Fourth of July

A very patriotic little girl.
Of course "NoooWah" was there and he had Sofie's undivided attention and lots of hugs.

Our friends Amy and Scott came from Co. Springs. Amy ran the 10k w/ me on the morning of the fourth. Here she is trying out the bow.
Our friends Gordon and Heather came with their son Nicolaus, they were so much fun. Here is Heather enjoying Jack. When she was asked if she wanted another, she said "no way", but she likes to play with the babies.
S'more face

Our camp site on our property in Silverton
Boys playing the golf ball throwing thingie game
Gordon, Ryan and Scott
Larissa and Amy. Larissa is our neighbor girl who babysits for us when Micah can't(she is on her honeymoon). She was a pure God send, I don't think we could have done it without her.

Scott went for a "little" 2 hour run and then bathed in the freezing river. Besides the 100 miler ultra marathons he does, this reaffirms how crazy he really is.

Cute boys.
Aunt Becky, ummm, gave my daughter soda pop. I am still very upset by this. Sofie has NEVER had soda. So next time Becky's kids come over, they can have all the chocolate and candy they want. Paybacks.
Eating lunch after the parade.
This is our view out of our bed in our newly acquired pop up. Can't beat that view the river is right under us and I was afraid Ryan and I were going to tip the camper and fall into the river so we went and slept on the other side.
Jack in his jumper . There is video of this down below, how about that view?

His first ear of corn.
Figuring it out.
The 10k Amy and I ran the morning of the 4th. (I am on the right side of the road, Amy on the left)The run is basically 5k out and 5k back right through our property, so we had a cheering section twice. The run was really fun other than the hill at the very beginning. That hill was terrible at 9600 feet elevation. But we got through it and we actually had fun doing it together. I wish she lived closer so we could train together, we were well suited running partners. We did it faster than we thought we would and had a negative split 35/30 so that was cool. Good training in that altitude.
Parade on Main st in Silverton

Maddie the very patriotic girl

Jack's make shift jumper

Heretic?

So I was lurking around on the web this morning and found this site I think through Kim's site via another site and it is called "Emerging Women" and there is an excerpt I so identify with I copied down below. So it got me to thinking about some things about myself. I am a Christian, but I am a liberal. I am a girl who loves the city and adores and lives in the country. I will be the neighbor who will borrow a cup of sugar or an egg or 2, use your lawn mower, come over when I smell good food cooking and invite myself for dinner. I will give you tips and my opinions you probably don't want or care for, on your gardening or remodeling projects. But, I will watch your dog and water your flowers and get your mail and clean your litter box when you go out of town. I will watch your kids while you run to the grocery store real quick. I will give you a dozen eggs and a 5 pound bag of organic sugar to replace the 1 cup I borrowed, also you will be invited back to my house to eat some concoction I made from my Fine Cooking subscription. You may not like my politics, but you will love my flourless chocolate cake. I love all the "bad" music" and the more it ROCKS out, the better, and I also love classical, bluegrass, christian and hymns. I am full of contradictions my husband lovingly calls me out on, all the time. I love to argue politics with conservatives, and I don't take it personal. I am voting for Obama and I hope Hillary runs with him. I too, so many times, have probably been on other's prayer lists. I get the, "you can't be a real Christian if you believe that". But all this you may already know about me, but honestly I am a doubter. I always have been, it is in my nature and no matter how hard I pray and ask God to remove that part of my brain, He doesn't. Oh to be the "perfect believer". So on to the point of my blog this morning, wouldn't it be nice to have a group of women, to have thought provoking, intelligent conversations with who you could voice doubts, misgivings, and fears without condemnation? So, because I am not witty, clever, or smart enough to put into words my own thoughts, I stole them from someone else. Here they are. Have a great day.

http://emergingwomen.blogspot.com/
Community: Wherever You Happen to Be
I “emerged” in an unlikely environment. Just a few notches away from the buckle of the Bible Belt, my hometown of Dayton Tennessee made a name for itself back in 1925 when the Scopes Monkey Trial put it on the map as the last great bastion of conservative fundamentalism. Not a whole lot has changed since then, so my “Obama 08” buttons, AIDS awareness crusades, and shelf full of “liberal propaganda” by the likes of Brian McLaren and Tony Jones have been met with some skepticism and concern from friends and family. I’ve even made to a couple of church prayer request lists. When I read about Emerging gatherings in big cities around the country, I find myself getting a little jealous. I long to fellowship with other women who want to break through the stained glass ceiling. I’d love to spend an evening in the company of fellow doubters and questioners and contrarians. I’d like to have an honest conversation without getting labeled a heretic. I’d like it if people got my jokes about postmodernism.Of course it would be easier if I were within driving distance of a more progressive church, but I’ve decided that perhaps it wouldn’t be better. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m beginning to learn that sometimes the best community is the one in which you don’t really fit. Folks around here won’t let me get away with hypocrisy or faulty arguments. They keep me on my toes and pray for me even when I think I don’t need it. They have inadvertently taught me the spiritual disciples of patience and self-control, and I find myself getting better and better at holding my tongue and thinking before I speak. As it turns out, not all opinions have to be expressed, and sometimes unity is more important than winning a debate. While I have not plans to return to my fundamentalist roots, Monkey Town has taught me not to get too comfortable. Community doesn’t mean surrounding yourself with people with whom you agree. It means surrounding yourself with whoever is there.

Cah Cah gets married

The beautiful bride Micah. During the wedding ceremony Sofie kept yelling "Cah Cah", I am sure everyone thought, "why doesn't that lady take her kid to the bathroom already?" So I took Sofie after she came down the aisle without a hitch, and went to the back of where everyone was sitting--trying to get out of ear shot of Sofie screaming for her favorite girl in the world, after me of course. Sofie was mesmerized by Micah's dress, as we all were, she was the most beautiful bride. So, back to the story, So my child is yelling "Cah Cah" and we are in the back, then she starts to yell, of all the times, "poo poo!" I am like, for once, whispering to her "go in your diaper, go in your diaper" then she let go the biggest, loudest, gas bomb EVER. Then she starts to yell "toot toot!" All during the prayer. That's my girl, wonder who she takes after. Her dad, of course.

She got really comfortable and started to really run around and wear herself out. There was a point after the toasts where the mike was open and people could get up and say something to the bride and groom. Sofie runs up there, so they give her the mike, and she yells "cah cah" Everyone laughed cause I am sure they thought "would someone please take this poor child to the bathroom", then the maid of honor told everyone the story of how Sofie can't say "Micah" so she says "Cah Cah" then everyone went "aahhh" (probably out of relief for my poor kid who they thought had to poop). I can't believe what a little show off she is, she loved everyone clapping and cheering. She thought it was all for her.


Micah getting her hair done
Micah's beautiful mom, Lori. Hope I look that good at my daughter's wedding.
Sofie in the wagon with the ring bearer
She didn't keep this crown on very long, it was so cute.
Micah started walking down the aisle coming out of this house. Beautiful.

Sofie gets to dance with the bride

This is my little girl, she is dancing like there is no tomorrow. Notice she is the only one on the dance floor. Funny how kids are just born dancing, plus she has great taste in music. Jack Johnson is the bomb.