Let's play catch-up, yet again.

So I'm thinking that in order to be more accurate, I need to change our blog description to read: "We created this blog to document our family life on a quarterly basis" as opposed to our day to day family life... I don't know why I cannot find the time to update the blog. It's all about priorities, I guess. When you have a one year old, priorities change. That's my excuse today. So here's a quick update since we last checked in.

Mother's Day: It was great! Jason and Eliot surprised me with a massage at Spa Ivy which was *heavenly* and then we all had a fantastic picnic in the Walker Sculpture Garden and spent the afternoon chasing Eliot around and watching ducks. Eliot is OBSESSED with ducks and buses.




Father's Day: Our friends Jen and Tom and Paige came into town for the weekend and we spent Saturday at Rock the Garden, which was awesome. It was a gorgeous day and we got to see four bands - Solid Gold, Yeasayer, Calexico and The Decemberists. We were a bit worried about how the babies would do since we were there for over 8 hours, but they loved it. Paige took a catnap, Eliot ran around like a crazy man and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The music was fantastic and it was a perfect day all around. Then on Sunday, Tim and Erin and Lucy (Tom's twin and his wife and their daughter) came to town and we all had a very yummy five course champagne brunch at the Nicollet Island Inn. We lucked out with a private dining room so we could shut the doors and let all three toddlers toddle around. It would never have worked otherwise, as the brunch took over three hours! Afterward, we all went to the zoo for the afternoon. It was a quick but very fun weekend!


Over the July 4th holiday, we took a trip to Canada for my cousin's wedding. Since both sides of my family either live in town or were in town for the wedding, our weekend was absolutely jam packed! But it was so great to be able to see everyone again and the wedding was beautiful! Congrats Curtis & April!



This past weekend, Jason had his 15 year high school reunion on Friday night and a bachelor party (woot woot) on Saturday night. I couldn't bring myself to attend his reunion with him (I despise those types of events!) and so me and mom headed to Sioux Falls on Friday night and came back on Saturday night. We got to spend Saturday hanging out at the pool with Danny & Aymee, and Charlie and Berkley and Eliot. I got a sunburn so it was totally worth it! Jason had a good time catching up with his old classmates (he doesn't despise those types of events) and an equally good time at the bachelor party although he did leave early to come home and see me and Eliot on Saturday night. What a softie he is!

Today, we found out that two engineering firms were unable to conclusively determine the cause of our van fire, and as a result our insurance company is not able to pursue further legal action against Chrysler. Seems like we're just out of luck there... I'm guessing our premiums jump up quite a bit in the near future.

So in May I posted our To-Do List - well, I'm embarrassed to say that we've gotten virtually nothing done. We're just not very productive, are we?! We did renovate our lawn organically although it is a HUGE task to keep up with the weeding when you don't use any weed killer. We haven't been very consistent and I think the weeds are winning this battle. Argh! Our garden is planted and growing. We've enjoyed lettuce, raspberries, rhubarb and basil, so far. We have tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, onions and cucumbers still growing. We were able to dig out our boulevards and plant native plants there - most of them are doing well although we do need to water quite often to keep them green. Hopefully they'll be more established next summer and need a little less water. And finally, none of our indoor house stuff is done. It irritates me just to write that sentence so that's all I'm going to say about that.



Next week, we are going to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for a week of relaxation on the beach. We can hardly wait. I am eagerly looking forward to sand between my toes, floating in warm, salty water, drinking a cold margarita, eating fresh guacamole and fish tacos and ceviche, sweltering in 100 degrees, sleeping in (please Eliot?), laying in a hammock and everything else that is so wonderful and lovely about a vacation in Mexico!

And on August 13th, Jason and I will celebrate our 5th anniversary. We haven't made any plans yet so any ideas for how we should celebrate? What is the 5th anniversary anyway?

I'll try to post another update next week...seriously.
Peace & love!

Van Fire

As you know, our van caught fire and burned to a total loss. Chrysler denied our claim under the Basic Warranty because in their estimation, there was no evidence of a manufacturer's defect. We disagreed with this assessment based on the report from the Minneapolis Fire Department and two different independent fire investigators, and as such we decided to pursue independent arbitration, which is a right afforded to us under the warranty. Today, we received a letter from the National Center for Dispute Settlement (NCDS) which indicated, "Since the vehicle has been involved in a fire, and it cannot be determined if it was a defect under the warranty prior to the damage, your situation is beyond the jurisdiction of this Customer Arbitration Process."

There was also a handwritten note included with the letter that indicated that Chrysler had informed NCDS that we would have to file a claim with our insurance company, who could then attempt to subrogate the funds back from Chrysler if they could prove there was a defect in the van. So much for the "independent" part of arbitration.

Regardless, their decision puts us in a difficult situation. Our only options at this point are to file a lawsuit or file a claim with our insurance company. After much thought, we've decided to go ahead and file a claim with our insurance company. They will try to subrogate from Chrysler, but if they aren't successful we will be left with a hefty increase to our premium for a number of years. The situation sucks and we definitely feel that we have been wronged in some way.

However, we have already wasted too much mental energy on this entire situation. While we may have been wronged, the fact of the matter remains that we are very fortunate and blessed. Everyday, many, many people are wronged in far more serious ways and we need to keep this in perspective. It's just a car, for goodness sake! We still have a roof over our heads, we can buy a new car, we are all healthy, we were not hurt by this incident, and on and on. This situation is out of our control and rather than letting it consume any of our precious time and energy, we've decided to let go of any frustration or bitterness we feel and have resolved to be entirely happy with all the beautiful and good things that we do have in our lives.

On a different note, Jason is running the marathon on Sunday. Please send good thoughts and prayers his way - he'll need them! We'll post about it next week. Have a good weekend everyone! Peace & love to you all!