General Family Updates

Things have been busy around here, and there is more to come, so I thought I'd stop by and give a quick rundown.

Amelia
Her 2nd birthday is in two weeks! Sleep has been up and down, but generally pretty good. We have some pretty bad nights, and they are usually several at a time, but she usually sleeps relatively well, and we are so glad! Right now she is getting some molars in, and has been feverish and miserable for the last four days. We feel pretty bad for her, and hope they come through soon. She has a real thing for her cousins on both sides and asks to see them every day. When I tell her we are going to see them she says "excited!" and makes 'can't contain myself' sounds. I will do a longer post about her soon in honor of her b-day.

Jeff
The first year of his job is coming to a close, and he is so thankful for such wonderful co-workers and a great work environment. The district has had some serious funding problems, (how's $600,000 short for serious?) and he missed the "pink slip" cut by TWO people-- based on seniority. We are SO thankful he will still have his job next year!!!! We have had a couple of his coworkers and their families over in the last month, and hope to continue building friendships with them and others. He recently built a fence around our yard with his dad and bro-in-law, and he is going to be painting the exterior of the house with his dad in another week or so. Fun! He is on an anti- inflammatory diet right now, so that has made cooking a little more of an adventure for us both lately-- it's good to mix it up a little!

Moi
I can't believe we've been here for almost a year. I still definitely feel like a newcomer. I have put off retaking the massage board for June, and hope to take it again in July. I REALLY want to start working. I recently realized that days go by where Jeff is the only person I see who knows/recognizes me. This seems very sad (and can be devastating if he doesn't seem very enthusiastic about seeing me!) and I am wanting to get plugged in with the adult population in reliable ways. We do have some friends, though, and I am thankful that we have met some really quality people that we relate to well. It's time for me to start working on wool baby clothes projects to sell in the fall and winter, but I have been preoccupied with the garden and other house projects-- hopefully I'll get motivated soon! I have started working with a naturopath on some stress-related issues I've been having, and it has been exciting to get some help with constant headaches and fatigue. I am actually beginning to feel better and my sleep has really improved. Also my outlook on life. Hurray!

Church
We have continued to attend the Mennonite church here. We met with the pastor about two months ago, and chatted quite a bit. We also shared with him what our experience with the church community has been so far-- it was really hard for him to hear, but I am glad we spoke up. We are trying to get hooked up with a small group there soon. The one they recommended to us has several young families, but they all live very far apart. That's how our last small group in CA was, and we have since decided that we want our community to be IN OUR COMMUNITY, not a 45 minute drive away. So we will see what else is available to us.

Summer
Jeff has some good chunks of time off here and there this summer. We don't have any travel plans. We'll be around working on our house and yard. Something we have never done as a family yet is go camping, and I think Amelia is finally at a point where she might actually sleep at night if we went. So that's all I really want this summer-- the first family camping trip. We are soliciting companions (camp-anions?)

Well, I could probably keep going, but that should do it for now.