A little catch-up…

I feel like all posts these days begin with some comment about how long it’s been.  My recent hiatus has been exceptionally long.  I don’t know why but I haven’t been using my camera much recently…and it’s usually new photos that help inspire posts.  Something that we’re sure to rectify in the coming weeks.

So what have we been up to…

First…the BIG news in our lives; Sarah is pregnant!  Our due date is January 4, 2011.  Sarah has been feeling terrible…the nausea has been worse with this pregnancy.  Sarah has been a trooper and is mustering through.  She had a rough time finishing up the school year but she’s able to manage better now that she doesn’t have to worry about vomiting in front of 25 second graders all the time.  Being able to take naps in the middle of the day, with Maria, has helped too.  We’ve yet to share the news with Maria…but Lucy was pretty bummed to hear about another demotion.  Poor Lucy.

At the beginning of June, we all got together to celebrate Jon’s 40th birthday.  It was also our first time to their house…what an amazing place.  They just finished having a monster patio installed, very impressive!  The party was a 70’s theme; hilarious…perfect weather (which was amazing as it rained the week before…and the week after)…great food (one of their friends did some grilling/smoking for them)…and wonderful people. 

This summer has been pretty mellow for Sarah and Maria…play dates with friends and neighbors keep them busy.  As for me, other then work, World Cup has taken over any free time I get.  Maria has also enjoyed watching the games.  She frequently insists that we both go put our Sounders Jerseys on to watch together…and she refuses to put her jersey on until I have mine on.  Hilarious.  Been bummed to see the US, Portugal and Brazil eliminated already…but it’s been a joy to watch so much high quality soccer…makes the Sounders/MLS games seem terrible by comparison.

Maria and I have started a swim class at the YMCA…”swim class” sounds awfully advanced for what we do.  It’s a lot of songs and games to get the kids more comfortable in the water.  It’s been fun doing those together.

Maria and I have also been enjoying after work bike rides!  Now that it’s summer (well…sorta) we are trying to get out for short rides after dinner a couple times a week.  She loves riding along in the Burley trailer and will prod me with, “I want to go FAST Daddy!”  She’s so funny.

Another update we’re excited to share is that we finally finished our back yard beds!  We had 5 cubic yards of mulch delivered and mixed it in with the soil we installed earlier this year.  They look great!  After they were finished, we were so excited we went to Sky Nursery and picked up a bunch of herbs and veggies to get the garden going.  We figure we aren’t too far behind because it really hasn’t been sunny around here yet.  Hopefully September will be nice and extend our growing season.  I’m now working on building a bench to further enhance our back yard.  Day 1 of bench building was completed with all 10 fingers still attached…so I call it a success.  I hope to get a chance to work on the project more today.  I’m to have a bench by the end of the day…or we’ll have plenty of cedar 2x4s for firewood.

Next weekend we take off for a much needed vacation in Mazatlan!  We cannot wait to get away for a little fun in the sun.  Up until yesterday; Grandma, Pappo, Mitch & Sam were going to join us as well…but unfortunately Ken’s mom needs to be move into Hospice…so the four of them won’t be able to join us.  Such a bummer as Maria has been looking forward to spending time with all of them.

Well…I think that covers most of the big happenings for our family.  Until later…