Delayed birthday dinner

Karren was doing service for a Stake Relief Society dessert event last week and so we delayed my birthday from Thursday to yesterday. She had to make tons of nice plated desserts and worked from Wednesday through Saturday. This is one of the many sacrifices I make because I have such a talented, beautiful, giving wife. I would have it no other way though. :)

Sonya, Karren and I celebrated at Benihanas. Lots of restaunant give you free stuff for your birthday. Benihana's give you a free meal through their Chef's Table program. Red Robin gives a free burger through their eClub. We also signed Sonya up for Geoffrey's Birthday Club where she gets a free gift from Toys R Us every year. There are likely others out there also, but these are the ones we have signed up for.

Anyway, Benihanas was really good and Sonya ate a ton. She especially liked my shrimp and ate most of mine. At the end, they sang me happy birthday and took this photo. I especially like all the food in Sonya's mouth.

One Month To Go

Our daughter Miah is due in 31 days, just a month away. Karren and I got up nice and early to get an ultrasound of her and see what the issues with Miah might be. She definitely has a heart issue, shorter limbs (legs and arms), a tiny stomach, and is underweight. These are all typical for a Trisomy 18 baby. There were no major defects that we could see outside these issues. The technician says that there is a hole in the heart that limits the blood from flowing throughout the rest of the body, kind of like a short circuit. Karren said that she is "sooooo beautiful" and I would have to agree. She looks a little like Sonya to me and we are excited to meet her. She is a choice daughter of God and we are very happy that she will be with our family forever.

A Wickedly Eventful Weekend

Back in June, I purchased tickets for the musical Wicked for Karren's birthday. Sadly, when it came through Portland, we didn't go see it. I found out it was coming to Seattle this month, so I seized the opportunity.
We headed up to Seattle after work on Friday. The ride wasn't comfortable for my 8 month pregnant wife or my active child, but we happily arrived at Aunt Ilene and Uncle Richard's place about 9:30 PM. Sonya took a bit to warm up to their Labradoodle, Buffy, but by the end, they were good friends. At one point on Saturday, Sonya even got on her hands and knees and drank out of Buffy's water dish .... pretty gross but hilarious.
Saturday morning, we hung out in their backyard and chatted until just after noon. We then left Sonya with Ilene and Richard and headed to the Paramount Theatre. Karren and I both really liked Wicked and would recommend it to anyone who likes musicals. We then headed to a wedding receptions where we met up with Grandpa and Grandma Wilde, Ilene, Richard, Sonya, and Jessica. It was good to eat dinner and socialize.
Getting back to Ilene's place about 9:30 PM, I logged on to my email account to see when Karren's brother, Bryan, would arrive at the Seattle airport. The plan was to pick him up at 10:30 PM and then head back to Portland. It was then that I noticed my mistake. I bought the ticket for Portland instead of Seattle, likely out of habit. This meant that I had a 3 hour drive to do in 30 minutes. Impossible! It turned out OK though. We made really good time and got to the Portland Airport about 12:45 AM.
Bryan will be staying with us for the next little bit. He wanted a new start and Portland is a great place (if you can stand the rain).

Sonya and Lyla at the Oregon Coast

When these two are together, there is no stopping them!