Butterball

We dedicate this blog entry to our friends Blake and Cindy and their new baby girl, Harriet Mae Esselstyn, who was born at 2:15ish this afternoon in the comfort of their home. They had help from New Dawn Midwifery who helped us with Myles. Here are some pics of Myles in his blue long jonhs- a desperate outfit choice after suddenly discovering that he outgrew all his long pants practically overnight. As you can see we had to pour him into these. We went to Atlanta on Monday. It was the first time I have been since leaving in a budget rent-a-truck in May, 2005. It was exciting to see all the new in-town condo high rises sprouting up on every corner. I miss the architectural diversity there. And the Whole Foods surprisingly enough. Our little shotgun is up for sale, overgrown yard and all. The paint is fading and the pampass grass dwarfs the front porch at nearly 10 feet tall. It was both sad and relieving to drive by the place. Sad because we put so much effort into making that our home and relief because the renovation project nearly broke our relationship and our bank and we were afraid we'd never sell it. We're happy to be in the mountains of western NC.

News

Hi friends. It's been an exhausting month...and we have neglected the blog. These sweet photos come from my folks, who were kind enough to come over a few weekends ago because I had a training in Winston-Salem and Seth had a relay race. So they watched Myles, and had a good time. Myles is wearing Seth's headband in this photo to show his support...we were with him in spirit as he ran 3 legs of the Blue Ridge Relay along with eleven others on his team. His legs were 5 miles, 7 miles, and 9 miles roughly, and he ran 6-6.5 minute miles for all of them!! Needless to say, when he came home he was in a rough state. But we are so proud of him for a wonderful race!

I do want to ask for your thoughts and prayers for my dad. Not long ago, he had his first scan following the surgery to remove a tumor last spring. The scan showed that all was not well. We have since learned that the cancer is back...I believe it's in the lymph nodes by the aorta. The really difficult news has been that they say this type of cancer is not curable. So it's all about managing it for the rest of his life, unless they discover a new cure. The good news is that the chemo he began yesterday is a very mild chemo and has very little affect on his lifestyle (or at least that's what we think so far) aside from a little weight loss. My mom and dad are very, very positive in their outlook and faithful in their approach to this situation. I think we are all grateful for their positive energy, and I feel like it will help my dad to heal the best he can. There have been a few times in the last week when grief has had its way, and I think there's something to be said for a good cry too, at least that's been my experience. I am very grateful to any of you who are willing to keep my dad and my family in your thoughts and prayers.

The weather has changed down here (hallelujah!) and it's in the 70s, beautiful. However, Myles seems to have outgrown all but one pair of pants, and he is presently stuffed into the cutest bright blue long underwear pajamas. I think this is the last time he will wear them, clearly they are too tight, but he looks like an adorable butterball tonight. We are looking forward to a beautiful fall in the mountains. Yall are welcome to come for a visit!!

Labor Day Weekend

"Nana" and Grandpa came from New Jersey to visit for the Labor Day weekend. We went on a hike in the woods, went to the Hendersonville Apple Festival and picnicked at the river. It was a wonderful visit. Myles is getting to know his grandparents better and vise versa. They head to Richmond, VA in the am to visit Jon and Brian. My brother Greg and his finance Megan just ran Pikes Peak and a bumped into a reporter out there who wrote a piece about them. The link is as follows: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzNTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxODkwOTAmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3