Seattle

Since we've never been to Seattle, we did a lot of the tourist stuff. I am not a big city guy anyway, and Seattle wasn't exactly my cup of tea (or coffee), but it was fun to explore it together as a family.

We didn't go in it, but we saw the Space Needle.

We had fun at the Pacific Science Center.

Emery tested her hang time.

They had a butterfly exhibit which was filled with some amazingly huge and beautiful butterflies.

Andrew kept trying to get one to land on him to no avail.

We also went to Pike's Place Market.

We didn't see any fish flying around but the boys and girl hung out with a pig.

It was a crazy atmosphere to navigate, but the seafood was delicious! Here we are at the When Harry Met Sally restaurant.

The view wasn't too shabby either.

All in all, it was a fun time.

Flower girl

Emery was the flower girl for her uncle's wedding in Seattle. Welcome Charlotte Imo to the family! We all had a great time celebrating God's work in Sam and Char's lives to bring them together as one.

Emery was very scared to do her job, but she did great.

The whole family got all dolled up.

The boys and girl were so proud of their one and only Cancun.

It was an absolutely fabulous wedding.

Since everybody was so dressed up, Sandy was having the boys practice some modelling. Do they have a future?

The venue had a breathtaking view of Puget sound. Stellar choice. It had great ambiance during the reception at night too.

And Emery got to be big sister to her little cousin Yoey. It was a great wedding and great time in Seattle!

Ta-dah!

Guess who finished his puzzle?

It was a family affair and everyone contributed at least one piece, even Sandy! As we worked on it, the boys and girl often asked - why do you like puzzles dad? I tell them it helps me develop more patience. But mostly, I have odd hobbies.

Upward season #3

Andrew finished up his 3rd season of Upward basketball. And I must say, I am very proud of him. I don't know if he will go on and play HS basketball someday. It seems like he has some skill and showed some good progress in his ability this season. But either way, it doesn't really matter to me. What counts most to me is his heart attitude as he played.

Every season, I have emphasized to him that it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, whether you score a lot of points or not, even whether you had fun out there. The point of it all is to play for the glory of God. It seemed like that has really started to sink in. I am proud of Andrew for not only obeying his coach but having a teachable spirit. I am proud of Andrew for not only trying to be a good example but also for trying to be a good influence on his teammates who were not always very self-controlled. I am proud of Andrew for not only playing his absolute best to win for his team but also for caring about people on his team and on the other team. For the first time, Andrew has started saying the right things and doing the right things outside of my presence, on his own. Great job Andrew. I love you.

And he gave me one of those touching, heartfelt moments that all of you parents can appreciate. During one of the games, in the pregame introductions, they asked each child - who do you look up to the most? As they introduced each player, they gave his name, number and their answer to that question. Many of the kids said famous athletes or their family and one even said George Lucas! But Andrew Lee, #25 came out and the person he looks up to the most is his dad.

Snow and sun

Spring is here in ABQ, and I LOVE it! We can't get enough heat in the Lee household. But since we knew the weather is warming up big time, we decided to hit the snow in the mountains one last time.

I wasn't sure if there was any snow left, but we kept driving up til we found some.

The boys and girl have been dying to go sledding all winter so we went for it. There wasn't a lot of snow, but there was enough. And the sledding was steep!

The boys are fearless now. They went flying down on a couple of runs where I was really worried someone would get hurt. Thankfully no one did.

And we can't go sledding without some hot chocolate.

This was one of the oddest sledding experiences I have ever had. In the sun, there was not a hint of snow and it was almost 50 degrees at an elevation of about 7,000 feet. But in the shade, there was snow and it felt pretty cold. Matt didn't seem to notice the paradox.

The beautiful thing was after we had fun sledding, we drove home in about 45 minutes and whipped out the shorts and flip-flops. It was over 60 degrees and gorgeous outside! Gotta love ABQ.