A new cousin

Welcome Jasper Chen Machule who was born on July 6th at 4:32am. He weighed a whopping 8 pounds, 11 ounces! Suzie pulled an all-nighter (maybe her first) in order to be at the birth. It was awesome!

Happy Fourth of July

Suzie took Ryan and Lia up to Tahoe Donner to stay at the Machule's vacation house. We spent a lot of time with the Kumamoto and Fang-Horvath families who were staying in Incline Village. We swam at different pools, spent the day at Sand Harbor Beach on Lake Tahoe, saw an outdoor movie at

Northstar, saw fireworks at Kings Beach, and paddle boated on Donner Lake. It was a fun-filled trip!

Cami turns one!

Cami was baptized on Father's Day. We also celebrated her birthday that weekend.





She can definitely sign the word "more." She's also starting to babble a lot. Words that she says include "mama," "dada," "buh" for balloon, ball, or bottle, "nana" for banana, "ya-yah" for Ryan or Lia, and "na-nuh" for lamby. She likes to climb, but isn't walking yet.

Uh-Oh

Cami's first word is "uh-oh." She knows exactly how to use it and when to use it. She can mimic other sounds like "mama" and "dada," but she doesn't really say them on her own. But when she drops a toy or some food on the floor, she looks down at it and says, "Uh-oh."

She's crawling pretty quickly, and pulling herself up to standing position, but that is where she gets stuck. Sometimes, I put her down for a nap in her crib, and a few minutes later she'll be crying. When I go to see what's wrong, she'll be standing up and holding onto the rail. Funny girl. Pretty soon, she'll figure out the cruising, then the walking...

Memorial Day Weekend

We went camping in Coloma with the Tanners and the Fang-Horvaths over the 3-day weekend. Luckily, Amah came from LA to take care of Cami. On the first day, we set up camp, and the kids explored the riverbank. Craig had the firepit raging in the evening, and we roasted marshmallows after the wonderful dinner that was prepared by Jill and Craig.

The next day, we went on the South Fork of the American River for some Class 3 river rafting, Our guides, Lee and Jose, successfully navigated our 2 rafts down the river to Folsom Lake. The water was cold, but the air was warm--it was a perfect combination. The rapids were exciting. As we approached them, the kids would get down in the front of the raft. The water came over the top and drenched us! The boys would look back at us with eyes as big as pizzas (to quote Craig)! In the calm waters, Matthew and some of the kids jumped into the river just for a few seconds to cool off. When we got back to camp, Maria and George made dinner, and we just relaxed.

The last morning, we made potato pancakes and eggs Benedict. Afterwards, we cleaned up while the kids played, and got one last thrill riding the golf cart to and from the parking area as we loaded up the cars. It was a great time for all. Hopefully, we can go back again next year.

The BIG Ten Minus One

Ryan turned 9 on May 24th. He was recognized at school that day. Later, he had a few of his closest friends over for a pizza-making, game-playing, TV-watching, sugar-ingesting bacchanal. Happy Birthday, Ryan! We love you!

The Cami Update

Cami is 10 months now. She started crawling, but she occasionally sticks her right leg out. Phyllis said it looked like she was going into a breakdance move--the helicopter!

Cami can also play peek-a-boo! When we say, "Where's Cami?," she will put her hands up to try to cover her eyes. Then she lets them down, and we exclaim, "Peek-a-boo!" And she smiles. Such a cutie...