Finished...

...with a surprise ending.  My first afghan ever.  I ran out of blue, and the only yarn I had with me was this eyelash in brown. 

I LOVE how it turned out.  

And, I finished, after just a few short years, just in time to send off to Sarah and Mike's new

Everest Mitchell

Sweet boy!

Congratulations Sarah and Mike!

I can't wait to meet him!

Seattle to Portland

Chad and friends rode their bicycles 200 MILES last Saturday,

from Sattle, WA, to Portland, OR.  

Wow.  

We caught our breath at the beach in Seattle Friday afternoon, 

after driving for a day and a half to get there.  

None of us had considered that it could be cold at sea level in July,

so we were cold.  

I'd grabbed a jacket for baby Chad 

as an afterthought, 

as I was walking out the door.  

We'd packed a blanket in case the AC got too high in the van.

The next morning the boys lined up at the start

at 4 am.  

This is them, pulling into the lunch stop at mile 100, at 9 something am.

I hate being negative here, 

so I will simply tell you that the laughter in this picture

is due to the fabulous sandwich David is making.

And after that, we laughed about the fabulous jackets.

If this picture seems a little blurry, 

it is because my subjects were shivering.  

Back on the road again.  

Chad may look like he is smiling, but he is not.

He's grimacing through the pain.

His knee was having intense issues.

However, he peddeled through it all, and finished the 

202 MILES.

Though he said he will never do it again.

Hm.

That's what he said last time.  

 After the ride, 

we plugged "Gold's Gym" into the GPS so the boys, 

in their Gold's Gym jerseys, 

could go beg showers.

There is no Gold's Gym in Portland, 

but there was a 24-hr fitness, so off we went.

When Google Maps said, "Destination on right," we were here:

 

 

This happened to be one of the three restaurants my aunt Susan, 

who used to live in Portland, 

had suggested.  

I don't know what kind of shape you'd be in if you came here to work out every day.
We bagged the "showers first" thought and ate, 

you know, 

since we were there.

Then we drove the day and a half home. 

Though Chad doesn't want to ever do that again,

I would :)

And We Have a Swimmer!

Eden swam all over that pool all by herself today!  Yeah! 

Momastery

I found this blog (http://momastery.blogspot.com/) while searching for a Father's Day present for Chad on Etsy, of all places.  Someone was selling a sign they had made for her that said, "We can do hard things."  That's a phrase we've been trying to convince our children, and ourselves, of, for a year or so now, and I wondered who, also, was trying to create strong children in a tough world.  Well, that "who", is a woman named Glennon, mother of three.  She is not like me in many ways.  She buys organic on purpose, she drinks coffee and beer, and she looks great in a bikini.  But she is like me in so many other ways.  She treasures her family, is in awe of her children, and I love, love, love, to read what she writes about it all.  If you want to be newly reminded to be inspired by your children and uplifted by life, go check her out.  You'll be glad you did.