Hello friends and family,

Well, we know the web site and travelogues have been quiet for a while, but we had some good reasons. We'll start at the top:

1. We are 20 weeks pregnant with a baby boy.  We passed the amniocentesis and the little guy has 10 fingers and toes. I feel healthy and oh so very happy. First trimester contained some trials, but second trimester is going great. As David likes to say, this baby was brought to us by the letters I, V, and F. We ended up going through in vitro fertilization with a great clinic, Portland Center for Reproductive Health, here in Portland, Oregon.  The DNA is all ours, but the conception happened in a lab with some help from the fabulous Dr. John Hesla.  Our due date is January 14th. We don't have a name yet, each day I try a new one out hoping it will sound "right." All serious suggestions will be considered (Racecar and Jack Ptak are both out though).  Names that have sounded good so far: Ben, Alex, Sam, and Medicalmiracle.

2. We have a signed contract on a house here in Portland. We went to well over a 100 open houses on Sundays for months just to understand the real estate market and to talk out what we liked in a home (remember, this is the first house David and I have bought together - except for Tiny). After all those open houses, we finally got serious and began making appointments and looking in detail - visiting at least another 30 houses - until we found this little gem.  Assuming everything goes smoothly, we move in September 26th. It's a 4 bed, 2 bath, 2200 sq ft home, with another 800 sq ft of unfinished space downstairs, and a 3-car garage.  And there's even outdoor parking space for Tiny!  But the biggest reason we loved the place so much was the land - the lot is 0.8 acres, or about 34,000 sq ft.  Coming from California, where postage stamp lots cost more than many people make in years of well-paid employment, this is a real breath of fresh air for us.  And the land is nearly 100% landscaped, as well - perennial flowers, bushes, mature trees, vegetables, and fruit (apple and plums). We may even get some of this year's tomato crop! (Here are a few early pictures.)

Not bad for a couple months of silence... As David puts pictures up on the web site, I'll try and fill in some of the travelogues. We went to Minnesota for a friend's wedding, the Jelly Belly Factory outside San Francisco, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Ranier, California for another friend's wedding - still lots of adventures.  So even though our round-the-country loop is now closed, we know we are just starting another adventure - parenthood.

Hope all is well in your lives.