Evidence of a Future Soccer Player

Here SHE is, folks, Baby Girl Gieser! And we both agree that this is some strong evidence that this little girl could have potential on the soccer field. Look at that perfect shot of her leg. No wonder she's been kicking and rolling around so much already.

Here's a profile image, with a hand/arm held up below her chin. We even saw live images of her opening and closing her mouth. Wow, technology is amazing.

Look to the right side of this image - can you count 5 toes?! That's the underside of her foot.

We deliberated quite a bit on whether or not to find out the gender of this new one...but finally decided at today's 21-week check-up (well, actually, over breakfast that morning) that we would go for it. And we are very grateful and excited to now start preparing for and expecting this daughter. We still feel in awe that we are going to be parents!!

Dad & Mom G's quick visit

It was a short weekend but boy did we have fun! Saturday morning Jim fixed up an excellent pancake breakfast, which we needed to face a full day of the "patio beautification project". We took advantage of Dad's expertise to re-work our small back patio, from boring concrete slab and uncut grass to a patio with potted plants, creeping clematis, and comfortable sitting area.

Here are the men beginning to dig and replant. They used upwards of 80 pounds of soil to replace the rocky mixture that had been there, plus another 60 pounds of potting soil. ...The other fun thing about this project was discovering a nursery just down the road. We always have enjoyed wandering around nurseries and learning about trees and plants - and now we've got one here to explore! **Photos of the finished product coming soon.

On Saturday night we had a nice dinner out and then went to West Side Story on campus. It was an excellent production! IU has a terrific music school (undergrad and grad programs), and even the dancing and the sets were really good. Baby Gies seemed to like the music too, and was thumping and kicking a lot throughout.

Upcoming visit - a contrast

This weekend we are looking forward to a visit from Mom & Dad G. It was about a year ago that they visited us in Cape Town (remember how hot it was?!)...what a contrast. For that trip, they had to go approx. 10,000 miles and endure 20 hours of flight across the Atlantic. For this trip, they will only have to drive 350 miles in 5 hours.

Unfortunately there are no beautiful mountains and ocean coastlines in southern Indiana (and I'm not that tan). BUT we we do have a great outdoor farmer's market up and running now that it is spring! And we are going to see West Side Story at IU! And grandchild number 3 is kicking up a storm!

Pineapple! and a really cool kitchen gadget

Lately I've been able to buy fresh, delicious pineapples at the grocery store for a good price, and we are enjoying eating fresh fruit in season and looking forward to more summer fruits coming! Of course, this pineapple isn't grown locally - it's (most often) from Costa Rica. And it is wonderful.

[Aside: while I agree with many of the "eat local" ideas, I disagree that it is a good answer for our entire diet. If we only ate local fruit, e.g. what would happen to the Costa Rican economy and their pineapple market? However we do our best to follow principles of eating in season, which is why I'm particularly excited about spring & summer crops coming soon, like tomatoes! squash! lettuce! peaches! peppers!]

Thanks to Mom G, I have this cool pineapple-coring gadget, which I get to pull out for a few months of the year. You twist the handle from the top while pressing down, and the center blade cuts around the core and slowly slices the pineapple - from the inside - into rounds. While at times it requires tremendous elbow grease (especially if the pineapple is pretty ripe), the pay-off is worth it. In fact I usually get about 1 Cup of juice, plus the fruit. (I'd already drunk half of the juice by the time I thought to take these photos.) Best of all there's very little waste.

Isn't that COOL?

Easter Weekend with Byron & Lauren

Over Easter weekend we had a great visit with Byron and Lauren Morris, formerly of Merida, Mexico and now living in Augusta, Georgia. They skedaddled out of Augusta for spring break (and to avoid The Master's) and were on their way up to Illinois to spend the week with Lauren's grandma. (Byron - a Wheaton College friend - was in our wedding, and Jim was in theirs.) The highlights of the weekend were: enjoying the spring weather & flowers; cooking together - Byron displayed some never-before-seen skills; and spending hours talking about transitions, friendships & marriage.

The first night we made homemade pizza...

...and as you can see, Byron was really excited. (So were the rest of us.)

After church on Sunday, we wandered around campus a bit. There really are some beautiful buildings and trees and walkways.

Of course, we had to reward ourselves afterwards with ice cream. The funny thing was, we started driving home and I (Jul) said, "Maybe we can get some ice cream? But where?" (We are still learning our way around town...) And just then, only a block from the parking lot, we spotted this local joint, so we re-parked and went in! Yum.

That night Lauren whipped up some buttermilk scones - her first time making them (with Jim's aid) and they were delicious.

Thanks, friends!! Next time we'll see YOU in Georgia!