Wild Week

This last week was kind of an adventure. Brad's dental bridge broke unexpectedly and he had to have a quick dentist visit to get that fixed. The van broke unexpectedly and we had to put the car in the shop for the weekend. The dishwasher (brand new) seemed to break, and we spent the weekend washing by hand. Work went crazy and I had to put in quite a few extra hours. I got a bladder infection that turned very bad and had to go on a round of strong antibiotics and am luckily feeling better, but because I'm on the medication for at least 7 days and can't breastfeed while on it Thorvald's being weaned cold turkey as of Friday night. We also had semi-annual dental appointments on Monday that cut into my work day. Not to mention the US economic crisis. Sigh. But everything has turned out ok. The bridge, van, and dishwasher are fixed, work is more calm, I'm feeling better, and Brad is now able to shepherd Thorvald through is night wakings cause we can use a bottle instead of me. We also had Brad's mom here from Wednesday to Sunday and she was great because she was able to babysit when we were pinched because of the unexpected breakdowns and work issues and she also got Thorvald all kinds of new clothes and toys that should get us through the winter. We also hosted the dessert portion of the 4th Annual Progressive Bike Dinner (supplying the 20 of us with delicious homemade chocolate cheesecake) and had a nice time on Sunday. But I am beat!! And I'm very much looking forward to the General Women's Broadcast on Saturday and the delicious meal the High Council makes and serves and cleans up for us beforehand. Ahhh.

Thorvald and ASL

At 15 months, Thorvald has a lot to tell us about his needs, and despite both the growing popularity for "baby signs" and the possible arguments against the practice, we believe we all have benefited by teaching him a few words in American Sign Language. I've been very impressed with the Signing Time videos which we first saw on PBS (very) early in the mornings, then checked out from our local library, and have even purchased a few of our favorites to re-watch. Thorvald is great at signing Milk, Please, Water, Help, Cracker, Peach, Noodle, More, All Done, Airplane, Food, and a few others, and has (perhaps because of this, and/or because of our willingness to always try to listen to him) continued to be his happy, trusting, confident self.

Palmer Family Reunion in Waterton, Canada

July has lots of family things each year, but only once every three years do we go to Alberta, Canada for Brad's dad's mom's side (Palmer) family reunion. We love to go! It's fun to reunite with friends and family and to enjoy the beauty of the wonderful park. We were lucky to stay this year with Brad's grandparents, Camille and Bill, and Thorvald seemed to very much enjoy his first trip to Canada. On the way there we also got to spend some time with the Ellisons (Claire's cousin Courtenay's family) and what a treat that was!

San Juan Bike Tour 2008

Wow. What a great camping trip! At least 90 miles of biking, fun friends, three islands, tons of ferries, two babies, no showers, great food, a birthday cake, and perfect weather. Thanks to Brad and the others for sorting out all the details (I just basically showed up). My favorite parts were the company, the glow-in-the-dark balloons, the chocolate cake, the ride in to Eastsound on Orcas, and the drive-through Mexican food on the way home. Photos are at the back end of the June album. It was an excellent start to the summer!

Walkin'

The highlight of this month was definitely when Thorvald learned how to walk. He's developed so much in this first year of life but has been really just an extension of myself in a lot of ways, watching everything I do and wanting to do it too. Now that he can walk though, he's starting to distinguish himself from me in what he wants and what he does--even pulling his hand away as we walk along together to explore something different or simply change direction. I sure am thankful for this smart, wonderful little boy.

Better Every Day

Reading in the scriptures, it's nice to see consistent themes. One I particularly like these days is the message that the point is not to be who you are or who you've always been or your true self deep down, but to be BETTER than that. From the teachings about one's "natural man" to the parables of the olive tree or talents to God's calling to Moses even, he asks us to take what we have or what we have been given or what we are, and turn it into something better with his help. And why wouldn't we do or try to do that? He's God! He knows what is best for us! Plus, I've been trying it, and I'm liking the results, which are different but better than I ever imagined or could have done myself.

Happy Third

Happy Third Wedding Anniversary to Us! What a wonderful three years it has been with my Bradley. We took the South Lake Union Trolley to dinner and then stayed over at the Hotel Monaco for fun. For our trip, though, we'll be biking on a tandem with a kid trailer in early April down to Portland, staying at Opdahls' homes along the way. Woohoo!