leaving Casa De 26th Ave was like a 4x4 track. Yes Seattle can do some things better to prepare the city, but it sure is fun to look at and to make fun of those less fortunate who don't have wives from Minnesota to coach them with their winter driving - karma, I'm waiting.

Hampton sure does love rooting for rodents in the snow