Colombian Bags For Sale

Have we got an opportunity for you. For a limited time only (until I sell them all). My friend in Colombia made these bags and I am sending her all the proceeds. Don't worry, this is not some marketing pyramid scheme - I don't make any money. She needed to borrow some money when we visited them last spring and I had her make these indigenous style bags. The only way that you could find anything like them is to go deep into the Colombian jungle, which is not necessarily safe. I believe that our government has frowned on travel to Colombia for a number of years, something about holding Americans hostages...

Here is an explanation of the messenger bags:
- Shoulder strap
- Fold-over flap with “mola” (unique indigenous design)
- Two inner 6in x 6in pockets
- New, never been used

A “mola” is a piece of fabric created from layers of brilliantly colored cloth hand-sewn together in a unique pattern that captures the vision of the world, parts of oral literature, songs, poems and customs of the indigenous Kuna people in Uraba, Colombia. The bright and colorful geometric figures paint mythological scenes, the creation of the world and flora and fauna of the region where the Kuna people live. The art of the molas, practiced by women of this indigenous Colombian community, reflect not only a great natural and artistic flavor, but also represent the richness of their culture.

Click on the picture above to see the bags I have left. The messanger bags are 35$ and the duck bag is 25$. Contact me for additional information.

The Container Garden Special

This week we take you live to our back porch. In this picture you can see our yellow zucchini in the far left container, green peppers and celosia (cockscomb) in the middle, and cilantro and crockneck squash in the right container. They all love the nightly thunderstorms and daily highs above 80° that we have been having. We love this weather too because that means that we don't have to water them. Click on the garden to see other plants that we're experimenting with. We regret to inform you that our swiss chard is in the PICU (Plant Intensive Care Unit), thus not pictured. We haven't had to hook them up to CO2 or a fertilizer IV yet, but they are in critical condition. We are hoping for the best.

Helen is developing by leaps and bounds. This week she helped Ryan bring the laundry up, maybe next week she will help me fold it.

Look-alike

Helen is one week old as of yesterday, and we've decided to turn to our audience of friends and family for help determining who she looks like. To help, I put this little graphic you see below with some baby pictures of myself, Helen, and Michelle. They're not the best pictures for comparison, but we'd still like you to take look and then vote on the poll to the right. Feel free to add additional suggestions in your comments. Thanks.

Since Helen has taken center stage for us since her arrival, we are a little behind in getting some other fun pictures up for you to see. Last week Michelle graduated from her cake decorating class and I was commissioned a Captain. This week the Finch family came to help us with the new baby and we got to take lots of field trips during the day to give Michelle some peace and quiet. Click on any of these pictures below and you'll see our trips to the Mormon Trail Center, the Union Pacific engines, the Strategic Air & Space Museum and the Aksarben Aquarium.

New Arrival

Hooray! After a lot of hard work on Michelle's part, the newest little Hackett arrived Saturday afternoon. And wouldn't you know it, even though 99% of everyone guessing (including ourselves) had guessed they baby would be a boy, we were instead blessed with a girl! What a surprise!

Her name is Helen Hackett, and we are so happy to have her in our family. She was born weighing 7lbs 12oz, measuring 21in long, and with lots of dark brown hair as you can see in the pictures. Michelle is recovering well and gets one more night in the hospital. Helen is healthy and active. We have to swaddle her really tight because she'd really prefer to be kicking and swinging her arms around - all no surprise to Michelle who has been feeling those kicks since the 4th month of pregnancy and has all along been saying that this little baby is destined to be a salsa dancer.