Capt. Nick Carlton tosses his 2-year-old son Ryan into the air directly following his Stryker Brigade's Deployment Ceremony at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Wash., June 19, 2009. About 3,900 soldiers from 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division will begin leaving this month for a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.(Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

Following the memorial service for Spc. Samuel Stone, Debbie Smith-Wray, who has two sons deployed in Iraq, stands before his memorial, in Port Orchard, June 10, 2009. Smith-Wray did not know Stone who was killed in Tallil, Iraq, on May 31.(Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

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Rudy Neilson, 4, wears one of her favorite outfits as she walks through Old Tacoma Cemetery with students from Holy Rosary School including her older sister Abigail Neilson, 8. The students were placing flags on military veterans' graves in honor of Memorial Day, May 22, 2009.

Students from Lowell Elementary School and Scout Troop 209, Rolin Stone, Daelin Cavanaugh, and Zach Linder, from left, take a break from placing flags on veterans' graves to play war while visiting Old Tacoma Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day at in Tacoma, May 22, 2009. The 8-year-olds walked the cemetery in search of head stones looking for veterans graves. Many graves played tribute to WWII service. After finding a rare WWI veteran's grave the boys pretended to act out a battle and used clumps of dirt as hand grenades.(Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

I discovered Joe and Amy Cooper soaking in the sun while walking to my car after shooting an assignment in their neighborhood. We didn't need the photo for the paper but I couldn't resist capturing them, the blossoms and their colorful adirondacks. To frame them with the blossoms meant climbing the tree.

Personally what I appreciate about the photo is it's implausibility. When I started working at the TNT thirteen years ago this neighborhood around South I and 8th Streets was notorious as one of the city's problem high crime zones. A combination of police and neighborhood involvement has transformed an area formerly plagued by drive by shootings to one with a thriving community garden, park and is attracting young couples like the Coopers who recently moved from Kent. (Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

A cormorant swims through the water of Commencement Bay while another bird flies through the fog as seen along Ruston Way, in Tacoma, January 12, 2009.(Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

Tracey Koon feeds seagulls in a snow-covered Wright Park in Tacoma, Thursday morning, February 26, 2009.(Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

Aaron Cady, a horticultural technician for Metro Parks, trims a Japanese crab apple tree in the Japanese Garden at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma on Tuesday morning.

Janet Jensen/The News Tribune

Clouds form over Mount Rainier while others float over the Puyallup Valley on a typical fall day Wednesday, December 3, 2008.

Students from Japan’s Kitakyushu University perform a traditional Japanese dance Thursday during Culture Fest at the Student Center at Tacoma Community College. Twenty-eight students from Kitakyushu University are attending TCC for two quarters. Culture Fest, which included ethnic foods, fashion and music, was held as part of International Education Week at the college. Janet Jensen/The News Tribune

Rita Phillips takes in some sunshine Tuesday afternoon while waiting for fish to nibble at Bradley Lake Park in Puyallup. Phillips said it was the journey, not the destination that mattered: “This is awesome. I don’t have to catch – I just like to fish.”

The Lady Washington, right, and with her companion ship, the Hawaiian Chieftain, visited Gig Harbor Tuesday and will be available for dock-side tours Wednesday. Russ Carmack/The News Tribune