cravings going strong

The song I crave.
DeVotchKa


The food I crave.


The books I crave.

attachment

For the past month The UB is going through a strong attachment phase...he wants me and only me all day and night every day and night. It makes getting anything done super difficult. Good thing I find him so cute and charming.

Organizing

So now my life is all about re-arranging our apartment and trying to organize our lives so that we can welcome the new baby in a few months. It feels good to get things done and it's very tiring. I feel like napping pretty much all day. We moved all of our rooms around (for the first time The Cowboy and I aren't sharing space with a child or the living room!) and The Cowboy is busy building closet shelves, a crib/bed bunk for The UB to share with mystery baby, working on our backyard garden, and working on his side art projects and school prep. stuff. I'm about to toss out at least a third of our clothes and start sorting through baby stuff to see what to keep and what we need, and rearrange all of our closets and my storage junk...it feels endless but hopefully life will be in order shortly. The Cowboy starts teaching again early September so our time is limited and I am having a hard time believing I'm really nearly 8 months pregnant...life is moving top speed these days.

(This baby is super busy and powerful...I never felt movements with The UB like I do with this one...I think he or she is bruising all of my organs with their flips, kicks, rolls and punches, almost constant strong movement it's crazy, I'm excited to see what this wild action might mean about the personality soon joining our family.)

The Visit--Goodbye

We had so much fun with Tawnee and Ian it was sad to see them go. We really wish they would move closer so we could see them every week.


The UB wore this sad face the entire drive home from the airport and off and on all day when he would think about our goodbye. We love and miss you guys!!

The Visit--Nights

We spent a lot of time checking out the Olympics.


The Cowboy and I also finally got out to see Batman, we both loved it. And we went out for Sushi and once to the Hospital to check on the baby. It was super nice of Tawnee to babysit. We loved having some dates and The UB absolutely adores her.

The Visit--Beach II

The Visit--Muir Woods

Old Man UB

He loves to find a walking stick no matter where we go. The Discovery Museum


The Zoo


Muir Woods

The Visit--Ian In the City

The Cowboy walked, bused, trained, trolleyed Ian everywhere. They had a great time exploring.

The Visit--Beach I

The Visit--Zoo

The Visit--Discovery Museum

In the Canoe

Tawnee and Ian came out for a visit last week. We had a fantastic time. There were some crazy jealous moments between the two boys, some great wrestling, endless belly laughing and lots of super fun mini-trips around our lovely city.
On the boat

The spider web.

Organizing the fish and frogs.



This one is my favorite. Ian had a great time jumping out and yelling "whahhh" scaring The UB silly. They both loved it and I just happened to catch this jump/yell about to go down.

catch-up

We haven't been doing much...but then life picked up and we were doing a lot so anyway here is a photo from our Stake's 80th celebration back on July 24th. It was HOT and we are not used to the heat living here in never-ending Spring. So to combat the heat The UB found his favorite spot was near the drinks floating in ice. He would move ice back and forth from bucket to bucket it provided loads of entertainment.

zoo

We spent a few hours enjoying the zoo with Michelle and Annabelle last week. The UB was in a very studious mode for most of the trip. He is really into trains lately so that was the highlight of his trip...well and sneaking in some hugs and kisses with Annabelle. It was a lot of fun.

August book club

This is one of the best I have read in a long time. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it to everyone.
More information on the true story found here.
(example of just one many shining reviews)

San Francisco Observer

May 14, 2006

Former Berkeley Resident Builds Schools in Pakistan, Afghanistan

Book Review: Three Cups of Tea

By Alex Selim - SFO Book Editor

Long before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 brought home the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism that had been festering in the religious schools, or madrassas, of the Middle East and Central Asia, one American embarked on a mission to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan that would prepare students to live productive lives in the modern world instead of for martyrdom.

In his book, “Three Cups of Tea,” one-time Berkeley resident Greg Mortenson (co-written by David Relin) recounts how in 1993 after a failed attempt to climb K2, the second tallest mountain in the world, Mortenson got separated from his guide and stumbled into a remote village called Korphe in the northeast of Pakistan.

Hearing the villagers who had nursed him back to health lament that they didn’t have a school for their children, Mortenson, whose missionary father had established a hospital in Tanzania where Greg grew up (he had also learned Swahili and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro by the time he was 11), promised that he would return someday to build a school for them.

Returning home to Berkeley, the Army veteran lived out of his car to save money while he raised funds for the school. After struggling to find donors, he finally got connected with Dr. Jean Hoerni, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry and mountain climber, who donated $12,000 to build the school and, before his death in 1997, established the Central Asian Institute with Mortenson as its first director to build schools throughout the remote regions of Pakistan.

Since then, Mortenson has built 55 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has made a particular effort to educate girls, not only to close the gender gap but because girls, more often than boys, will stay within the community and instill the value of their education to others.

Relin, a freelance journalist who first wrote Mortenson’s story in an article in Parade magazine in 2003, and presumably did the lion’s share of the writing, writes with smooth prose that avoids the awkwardness that so often plagues co-authored books.

“Three Cups of Tea” champions the noble cause of a real American hero and offers an inspiring demonstration of the power of private individuals to fight terrorism and the ignorance that breeds it with education and goodwill.

a double

I'm pretty sure I want this.

artwork

A UB creation, I love crayola washable markers they come off everything with ease.

Finger paint touching up the faux hawk.


Playing Dad.

The UB at Annabelle's party

Annabelle's party was a lot of fun. The UB really loved the balloons.

Is it just me or does size 6 seem extra large for an 18month old? I love his big feet.


Swinging.

The UB

Winnemucca

We drove to Winnemucca over the 4th and met up with our good friends Tom and Michael (they drove down from Salt Lake City) Meeting in the middle worked out nicely.
The UB giving some direction.



It turns out Winnemucca was a perfect place to celebrate the 4th...they had gunny sack races and balloon tosses and watermelon eating contests and fishing for toys and face painting and on and on. The weather was surprisingly not too hot (high 80's) The fireworks were great, so much room everywhere and we got to sit right beneath them. It was perfect.

The UB loved having the chance to run around free in the parks.


The pool at our motel.

The adorable motel.
Tom watching The UB play with a cup.


We loved the town we loved the company we loved the trip.

what I'm reading

I'm very excited to dive into this one, I'm picking it up from the library today.

This one I'm also about to read, it was recommended by my midwife because she knows labor was traumatic for me last time. We both think it might be a bit too holistic for my taste but it's worth checking out I suppose.

The 4th of July

The past 3 years we celebrated at Stinson Beach this year we planned to be in Salt Lake City, I love being surrounded by the old familiar smallness on the 4th...but our plans flopped so we are going to drive until we meet a bit of Salt Lake in Nevada.

fingerpaint

anniversary

Somewhere there waiteth in this world of ours
For one lone soul another lone soul
Each choosing each through all the weary hours
and meeting strangely at one sudden goal,
Then blend they like green leaves with golden flowers,
Into one beautiful, perfect whole;
Life's long night thus ended, and the way
Lies open, onward to eternal day.

-Sir Edwin Arnold

The Cowboy and I were married four years ago today.
I never imagined I would meet someone that I would blend with so perfectly.

sometimes we are really good parents

John Adams

This film is brilliant. It is a perfect prelude to our upcoming Independence Day. I didn't see it when it originally aired so I just finished watching the rentals. I'm a huge fan of David McCullough, it was so nice to see one of his books on screen. Thanks for the recommendation Tom...and I highly recommend it in turn to any of you who have yet to watch it (or read it)