The Fabulous B@ker Blog

Today, on the seventh anniversary of my dad's death, I am reminded that the last couple of weeks have had a dearth of bad news. From the shocking death of a Fairport grad (who many of our friends/families knew), to the news that Mark's Aunt Mary was diagnosed with lung cancer (luckily, it has not spread and she will sacrifice a lung, which is the "best case" scenario), to the untimely and sudden death of Mark's cousin, John, there just doesn't seem to much good news. I remain concerned about my dear second mother, Barb Bell, who's battling lung cancer, and we are also bummed by the imminent move of Mark's mom to the DC area. Always in the picture is my mother in the nursing home, and how it might not be the greatest situation but is probably the smartest choice we could have made based on her condition, what's available in the North Country for elder care, and in consideration of her inability to live independently. Illness, death, loss, the fabric...

On Thursday we welcomed our new baby niece/cousin, Amelie Feng Li Shiao, born around 9:30pm and weighing in at 8lb, 5 oz. She's just beautiful and we can't wait to meet her. Congrats Amanda, Dave and Jackson on the new addition to your family!

We've all returned from our major summer vacation odysseys (well, all accept Annalisse, but more on that in a minute) to Maine, Las Vegas and Germany (pictures soon). For the pleasure of the Fabulous B@ker Blog readers, we'll relive them one trip at a time. Maine We dropped Jasper off at the Petsmart Dog Hotel and headed north for approx. 8 hours to Portland Maine on Thursday, July 1. In Portland, we stayed at the Inn at Spring Park , a beautiful historic row house right in the heart of the "Old Port." The location was great, within walking distance to really neat shops and restaurants on Maine's Casco Bay. Our goal was to eat seafood for every meal (except breakfast, of course, where we were treated to decadent meals at the inn), and we mostly accomplished that except for a meal or two. My general impression of Portland, which is the largest city in Maine, was that it was a lot like Saratoga Springs, and not at all like I pictured Maine. We saw the "real...

A quick post to hold you over for exciting entries to come, like: All the news from our trip to Maine, complete with beautiful pictures A diary of our adventures in Las Vegas, for which Annalisse, Mary and I leave today (Happy Birthday, Dad! We miss you and are heading to LV in your honor today!) Cam's arrival home from Germany next Wednesday Our crazy travel summer in general If we could stay in one place long enough, I might be able to update the blog. Obviously, the next entry will be a long one and worth checking back!