Welcome to our Backyard

I never thought that I would ever communicate more words through texting than through blogging. But such has been this summer. Don't you kind of hate texting? I feel like we as humans have spent a good 3000 years or more refining our communication skills and creating epic literature and poetry and philosophy and *hooray* a distinct word for absolutely everything (ubiquitous dissemination of semantics? Pan troglodytes?) and then SUDDENLY we slammed into the brick wall that is texting. OOOG. ooog. oooga oog. I'm wacking at my $15 phone with all thumbs for three and a half minutes and all I've managed to say is:

"Toe much better. Went to ikea. Do u like that table? Its gone from 6 hundred to 450."

And that's to my mom, for whom I try to keep the bar high, out of respect for all that I learned from her superior tutelage in vocabulary and grammar.



Hello? What's this? This computer thing's telling me I have some pictures loaded! Hmm, let's see if I'm completely obsolete or can do this . . . .

<15 minutes later>

Still trying. Let's see what else while we wait for them to upload?

• Had a miscarriage in April that let to 3 weeks of anemia and headache awfulness. I found out at 11 weeks and had the miscarriage one wild weekend a few weeks later. It is good advice that they give, not to leave the house for 48 hours or travel. Feeling better now but it takes a body a while to recover. Same body that gained weight handsomely for the time it was being pregnant.
• Dropped a lantern onto my toe from a high shelf a few days ago. Same toe aforementioned. Don't recommend that either.
• Doing lots of HypnoBirthing teaching. Now there's something positive! Even the part about having to keep the house professionally clean (mostly positive, somewhat anxiety-inducing)
• Had a fabulous 5 week trip to Boise, Springville, San Diego, and muchly enjoyed the people we saw.
• I'm enjoying A Midwive's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. It only took Mark's mom recommending it to me for 2 years and finding it on my own mom's shelf available for me to borrow to get me started.
• Martha Ballard (the midwife) always listed who's house she stayed at or those that came to hers. In that vein, during our trip I saw: my mom and dad, Rhubarb the cat, Bethany, Cody, Nathan, Leah, Ryan; Catherine and Jack; Brother Tanner, Brother and Sister Strong, Sister Wolf; Melanie; bsu cheerleaders at Costa Vida (they said "Hy-eee!"); mom and dad Nolte, Julianna, Nolen, Ollie, Lance, Matt, Luke, Lindsay, Bryan, Sarah, and William; Jake and Maggie; the Dursts; Naomi Sumpsion (sp?); In and Out burger girl; Jereme, Anna Min, Kate, Alyvia, Jacob, Jeff, Miles, Ella, Aimee, John, Charlie, Louis, Tyler, Justin, Audrey, Katie, Ethan, Brad, Sue, Gma Nolte, Andy, Adrienne, Ryen, Steven, Owen, Ben, Kelsey, Lydia, Nathan, Karalee, Emily, Boyd, Gavin, Eli, bump, Jeff, and MaryAnn (man that was a serious Nolte reunion!); my gma Taye (94!); gma and gpa Boone and the Mitchells; did I see you too?

Now you've earned some pictures:

with Luke and Lance

We met a couple at our bed and breakfast who's newborn has webbed toes. Which Mark happens to study. Small world! Fun breakfast!

Simon threatens heights on ladders to get these bird nest shots in our yard.

Some people.

Das Kidlets.
Why did nobody tell us about Surfside?
Rapturous day there last weekend. Only took us five years to know about it.


Thank you and Goodnight.