August Rush

No, not the movie; August was simply the busiest month of the summer for us. I'll break it down by weekends. I didn't have my camera for weekends one and two so you'll just have to use your imagination...

Weekend One: a visit from Joey and Elise Crane where we got to show them the great city of Sacramento including a tour of the capital, a gallery stroll, amazing sushi, and the movie Food Inc.

Weekend Two: a quick road trip with Mom and Dad Pettersen to Oregon for Jesse and Amanda Carlisle's wedding. We stayed with the Harris' who lived in our Stake before they moved and they really spoiled us.

Weekend Three: a jam-packed trip to the Bay Area including Julie Nelson's wedding reception, Pettersen family pictures at the Picture People, Grandma Ardie's 80th birthday celebration, and Ashilene Rieta's baby blessing.

Weekend Four: the first Ribeira Reunion at a cabin in Twain Harte including a hike at Pinecrest, rootbeer tasting (I guess A&W is my favorite, Henry Weinhart is Ryan's, and Stuarts is our runner up), lots and lots of games (I was introduced to the Bean game...love it!), and a surprise for Randy and Jill: we made them a scrapbook highlighting events from their 30 years of marriage and wrote them letters.


We are so grateful for our families and that in one month we got to spend time with our entire immediate family on both sides, as well as aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandparents, and great- aunts and uncles on the Miller side. At Grandma Ardie's 80th celebration I saw very clearly that life is really all about family. Grandma Ardie is such a great example to all of us. She has lived a life of service to her family, to her church, and to her community. Rather than judging people she looks for the good in everyone and loves them with a heart wide open. It was wonderful to be able to honor her for the impact she has made on all of us. We are all better people for knowing Ardath Miller. Here's a slide show of pictures from that wonderful day.

The Ribeira Reunion also reminded us of the importance of family. Randy and Jill have been married 30 years and have six amazing children (plus two new daughters and a grandson.) I have learned so much from them. No matter what trials are before them, they trust in the Lord and they don't complain. Enjoy some photos of our time with the Ribeira clan in Twain Harte.

Yes, we have been very blessed. It's been a great month! It's been a great life, really. Many thanks to all of you who have shaped our lives for the better.

The power of the blog

I was surprised to get a call from Dana Howard, a local reporter for Channel 10 News, who stumbled across my post, "Sacramento Staycation" and wanted to interview us about our experience! So Ryan and I were interviewed this week and here is the short clip on Staycations that aired tonight: http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?aid=80597&storyid=65486 Be sure to watch for Jonah. We are still laughing about the whole thing! Who knew that blogging could land you a spot on the 11:00 news?!

Fans

This is a slideshow of some of Jonah's fans. I mean, how can we possibly document all of them? Remembering to bring our camera to the Ribeira's would be a good start! ;) Thanks to everyone for your amazing love and support!

Day at the Zoo

Stacy requested pictures so here are a few from our day at the Sacramento Zoo. The zoo is small...we got through the whole thing in less than two hours, but honestly that was more than enough for us! And we only got a little sunburned.

I've been busy...

So busy in fact that I have not had a chance to blog about it! On Saturday I had a show opening at a local gallery and I'm busy getting ready for another one in Park City the end of September. Not to mention two new commissions! Yay! But I do want to record what happened today because I could use more days like this. Normally I sleep until my Jonah alarm goes off (his hunger cry) but for some reason I wasn't tired and got up before he did. (Even though I stayed up until 2:30am last night working out a composition for a new painting.) I was able to eat, run a load of dishes, and put a final coat of gesso on my 30"x40" board before he got up. I fed him at 8:30am and then we played for an hour and a half and then he wanted to sleep again! So I wrapped him up (in hopes that he would sleep longer), put him in his bouncer, and immediately got to work.
I downloaded several weeks worth of pictures from my camera and quickly changed my profile picture on facebook. I then started my 30 min. workout but stopped after 20 to answer a call from Emmalee from my Ghana group and we chatted for a bit. I then showered and studied chapter six of Isaiah. (Are you amazed at how much I got done during Jonah's nap?!) So then at 12:30 I got Jonah up, fed him, and took Ryan to class at 1:00pm.
My plan had been to go straight to the art store to buy a ruler, but I decided to go home and check thoroughly one more time to see if I could find one. Sorry, no miraculous prayer experience, so we got back in the car, picked up a new ruler, and came back home. Over the next several hours I was able to play with Jonah and grid my painting. How I did that is another story for another day.
I picked Ryan up at 4:30pm and Jonah took another short nap so I started on my under drawing for my painting. I also made some yummy chicken and brie sandwiches with honey mustard sauce and a large green salad for dinner. Probably would have made a better lunch than dinner. Oh well. While we ate we caught up on "So You Think You Can Dance." (We don't have a TV so we watch shows online.) Jonah fell asleep halfway through so we took a break so I could work some more on my drawing and Ryan could study. When Jonah woke up we watched the rest of the show.
Now Jonah is down for the night and instead of painting I am actually taking a moment to blog! There. Probably not too exciting to you but I think it's been a great day! Lots of Jonah time and lots of painting time. Okay, time to check blogs and then back to my painting...

Sacramento "Staycation"

Ryan finished his first year of medical school at UC Davis three weeks ago (loud applause) and we are now enjoying a six week break! We decided that instead of spending lots of money to travel somewhere far away, we are going to have a fabulous vacation at home! There are so many beautiful parks, museums, and restaurants all around us that we don't normally visit due to time or money. So we are spending our vacation money here and are gaining a whole new appreciation for Sacramento!

Last Friday was quite eventful. We had an early lunch at La Bonne, a renowned French soup cafe in downtown Sacramento. One man runs the whole shop so there is always a long line, but his sandwiches are true artistry so it's worth the wait. Plus we met a lot of nice people in line and Jonah was a hit with the older ladies (as always!)


After lunch we went to the Sacramento Public Library to see the current Traditional African Art exhibit. We were on the lookout for Ghanaian art and they did have one stool to represent Ghana. (If I had been thinking I would have snapped a picture of it.) While we were there we also decided to look for a good baby sign language book. We found one but had to put it on hold until we bring back proof of residence!

Next we went headed to Discovery Park which is one of many beautiful Sacramento parks within five or ten minutes of our home. This park is where the American River flows into the Sacramento River and is a favorite of local fishermen. It has 275 acres of mature trees and grassland with paved running/biking trails, dirt hiking trails, and plenty of great picnic spots. We went "off-roading" with our City Mini stroller and Jonah seemed to enjoy the scenery (whenever he was awake.) The only time he got upset was when Daddy took him down to the river and let him feel the water with his bare feet! In the future we will bring swimsuits and towels and spend some time at the beach. We'd also love to explore the river by boat!

And finally we ended the day at our new favorite dessert shop, "Yogurtagogo." This place is great because it's a delicious, healthy alternative to icecream. You choose your own frozen yogurt and toppings and pay by the ounce. The fresh fruit was amazing! They have chocolate and candy toppings too but we preferred the fresh fruit. It's a little pricey but it's QUALITY! We will definitely be going back!

Painting again

After a four month hiatus, I'm back at the easel and it feels so good. I've had to make adjustments to the way I paint since Jonah needs to be fed every few hours, but I'm learning to be more productive with the limited time that I have. This most recent commission needed to be finished by Mother's Day which fell during Ryan's finals week.
As you can imagine, Ryan didn't have much time to help with Jonah, so my father-in-law, Randy, graciously offered to watch Jonah for a day so that I could get a good start on my painting and so that Ryan could study. Jonah received his two-month shots the day that Randy came up but you wouldn't know it from all the laughs and smiles that Randy (AKA Papa) got out of him! They had fun and were pretty wiped out by the end of the day! =)
This was probably my most challenging portrait to date. My client only had a 2"x3" photo of his deceased grandma (Nana) which presented some challenges as he wanted a 16"x20" painting. Her lazy eye was also problematic but I managed to fix it in photoshop and then in the final painting. I wouldn't say that this is my favorite painting but I certainly grew a lot through the process!