Another Remodeling Weekend

The hobbitling girl is growing so fast. She and the Boookie are now sharing a room, and it is really great to see how they interact. Some mornings, the Mayor and hobbit wife are awakened to "conversations" consisting of Boookie talking at her crib, and her cooing back at him.
Here's the Boookie getting ready for a bath.
Boookie has an outside squirt bottle that is his to play with. He has two rules about the bottle so far - the bottle can't be brought inside, and he can't squirt Mommy, Auntie Jen, or Ela. As you can see from the photo, Daddy is fair game. The little guy is pretty accurate, but that's not surprising, with the genes he has to work with. One of his parent's first pseudo-dates was at the gun range, where the Mayor shot a smiley face at 15 yards to impress the future hobbit wife.
The Mayor's remodeling efforts continued full-speed this weekend. The weekend commenced with adding a final coat of drywall mud. Over the course of the weekend, the walls and ceiling were primed and painted, the doors were replaced, the wiring was completed, and the floor was installed.
Here's the Boookie "Helping Daddy." We don't know why he's wearing ear muffs to mop the floor...
Starting to lay the flooring.
The weekend concluded with moving the bed from the living room back into the bedroom. Baseboard and crown molding will get installed over the next week.

Ela's Baptism

Ela got baptized this morning at church. Here is the family up front listening to Pastor Kelly.
And here is Pastor Kelly baptizing Ela.
Great Grandma Ruth came to see the baptism and to meet with her namesake.And here are four generations of ladies from our family.
Ela and Boookie in their jammies.
Boookie talking with his mirror friend. Like his relatives Auntie Sexist and Uncle Matty (and his daddy), the lad enjoys looking at himself and talking to his reflection.
Here he is walking in Daddy's shoes. The Mayor remembers clomping around in Grampz' shoes back in the day and enjoys watching the tradition stay alive.
And here is Ela in her Bebe Pod, a parting gift from her friend, Amos. Michael Delving will miss their family, but we know that they have gone to a better place. Indianapolis.

Cambodia Trip Summary

Following is a summary of the Mayor's recent trip to Cambodia. He'll probably post more pictures later, but for now, here you go:

The Mayor recently spent two weeks in Cambodia on a volunteer engineering trip organized through a church in Gig Harbor, Washington. He went along with an architect and a facilities manager, and the three of them prepared a master use plan for a 7.5 acre site in Cambodia near the Thai border. They also designed and drew up plans for traditional Cambodian-style housing at the site. The future plans for the site include a school, community center, and agriculture training facilities.

The group that they went to assist, Cambodian Hope Organization (CHO), is a local group with 34 employees that is dedicated to stopping child trafficking along the Thai-Cambodian border. The group already has economic development, education, and vocational training programs, and the housing the Mayor helped design will serve children who have been involved in trafficking and need a place to live so they can get out of the trafficking cycle and participate in the CHO vocational training programs.

The picture shows a group of boys, all formerly involved in trafficking, who are learning how to repair motorcycles. When they finish the program, they will be able to get microloans to start their own business, giving them hope and control over their future.

Boookie's Second Birthday Weekend

Ela has been getting short shrift on this blog lately, so we lead off with some cute pictures of her.
Friday was the Boookie's second birthday, so Apu and GranDma came over to celebrate the occasion. Boookie got a bunch a balloons, including a fire truck balloon, and all the party decorations were fire truck-themed.
Trying to blow out the candle on his cupcake.
GranDma Ane and her grandhobbitling girlBoookie opening presents. He knew what they were as soon as they were brought in, and kept yelling about "presents!"
Trying out the bell on his brand new Radio Flyer tricycle.
Walking with Apu and his new lawnmower (gift from Auntie Jen). In the background is GranDma's brand new Mini Cooper.
This photo marks the end of the birthday celebrations, as he screamed at Auntie for blocking the sidewalk to take the picture. The trike ride was over, and bedtime followed hard on the heels of instruction.
This weekend, the Mayor also continued his remodeling of the back bedroom (usually occupied by the Mayor and hobbit wife). Wiring, insulation, and drywall were the order of business.
We finished up the weekend with a walk at Green Lake. The Mayor kept time by continually reminding Boookie to keep his feet on the pedals. The trike has a parent handle that steers the trike, which is great for a hobbitling who is just starting out and needs extreme guidance.