what's in a name?

Galatians 6:14- But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

It has come to our attention that, as is the tendency with blogs, ours has become a bit of a soap box lately for self-glorification. All this time it has been Hooray for the Paks, when really it should have been Hooray with the Paks. As in Hooray for Jesus, our Lord and Savior from whom and through whom all good things come. So after careful consideration, the Paks have decided to retire with love the Hooray for the Paks blog in favor of a new, shorter, simpler URL: www.thepaklife.com. Please continue to follow along as we make the transition; we look forward to sharing with all of you Jesus’ work in our lives.

it's a boy!

And we couldn't be more excited! Sam and I had talked both about the possibility of it being a boy or a girl, and I had thought I was equally excited for either. So when we had our ultrasound, I was surprised to realize just how happy I was to find out it was a boy! A little ball player for Sam. After he had himself a bit of a weep, Sam immediately went looking for a glove and ball for his little man.

Kayla, of course, is getting less excited by the day, and has gone from kissing my tummy and pointing to the "baby" to crying and turning away anytime I mention his impending arrival. I think it's finally sinking in for her what's to come and she is not at all happy about it. We always tell her how much we love her and how much fun the new baby will be, but I guess you can only explain so much to her at this point.

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and support for our growing family. We are so blessed to have such wonderful community around us and look forward to raising our brood here in Seattle. For Christ's Glory!

mother's day

Since Mother's Day is always inevitably a Sunday, we didn't think we'd really get to celebrate. BUT as a surprise blessing, Sam ended up working only a half day, so we got to go out for a late(really late) Mother's Day brunch. More like dinner actually.



Who knew there'd still be a wait at Spaghetti Factory at 2:30 in the afternoon? Kayla and I passed the time doing a little photo shoot outside in the parking lot. Doesn't she look fierce?



Then we took a little walk around the block and were lucky enough to catch the train go past. Kayla was so impressed, she couldn't stop clapping. "Hooray train!"



Kayla did her best, of course, a toddler can only be patient so long... Luckily we were seated just in time, not a moment too soon. There are no pictures from lunch, alas, we were all too ravenous to take time to pose for any glamour shots.



Afterwards, we followed up our scrumptious meal with an even more scrumptious family nap, something we never get to do on Sunday afternoons. All in all, a fabulous laid-back day to celebrate the ups and downs of being a mom. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Hope you all had a blessed day as well.

livy's birthday

I'm SO EXCITED you came to my PARTY!



Here, put on this hat



Check out this cool bouncy house!



This is so fun!



Livy come jump with me!



I'm good, thanks



Suit yourself, you're missing out



Time for a swing break



Everyone smile for the camera!



Kayla, you too!



C'mon Kayla, say "Cheese!"



Oh were we taking PICTURES?



Happy Birthday dear Livy,....



Dude, whats up with my candle?



Happy 3rd Birthday Olivia!

preschool days

I don't remember going to preschool when I was 20 months old, but apparently formal education starts quite young here in the Pacific Northwest! Kayla has been going to the Olympic Toddler Cooperative Preschool for almost five months now and loves every minute of it!



I still think sometimes she might be a little too young for it but she has so much fun there that its hard now to imagine what we did with our Monday mornings before this.

Things that Kayla loves about preschool:



1. The first three minutes of circle time, after which she can't stand sitting still any longer and must must MUST gallop around the room and over to the book corner



2. Eating and spitting out in disgust the rice, sand, or whatever happens to be in the sensory table that day.



3. Half-finishing all her art projects. A few weeks ago, we made these very handsome panda masks, but Kayla only got as far as gluing on one left eye before she completely lost interest.



OK, clearly Kayla is not nearly at all ready for preschool. Who am I kidding? Ah well, at least we're having fun, right? Right.

whistler take 2

Some group shots from our trip to Whistler, courtesy of our friend Ryan. Or, the cast of MTV Asia's The Real World: Whistler. Take your pick.

whistler fun

Finally getting around to posting on our big trip to Whistler! We all had a blast, especially Kayla, who has courageously overcome her irrational fear of snow only to be terrified by her new fear of indoor pools. What?!?!? Oh well. One thing at a time.

Kayla putting on a brave face for the day long road trip...



Enjoying a breakfast of champions with daddy (sorry to our dear friends who are not yet accustomed to waking up at the crack of dawn to tearful cries for "cack! cack!". Kayla's not cursing at you, she's just asking for some breakfast....) before he headed out for a long day of snowboarding



A second breakfast of champions with momma at McDonalds...



Exploring the snow and Whistler Village...



Competing in the hoola hoop Olympic trials...



And taking home the Gold!



Crashing story time at the local library..



May I...touch your baby?



Relishing our 30 dollar teriyaki chicken. Resort tax tasty!



Exploring the village with daddy on day two. It was a little colder this day and I think everyone was starting to get tired...Kayla was not a fan of the puffy jacket. Makes it hard to bend your elbows and such.



Unconsolable crying at the pool. Luckily, there was an ice skating rink nearby so the day was not a total loss. Sam even made a new friend!



It was a great trip and we were glad to share it with some old friends we don't get to see too often anymore. Thanks friends, for your graciousness in making it a family-friendly trip for Kayla. When we get pictures of Sam's escapades on the top of the mountain, I'll be sure to post those for you all too. You know, all the action shots of him in the half-pipe. Stay tuned!