11/07/2003 Newsletter

11-7-04

Many things have happened in our family since we updated this last. We are excited to report that James was finally offered a job that was worth taking. After the disappointment of his last big offer falling through, we were pretty depressed about the job market scene. At the end of September James got a call from a man named Rich Christensen who had previously been affiliated with the company that had sent us on the hiring roller coaster in August, James had been recommended to Rich by the fellow who had wanted to hire him for that other job and so something good did come out of that whole disaster. In his new position James is the lead (and only) programmer for a start up company that is working on making search engine accessories. Basically they make your web searches more effective. So far the company has treated us very well and James gets to work from home several days a week. We are excited to see where this new opportunity will take us.

The highlight of the month was our trip to Disneyland at the end of October. It was a short trip, just a weekend. We flew into California on Thursday night, spent Friday and Saturday at Disneyland and then flew back on Sunday morning. Seth was pretty good for his first plane trip, he had a hard time settling down for the first flight and didn't fall asleep until we were about five minutes from landing. He was very sad when we did land and he woke up. He cried until we got off the plane. Disneyland was wonderful. We had perfect weather and the crowds were big but not too big. Seth's favorite rides were the carousel and a little train ride in the California Adventure park called Heimlich's Chew-Chew Train. It's a ride based on the caterpillar from A Bug's Life and you ride through a bunch of food that Heimlich wants to eat. There are smells and other fun things as you go through. Seth rode on it twice in a row, once with mom and dad and once with grandma and grandpa. We ate at the Blue Bayou restaurant which is something that I've always wanted to do. It had good food and a fun atmosphere, they even gave Seth a paper pirate hat but he wouldn't wear for more than a second or two. The only downside of the weekend was that James and Jenni both had some sort of stomach bug and they had a grand tour of the bathrooms in Disneyland. All in all, it was a great time and I can't wait to go back.

As most of you know already, Jenni got engaged this month. I think we will be wrapped up in wedding plans for the next two months, but we are glad that she has found someone. Justin seems like a great guy and he treats her really well. They make a cute couple.

And now for the ever anticipated update on Seth. He took his first steps while we were in California. I think that letting him loose in the lines at Disneyland made him a little braver, he cruised around on the railings while we were there and decided not to stop when we got back to the hotel. He's getting better at being able to stand without holding onto things and I think he will be walking before we know it. He is getting better at annunciating the words that he already knows and is adding words to his vocabulary all the time. He likes to eat with a spoon now and did a really good job the other day eating some applesauce. He has gotten two new teeth since we wrote last and has been pretty miserable with the pain and high fevers that come with them. With all this growing up he has gotten a little more stubborn about what he does and does not want and is prone to throw a mild temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way. At least he can sort of tell us what he wants so it's not as bad as it could be. Another cute thing that he does now is to fold his arms when its time to say prayers, at all his meals and at bedtime and before daddy leaves in the morning. He will also say prayers too, they are mostly just gibberish that have the same sound cadences as our prayers do and end with a barely recognizable amen. It's ultra cute and sometimes he reminds us to say prayers if he thinks that we are forgetting to. We love watching him grow!

That's it for this month.

Love, Miekka, James and Seth