Maia and the Cats

These are two very smart cats in keeping their distance from Maia. She loves seeing the cats and gets so excited when they come near her. She even follows them with her eyes where ever they walk. This particular afternoon Maia and I were playing in the hallway and the cats were around us and she was so excited. Soon they won't even be that close because she may be crawling right to them. One day she pulled a dogs fur so hard that the dog yelped, and stayed clear of her. We are not joking about Maia's death grip.

Sunny Sunday

What do you do on a sunny day in Portland? You make the most of the outdoors. It is amazing how on a sunny warm day people fill the outdoors in parks, on their bikes, walking etc... It's like everyone comes out of hiding when the sun comes out. I guess you learn to appreciate a clear day all the more when it does not happen very often. I include myself in this. Sometimes it can be misleading especially when the sun is out and it is very cold.

However, this sunny Sunday was nice and warm and we decided to spend some of the afternoon on a blanket in our back yard. Maia loves to soak up the Vitamin D as she plays with some of her toys outside.


We even brought our lunch outside and had outselves a little picnic.

We got Maia sunglasses because when she topples over the sun is directly in her eyes and that does not make our little girl happy. However, they do not stay on so unfortunately it defeats the purpose. I will need to get creative and make a little strap to go around her head to keep them on.

So yay for sunshine! Yay for warmth! and Yay for how green our sunny days are because of all the rainy days in between.

Beach Day!

It has been beautiful weather here in the Portland area and I have been craving the ocean. There is always something refreshing for me at the ocean. And so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Maia and I loaded up the car this morning and headed out. We went to Cannon Beach which is one of my favorite beach towns to visit here on the Oregon Coast. We set up camp and took in the Vitamin D. The sun was so warm and there was not much of a breeze. It made our beach day pleasant. It was fun watching Maia be excited about the waves and the sand. Here are a few pictures of our day out.

Our Response to the Haiti Earthquake

For what its worth:

We are saddened and praying for the victims and survivors of the Haiti Earthquake. Everywhere we turn, there is a link, a mass mailing, or suggestion for how to give as a response to the earthquakes. We have many generous friends who have given; some through organizations they personally know or have been a part of, others through my work where the company has matched all donations and even allowed it to be taken directly out (pre-tax?) from one's paycheck, others simply by giving to the Red Cross. In fact, I know many, many people I admire who are hands down more generous than we are.

I have mentioned before that natural disasters (tsunami's, floods, earthquakes, famine and the resulting starvation, etc.) actually have enough money given to provide the help that is needed. They are immediate enough and dramatic enough to make the evening news, plus they provide amazing television images, which have the effect of pulling ones heartstrings and motivating one to give even if that person does not regularly give to care for the poor. This is something I learned during training for Hunger Corps with Food for the Hungry in Bangladesh.

But things like chronic, persistent hunger, which aren't so flashy, or showy, or dramatic, do not evoke the needed response even though they kill many more people. How do you accurately capture through a television lens the need of someone who daily takes in fewer calories than he uses? How do you make this slow killer pressing enough, that it can be 'breaking news' on the evening news of a given night of the week?

What to do? If we were to get bitter at the lack of response to these other issues, that would certainly be the wrong response. Additionally, refusing to give to the Haitian relief efforts based on the fact that there are 'other pressing issues' and that plenty of money is being given by everyone else would not be correct. Our response cannot be a justification or rationalization for why we don't have to act.

Instead, what we have done, is used this immediate, pressing, natural disaster as a catapult to get us to act on the long term issues. We have given money, but not to the Haiti relief efforts. Instead, we gave money to fight chronic, persistent, hunger. My hope is that each time one of these disasters strikes, we will choose, like everyone else, to give over and above our regular giving. But that we would use it as a chance to give over and above towards a need that is being neglected by others.

---We realize that this post does not address issues such as waste, assumptions as to what is needed, creating dependency, and enabling vs. serving. The issue is certainly much more complex than 'To Give Money or Not To Give Money', but if we were to share our thoughts (and they are almost entirely thoughts rather than solutions) on all of it, well, you would not read that long and convoluted post.---

Happy Birthday Michael Hike

"Going on a bear hunt

Going to catch a big one

What a beautiful day

We're not scared"

Oh look a waterfall,

We can't go over it

We can't go under it

We'll have to go through it

Ok so maybe not quite a bear hunt, but we did have a fun adventure out in the gorge. For Michaels birthday he wanted to go for a hike with two of our close family friends, the Leighs and the Huffmans. We did not see any bears, but saw some beautiful waterfalls and green foliage.

This is the first main waterfall we came across. On this trail you can see about 12 waterfalls if you hike the whole way to tunnel falls which is about 12 miles. So yes pretty amazing for sure.

Maia also enjoyed the hike. She just loved being outside. Mostly she just kicks her feet and flaps her arms with utter excitement, and then she gets exhausted and falls asleep in the Ergo. However, this time she gets to be with daddy and that is exciting as well!

This is Punch Bowl falls. Can you see why it's called that?? We have heard that people kayak down this falls. Pretty amazing if they do!

At this falls it was time for snacks!! Naomi and her delicious sandwich!

Maia and Eben are having fun becoming friends.

This is a view of Maia in the Ergo. I want to have a picture of this angle before she begins to ride on my back. This is an image I want to remember!

More beautiful water. This trail is called Eagle Creek trail. At the 12 mile mark it hits the PCT. Maybe one day we will make it that far!

Just around the bend was this waterfall. Just a beautiful view to look at.

This is a view from High Bridge looking down the stream. The water flows in between these huge rock crevices and this picture does not do justice to how amazing it was.

I did not make it to this part since I had a little one to feed, but Michael and a few others went on to this part of the creek and the following waterfall.

This is part of the trail that was pretty crazy. It's just on a cliff edge with a cable fastened into the rock for us to hold on to if need be. So yes kinda scary with kiddos, but we made it. It's pretty incredible how high above the river we are.

Well that ends our adventure. Yea for Michael's birthday and great friends to celebrate with!

Hats

Maia and her daddy have got theirs on and are ready to do a little show for you!!! So sit back, put on your favorite hat on and enjoy these fun pictures!Hats from the side

Close up with the Elvis lip


Hat tilted to the side

Don't be shy!

hats from below

Hats can make you tired too!!!

So lets hear it for hats!!!!!!!

Sleepy kiddos

Three kiddos in a row fast asleep. Daphne and I (Jeanette) went to a fabric store with the three kids and it didn't take long on the way home for them to fall fast asleep. Here is just a small glimpse of those cute kids.

I guess it takes a lot of energie for kiddos to bear with their moms at fabric stores, but they handled it pretty well. The great part was just having that time to be with Daphne an adult. I loved it and look forward to more adventures!
Well as I write this I am beginning to feel a little sleepy. So good night!

Roley Poley # 2

So the latest trick that Maia has been doing is rolling continually in one direction. From her front she rolls to the left and then continues on. So does that mean she rolls to the left or right? Do you judge that from her back or front? This is what Michael and I are trying to figure out. Anyways, she rolls and it is a lot of fun. However, most of the time it is at other people's houses that have carpeted floors and those are the times we don't have our camera...ooops. Well enjoy this video of our roley poley. (Sorry about uncentered filming. I was trying to cover the red light and get Maia's attention at the same time. Not always easy.)

Without further ado...Maia Sage Miller.......(feel free to clap).