Hanging out in Kansas

Hello everyone. It's been so nice to hear from all of you lately. I love all the pictures of your kids! Everything is going really well in Kansas. Nate and I just celebrated our first anniversary. It's really amazing to me that we've been married a whole year. We took a trip to Lake of the Ozarks to celebrate (it's the big vacation destination around these parts.) My aunt and uncle have a condo down there that they kindly let us borrow. The area is really pretty, and we hope we get a chance to go back sometime when the weather is warm and the grass is green. On our way back we took a short detour to Jefferson City to see the Missouri State Capitol.


Whenever we had the chance, Lindsay, Tevra, Sue and I used go visit State Capitols on our runs after races. We ran to the State Capitol in Texas, Nebraska, and Indiana. And I guess I still like to visit Capitols when I can.

This semester I'm teaching an Introduction to the Humanities class at the community college that is just 5 minutes from my house. It's been a pretty fun time. I've enjoyed pulling out all my old notes and assignments, and I have a pretty fun, small group of students. In terms of school, I just recently passed the point where I've now been in graduate school longer than I was an undergraduate. No wonder that seems like such a long time ago.

Every once and a while Nate and I stumble on something really funny here in the Midwest, and that helps to make it an interesting place to live. For example, we live in a busy suburb, but right on the corner of our busy street there are two large bails of hay. They've been there for months, and I think that everyone around here thinks that it's normal to have hay in the middle of the city.



We are also privileged to live just 45 mintues away from this marvel:



And, you know what, it really is quite a sight. So, if you come visit us we'll be sure to take you to the "Most Beautiful McDonald's in the Heartland" on our way to Adam-ondi-Amon.

Our Friday, Nate and I got a kitten. Most of you probably know that I've wanted a cat for years, so I'm pretty happy. She's really good company so far. Zephyr (named for the Greek god and the car) takes naps on my lap while I study and is very entertaining. She is also very curious. Here she's spelunking in our dishwasher.



My friend, Jessica, recently introducted me to this really cool website called LibraryThing.com. You can set up your own library catalog with the books that you own or have read and catagorize them in whatever way you'de like. Lately, lots of you have been asking about good books, and so if you are ever curious to see what I've been reading (excluding school work) check out http://www.librarything.com/profile/jolee.

I hope that all of you are doing well. Nate and I wish you the best.

This is Benson and Will Thayer, 2 years and 4 months, respectively.

Way to go, Nan! Congrats on your little girl.

James and I and the boys are living in Virginia now. It is fun to be in the DC area. There is a lot going on (sometimes too much), lots of free museums, and the cherry blossoms are out now. I'm feeling a little more situated where we live and James usually enjoys his job. The culture, even in the church, is definitely different here. My level of fitness goes down drastically with each child, but I still get a morning run in a few times a week. Spring will help the effort. I have been painting a little bit. We are in Utah for my sister Angie's wedding and Benson and Will are loving all the attention, but hating their colds - Willy's second and Benson's tenth this season. I can't post pictures from my home computer, so here are a couple. I guess Macs are incompatible? I don't know.

About books, I liked "Reading Lolita in Tehran," and I agree with Kristen on "From Beirut to Jerusalem." I have also heard "Wild Swans" and "Nine Parts Desire" are good. I enjoyed reading "First Mothers" about mothers of the presidents from FDR to Clinton and I am just starting "A Midwives' Tale." I also would appreciate any good reading suggestions.

Great to hear from everyone. Keep posting. Liz Thayer

p.s. shar is having her third baby - a girl - this summer

Loving the Pacific Northwest

(Excuse my slouch. I didn't have the backpack adjusted right!)

Hi, Friends!

It's honestly been about a year since I've posted, so I am much overdue! Nate, Lily, and I moved to Washington state from Illinois last October, and we are really enjoying the Pacific Northwest. We have gone hiking twice in the last three weekends, and it doesn't take long to get to beautiful places.

Lily will be a year old on April 6, and she is so big! I hope she starts walking soon, because I can barely carry her around. She is crawling all over the place, pulling everything out of my cupboards (latching them is on tonight's task list), clapping her hands, feeding herself, and flirting with just about anyone who will pay attention to her. She is a girl full of passion - when she's happy, she's really happy, and when she's mad, she's really mad. Her happy moments definitely outweigh the mad ones, so we have a lot of fun.

I am keeping busy training for the Boston marathon (but I'm not training super-seriously - just going for the experience), volunteering with a local track team 2-3 afternoons a week, and attempting some part-time work from home for a web development company. I am busy, but I've always enjoyed the multi-dimensional life.

Has anyone read anything good lately? I'm working on East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and I haven't decided if I would recommend it or not. It's definitely engaging and thought-provoking.

I love reading about how you all are doing! Congratulations on the new babies and PRs!

Best wishes to you all,

Amy Bair Cooper

New Baby!

Hey Friends! Kristen is RIGHT, we all need to post! So I'm setting a good example and going first...okay I also have some great news to report...we had another baby! She was born after a much shorter and easier labor than Abe's (thank goodness). This pregnancy and birth was a bit different than Abe's all along because with Abe I went to a Certified Nurse-Midwife and delivered him in a hospital, but this time after much thought and prayer, Aaron and I decided we wanted to have a Direct Entry Midwife and a Homebirth. I must say, for anyone who has ever considered Homebirth, it is AWESOME! (At least it was for us). :) I just labored through the night in the comfort of my own home with Aaron there to help me and Abe sleeping soundly in his room and then when we felt we needed her, Aaron called our Midwife and she and her assistant (another Midwife in training) were there 20 minutes later. They set everything up for the birth and a couple of hours later, our daughter was born. I had a lot less fear and anxiety about this birth and I think that enabled me to have less pain during labor too. Another detail is that our Midwife doesn't do ultrasounds, so we didn't know the sex of our baby beforehand, which I must admit was a bit difficult at times. (We were tempted to go to Fetal Photos just to find out the sex, but eventually convinced ourselves that it would be really exciting to find out at the time of birth--and it was!) Abe woke up a couple of hours after his baby sister was born and the midwives had cleaned everything up and were cooking us breakfast when Aaron brought him in the room. He was way excited and kept saying "baby sister!" and looking closely at her. All day yesterday and today he has been saying "baby sister sleeping" or "baby sister sad" or "baby sister noisy." It is SOOO cute! And after holding her for a couple of days now and reviewing our favorite girl names, we've decided to name her Breanne. So there you have it! Breanne Kennard, born at home on March 16, 2006 at 4:20 a.m. 8 lbs. 7 oz. 20.5 in.
-Nan

You all Need to Post!

So I figure I should post in the hopes that my writings and thoughts will inspire you all to write something on this site! We are living a pretty routine life out here in Northern California so I am struggling to think of something interesting and insightful...

My kids are at good ages now (Blake - 3.5, Rachel - 1.5) and I am realizing that I do enjoy this occupation of motherhood, I even felt this feeling of accomplishment today as I folded the last piece of laundry into Blake's drawer; if my college self could see me now I am not sure what she would say!

I learned that it takes about three days to get two tablespoons of vaseline out of a 18 month old girl's hair - Rachel looked like one of those balding old men desperate to stick the remaining whisps of hair to their head. She likes to ride our stick pony and follows Blake wherever he goes, she is tough unless Blake hurts her feelings and then she really can scream. Blake likes to read about snakes and spiders and is finally learning something from preschool, he actually remembers the letter when he comes home.

I started teaching a SAT prep class on M/W evenings and it has been pretty fun. The first math problem I did was a disaster, I got all caught up looking at my notes instead of trusting my own math instincts and that was a bit embarassing, but things have gotten better. (I still have a horrible sweating problem, if anyone has advice on what deodorant can actually stop me from pitting out, I would really appreciate it. I come home from class and look at my shirt in horror.) I do like getting out of the house and teaching and I think it has been fun taking all of these standarized tests, it makes you feel smart taking these things AFTER you have gone to college. But, I am surpised at how much I miss being home - which is also a shocker to me. There are just great moments putting your kids to bed, but on the other hand it is pretty amazing to leave the house in Cory's hands and to come back with the kids asleep and the dishes done. He is a pretty great house husband.

I miss all of you gals! Post on the blog, post on the blog, post on the blog.

Also, congrats to Emily because that 5K is dang fast after having a kid! I just heard that Nan is due in 11 days, so good luck!