Sunday, April 15, 2007

Changes to the Line-Up

This might be our Christmas card for 2007 sent out early. That would be a shocker. However, I don't think it counts when one of the children is a nameless gray figure. So this works more like a birth announcement letting our family and friends officially know that the fourth Sutter will be landing sometime in Fall of 2007.

Stefanie is 10 weeks into this pregnancy, and it remains a bit of a challenge. I operated under the mistaken assumption that pregnancy was like other things in life, it should get easier with practice. The reason I extended this idea to pregnancy stems from watching Monte Python's The Meaning of Life and seeing the baby just fall out while the mother does the dishes. For some reason that has always stuck with me. In my subconscious mind, I assumed that Stefanie would hardly notice her pregnancy, but I have been wrong. Instead of suffering from morning sickness, Stefanie suffers from all-day long sickness. This is true--water actually makes her nauseous. She has trouble shopping because she smells food through the packaging, and she needs to vomit. Don't get me wrong, the first trimester was always hard for us, but I had a different idea of how things would go this time.

THe sickness notwithstanding, we are extremely happy for this fourth child. All we are hoping for is to make it into the second trimester as soon as possible. I think we might find out the sex of the child early this time. We loved not knowing with the others, but I think the kids really want to know. In any case we will keep you updated.

Soccer Star


Yesterday marked the beginning of the end for Asher's first round of indoor soccer; it was the beginning of the playoffs. There are only 4 teams in his age groups, so every team gets to play. Still Asher was so excited and was sure his team would win. We were a little concerned, because he was such a poor sport the last time they lost, he was grounded for quite a bit. Fortunately, he went in with a healthy attitude about winning or losing the game.

I have been helping the coach with the team. It is interesting to see first hand how the team plays and improves. We couldn't believe how well all the kids plays. It was sort of shocking to us. We have spent weeks coaching the kids on some important skills and strategies, but we have never seen much of a result on the field. We went over it again before the game, and apparently something clicked. The coach and I were dumbfounded and actually looked at each other during the game and commented, "I think they finally listened." More to the point, they finally got it. Perhaps it is just persistence with kids this age? I don't know. But they finally played like a great team.

Asher had an especially good game. He scored two goals and had three assists. He has been waiting for a goal through two seasons now and got two of them in the playoffs. He was all grins as the game ended. We'll see what happens next week in the finals.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Carrie Illum: MISSING!


Have you seen this lady? She was last seen carousing in downtown Sonoma. It is suspected that the lady she is hugging in this picture shanghaied her to a taxi-driver boot camp in Northwest Montana. It is clear from all reports that this buxom lady is of questionable character and has taken advantage of Carrie's good nature and unsuspecting disposition. Authorities fear that Carrie has fallen prey to a notorious transportation syndicate and will soon be working the streets of a major US city from behind the wheel of a checkered cab. If you come across a smiling female taxi driver in a metropolitan US city, please call the local authorities at once. Remember, she will be smiling even when she should be unhappy. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Biking at Spring Lake


We spent this Saturday riding bikes at Spring Lake located in Santa Rosa at the bottom of Annadel State Park. When I ride my mountain bike nowdays, I frequently ride it in Annadel. But today we took the kids on their first ride to Spring Lake.

Climbing up the hill to the bike path was the hardest part. Soon we got going, and the kids had a great time. It was surprising to see Ella though. She has not ridden much over the winter, and she was pretty scared of the hills. This is a new one for her since she usually is pretty fearless on the bike. Perhaps she has gained a measure of caution. Still she managed the hills and loved riding her new bike!

Asher on the other hand got his first taste of trail riding. He liked it a lot, except for the rocky areas. What was actually shocking to me is that I still don't get poison oak. I can't recall all the times I got poison oak as a kid or the inopportune locations it seemed to show up. At one point, Jeremy and I decided it was mind over matter and we decided not get it anymore. It seemed to work, or we had built up enough tolerance. Well, I wondered if that still worked, but I walked right into some bushes on accident (I never push my luck with my immunity), but I haven't had a single problem. I can say without hesitation that I don't miss it. So Asher and I finished our ride by meeting up with the girls at the park. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday.