Little E's 1st 4th of July

This year we spent the 4th at our friends place on Ames Lake near Redmond, WA. It was a great time. Elon got to meet all his new Powderpig friends and see some great fireworks. It was a hot one so being on the lake was great. Elon took a little dip in the lake not full body yet but very soon. That night we camped out in the back of the Toyota. It was very cozy! The party continued the next day too. Can not wait to do it all over again next year. Yikes! Elon will be walking next year I will have trouble on my hands.

Hanging in his stroller

Alex and Quinn

Taking a dip with Auntie Kirstan

Hanging with Mom

Want to donate to a good cause?

Hi everyone,
Once again I am participating in the MS150 bike ride in September. My goal for this year is 100 miles as I am just getting back into shape after having Elon. Aaron rode with me and my parents last year. This year he will come to the ride but not ride. He will be Elon's chauffeur so I can continue to breast feed and still ride. My brother, Nick will also be joining the fun so it should be great. If you would like to donate please go to the links below.

Thanks!

Keegan's Site (click here)



Karen Fengler Nichols's Site (click here)

Joseph Nichols's Site (click here)

Nick's (aka Joe Nichols) Site (click here)

Weeks 8 thru 10

Look how cute I was on Father's Day!

Me and Mom playing around!

Me and cousin Alex!

Me and cousin Peter!

The whole goofy gang!

6 Years Today, 6 Weeks Tomorrow

Today is our 6 year wedding anniversary. I can not believe that it has been that long since our very fun wedding day. We have now been together for a decade also. How time flies!

Tomorrow will be 6 weeks with Elon. Also time is already flying by with the little man.

I can not wait to see where the next 10 years takes us. It will be a fun adventure!

5 Weeks with Elon

Even though it was a couple weeks early, we were very excited to meet Elon Harris Opp on April 27th, 2009. After planning on having a May baby I was quite surprized to find out I maybe having an April baby. The week before his birth we still needed to move back into our house, our parents were in Nicaragua, and I had pregnancy pictures scheduled for Sunday. We got everything finished just in time with the wonderful help of many people, esecially my friend Sherry. I have to give her a special thanks becasue she stayed with me most of the week, help me move things, dealt with my crazy brain, cleaned, organized and generally did what ever I asked. Thanks Sherry!

On Sunday the 26th, we had a house full of people which was fun. That is when it was pointed out that I was leaking amniotic fluid. So we called my midwife in late afternoon and where on our way to the hospital. We got to the hospital they broke my water and labor commenced. Labor was quick and I was ready to push by 10:30PM. That is where the fun started. After 3 hours of pushing (at the end of a really long and tiring week) I was exhausted and Elon was not coming out. Elon had decided that he like his watery world and was not coming down the birth canal. That is when I was given an epidural which was not really helping. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning it was decided to bring in our my midwife's OB and had to consider a C-section. We tried some other techniques to get him to come down but no luck. So around 5AM I was off to the OR for a C-section. It was scary because I had planned on having a natural birth and here I was about to have a c-section. The goods news was that at 6:02AM I delivered a beautiful baby boy who was 8lbs. 6oz. and 20 inches long. During the whole labor ordeal he was like a rock and never showed any signs of stress. Thanks goodness!

It took us 3 days to decided on his name but when we did it fit. Elon is hebrew for "oak" or "tree". We loved it because we love the outdoors and during the hard labor he was like a solid, strong tree. His full name is Elon (E-lawn) Harris Opp. Harris was my father's middle name. Another cool thing is that he was born on my Grandpa Kenny's birthday.

The first 5 weeks have flown by. Elon is a pretty happy baby who is gaining weight rapidly. It has been fun to watch him change. In the last week he has started to hold onto things (especially me). His smiles are becoming more associated with us and less associated with farting. It is amazing to think I can spend hours just staring at him. Aaron and I are still in disbelief that we are parents to such a wonderful little boy.

Last weekend we took Elon on his first camping trip to Chinook Pass with our friends, Sherry and Bram. Elon liked being outside and near the river. He slept just as well camping as he does at home. Good thing since camping is going to be a constant in his life.

There are lots of pictures fro these last few weeks. I have uploaded all of them since I do not have time to sort through them. If you would like to see them go to this link. http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown

For those who have called, emailed, or facebooked, I need to apologize for not getting back to you. I have been bad about communicating. Hopefully I will get better after next week once classes are over.

I hop to post more picture and happening in our lives soon so you can see how Elon is growing.
Thanks to everyone for their good wishes and gifts.

Flood and Baby Update

Aaron flooring in the babies room

It has been a long time since I last wrote but I thought I would finally throw down a quick note. As many of your know we flooded in January and it has been a long road back. Because of the hard work and generosity of many family and friends things are almost ready for us to move back in the house. It has been an adventure.

Working on the house! (Do not worry I wear a respiratory when needed and sit down alot I am pretty much a slacker)

Baby is growing strong. I get kicked and beat up daily which I love except when I am tired. I have passed the 36 week mark now. At our ultrasound appointment on Friday they estimated the baby is about 6lbs. 14 oz. good sized little bugger. I have started to dilate (2cm) but could stay at that for weeks so no reason to get too excited. Really helps get things done knowing that my body is getting ready. The babies room is really green (picking color on the fly). It kind of looks like Kermit the frog lives there but should be fun to decorate.

There are more picture of our progress at the link below so check it out.
http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown

Surf Camp, Todos Santos, Cabo Pulmo, and more!

We spent 2 weeks at the Pescadero Surf Camp, www.pescaderosurf.com, just south of Todos Santos and we had a blast. Aaron learned to surf and I relaxed. The surf camp itself was great we had a huge palapa that kept the sun off of us but we still used our tent. There was a pool, showers, bathroom, and the internet all for $180 pesos/night, ~$15 US. It was nice not having to move consistently and we met some great people during our stay. If is funny a lot of them were from the Pacific Northwest, looks like we were all trying to get away to somewhere nice before the snow falls. For pictures of camp, click here.

The beaches in the area were awesome too. There was the Palm Beach that we would take Tippi to play in the wave and just walk for enjoyment. It is for sale if anyone has 30 million lying around. Pictures here! Then there was the Hidden Cove. The road to this was very bumpy but fun. We were told how to get here by a local and it was awesome. We went 3 times, once just the 2 of us for sunset on Halloween then with friends 2 other times to fish, snorkel and swim. Pictures here! We never caught anything good but did purchase a fish from a fisherman at the beach to the north as he pulled his boat off the water. Between our fish and the ones that Mark and Michelle caught we had a election night feast back at the surf camp. Pictures are in with the camp photos. The other beach we spent a lot of time at was Los Cerritos, this is were the popular surf break is. Aaron would get up early and go out surfing, most days I would sleep in but I did go out a few days to watch. We would also go out again in the evening. The last night we had a good group out and Aaron was able to at least get a couple of good rides in before sunset. Pictures here!

During our 2 weeks in Todos area we visit my professor Doc at his fabulous hotel. He has been building and refining Casa Bentley for sometime now and it is absolutely gorgeous. I wish it would have been with in our budget to stay there is time around but we definitely will in the future. If anyone is looking for a quiet, beautiful place to get away please look up Doc and Casa Bentley, www.casabentleybaja.com. I can not say enough about the place or the man for that matter. We visited him twice during our stay once just to chat and then he made a great dinner one Saturday night. Pictures here! We did visit Cabo San Lucas one morning and I did not like it. I went there 17 years ago and things have changed. The Todos Santos area is so much nicer than Cabo, not as loud and not as many people trying to get to buy this or that. Well I just recommend you check it out if you are looking for a beautiful place to relax.

A couple days ago we took off for the east cape and Cabo Pulmo. It is the home of the only coral reef in the Sea of Cortez and one of only three in the northern hemisphere. Cabo Pulmo in is located off of HWY 1 and down a pretty wash boarded 7 miles road. We arrived around 4PM and started looking for a place to stay. We wnded up at Nancy's. It is a resturant but she also has 2 casitas to rent. They are very basic but they were in our price range and included breakfast. Sleeping on a bed for the first time in 3 weeks was very nice. We also could hear the ocean from our plaxe. It was a little funky and she coud really do more with the place. The following morning we headed to the beach south of town in which we heard that you could swim to the reef for snorkling. What a cool place. It was so cool in fact we decided to camp there for the night. The snorkling was great but since there where so many people on the beach we had to go out seperatly. Then we found the money spot before sunset. It was a hike to get there but the geology was cool! We took a lot of pictures while we were there. After a nice night on the beach we packed up and headed to the money spot for a quick snorkle before the crowds showed up. This time we got to go together which was nice. Tippi hung by the gear and all was good. Pictures will be posted next time.

Last night we were in Los Barriles, windsurfing mecca, and today we are in La Paz to catch the ferry. Life has been pretty good for us, hope your has too!