Bridgman Family Mother's Day

On Mother's Day the trees were down at the Peter's Property at Bayview, Washington, but there was much to do to ready a building site for the new garage and future house! Not to worry. Over twenty family members (plus Friendly Fred, the Skagit County Fire Marshal) gathered to cut up the trees into firewood, drag and stack the limbs, and burn the brush, and make certain that a burning permit was purchased.

Cameron Wade joins in to help.

Tindy consults with "head supervisor of operations" (Grandpa B).

Foster Wade uses his muscle power to "drag and stack".

Mike W. and Alan engage in serious chainsaw competition.

Could that be a Norman Rockwell? No, its Peggy and Cody pausing for a photo op.

Bridgman Girls Live It Up In Tres Piedras!

Jenny, Tindy and Candy got together for a week in Tres Piedras, Taos and ABQ last week for a whirlwind of home improvement projects in TP, thrift/junking in Taos, (a treasure trove), a family wedding in ABQ for Kelly Caprons brother, hanging with Caleb Capron, (aka... dancin man) and of course the ABQ Flea Market and some city tourning on the ABQ bus. Had dinner with Jenny's friend Debbie and Gill Graves and their family 8 miles outside Tres Piedras. A real mountain showplace. With the TP store and restaraunt closed it's great that Jenny has a friend in the neighborhood.

The truth is the Peter's cabin/home in TP is really beautiful. The area is green and lush with wild flowers and the smell of sage in the air. The community has gr0wn with several permanent homes and a few horse friendly properties cropping up in the vicinty.

Here's a few pictures showcasing the highlights.

SWARM of Bee's

As I was working out in the front flower beds this afternoon I hear my husband and his friend yell "quick get in the house!!!" I thought they were just trying to "play me" so I casually walked to the backyard as they screamed "GET IN THE HOUSE!" There was a HUGE swarm of bee's in our backyard-thousands of bee's. I have never seen such a sight. Terry said they came over in a huge cloud all together. They are hard to see in the pictures and only about 1/2 of them show up. We quickly grabbed the camera as they settled in a small tree next to our shed. For some added excitement Terry shot the bee bee gun into the tree. They seemed to be making a nest in the tree until Terry went to the store and bought more RAID! Our bug zapper was broken so that didn't help us.

Chipper the lamb to market!!

Cameron and Chipper participated in the Puget Sound Junior Livestock Show last weekend at the Skagit County fairgrounds. Chipper won champion lamb for his weight class and Cameron won Reserve Champion Novice Showman. Whohooo! A lot of fun and Chip was purchased by Skagit State Bank. Now Cameron is getting Nike and Shoelace ready for the summer fairs and August Livestock Show. Foster has four new blue rosecomb chicks from his new breeding program pair. Dillon left on Tuesday for Bristol Bay and is gill netting on the boat the Chill Cat owned by Gene Higgins of LaConner. Pray for his safety.

Pacifier vs. Thumb

It's a tough decision for Nik, does he want a pacifier (bibila in greek) or would he rather suck on his thumb. He has come to the conclusion why not do both at the same time (see video) He also likes to take the bibila out with one hand and suck on his other hand for a while and then he puts his bibila back in. It doesn't always go in correctly but I am pretty proud of his fine motor skills.

Sunday Drive

Arthur, Nik and Mara at the Lake

Fish in the Pond - Restaurant behind

Yum!, Trout

Cherry Tree Attack

Arthur and I like to take nice Sunday drives, being that Sunday is normally a very quite day for most Greeks so the roads are fairly empty and really the only people you see out are the tourist. So this last weekend we went up to the Lake, we haven't been their in over a year so it was great seeing it again and it was a little cooler up there than here at home, but it was still pretty darn hot. Nik enjoys the outdoors and was sniffing and looking everywhere, the only time he got upset was when Arthur and I left him in the car while we attacked a cherry tree that was right off of the road. He was sleeping peacefully but I guess stopping the movement of the car woke him up, so we only got a small bag load but it was worth the upset and I know that Nik forgot about it in seconds as only babies do. I still remember the time Mom left us at a road stop when we were traveling with Grandpa and Grandma up to Washington, she thought we were with them and they thought we were with her (ALL 3 of us kids). We sat there waiting on the fence for someone to come back and pick us up, do you still feel guilty mom?
Well you don't have to it makes a great story.
I enjoyed great trout, you have to eat trout when you go to these lakes and rivers because it is so fresh. The cook just goes out back and takes a fish out from the pond, whacks it on the head , cleans it up and then puts it on the grill, reminds me of the way we eat when we are up in Washington. Good times.

First Egg

Hello Family and Friends this is baby Nik enjoying his first village egg. He is a little young to be trying out foods but each time Arthur and I sat down to eat he would watch us and lick his lips like he wanted some. SO we gave him a little bit of boiled yolk from a fresh egg, we have a deal set up with our neighbor they bring us a fresh egg from their farm and we give them the bones leftover from the taverna for their dogs out on the farm.
I realize every parent thinks they have the smartest and cutest kid in the universe, but I actually have a few examples to tell you how smart our little guy is at three and half months.
#1 No Talking to Strangers at just three and half MONTHS baby Nik has realized that he isn't supposed to talk to strangers. At the wedding we attended this weekend he didn't do his usual cooing, gooing and giggling, in fact he held all of his talking ability until it was just my husband and I in the car and then he went to town talking about his day, it was the funniest thing ever. So either he is shy and doesn't like to talk to people he doesn't know or he already knows about the rule that all parents tell their children "No talking to Strangers."
#2 No Farting in Public, okay so most parents probably don't realize how much their baby farts, but since we have the cool colostomy bag on baby Nik we actually see his farts since they fill the bag up with hot air (hahaha! get it "hot air"). Generally baby Nik farts, well alot, would be the word I'm looking for, we have to de-air his bag several times a day. But on the day of the wedding he didn't fart at all, I thought their was a leak in the bag since it was staying so flat with only the poop in it but when we got home and I took a good look at it their was no leaks and the next day when we changed it it was still in sticky order and just to confirm that he was holding back during the wedding the next day he farted many, many times. For some of you this might be to much information but I wanted to share with you how smart our little guy was, he didn't fart at all from 1pm till 10 pm at night, what a smart, courteous little guy such good manners.