Eating locally and nutritiously

This summer, we decided to purchase a harvest share at Sun Gold Farms. Every week, we get a grocery bag of vegetables fresh from the farm and grown locally in neighboring Forest Grove. We don't get to choose the vegetables but instead get a share of whatever is ripe in a given week. We have really enjoyed it. Here is Sonya enjoying some peas and carrots from a few weeks ago. Tomorrow will be week 5 out of 18.

June Visits, Rounds 1 and 2

June always tends to be when we get visitors. It probably has yo do with the rain settling down and the weather being mostly pleasant. Also, this is the beginning of wedding season and the end of school.

First, we had a visit from Ned and Lynnie (along with Sonya's 3 cousins, Ian, Zach and Seth). They stayed at our place for about a week. Sonya LOVED it. She even changed her sleep schedule to get maximum play time with the boys. She was constantly trying to keep up and copy Ian, yell louder that Zach, and hug and pick up Seth. After they left, Sonya didn't understand why her cousins weren't there to play anymore.




A small consolation was the visit of K and Jessica just after Ned left. Sonya really liked them. K also helped my in my yard to root out blackberry bushes which had been growing in my big bush.

Finally, the League of Ladies attacked our front yard and pulled up a TON of weeds. It is looking a ton better and has inspired me to finish off the yard. I have a goal to finish it before Karren's birthday.

A visit to Utah

Our family just got back from visiting Utah for a week.
Here, Sonya got to play with her cousins ....

and her second cousins ....

and with her Grandpa and Grandma Wilde ...

and with her Great Grandma Woffinden!

Her mother on the other hand wondered how her life would be different if she married into the Karren family .... hmmmm ..... Karren Karren.

Our Fears Confirmed

It has been a trying last 6 weeks or so for our little family. A first ultrasound indicated there was a 50% chance that there was something seriously wrong with our new baby. We then went through a CVS (Chorionic Villi Sampling) and two Amnios (Amniocentesis, FISH test) to try and find out if this was really the case. Today, we learned that our baby has a terminal disease called Trisomy 18, or Edwards syndrome. I didn't quite know what this was, but it is described here, Trisomy 18 Foundation. There is an extremely high chance the baby will not make it to birth, and if she (yes, it's a girl) does, she is not expected to live long. This is very sad for us, but we have decided to carry on with the pregnancy. Hopefully, we will get to hold her in our arms before she passes on. We debated whether we should post this, but we decided to let you all know as there is nothing we can do medically. Please keep us in your prayers. We trust the Lord has a plan for us and that He knows what is best for our family.

Easter Weekend

This has been a fun week! Karren's mom drove down from California to help Karren out. It has been really great having her around as it has allowed me to rest a little.

This weekend, Sonya spent lots of time with her friends. It started out with babysitting (see previous post) on Friday. Sonya was pretty tired, but perked right up when her friends arrived.

On Saturday, we gave Sonya her Easter basket, which as you can see, she immediately emptied.

Karren had a consultation that morning, so I took Karol and Sonya and went to prepare our Ward Easter celebration (Karren and I are on the Activities Committee). Karren was pleased when she arrived as all the sandwiches were done (thanks to a great assembly line). The party was a success and Sonya enjoyed hunting for Easter Eggs. She got a little frustrated when she couldn't pull an egg out of the grass due to there being too much grass in her hands, but overall, she had fun.


On Sunday, we taught our Easter lesson to our primary class and then took a three hour nap when we got home. Afterwards, we had the Barkers and Morgans over for a Easter extravaganza of Egg dying (which resulted in many cracked eggs, strange colors, and even eaten shells), egg hunting, and egg salad sandwich eating. Fun was had by all.

Babysitting

Karren and I have been participating in a babysitting group for the last little while. We found that is was both very hard and expensive to go on dates, so we got four families together trade off watching kids. This way, we get to go on dates three out of four weeks. We have found that a side benefit has surfaced. Sonya is now friends with all these kids and they know and enjoy each other's company. They are just like cousins!

Sonya and Sydney in the Park

Enjoy!