Hello,

I hope you do not mind lots of pictures of Eliana- here are some from this morning's fun.

Enjoy!

Empty nesters- for a night

Last weekend, Eliana got to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Schinke. They had a blast but we really missed the baby bubs.

The house is too quiet
while I make too much noise.
I let the door slam behind me,
Step on the creaky wood floor boards
and walk around with my electric toothbrush buzzing away.
Yes, it is too quiet we agree.
We know she is at grandma and grandpa's house.
We know she is in capable and loving hands.
But we miss her.
we miss boisterous sounds before bedtime
and We miss having to be quiet after.
we miss having her wake up so we can bring her back to bed to cuddle
we miss the softness of her breath on your neck
as she drapes over your shoulder while you carry her to bed.
We missed her gentle stirring in the morning-
her mind slowly waking but her body not willing to let go of sleep.
We missed her arms outstretched, waiting to be embraced.
Sometimes a little noise (or not being able to make a sound)
can be a good thing.

a boy!

Well folks, light those cigars and lift your hands up in praise! We just heard from our friends Rachel and Dave that they will be the proud parents of a baby boy!
http://ribaradoption.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to them and to their new baby boy Ezekiel- I can't wait to meet him and to watch Eliana and Ezekiel play together!

pictures from the 4th of July

Here are some photos from this years 4th. Enjoy - and don't forget to leave comments!

To have but not hold

Lately, this has been my favorite question to ask around a camp fire. "What things would you pay a million dollars for if you did not have them, but having them ignore?"

It is easy to get caught up in all things busy; to be a completer of tasks, letting the beauty of each day- of every smile on your infant's face- pass you by without fully understanding the beautiful magnitude of the moment.

In my constant effort to Love, Laugh and Live I have been making strides to notice the normal, appreciate the unappreciated, and give every moment, every experience, every sunrise, every time in the forest, everything I eat- give them their fair dues inasmuch as that experience has the capacity to fulfill my journey to Love, Laugh and Live.

So, what are the things that you currently have, but if you did not have them, you would pay a million dollars for? (if you had it to spend- let's not be over critical here)

This list will be ever evolving as I remember re-discovery moments. Here is the first one I though about this morning.

Sunlight. I love alpine starts in the mountains. I love getting up at 2 am in total darkness and cold, putting on a headlamp, and going. Alpine starts are so great because they are always followed by a sunrise which brings warmth and rejuvenation to the weary hiker/climber. I can remember hiking one of Colorado's 14,000' peaks with my sister Lexi. We got to the summit over an hour earlier than expected. I wanted to share with her the experience of watching the sun rise from over 14,000 feet into our atmosphere. From that high up, you can clearly see the curvature of our earth. Oh, and we didn't bring enough warm clothes to comfortably wait out the last hour before the sun was scheduled to rise. My watch displayed the ambient temp as 32 degrees. It is always coldest just
before the sun comes up.

I spent that chilly hour doing jumping jacks, pushups and sit-ups in an attempt to stay warm. I didn't have a jacket- just a long sleeve shirt and light pants. Lexi was wearing my jacket extra clothes and socks. We welcomed the sun and it's warmth onto our tiny summit, embracing every ray we could and letting them soak into our chilled bodies. From the summit we could see down into the valley to our camp and the rest of the group was still sleeping- after all, it was dark down there, over a vertical mile below us.

Words to live by

I just read this and it captures a lot about what I believe in this world.

“Somewhere along the line, we seem to have confused comfort with happiness.”

Also, there is a little month long experiment I am going to be doing- I'll let you know in a few weeks how it works out.

July 4th Weekend by Isaac

Well, updates are long overdue. So much has happened- I have just been too busy to write about it!
Lets start with the 4^th of July weekend.

In 1941 Congress made "Independence Day" a national holiday.

Here are some fun facts:

Six states — California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Indiana — combined to produce about 80 percent of watermelons last year.

$128.8 million
The value of fireworks imported from China, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imports ($135.6 million) in 2002. U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, amounted to $13.5 million, with Germany purchasing more than any other single country ($5.0 million).

$7.9 million
The dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags in 2002; more than half of this amount ($5.2 million) was for U.S. flags made in China. This was down from the 2001 dollar value of U.S. flag imports ($51.7 million), but still considerably higher than the total for 2000 ($747,800). That was the last full year prior to 9/11.

$646,452
Dollar value of exports of U.S. flags in 2002. Japan was the leading customer, purchasing $86,189 worth.

Has anyone heard of “Glamping” before? Think of it as high class car camping. It is a glamorous camping experience for those less nature inclined or people who want to experience all the creature comforts of home while outdoors. For now, the Wills don’t do family camping- we do family glamping! I save the suffer-fests for when I go out on my own.

Voyager Village seems to be the Mecca for our little Mahoney/Will clan. With only a few missing (and yes, you were missed) the meals along the 10’ picnic table were packed with people and mounds of food reminiscent of the movie “Hook” with Robin Williams- you know the scene- where the lost boys are chowing down and he doesn’t see the food, “use your imagination” a lost boy tells Peter- SHAZAM! The table is overflowing with brightly colored foods, grilled foods and baked goods. Unfortunately the epic food fight that follows in the movie never transpired around our table… yet.

Sleeping arrangements were another frequent topic of discussion, although ours was always the same answer. We slept in my SkyView 3 tent from Mountain Hardware. I have spent nights in -20 (ambient temp) with gusts to 60 mph- sure, it is a little robust for a family camping tent, but it is the only one I have. Yeah, you heard me right, I only have one tent- I am amazed every time I mention it as well. With my love of all things gear, I thought for sure I would have more than one- but this is the only one I need- and I digress. We inflate a 6” Queen sized air mattress in our tent and toss in multiple blankets- yes no sleeping bags for us (well, I did bring one for Nicole if we got really cold. In an effort to improve our glamping, I thought piles of down and cuddly soft fleece blankets that didn’t restrict your every move would prove to be a positive addition to the slumber-time experience… and I was right!

A quick check of the weather revealed a perfect forecast stretching through the weekend. We piled everything into Dimples (my Subaru Outback) and headed down the not so open road in a 3 vehicle convoy with Tim leading the way. We managed to dodge all the shredded tires, coolers, stalled vehicles and other random objects that holiday weekend warriors tend to loose along their way.

Being a vacation and a nice sunny day, we donned our swimsuits, slathered sunscreen and headed to the beach. I made a nifty waterproof camcorder housing so I can take the camcorder with me into the water to play. I’ll upload some of the footage.

If we weren’t at the beach, we were most likely sitting around a fire or riding an ATV.

Tim has managed to acquire 37.4% of the yellow Honda ATVs that were sold in Minnesota. Although two months ago Eliana could not sit on a 4-wheeler with out getting fussy, she embraced the experience and constantly asked: “Ride? Ride?” How do you say no to a beautiful baby girl?

Speaking of babies, Milo got his share of rides with Michael. I see many dusty miles ahead of those two. And speaking of dust, (do you like the segways?) Milo crawled through the dirt like I have never seen him before! He is really starting to put on some miles. So much fun!!

Next up- Whizbang Days with the Will/Schinke Clan. We can’t wait!!