Here are the latest pictures of Ivy, as well as a picture of Brian testing out his baby carrier. That's just a prop in there, my teddy bear! The picture with the three babies is Ivy and her "room mates"-- she looks huge compared to them, but I don't think she's reached 10 pounds yet. It is so hard to imagine how big she is based on these pictures! She looks very tranquil, though, and we are very pleased to see that she likes a pacifier- that will be very handy for the flight home.

We had a delightful weekend away up in the Sierras. We walked, napped, read, watched the squirrels, Brian fished... and not to mention the Death Cab For Cutie show in Reno. All of the pieces for our travel to Japan are falling into place- we will be packing on Saturday and ready to go on Sunday!

We will update the blog while we are away, with pictures of our new adventures with Ivy! Thanks so much to everyone who is so interested in our journey... all of the correspondence is very heartwarming!