Did you miss me? Reflection and Confession

Yes, I know I haven't posted in three months. I apologize to the half a dozen of you that occasionally read my blog, but I had my reasons. Life has gotten busy. So, let me show you what I have been doing, in no particular order:

Running after a very mobile little boy.



Filling my new chest freezer (which we've crammed in our already cramped apartment) with eggplant, pesto, blueberries and anything we can find on sale.


Re-rearranging my hall closet to fit in my canning (First time I've ever canned!).


Working on my Pain au Levain making skills and showing them off at the fair.


Celebrating one birthday...


... And then another.


Developing scars.


Swimming in Zion (with a bunch of polygamists (not shown)) and learning to wear underwear everywhere.


Growing our very own rooftop oasis.


As you can see, I've been busy. Mathias is getting to the age where he demands a lot more attention. But how can you resist such a cute little boy as he lifts up your hand and gently places Moo, Baa, La La La into it for the 15th time in a day?

Summer time is a time of light, and here in the northwest, you have to take advantage of it. In addition, summer is a time of fresh produce and I really have been spending many of my evenings canning and freezing.

And above all, I've been trying really hard to not spend so much time on the computer. There are much more important things that I need to focus on and that I take too long to do. Besides, I have trouble believing that there are people out there who really want to know what I'm doing everyday. I mean, who really wants to know that I can nurse Mathias in my Ergo while hiking near Cedar Breaks? Maybe there is someone, but I really don't feel like I am that talented of a writer or that interesting of a person to really matter in the blogosphere.

Whew, I got that out of my system. Now you know the real reason behind my silence. Now, don't worry. I'm not going to drop out completely, but my posts are going to be fewer and farther between. But I'll save this blog for the major discoveries.

(Please Don't) Let it Snow!

I love snow. Really, I do. Even despite dire predictions of friends in Utah that I would soon tire of it (I was from California and therefore only liked snow because it was a novelty), I still love snow. And then this last weekend happened. This is the view from our window as of this morning.


And here is the view of the park from our roof deck.


Over the last few days we have gotten over a half a foot of snow. And it sure is beautiful. There are, however, just a few problems. First, church was canceled (yes, we here in the greater Seattle area are pansies). Second, there are no tire chains to be had, "not even for ready money"(Act I, scene 1). Third, there is not deicing salt to be had. Forth, and by far the worst, we've had to cancel our Christmas travel plans. Yes, that's right. We were planning on spending Christmas with my in-laws, but with deep (ok, ok, we're pansies) snow here and very icy roads there and no chains to be had for our new car, we just can't risk it. I am very disappointed as this was to be the first Christmas we spent with them. However, I am excited to have Christmas on our own, if only because Anna's present was too big to travel with us if we had gone. I can't wait to see her face when she comes into the living room and sees it sitting under the tree. So, I'm a little mad at snow right now. You know, the kind of mad you get with someone you love, where it doesn't change how you feel about them, but you are still angry with what they did. I still love snow. The crunch of booted feet...



... the chill and brightness of the air, the way snow sits on everything that stays still for even a moment, and most of all, the way it falls so gracefully to the ground.

Merry Christmas and may you all travel safetly.

A Week to remember

For the past week, Anna and I have been off galavanting in Oregon while Hubby stayed at home to keep down the fort. And quite the week we had!

First, Anna's favorite single aunt wanted to take her to the beach. There we enjoyed lots of wet sand, cold water and good company.

Anna "helped" her aunt by demolishing all the sand towers she could possibly make. If you listen hard to the video, you might just hear Anna say "Helping!" while scurrying from tower to tower.

Anna got some sand on her leg. While that might be normal for the beach, Anna did not think so and held her leg up hoping that we would clean it off for her.

After the beach became too cold to handle, we went back to Grandma's house, with a short stop at a farm stand that had a few goats, bunnies, and chickens. Anna had a lot of fun feeding the goat.

Here's our little sunflower!

After the weekend, Aunt, Anna and I went to the Portland Children's Museum, which is next to the Zoo (Can I just say I love Cultural Passes?!). There, Anna got to color, play with clay, trains and balls, "drive" an ambulance, and dig. All the while, her aunt and I were running trying to keep up with her. Well, her aunt was running; I was trying to sit down as much as possible. What a great time she had.

Digging!

Our last day there was the opening day of the County Fair and we just had to go. We had a busy day looking at all the cows, goats, sheep, poultry, llamas, and rabbits. And that was after getting cheesecakes ready to enter into the daily contest (we didn't win, but we did get in for free!). While the highlight for Anna was probably all the animals, or the ice cream, my highlight was seeing this:

This was the very first year I have ever entered anything in the fair, and I won! I entered a sourdough loaf (Thank you to the Bogardus family for the recipe and the sourdough start!) that I didn't think turned out that well, but it won. Of course, I had entered it into the sourdough section and there were only two other entries. I got to taste the other two, and mine certainly was the most sour of the group and my mother-in-law just raved about the texture (I thought it was a little lacking). To say the least, I was very proud of my accomplishment and maybe I'll be able to enter more in the future. I am getting better at making 100% whole wheat hearth bread...

So, now we are home and glad to be there. But it was a wonderful vacation!