Other August Happenings

Mary enjoyed her first ride in the stroller one day when we went shopping at the mall.

She's getting more used to spending time on her tummy.

A few days ago she suddenly made a lot of progress with holding her head up.

Mary Goes to the Beach

Last weekend we headed up to visit Ben, Rachel, and the girls. We arrived Friday in time for dinner and enjoyed delicious barbecue followed by a round of the Game Extreme. Saturday we headed over to the coast for a day trip to the beach.

It was Mary's first time at the beach, and I don't think she was too impressed. In fact, she mostly didn't seem to like it. It was pretty windy and that seemed to bother her. But she seemed to think it was interesting to stick her feet in the sand. Ben and Rachel's girls were a bit more enthusiastic about the sand and water; they thought it was great and got covered in sand. All in all, it was a good beach trip.

On the way back, we stopped at Tillamook and had dinner and ice cream at the creamery. Then we said goodbye to the Starbucks and headed back home. It was fun to visit them and have a little excursion together.

Three Months

Mary turned three months on August 10th. She likes to put her feet up in the air and hold her hands together. She loves music, especially when Joshua plays the guitar and sings to her. She can roll both front to back and back to front. She loves being held and rocking in her swing.

She doesn't mind tummy time as much and sometimes is content to hang out on her belly for awhile.

This little stuffed elephant blanket is her favorite toy.

She recently discovered her feet and loves to grab them, but hasn’t quite gotten them to her mouth yet.

  

She continues to charm us with her sweet smiles and adorable expressions.

  

Home Life

We begin settling back into life at home.

Mary loves bath time and music with Joshua.

She also found her feet, which are fascinating.

Return Home

Joshua flew back to California and arrived at the Sacramento airport on Sunday, July 29. Mary and I drove up to Modesto after an early lunch, then Dave drove us to the airport to pick up Joshua. It was so good to see him again and be reunited. We spent a couple days in Modesto so we could visit with the family and Joshua could start to recover from jet lag and his trip. We headed back to Oregon on August 1. The drive went well and was uneventful, although we had to drive through a lot of smoke from the fires in Northern California. We made it back in time for a late dinner. It felt great to be back home together.

Joshua and Mary are enjoying spending time together in the mornings; she loves it when he plays the guitar and sings to her. 

The garden changed significantly while we were gone. Some of the plants grew a lot, as did the weeds. 

Collegium Phaenomenologicum

This year I was accepted to a professional program that met for three weeks in Città di Castello, Italy.

I had a great time, learned a lot, met good people, and ate good food.

The countryside was beautiful and reminded me of California.

The churches, however, were nothing like those back home.

I was able to spend three days (all Saturdays) sightseeing, ending in Rome.