Helena has been moving so fast lately that we cannot even keep up with her long enough to take an action picture. Here she is in a rare cuddly moment with dad. She also loves to make things in the play kitchen at Auntie Karla and Uncle David's house in Decorah, IA. (There will be more pictures to come of Helena and her new cousins Dawit and Meheret.)

Also, we would like to take this opportunity to share with you information about our upcoming ordinations:

You are invited to the ordination service of Mary and Aaron Suomala Folkerds

Where: Zion Lutheran Church (1200 Highway 25 South, Buffalo, MN 55313)

When: Sunday, July 22^nd, 2007 at 2:00 p.m.

What: Aaron and Mary will be starting their journey as ordained pastors in the ELCA. Bishop Jon Anderson of the Southwest Minnesota Synod will officiate at the double ordination service. The preacher for the day is Pastor David Vasquez who is the Campus Pastor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Pastor Vasquez is Mary and Aaron’s brother-in-law. Aaron’s father, Pastor John Folkerds, will also participate. Refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall immediately after the service.

Watch out world! Helena is now almost 9 months old and she started to crawl a few weeks ago. Now she is unstoppable - pulling herself up, climbing things, and getting into everything in our apartment.

In other news, Aaron and I graduated from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago on Sunday, May 20th with Masters of Divinity. We are now hanging out in Chicago for the summer until Aaron finishes work at Christ Hospital. In the fall, we are moving back up to Minnesota to be co-pastors at a four-point church called Prairie Land Lutheran. We are so excited to start this new adventure.

Helena was baptized on Sunday, March 18th at Zion Lutheran Church (Aaron's home church) in Buffalo. It was a wonderful day. Aaron's dad did the baptizing and Aaron and I preached together. We had a brunch afterwards with this lovely cake that my dad made. I didn't get any pictures of the actual baptism on my camera - I only have pictures of Helena with the cake. She is pictured here with Grandpa Paul. She is wearing the same baptismal dress that I and my siblings wore. Sorry I was so late in updating the world on this wonderful happening. We thank you for all the prayers that surrounded this special day. Yesterday during chapel at the seminary we all remembered our baptisms by walking through the huge font at the seminary. As I walked through the water I dipped Helena's feet into the water and she cried. She thought she was going to have to take a bath. Silly girl!

Good News!

We got some great news last week. Helena did so well at the cardiologist appointment that the cardiologist said that she may not have to have a third shunt surgery.






A few months ago he said that she would probably outgrow the shunt they installed in December and need surgery this summer. But her oxygen levels were high (90s) and they were very impressed with all of her accomplishments (sitting, standing, energy level, color). The doctor said that her shunts may last until her next big surgery when she is at least 22 pounds. That would be so nice!




And the doctor said that we didn't even have to come for another check up until three months from now. Aaron and I got freaked out when he said that and so he said that we could come back in 2 months. We usually have appts every month and so this is a big deal. So, our summer is freed up for fun things and interviews. For now, no worries about this little monster. She is still in 90th percentile in height and 15th for weight at 33 weeks old. She also has sprouted 2 bottom teeth. She is chomping her way through life and working on crawling.

Hello world! Helena here. Sorry about the delay in updating you all about my life. I would have updated the blog myself, but my mom does not let me type - my motor skills are not up to par yet. Life is going great. At six months I have doubled my birth weight. I am a long and lean baby - 75th percentile in height and 25th in weight. I like to make all sorts of noises and I like to chew on anything that I can get hands on - including my feet!












Since I was born in Illinois, I am a Bears fan. I even converted Dad into being a Bears fan. We wore our Bears apparel to watch the Super Bowl. No win, but maybe next year. Grandpa John and Grandma Judy were here to hang out with me that weekend. They can't get enough of me.














My Grandma Dorothy gave me this nice red dress and I wore it on Valentine's Day. Aren't I cute?

Hello, Helena here again. My Grandpa Paul and Grandma Dorothy came to visit my again this week because they just couldn't stay away. I am just too cute. My mom sometimes calls me a monster, but who could believe that I could ever be as ferocious as a monster?














Here I am with a doll that my grandma gave me and another doll that my great-aunt gave me. These are my best girlfriends.