Parlay?

Pirates of the Caribbean: Grace and Isabel duel for control of the Black Pearl, the most infamous pirate ship in the Caribbean.

Flower blogging

The Masks of Grace

A zoo bear growling at the photographer.
A farmer toiling in the fields.
A bug.
A freeman worm-rider.

2006 NW Synod Assembly

Aimee is off at the 2006 Northwest Synod Assembly.

Zoo in the Rain

Friday, June 2 - Nelson and Grace at the zoo, arriving during a rainstorm just as everone else was rushing out of the zoo to escape the rainstorm. A 1/2 hour later the zoo was emptied except for the few who remained, and the rain had stopped.

Riverside, CA

Nelson just returned from a 3-day NIH Grants Seminar in Riverside, California.  He never saw a river, so he's not sure what River the city is beside.  The city would more appropriately be named Roadside, California, since it consisted mainly of large, wide roads filled with traffic.  The Mission Inn is the coolest hotel he has ever stayed in the United States - taking up a full city block and filled with fountains, hidden courtyards, domes, spires, a stone bridge, two chapels, statues, paintings, stained glass, and a crazy kaleidescope of architectural styles. 

Lindsey Appell's Press Releases

Can be found - http://www.montanaheritageproject.org/index.php/teacherlore/C40/

Aftermath of a Shedding

Enjoying a delicious aftermath meal of tri-tip steaks, roasted vegetables, potato chips, cheetos, wine, cookies, and root beer.

Work photos

Everyone is having a blast. Nelson and Aimee know how to show everybody a good time!

Rippling pectorals

Eric provides the muscle and work ethic while Mark and Nelson showcase their rippling pectorals.

Shed Move Work Party

Before and after pictures from our shed moving party, Saturday May 27, 2006. The question each person asked, after we moved the shed, was "Why didn't they just put the shed in the corner of the yard in the first place?" (The plants growing up the wooden frames in the right corner are our peas.)

Grace Outside in the Yard in May

Flower Blogging

Spring Foliage

Spring flowers and foliage at the Appell household.

Easter Eric

Striking a classical pose, Eric showcases the Easter attire of a man of 2006: simple, graceful, elegant, yet charged with explosive energy. Equally ready for action, or ready for a nap.

Grace Easter

Grace had 3 separate Easter Egg Hunts, with Mom and Dad, with Church, and with Grandma and Grandpa. She had a very pretty dress for the occasion.

Easter Pics

I'm a little late with the Easter photos so lets kick it off with our favorite blue-handed man, Milt!

Beware The Snow Frog

 

 

What do animals eat?

According to Grace, this is what animals eat:
Bears = bear food;
Penguins = snow;
Grace = cookies;
Mommies = their own cookies;
Whales = a whale ate Marlin;
Tigers = grass;
Lions = grass, too;
Elephants = their own water;
Giraffes = leaves and hay;
Ostrich = nothing;
Cats = catfood;
Dogs = dogfood and bones;
Daddies = their own cookies;
Sharks = snibbers;
Polar Bears = fish;
Hippos = drink water instead, grass;
Parakeets = parakeet food;
Snakes = snakes, bad ones

Happy Birthday - 4 Years Old

Grace had her 4th Birthday celebration today with her friends Peri, Siri, Solen, Avery, Quinn and Miles - and Nelson's family.

Grace's Haircut

For her 4th birthday she finally had her first haircut. Aimee asked Grace what kind of haircut she wanted, and Grace said "A short haircut like Daddy." So Grace had a short haircut, but not as short as she wanted.

Lord of the Volcanoes

Grace standing over some Volcanoes on Alki Beach.

Bear Execution, Grace-style

Not sure what the bear's offense was, but the punishment was swift and severe.

Biking

Grace riding her new Christmas bike on a rare Seattle sunny winter day.

Cousins

Cousin Jess, Cousin Kevin, Great-Uncle Bill - and Grace.

The King and the Chapter

Grace stops at every pile of snow she sees and climbs on top, declaring herself "the King" and delivering a speech to her imaginary subjects. I, the photographer, she called "a chapter". The duty of the chapter was to stand next to the King while she pontificated.

Snowy morning in St. Paul

Our first day in St. Paul. Grace woke up thrilled that there was snow on the ground and put on her shoes without taking off her pajamas. So I let her go outside into the 15 degree chill for a few minutes.

At the escalator

On our way to St. Paul, Grace's first foray onto an airport escalator turned quickly into a desperate situation. Dad, always quick to lend a hand, instinctively grabbed his camera to snap a picture of his wife and daughter as they struggled against the relentless metallic tide of steps.

A doggie called Grace - a story by Grace

There was a doggie called Grace.  She liked to play with cats.  She played tag.  At the park, where there is not anything to ride on, nothing to sit on, nothing to stand on.  But there's nothing else.  The kitty's name is... there's another cat called Grace.  Another dog named Bone.  The other cat's name is bone (editorial note: I think she's just making this up as she goes).  The bear was is its cave snuggling with her cubs. (Explanation: Dad suggested a bear might be part of the story.  Grace disagreed.  The bear was in its cave, so it couldn't be part of this story.)  These dogs ran in circles and these cats run in circles (visual aid: cats and dogs represented by fingers on Grace's hands).

Red Eye

For some reason, all three of the clowns in this picture have red eye. It's appropriate, somehow.

Sign

Last time we went to the zoo, Grace insisted that I take a picture of this sign. I explained to her what the sign said and she still wanted a picture.

Semantics and the almost-4 year old

Grace and friends have figured out that the easiest way to change the perception of your behavior is to change the word. She and Miles were jumping off the back of the couch onto the cushions. When I told them no more jumping on the couch, they switched first to "bouncing." And then to "falling."

Miles the Pink Jedi Master and Grace

Grace and her friend Miles absorbed in the Care Bears, a DVD designed to torture parents with mindlessness.

Little Quinn, Mark, and Cat

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Ms. Pearl and Ms. Elisabeth

P. Pearl and G. Elisabeth, holding hands at Mark and Amy's palace on the peninsula.

The Lost Bunny and the Cow

There was a little bunny that was lost.  His Mommy was at the bunny place where they ate grass all day long snug in their beds.  That's where she lives - there - in the middle of this place.  That is where she lives.  She got out of bed.  She went to Starbucks.  She ate her lunch... her big lunch.  Mommies don't eat big lunches, they eat Mommy lunches.  Don't they need to eat bunny lunches?  She jumps and then she goes find her little bunny at the bunny store.  The little bunny is locked in a cage there... she is sad.. .she misses her Mom.  There was a cow.  There was a cow jumping there.  And it peaked - the cow peaked, in that little window.  And it crashed through the window, Daddy, that's what it did - it crashed through the window.  The people go outside and saw them.  They put ropes on his neck, and then they put him in a boat or his cage so he can't get out.  That's why he's going to be very sad.  So that's what is going to happen to him next.

Another Story dictated by Grace

The story begins with Clifford and me and you and Mommy.  Clifford got away.  First he got away and then I caught him.  I tried to and then you tried to caught him and then Mommy and then you helped.  Then the goalkeeper got him and he put him in the "Troze" trunk.  A troze is when you ra-cha.  He took Clifford and locked him up in a cage.  He was sad... he didn't know how to escape.  I missed my little puppy.  And Jajo the quirrel came.  He was real to talk.  He said "Get the doggy before he gets out."  That's what he said.  The troll was evil, the troll that caught him, and put him in the cage with lions.  But Clifford was still sad.  But my friend Phillip was too sad.  He missed his Mom... and his Dad.  She was said, she didn't know what to do to help him.  The zookeeper told her, "do not get any puppy."  "Yes I do."  And Clifford the puppy was still sad.  (There is more, but the story got more and more confusing and harder and harder to make out.)

Grace's Story - an Oral Tradition Tale

Once upon a time there was a cottage with Clifford and he got out and went to work and there was a whole bunch of people at the dog work, and they saw him, and they said "Oh No".  The Clifford dog teacher was really really big.  And the people saw the big red dog there and the big red Clifford dog was there.  He was a "Ponchon".  A "ponchon" is when you run - "aaaaaahhhhhh". 

Grace's thoughts

"They are flying away from the wind.  The crows and birds and the pigeons and, actually, the birds.  They are all flying away from the wind."

 

"Eric belongs here, Daddy, in our house.  He belongs in our house."

 

"If Mommy was a bird, and Daddy was a bird, then I could be in a egg."

Haircut

After waiting a long time between haircuts, yesterday I finally had my shaggy mane trimmed back to a short, neat haircut. Grace looked at it and said, "Daddy you got a haircut."  "Yes," I said.  Then she reached out and touched my newly sunlit ear and said, "Did you do that so that I could touch your ear?"

Bears

Bears, you are on notice!

Hammered TV

Don't miss our friend Mark Anderson's new weekly downloadable TV series on fixing up a house - Hammered TV. He has three episodes now and is planning on continuing, with the support of his loving wife, Amy Anderson. Their motto is: "If we can understand your question, we'll probably answer it."