Guess who is 1 month old!

Iris is now 9lbs. 10 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We just love her.

Presenting... Iris

We welcomed Iris Meridian Counihan into the world just before midnight on the 6th of October. She was 11 days ahead of schedule, but that was to be expected and I don't know how I could have been pregnant another day. Iris weighed in at 7lbs. 8 oz. and was 20 inches long, with beautiful dark hair, long fingers, and skinny feet. The delivery was a roller coaster of course as I dilated from a 5 to a 10 in a matter of minutes, craziness. Anyway, we all just love her to pieces.

She is not lacking in attention at all. Why are babies so heavenly? We are all doing well. My mom leaves in a couple of days so I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing as a mother of 4.

The Man Did Well

This past August Ben and I celebrated our 10 yr anniversary. Ben was in charge of this years festivities. I kindly reminded Ben that I would be very pregnant at the time so certain activities, ie. hiking, camping etc., were prohibited. Ben simply assured me that he had everything taken care of, but refused to devulge any information in regards to what he was cooking up. So I waited patiently. The actual night of our anniversary was Thursday the 6th which was of course night clinic. However, I was pleasantly surprised when Ben arrived home that night with a dozen roses just for me.

Ben planned our celebrations for the next night which was a Friday. He still would say nothing about what his plans were. He only told me to dress like I was going to church.

Well, we got in the car and Ben started driving to who knows where. I was excited to spend some time solely with my man. Suddenly he pulled into the Crissy Field Beach parking lot as is shown in the above photo. I immediately started to panic. This is how the conversation went...
Ben: We're taking kite surfing lessons!!!
Me: What?!?
Ben: There's our group right there. I brought your swim suit.
Me: (trying to remain calm) Ben, I am going to kill you. Why did you tell me to dress up if we're going Kite surfing. I even did my hair.
Ben: You don't want to go kite surfing?
Me: Ben, I'm almost 8 months pregnant. I can't Kite surf right now!!!!
Ben: Well, do you want to watch me do it?
Me: (furious, but trying to be nice because I sensed that he felt bad that I didn't approve of what he planned for us.) Well where's your swim-suit?
Ben: Under my church pants
Me: When I said no hiking or camping I guess I should have also mentioned that kite surfing was also not an option.
Ben: I'm just kidding, but you totally believed me.
Never before did "I'm just kidding" sound so lovely. I finally guessed what we were doing when I saw this poster.

I have wanted to see the musical 'Wicked' for a really long time, but for some reason had thought it had already left the city. Not only was I going to see 'Wicked', but I was going with just Ben and I didn't need to worry about passing out snacks and toys and keeping kids busy. My only job was to sit their and be entertained with my darling husband. It was amazing. Everything I expected and more.

My man did well.

Wrapping it up in fine style

We were able to wrap up our summer with one last camping/boating trip with our good friends Doug and Becky. Bullards Bar was as warm as bath water which made up for the half-baked preparations that Ben made for the foray. We came out smelling like a rose however and we went home happy, sore and sun roasted.


Elias overcame his trepidation from his first soggy attempt on skis, and got up with Ben on the wakeboard.

No tricks for old men. Ben managed to clear the wake a few times but woke up the next morning feeling as if he had received a caning to every major muscle group. Aging really stinks sometimes.

Elias and Haven are certain to get spankings for growing up too fast.

Summer is such a joy. We're happy to be home and getting some rest for a change.

Next big hurdle, transitioning Simeon into his big boy bed. Look out.

A River Runs Through It

Water being a constant theme in Counihan doings, we spent the summer soaked.

The Yuba river. A definite family favorite. Warming up on the smooth rocks before another dip.

Scotts Flat reservoir, boating a playing with Dann-Dan and Grammie.

Dann-Dan and Grammie's pool

Papa and Grandma's pool

Ben did a trans-Tahoe relay swimming race with a group from school a week after classes started in again. You can see the crowd of escort boats mobbing the harbor before the race began in the morning.

Lassen National Park

What is summer without a camping trip!?

We enjoyed an all too short trip to Mt. Lassen and the surrounding volcanic lands. The drive up the through the endless orchards and fertile lands of the Sacramento valley was both gorgeous and mouth watering for all the fresh fruit stands only yards away from the trees that bore the fruit.

Lassen boasted some breathtaking views. The hot pots that were easily accessible were rather ghetto to be generous. Snowy trail conditions and preggers bellies limited our hiking capacity, so the more impressive vents remained unexplored. The kids display their lackluster response to a mud pot.

This glacial lake just below Lassen's peak had the most beautiful blue pools standing atop the melting springtime snow. Key opportunity for Ben to throw caution to the wind for a photo op.

What hiking was had, Simeon showed promise.

We were able to spend some hours canoing on Manzanita Lake with the peaks in the background. All in all, it was a great trip with wonderful memories, but altogether too short.

Some things remain the same

Elias at 11 months old. Steering wheel jockey in the RV.

Simeon 15 months. Steering wheel jockey, same RV.

Elias, same trip as above, horsing around in the tent.

Simeon horsing around outside the tent.

Genesis 5:3 reads "And Adam...begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth"

Although beautiful differences exist, our sons were cut from the same mould.