Join Us

It is a well known fact that HIV/AIDS is running rampant in the world, with some of the highest rates of new infection and mortality being in Africa.

World Vision has begun work in many countries in Africa to bring Caregiver Kits to those who are providing aid to patients and their families. These kits include pain relievers, antibacterial cream, gauze and cotton balls, soap, washcloth, a flashlight for the caregiver to see their way, and more. They are vitally important in the fight against AIDS.

Pine Lake Covenant Church and our community, partnering with World Vision, are hosting an event in November to build 7500 of these kits to send to the country of Zambia. This Sunday, September 30th, there is a "BBQ with a purpose," with the goal being to raise money to purchase these kits, which cost $25/piece for supplies and shipping. Not all of us can go to Africa, but we can do something here. E-mail or call me if you would like more information.

If it seems that Caregiver Kits won't make much of a difference in the problem of AIDS, watch this video, made by Gretchen Myers on PLCC's recent trip to Kenya and you will see otherwise. While these kits won't cure the disease or necessarily change cultural stigmas associated with it, they do carry an important message: "You have not been forgotten or abandoned. While we can't heal you on this earth, let us love you and care for you. Some day you can be made whole again."

Patriotic Will

Last weekend, Will got a hold of one of those little American flags that real estate agents and such tend to stick in your lawn around the fourth of July. I was wearing him in my front pack while I ran some errands. Throughout the 45 minutes we spent at the grocery store, etc, he waved the little flag proudly and let out lots of little yells which, of course, drew some attention. It didn't help that I had the world's squeakiest cart besides having a little baby waving an American flag strapped to my front. We must have been a sight walking through the store. I'm sure Will looked very cute--too bad I couldn't see from my vantage point. Anyway, I did get a quick video of Will waving his flag later that same day.
The other video was taken when I heard Will waking up from a nap and thought I'd catch it on camera. He is so sweet!

Besides that, here are a few new pictures of Will from the past weekend. My personal favorite is the photo of Will caught mid-push. He always makes this hilarious face when he's working on a little "something." See if you can guess which picture it is :-)
Patriotic Will

Will waking up

The Big Move

We're in our new house and loving it. Nevermind the mounds of stuff to unpack, it's great to be here. We have a garage to put stuff in so the unpacking isn't quite as urgent (out of sight, out of mind, maybe not such a good thing for us procrastinators). We promise to have a party in the next couple months so people can get the formal tour, but hopefully you locals can see it before then.

We've been delinquent in our blogging thanks to a lack of internet access at our new home, but just got back on-line today. In our absence from blogging, we had a great visit from Josh, Tiff and the twins over Labor Day weekend. Grandpa Mel and Grandma Margaret also made the drive over from MN which is always a special time. Another big news item is Gretchen's departure to Bolivia where she will spend her first three months as a nurse (yep, she passed her exam!) Here are some pics from our past few weeks:

Bocce!

Last night marked Sammamish/Issaquah Young Life's third annual bocce ball tournament/fundraiser. Team Voldemort (Laurel, Jenna, Natalie & I) had a good run, but we were no match for the veterans on Team Dirty Santa, (John, Bryson, Phil & Warren) who won the coveted bocce trophy for the second time. Much fun was had by all while raising $$ for a great organization. Here are some pictures from the tournament and the past week.:

Bocce fans, Madeline Powell and Will
Team Voldemort being intimidating. I look downright scary

Members of Dirty Santa

Loving the grass and Olive's collar--that can't be sanitary

I Love MOM

News from the Quah

The latest from our family to yours...
We celebrated two birthdays this week (Brie Smith and Brother Andy) and otherwise occupied ourselves with selling our place which we (hopefully) succeeded in doing, as long as there's nothing dramatically wrong with our condo come inspection time. Buying and selling a house is definitely full of surprises and plenty of learning experiences.
Other news:
-Dirk got orthoscopic knee surgery today and seems to be recovering well.
-Tomorrow, Mom and Gretchen get home from their trip to Africa and we anticipate their safe return.
-This weekend, Will is getting dedicated at church and we're happy to have all our immediate family in town for the event.
-Finally, a shout out to Christy Jung who completed her first triathlon and finished in the top 10% of all participants!!

Iron woman

Kate and Will

Will and buddy, Van

This little piggy...

Brie's b-day bash

Off to go duck hunting

Jenna teaching Will how to walk

The depths of despair

I'm always trying to capture pictures of Will when he's smiling or performing some new feat, but rarely is a baby photographed when they're mad. Today, Will was upset that his peaches were all gone and I thought I'd get it on camera. I love how expressive he is, even (or especially) when angry. The lighting wasn't good, but you get the idea. I'm sure I'll have another opportunity to take a similar shot :-)

He sits, he stands, sort of

Will is at that "almost" stage of independent movement. He can sort of sit, sort of stand and sort of inch his way around. We're excited for all these developmental milestones but realize that we will be doing a lot of baby chasing. Time to baby-proof the house! For those of you who know our son, he is one busy kid. He gets excited (grunts, flails his arms, kicks, smiles, laughs) about looking at the label on my shirt, so one can only imagine what he'll do when he can explore things at his leisure. It is so fun to see the wheels turning in Will's brain as he slowly begins to figure things out. What a joy!
Here are a few pictures of Will being a baby: