an email from Jessica

From: Jessica Parker Garvin
Subject: we have wonderful children
To: “Garvin, Ben”

I was just spying on Art in the backyard.  He was getting his raquetball that had falling just on the other side of Tsundi’s fence [our neighbor], so he was passing it, hand to hand, through the holes in the links over and over until he got to the top, then he just got back to whatever he was doing.  I don’t know why I love that stuff so much, but I do.

—
Jessica

Church group photo.

This photo was taken during the Easter service earlier this month at our new church. It has been a real gift spending Sunday mornings with such an eclectic and generous group of people. I never ever thought I’d trumpet the value of church. Didn’t grow up going and actually had (and still have) a certain amount of contempt for church goers. At least righteous ones. But what I realize is having that weekly time to step back, be with people you care about and remember what is of real value, it’s a good thing and makes me and our whole family happy. Walker is in the heart of Minneapolis’ Powderhorn neighborhood and full of super liberal radical left wingers. RADICAL LEFT WINGERS!

Btw, if you’re reading this blog and thinking you might like to check out Walker, do! We went ‘church shopping’ a few different places until we found a good fit (Walker’s more spiritual than Christian). If you want to ‘shop’ at Walker let us know, you can be our guests!

Dirt.

Jessica has an incredible ability to endure, even encourage children to get dirty. It’s sometimes hard to watch as the kids get filthy, playing and sitting in wet mud and flipping chunks into hair, etc. But Jessica sees this as a wonderful learning opportunity, to learn about texture and gravity and whatever else. And she’s right. So I endure.

Bubbe’s bench.

Jessica went back to her mother’s house recently and grabbed an a old metal rocking seat thing from her backyard. I protested, didn’t want more crap in our cluttered house. But I’m glad Jessica ignored me cause she made a wonderful little spot to sit near our apple tree in the backyard.