For Halloween, Shannon and her friend (and previous housemate) Kira Andrews wore Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes (from Dr Suess’ Cat in the Hat book) . Best comment of the night: “Whoa scary, I wouldn’t want those things in MY house”

PS: Esther made the fun blue hats!

Shannon celebrated her 2nd birthday in Seattle with family and friends at the Children’s Cooperative Daycare (with homemade popcicles – a big hit) and at an outdoor concert at the zoo with Mom, Dad, and housemates (Steve, Esther, Kira & Lilian).

Pretty much my (Michele’s) favorite photo to date. Flowery dress, purple boots (for puddle splashing, just in case), and driving a tractor! What more could a girl ask for? The look on her face says it all. Photo taken at the Swanson Tree Farm, Whidbey Island.

Good times were had by all!!

Shannon loves this front seat for our bikes! She gets to “steer”, point out cars, trucks, busses, bicycles, and declare “downhill!” So much fun. 

Beautiful fall weather for a fun, though bit chilly, quick family overnight up to Surprise Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness near Steven’s Pass. 

Shannon enjoyed a little hiking & sleeping while carried by Michele on the way in and then was very helpful around camp!

Yay, we finally found a place in Seattle… with our friends Esther & Steve who have a daughter, Kira, who is 1 month older than Shannon. Great folks! They even were fine with the POD full of all of our stuff being delivered to the front yard!

The family-friendly bus option from Namupla city to Pemba (5hr by car) wasn’t running so we hired Abu, the goto taxi/driver of our hosts, which was cheaper and easier than renting a car. Abu takes pride in his car, and wipes the dust off at every stop, and yes, those are scorpion decals!

We spent an enjoyable and productive week in Nampula, the largest town (~750,000) in northern Mozambique. Here is the iconic cathedral at sunset (photo by Yacoub)

Shannon turned 1 year old on August 17, 2010!! We sang happy birthday in Portuguese and Shannon enjoyed her celebratory “cake”, which was a pastéis de nata, a custard-filled pastry in a flaky crust. Yum!

Parabéns para você,
Nesta data querida.
Muitas felicidades,
Muitos anos de vida.