Mommy and Sweet Pea

The second week in July we headed East and spent eight days in the Blue Mountains, Pendleton, Walla Walla, Baker City, and Hermiston. If you've heard of those places, you might be from Eastern Oregon or Washington. Some highlights include lovely runs in the mountains and on the river path in Pendleton, riding bikes in the evenings with family, nightly visits to Dairy Queen, dry heat that was comfortable in the shade, lots of dog and human socialization for Glen, and a day at the water park. All around, it was a lovely vacation. Here are a few photos from our little adventure: We hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls, spent a few days at the family cabin, played with our friends and family, and relaxed on the long car rides. This trip was awesome, but being away from home for 8 days, then spending the next 6 days attending a 10-hour-a-day class kind of threw my life out of whack. Just now, our house is finally clean again, and I am getting back into the swing of stay-at-

 Here is Sweet Pea earlier this month (sixteen months old), enjoying a dip in the pool with her new floatie toy that looks like a lily pad. Don't you just love summer?

Sweet Pea, Average, and I are very lucky to have a large and loving family that has provided tremendous support to us adventure as new parents. My sister, Molly, is one member of this amazing family that has been especially involved in our lives during this time. Just yesterday, she left for her training in Madagascar as a Peace Corps volunteer, where she will have possibly very limited access to phones or internet. I don't know what we would have done without her so many times over the last year and a half, and while I am super excited and proud of her for taking on a huge new challenge in her life, I can't believe she's going to be gone for the next two years. What follows are just a few of the moments I remember from everything Molly has done for us. I don't think anyone could have been more excited to find out she was going to be an auntie, and she was thrilled to be invited to be at our birth. She held the trash can for me when I threw up, brought me water and w