Where to begin...
As is true of all parents of young kids, we have been busy. Since March (last post... oops) a lot has happened: Ellen came out to visit, Bruce and Jan came out to visit, Andy went to Dickinson to see Ellen graduate, Grant continues his stay in SLC, Mark and Amelia Parrett (from Princeton days) moved out to SLC, Andy and Kira took their first trips without kids (to Andy's roomate's wedding in Boston; kiddos stayed with Buelo and Buela and did great, for which we are eternally grateful), our garden has expanded, we got six chickens, Say it Green! (our
organic, fair trade shirt business) has been growing, the sustainability consulting firm Andy works for got bought (Andy still has the same job with the new company), we have started exploring community development work, and of course the kids have been growing like crazy.
Since everyone really wants to know about the kids, I will start there and then cover some of the rest. I'll throw a smattering of pictures up at the end.
Pace did dance class for a few months a loved it. It was a class with other kids age 3-4 and they would dance to books, dance feelings (happy, sad, angry, silly, sleepy etc.), dance like animals, dance with streamers, dance with percussion instruments, dance with other kids, all sorts of fun stuff. Pace did two classes - the first involved parents (or other "big people") participating in the class, and Kira, Andy, Grant, Kira's parents, even Andy's parents took turns participating as Pace's "big person" partner. The second class was similar in structure/activities to the first, but it was just kids. Big people could watch from the sides. Pace had a great time with those classes.
For this summer, Pace and Satya are enrolled in a music class together that has recently started and they are both enjoying. It is great to have them able to take a class together like that, though I (Andy) have not been able to be at that one yet so I can't provide as many details. We are thinking about putting them into a gymnastics class together (which Satya would love) or putting Pace into a rec soccer league (which Pace would love). Not sure on that one yet.
Satya is coming out of her "destroy everything in sight" phase (which Pace went through at about this age also) and is coming into a phase where she enjoys playing with Pace and us. So much nicer! And good timing as gardening has really picked up and the whole destructive thing would have been a problem. She has been become an absolutely avid reader (well, listener while mom/dad read), and we have been bringing home a ridiculous amount of library books in order to encourage her love of books. We have been sure in include a regular staple of potty books to encourage her to become more comfortable using the toilet. Potty training has started with some successes, though the going has been slow. Satya is still exclusively in diapers, but underwear may be coming within a couple weeks in an effort to encourage the potty training process. At 20 months, Satya's vocabulary has started growing (hooray!) and includes mama, dada, moo (her cow), bau (book or bird), a-wa (all done, i.e. eating), joo (juice), a-na (sandals), shoo (shoes), yesss (yes), chesss (chest), lala (buela - grandma), oo (buelo - grandpa). She still signs for several other things.
The kids continue to enjoy our garden, and both Pace and Satya now love to roam the mint and sorrels and graze on them. It's great! Pace helped plant our annual beds this spring (which is that part that got expanded) and had a lot of fun helping mom and dad put seeds in the ground. Annuals this year consist of: three raised beds with peas, carrots, radishes, peppers, kolrabi (lots - a family favorite), tomatos, and probably other stuff I forgot; a 10'x5' patch of corn and beans growing together with pumpkin, squash, and zuccini also in there; melon and potatoes in a container; and various salad greens by the door to the house (kale, chard, lettuce, etc.). The cucumbers don't appear to have made it (bummer!!) and the melon is being seriously out-competed by the potatoes in the container garden... but we are hoping it makes it.
Though still small, Say it Green! continues to grow. We just got a big account with the Farmer's Market here in SLC, which is great. As part of our attempt to get our name out in the area, we had hang-tags made for the Farmer's Market shirts so that people know where they came from! It's a big step for us :) We also organized a
benefit concert for
Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts (MICA), which was put together by Grant and Kira. It was a huge success and a ton of fun. Kira's brother's band,
Shake Your Peace!, was bicycle-touring through Utah and played the concert, which raised several thousand dollars for MICA. Thanks to Gabe for scheduling our concert in on short notice!
That benefit concert led to us (Kira and Andy) trying to think of other ways to partner with MICA, which is focused on community building in west SLC (a poorer area of town). We have been interested in engaging in community development work for some time, and are planning on setting aside two years to do that in the Spanish-speaking developing world starting in 2011 (our "hiatus" if you have heard us talk about it). Well, it turns out that the State of Utah asked MICA for a proposal for a "green" art gallery in west SLC, and it looks like Kira and I are going to help with that effort and see if we can help pull something together. We are both very excited about the project, but of course totally clueless! "Learning by doing" seems to have been our motto for the past several years! Fortunately, west SLC has a non-profit that has been active in community building work there for many years now -
Neighborworks Salt Lake - and they have volunteered their help. I am sure we will take them up. Plus, our church and a west SLC church plant have recently started a non-profit group called One City Ministries which (I think) is attempting to bridge the east-west divide in SLC. We are hopeful that there will be some partnership there also. So, we'll see what happens. We've read some books, but this is the first hands-on experience we will have. We are hopeful it will lead to something good!
Ok, I am out of writing energy. I will post pictures later (I can hear the collective groans coming from all of you as you read this!!). The kids need to get up from nap soon, so I am out of time!
The green beans grew up corn stalks; we have huge pumpkins and winter squash; our apple tree is heavy with fruit; our cherry tomatoes spilled out all over the garden. 
