Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Wife

Today, my lovely wife enters the last year in her 20's. We celebrated a week ago at Benihana's.  Sonya isn't a big eater but she always tends to eat a ton when we go there.

This morning, Sonya and I got up early.  I knew everyone expects me to make a cake, and so I did.  Here are the pancakes that Sonya and I made for Karren this morning.

Happy Birthday my love!  Enjoy your last days in the 20's!

The Best Baby Sitter: Reserve Early

Sweet Baby Clara came over for a visit a couple days ago. I told Sonya that she was going to be the baby-sitter, and she took this very seriously. Moments after the baby arrived, Sonya asked to hold her and showered her with head kisses. As the afternoon progressed, Sonya wiped away boogies, gave Clara a crawling lesson, read a book to her, made up songs for a mini music time, and taught her how to hold a balloon. Sonya never left Clara's side.
If you are at all impressed with Sonya's care-taking skills, we are now taking baby-sitting reservations for June of 2020. Book now, space is limited!

Spring is finally here....in JUNE!

Our strawberry patch has grown like crazy...nearly taking over our yard. The other day, Sonya came running into the house from the back yard screaming, "The Birdie is chasing me!!!". I went out to investigate and there was, indeed, a crazy bird squaking as I approached the strawberry patch. I quickly discovered this beautiful little nest with two baby birds sitting directly on the ground under a strawberry plant. Apparently, every time Sonya went to pick a yummy strawberry snack, she would scare the mommy bird.

Sonya's love for strawberry picking was cultivated last week at a local farm where she picked strawberries with some friends. Here are some pictures documenting their experience:

Sidney: "Ok Sonya, here you have a bucket with some string. It's like a purse. Fill it up with as many red strawberries as you can find"
Sonya: "OH ya, I got 'dis"

Sonya: "You wanted the green one's, right?! I am totally picking faster than anyone else here! I'm AMAZING!!!"
(notice the dirt all over Sonya's mouth...yep...she was eating more muddy green strawberries than she was putting in her bucket.)

Sonya: "Wow, this is getting heavy! I know what I can do to lighten my load....."

Sonya: "This will definitely do the trick! Genius! Pure Genius! I'm sure my mom will appreciate the bite I've taken out of every strawberry! This is the best $7 she's ever spent!!

Talmage: "Well hey there, little lady!. It looks as if you've been working all day in the fields. Why don't you come on over here and take a rest next to my tracter...While I talk your ear off about all this manly machinery stuff. Now this gear moves this blade that cuts this...blah blah.......blah"

Sonya: "PHEW! I thought I'd never get away...Hmmm, what I really need after a long days work is a relaxing, cleansing mud bath...ya....

Memorial Day 2010

For the third time in 4 years, we went camping over Memorial Day weekend with friends.

This tradition started in 2007 during Karren's morning sickness with Sonya. We went with the Barkers to Cape Lookout State Park.

In 2008, we camped with the Barkers and Bowdens at Silver Falls State Park.

In 2009, the Barkers were on sabbatical and we decided not to go for some reason.

This year, we camped with the Barkers and Evertons at the Valley of the Rogue State Park. This campground was fun, but really loud due to its proximity to I-5. I don't think we will go back.

We embarked on our 4 hour drive down to Southern Oregon and met the Barkers in Grants Pass for a scenic jetboat excursion of Hellgate Canyon. It was a lot of fun and we saw quite a few birds, but the best part was seeing Sonya's reaction on the boat. The following picture and video says it all:





After the fun on the boat, we bought groceries for our meal. Each family prepared a meal for the rest of the camp and we had Sunday breakfast (Dutch oven stuffed banana French toast ... mmmm). The weather was a welcome respite from the constant rain we've been having. Sunny!

Sunday was a restful day. Cameron went with the Everton family to see Crater Lake (or what little of it was open) and Karren stayed behind to hike.

The 5 kids all had fun (even Lucas who is crying in the photo).


As always, the best part of the trip was the company. We feel that we know the Evertons and Barkers even better now.

On Monday, we broke camp and came home. In the evening, our family went to visit Miah's grave. It was sentimental for the entire family. Sonya put some flowers from our garden on Miah's grave. We miss her dearly and hope she is doing a lot of good in heaven.