Technically, we are already en route, "on our way" halfway around the world. We leave tomorrow morning (Friday) on a 6 am flight, which means we have to be at the airport at 4ish, and we live over an hour from the airport and it's been lightly snowing for four straight days and you never know what the weather will do, so we decided to drive down to Fargo a night early.
Just got the kids out of the hotel pool, quick dip in the tub, and into their pjs. They are as clean as they will get for the next 48-72-96 hours?? Depends on how quickly we get our acts together and bathe our children in Thailand!
From Friday at 4am til Saturday mid-afternoon (CST) we'll be in transit.... we'll be "in transition" for much longer, months actually. Prayers appreciated and we'll update again from the other side!
PS - Isaac seems pretty healthy, still hanging on to an occasional dry shallow cough, but nothing that worries me (or him!). So, as far as I can tell, we are starting mostly healthy and hoping to stay that way!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
what exactly do you do in the last days?
Well, to be honest, it's not all that exciting. We do a little packing. A lot of playing. Some hard goodbyes. Yesterday afternoon the whole family went on a final Target run and the girls got new tennis shoes. Tomorrow we do dentist appointments.
I finished editing the blog posts from 2010 into book format. It always amazes me how much can happen in a year and I like going back through all the posts and remembering.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective) our luggage allowance is quite large. I'm always a smidge embarrassed by how much stuff we manage to pack, and this year I have been more committed than ever to take "less". But you'd be surprised how quickly it adds up! Turns out "less" is several hundred pounds of stuff!
The kids definitely know that change is in the air. We talk about friends we are leaving behind, and friends we will see in just a few days. The girls tear a link off of their countdown chains every morning after breakfast.
Tomorrow night will be a tough-y. We have just loved Wednesday night supper, the friends that gather there, and the AWANA program that follows. I will definitely be taking a photo of the girls in their Cubbies vests :)
Isaac picked up croup (perfect timing, huh?) and I'm hoping we manage to isolate the germs and the girls don't get it too. His cough sounds horrible, and I'm hoping the worst of it is over before we head to the airport super early Friday morning.
This is surely about as random as any post can get, so I'll stop while I'm still ahead :) Maybe the randomness is indicative of my overall state of mind - filled with some last minute to-dos, not sure what to focus on, waiting for a big 'ole change barreling towards us.
I finished editing the blog posts from 2010 into book format. It always amazes me how much can happen in a year and I like going back through all the posts and remembering.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective) our luggage allowance is quite large. I'm always a smidge embarrassed by how much stuff we manage to pack, and this year I have been more committed than ever to take "less". But you'd be surprised how quickly it adds up! Turns out "less" is several hundred pounds of stuff!
The kids definitely know that change is in the air. We talk about friends we are leaving behind, and friends we will see in just a few days. The girls tear a link off of their countdown chains every morning after breakfast.
Tomorrow night will be a tough-y. We have just loved Wednesday night supper, the friends that gather there, and the AWANA program that follows. I will definitely be taking a photo of the girls in their Cubbies vests :)
Isaac picked up croup (perfect timing, huh?) and I'm hoping we manage to isolate the germs and the girls don't get it too. His cough sounds horrible, and I'm hoping the worst of it is over before we head to the airport super early Friday morning.
This is surely about as random as any post can get, so I'll stop while I'm still ahead :) Maybe the randomness is indicative of my overall state of mind - filled with some last minute to-dos, not sure what to focus on, waiting for a big 'ole change barreling towards us.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
the joys of cousins
Let's say you had to rank goodbyes on a scale of 1 to 10.
"Saying goodbye to your brother and sister in law, and your kids' cousins" would be a 10plus. It's one of those goodbyes that you wish never had to happen. If we were in charge of choosing our neighbors, these guys would be right at the top of the list.
On a date Thursday evening Matt and I talked about "what if ND was our permanent home". It was kind of fun to create a fantasy life here for ourselves, complete with employment (Matt would be an engineer for the city government), transportation (a minivan in the garage) and even wardrobe (I'd be buying a pair of toasty warm winter boots like my cousin Michelle's).
We'd love to worship at Bethel, watch our kids grow up with their cousins, talk parenting and marriage and life with Andy and Kristi.
But this is not our permanent home. Neither is Asia, for that matter. So I'm trying to be grateful for the sweet reminder that heaven is my home, and that goodbyes are a painful reminder that we were created for everlasting relationship with our heavenly Father.
On the evening of July 2nd these cousins greeted one another at the airport and now, six months (and one sweet additional Jonah-cousin) later, we said goodbye. I mostly held it together until the kids started hugging and Julianna ran to me with tear-filled eyes. After that I was pretty much a wreck.
They gave us thousands of sweet memories, and also this sweet book that Kristi made for our family.
You'll have to trust me when I tell you it is even more precious in person.
And that we cannot wait to write a second book the next time we are together. Oh wow, we miss you guys like crazy!
"Saying goodbye to your brother and sister in law, and your kids' cousins" would be a 10plus. It's one of those goodbyes that you wish never had to happen. If we were in charge of choosing our neighbors, these guys would be right at the top of the list.
On a date Thursday evening Matt and I talked about "what if ND was our permanent home". It was kind of fun to create a fantasy life here for ourselves, complete with employment (Matt would be an engineer for the city government), transportation (a minivan in the garage) and even wardrobe (I'd be buying a pair of toasty warm winter boots like my cousin Michelle's).
We'd love to worship at Bethel, watch our kids grow up with their cousins, talk parenting and marriage and life with Andy and Kristi.
But this is not our permanent home. Neither is Asia, for that matter. So I'm trying to be grateful for the sweet reminder that heaven is my home, and that goodbyes are a painful reminder that we were created for everlasting relationship with our heavenly Father.
On the evening of July 2nd these cousins greeted one another at the airport and now, six months (and one sweet additional Jonah-cousin) later, we said goodbye. I mostly held it together until the kids started hugging and Julianna ran to me with tear-filled eyes. After that I was pretty much a wreck.
They gave us thousands of sweet memories, and also this sweet book that Kristi made for our family.
You'll have to trust me when I tell you it is even more precious in person.
And that we cannot wait to write a second book the next time we are together. Oh wow, we miss you guys like crazy!
Friday, January 7, 2011
this past week
The first week of January went by in a flash! We're living at Grandma and Grandpa's and slowly, surely, our pile of packed luggage grows. Reality is setting in, we are leaving. Soon. Early Friday morning, we'll be on an airplane bound for Chicago (and then Tokyo, and then Bangkok). You don't really want to know how many hours of travel that is :)
We return to our Asian home via Thailand, where we'll spend a bit of time at our mid-year conference. High temps in Bangkok are about 90 degrees, today's high here was 2. I'm not really sure how our bodies are going to handle that one!
It'll be a while before we see snow like this, so it's fun to get outside and play. It only takes about 15 minutes for me to get everyone's gear on :) But once we're dressed, we stay warm and have lots of adventures. Julianna and Lydia love to spot animal tracks in the snow (mostly rabbits and squirrels).
Even snow shoveling is fun for little girls with no expectations or time restrictions....
The swing has about an inch of clearance on top of the snow - and the snow is packed enough that the kids can walk right on top of it and have a seat in the swing. It looks pretty silly, with the swing hovering right on top of the snow, but they enjoy it :)
When the snow gives way the kids sink to their waist - and it's pretty tricky to climb out of that kind of hole! Maybe that's why Lydia's got such a determined look on her face!
The other day we went out for a walk and stopped to check the mail out front of Grandma and Grandpa's house...
Fun times! And big changes on the horizon. Not only is the temperature going to climb 90 degrees, but in the next month we move to a new apartment in a new city with new schools, new friends, new neighborhoods, new stores, new almost-everything. Wow. It's a lot to try to digest, so I am taking it one day at a time! [Our belongings are already at our new location - about 500 miles north of where we used to live. Our stuff left on a moving truck a few days before we flew to America last summer, and was unloaded into our new place after we were settled here in the States. Think we'll have a smidge of work to do as we get settled?!?!]
We return to our Asian home via Thailand, where we'll spend a bit of time at our mid-year conference. High temps in Bangkok are about 90 degrees, today's high here was 2. I'm not really sure how our bodies are going to handle that one!
It'll be a while before we see snow like this, so it's fun to get outside and play. It only takes about 15 minutes for me to get everyone's gear on :) But once we're dressed, we stay warm and have lots of adventures. Julianna and Lydia love to spot animal tracks in the snow (mostly rabbits and squirrels).
Even snow shoveling is fun for little girls with no expectations or time restrictions....
The swing has about an inch of clearance on top of the snow - and the snow is packed enough that the kids can walk right on top of it and have a seat in the swing. It looks pretty silly, with the swing hovering right on top of the snow, but they enjoy it :)
When the snow gives way the kids sink to their waist - and it's pretty tricky to climb out of that kind of hole! Maybe that's why Lydia's got such a determined look on her face!
The other day we went out for a walk and stopped to check the mail out front of Grandma and Grandpa's house...
Fun times! And big changes on the horizon. Not only is the temperature going to climb 90 degrees, but in the next month we move to a new apartment in a new city with new schools, new friends, new neighborhoods, new stores, new almost-everything. Wow. It's a lot to try to digest, so I am taking it one day at a time! [Our belongings are already at our new location - about 500 miles north of where we used to live. Our stuff left on a moving truck a few days before we flew to America last summer, and was unloaded into our new place after we were settled here in the States. Think we'll have a smidge of work to do as we get settled?!?!]
Friday, December 31, 2010
snowed in with family - the photos!!
I just got photos from Sheree (one of Matt's many fun cousins).... so here goes!
We did a fair bit of this...... watching the weather forecast and road closings.
Question: Will we travel today?
Answer: NO WAY!
Too bad there wasn't anything fun to do inside (ha ha ha!)
Michelle's two girls, Brenna and Nicole, were like full time babysitters. I miss having them around! Brenna is in the red shirt in the photo above, Nicole is playing with Isaac below (try not to notice that Isaac is playing with a pink and purple jeep - he he he).
This is definitely the game-playing-est family I have EVER seen! Card games, board games, family games... they play all the time!
Sometimes though, you just need a little quiet snuggly book reading on the couch.
Grandma Ruth with three of her four children (Luther, Lowie, Bev) and a daughter-in-law (Jan). Speaking of games, Grandma Ruth will beat you, hands down, every single time you play her in cards. I mean, EVERY single time! Seven of us ladies played Hand and Foot (a card game) one night and her score was double the second place score!
I'm sure you are all wondering how I managed to land in this coveted spot for one meal :) The highlight was a "how long can you keep your eyes wide open without blinking" contest. I didn't win.
One of my favorite memories? Watching (and listening) to Isaac watch his daddy and the other men outside moving snow. It was like an Isaac-version of the best movie of all time, starring some of his favorite characters (Daddy, Uncle Andy, Grandpa) all outside doing manly things - using snowblowers, moving cars and trucks around, shoveling and shoveling and shoveling. He still talks about it!
[A snow blower is an impressive piece of equipment, especially for a little man like Isaac. After all, it's a closer relative of the lawn mower, makes loud noises and is larger than he is.]
Fun times and great memories!
We did a fair bit of this...... watching the weather forecast and road closings.
Question: Will we travel today?
Answer: NO WAY!
Too bad there wasn't anything fun to do inside (ha ha ha!)
Michelle's two girls, Brenna and Nicole, were like full time babysitters. I miss having them around! Brenna is in the red shirt in the photo above, Nicole is playing with Isaac below (try not to notice that Isaac is playing with a pink and purple jeep - he he he).
This is definitely the game-playing-est family I have EVER seen! Card games, board games, family games... they play all the time!
Sometimes though, you just need a little quiet snuggly book reading on the couch.
Grandma Ruth with three of her four children (Luther, Lowie, Bev) and a daughter-in-law (Jan). Speaking of games, Grandma Ruth will beat you, hands down, every single time you play her in cards. I mean, EVERY single time! Seven of us ladies played Hand and Foot (a card game) one night and her score was double the second place score!
I'm sure you are all wondering how I managed to land in this coveted spot for one meal :) The highlight was a "how long can you keep your eyes wide open without blinking" contest. I didn't win.
One of my favorite memories? Watching (and listening) to Isaac watch his daddy and the other men outside moving snow. It was like an Isaac-version of the best movie of all time, starring some of his favorite characters (Daddy, Uncle Andy, Grandpa) all outside doing manly things - using snowblowers, moving cars and trucks around, shoveling and shoveling and shoveling. He still talks about it!
[A snow blower is an impressive piece of equipment, especially for a little man like Isaac. After all, it's a closer relative of the lawn mower, makes loud noises and is larger than he is.]
Fun times and great memories!
on the snowy road
December 29th we drove to Elk River for a Christmas gathering with Jan's side of the family. The girls called this "the party with Grandma and all her sisters". Grandma and her sisters like big families, which means big parties :) [Grandma Claudine, Matt's mom's mom, was the matriarch of this clan, and Lydia was her 23rd great-grandchild. She died shortly after Lydia was born, but the family just keeps growing :)] It is always a treat to be with these folks!
Photos from the actual event are on another camera, so I'll come back and post some later. We left the morning of the 30th, knowing a blizzard was forecasted for later in the day. Sure enough, it started snowing at lunch time, and the afternoon drive got pretty hairy.
This was my view from the passenger window. White, white and more white. Snow falling and snow blowing, everywhere.
The interstate was already closed west of Fargo and the eastern portion closed right after we arrived at our destination. Oh man were we glad to be inside a warm home, full of food and family!
The next morning the snow stopped falling and the kids went outside, for about thirty seven seconds. Actually, Julianna was out much longer than I thought she'd stay.... It didn't help that I hadn't planned on being snowed in - a (lucky) packing mishap meant that we had their snow bibs in the car, but their boots were MIA. Uh oh. It was SOOOOO cold. As in temperatures barely above ZERO. When the forecasted high is 2 degrees, you can be sure of at least one thing, and that is that the snow that blew inside your car the previous evening will not be melting any time soon :)
A second snowstorm showed up a few hours later, and there was no way we could return home as scheduled. The interstates remained closed, our stay lengthened, and our children were delighted to be there. It was so much fun I found myself thinking "this should have been the plan all along".
We finally gave up waiting for the interstate to re-open and decided to try another route. The initial miles were no fun, but the road cleared, the stress level fell, and we arrived home safe and sound.
But, honestly, a bit frazzled. Not so much by the weather, but by the delay. We were scheduled to move out of our home by noon Saturday (another family arriving from Turkey overlapped with our time in the US and we were anxious to let them move in and settle, while we finish our time here living at Matt's parents). Anyways, not only were we not moved out Saturday noon, we were still stuck out of town with closed interstates! Aggghhhh! Good news is, the newly arriving family was stuck too :)
So we got back to town, ate some dinner, got our kids in bed at Grandma's, and went over to begin the packing frenzy. Thank goodness I had done some preliminary work last week while Matt was ice fishing!
We finished, thanks to a late night and huge help from some friends who came over Sunday afternoon to lend a hand.
With hearts full of mixed emotions we said goodbye to this sweet house we have called home these past six months. I miss this house already :)
Goodbye Chestnut Street, Asia here we come!
Photos from the actual event are on another camera, so I'll come back and post some later. We left the morning of the 30th, knowing a blizzard was forecasted for later in the day. Sure enough, it started snowing at lunch time, and the afternoon drive got pretty hairy.
This was my view from the passenger window. White, white and more white. Snow falling and snow blowing, everywhere.
The interstate was already closed west of Fargo and the eastern portion closed right after we arrived at our destination. Oh man were we glad to be inside a warm home, full of food and family!
The next morning the snow stopped falling and the kids went outside, for about thirty seven seconds. Actually, Julianna was out much longer than I thought she'd stay.... It didn't help that I hadn't planned on being snowed in - a (lucky) packing mishap meant that we had their snow bibs in the car, but their boots were MIA. Uh oh. It was SOOOOO cold. As in temperatures barely above ZERO. When the forecasted high is 2 degrees, you can be sure of at least one thing, and that is that the snow that blew inside your car the previous evening will not be melting any time soon :)
A second snowstorm showed up a few hours later, and there was no way we could return home as scheduled. The interstates remained closed, our stay lengthened, and our children were delighted to be there. It was so much fun I found myself thinking "this should have been the plan all along".
We finally gave up waiting for the interstate to re-open and decided to try another route. The initial miles were no fun, but the road cleared, the stress level fell, and we arrived home safe and sound.
But, honestly, a bit frazzled. Not so much by the weather, but by the delay. We were scheduled to move out of our home by noon Saturday (another family arriving from Turkey overlapped with our time in the US and we were anxious to let them move in and settle, while we finish our time here living at Matt's parents). Anyways, not only were we not moved out Saturday noon, we were still stuck out of town with closed interstates! Aggghhhh! Good news is, the newly arriving family was stuck too :)
So we got back to town, ate some dinner, got our kids in bed at Grandma's, and went over to begin the packing frenzy. Thank goodness I had done some preliminary work last week while Matt was ice fishing!
We finished, thanks to a late night and huge help from some friends who came over Sunday afternoon to lend a hand.
With hearts full of mixed emotions we said goodbye to this sweet house we have called home these past six months. I miss this house already :)
Goodbye Chestnut Street, Asia here we come!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
ice fishing
On December 27th Matt, Andy and Luther headed out for a little ice fishing at Lake of the Woods (northern Minnesota). I didn't go, and I don't really understand ice fishing, but the photos are really cool, and they had a great time. Plus, Matt doesn't get a lot of blog time (or blog photos), so I thought it would be fun to include these.
Ice fishing happens on the ice :) Frozen lakes, that is. The little house on the right was where they spent the night.
Pretty cozy looking, huh? The guys say it stays pretty warm in there, but no one sitting on the ice wants to think about ice melting, so I know it doesn't get too warm!
That's Matt, holding the cooler full of fish next to a set of fishing holes.
Turns out they caught a lot of fish. I mean, a whole lot. Here they are the first night, getting ready to cook dinner.
It was a fish fry :) And it looked like this.... We have more in the freezer here and are planning to cook it up one night soon.
It pays to have a brother who is an avid fisherman.... Andy promised lots of fish, and they caught plenty.
And who knew frozen lakes were so darn photogenic? This photo makes me want to join them next year (almost!)
Ice fishing happens on the ice :) Frozen lakes, that is. The little house on the right was where they spent the night.
Pretty cozy looking, huh? The guys say it stays pretty warm in there, but no one sitting on the ice wants to think about ice melting, so I know it doesn't get too warm!
That's Matt, holding the cooler full of fish next to a set of fishing holes.
Turns out they caught a lot of fish. I mean, a whole lot. Here they are the first night, getting ready to cook dinner.
It was a fish fry :) And it looked like this.... We have more in the freezer here and are planning to cook it up one night soon.
It pays to have a brother who is an avid fisherman.... Andy promised lots of fish, and they caught plenty.
And who knew frozen lakes were so darn photogenic? This photo makes me want to join them next year (almost!)
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
favorite pictures from Christmas
the whole gang (we've all been living together since Christmas Eve)
kids in cousin heaven
fancy little girls
Isaac loves all the attention
so MUCH yummy food (the glowing ball in the middle of the table is a birthday cake for Jesus)
kids in cousin heaven
fancy little girls
Isaac loves all the attention
so MUCH yummy food (the glowing ball in the middle of the table is a birthday cake for Jesus)
Monday, December 27, 2010
a splash park birthday
For birthday party #2 we hit the local splash park on Sunday afternoon. (Indoor splash park, obviously.... brrrr!)
It took Julianna a while to warm up, but after a bit she decided that she and Kaelynn needed to go down the yellow slide at least seven hundred and twenty nine times. Whew! They wore me out just watching them.
The happy 5 year old celebrating with her cousins :)
We opened a few more presents too - the highlight was certainly this wedding dress that Grandma found on the Halloween clearance rack and altered to fit Julianna.
The girls have been in dress up clothes non stop - they leave their pjs and dive right in, and the other day it was lunchtime before I realized that had yet to put on 'normal clothes' :)
Pretty fun stuff for a five year old and her cousin Kaelynn and sister Lydia!
It took Julianna a while to warm up, but after a bit she decided that she and Kaelynn needed to go down the yellow slide at least seven hundred and twenty nine times. Whew! They wore me out just watching them.
The happy 5 year old celebrating with her cousins :)
We opened a few more presents too - the highlight was certainly this wedding dress that Grandma found on the Halloween clearance rack and altered to fit Julianna.
The girls have been in dress up clothes non stop - they leave their pjs and dive right in, and the other day it was lunchtime before I realized that had yet to put on 'normal clothes' :)
Pretty fun stuff for a five year old and her cousin Kaelynn and sister Lydia!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
FIVE
Julianna Faith - my best Christmas gift EVER! Five years old today.
We kept it simple today - party #1 was last week, party #2 is on Sunday. I found this dress at a thrift shop earlier this fall and Grandma altered it to fit her perfectly. Her "fanciest" dress up clothes ever.... I knew she would love it, and she did.
(the sash ends in a bow with long ribbons that drag the ground behind her when she walks) She put it on right over her pjs and wore it until we left to go sledding.
She put it on again for her afternoon birthday date with Grandpa and confidently told me she was the "fanciest dressed" person at Starbucks. I don't doubt it :)
Sweet Julianna, your Daddy calls you "Treasure" and you are. What a gift, what a blessing. Happy 5th Birthday!
We kept it simple today - party #1 was last week, party #2 is on Sunday. I found this dress at a thrift shop earlier this fall and Grandma altered it to fit her perfectly. Her "fanciest" dress up clothes ever.... I knew she would love it, and she did.
(the sash ends in a bow with long ribbons that drag the ground behind her when she walks) She put it on right over her pjs and wore it until we left to go sledding.
She put it on again for her afternoon birthday date with Grandpa and confidently told me she was the "fanciest dressed" person at Starbucks. I don't doubt it :)
Sweet Julianna, your Daddy calls you "Treasure" and you are. What a gift, what a blessing. Happy 5th Birthday!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Grandmother Hodges
My only surviving grandparent, my Grandmother Hodges (mom's mom), died on Wednesday afternoon. Oh how grateful I am for the full, rich time we enjoyed with her over Thanksgiving weekend.
She leaves behind 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, many of whom fill the photos below (taken Thanksgiving weekend).
My Grandmother was a committed blog reader and I enjoyed writing posts that I knew would bring a smile. Even at 91 years of age, she knew how to open up my blog and catch up on the family news. I'm so very grateful for the years we spent together, the way she loved my kids even from afar.
She leaves behind 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, many of whom fill the photos below (taken Thanksgiving weekend).
My Grandmother was a committed blog reader and I enjoyed writing posts that I knew would bring a smile. Even at 91 years of age, she knew how to open up my blog and catch up on the family news. I'm so very grateful for the years we spent together, the way she loved my kids even from afar.
Crissman Christmas
Saturday my mom hosted our big family Christmas gathering - it was a blast! Some people in my extended family are hilariously funny, which means we laugh a lot :) We do two big gift exchanges - one where we draw names and one "chinese auction/white elephant style". Once again, the Chinese auction gift exchange did not disappoint. The girls were a smidge confused by the whole idea, Lydia lucked out with a gift that fit her to a T (a small purple jewelry box with a gaudy butterfly on the lid) and Isaac mostly entertained himself playing 'horsey ride' with Justin (married to my cousin Julie).
The 3rd generation kiddos (8 of them) ate picnic style and won all sorts of points for charm and general entertainment value.
There were 20-something of us in the "middle generation" - but only a few of us have children, so there were plenty of folks around to help with the kids, like my cousin Susan :) I love this about big gatherings... all three of our children really enjoy gatherings like this and are deliriously happy to be in the thick of things. (Although at one point in the evening Isaac asked to go to bed - I think he had about as much stimulation as one little guy could handle in any given day!)
It was a special treat to meet Eric and I love this picture of Matt cuddling him - my cousin Julie edited hours of video tape and created a compilation of "cousin clips" from old home movies. It was so fun to watch the video she created - all the video from her dad's camera that included the cousins (there were 9 of us in the original bunch, plus 4 'baby cousins' that joined about ten years later). The footage, mostly from the early 80s, brought back lots of memories.... and now my husband holds her baby and we are officially grown up. Where did the time go?
PS - This is Graham, married to my cousin Susan. Does he look like anybody you know? (The hat is not a typical part of his wardrobe... I told you my family was funny!)
The 3rd generation kiddos (8 of them) ate picnic style and won all sorts of points for charm and general entertainment value.
There were 20-something of us in the "middle generation" - but only a few of us have children, so there were plenty of folks around to help with the kids, like my cousin Susan :) I love this about big gatherings... all three of our children really enjoy gatherings like this and are deliriously happy to be in the thick of things. (Although at one point in the evening Isaac asked to go to bed - I think he had about as much stimulation as one little guy could handle in any given day!)
It was a special treat to meet Eric and I love this picture of Matt cuddling him - my cousin Julie edited hours of video tape and created a compilation of "cousin clips" from old home movies. It was so fun to watch the video she created - all the video from her dad's camera that included the cousins (there were 9 of us in the original bunch, plus 4 'baby cousins' that joined about ten years later). The footage, mostly from the early 80s, brought back lots of memories.... and now my husband holds her baby and we are officially grown up. Where did the time go?
PS - This is Graham, married to my cousin Susan. Does he look like anybody you know? (The hat is not a typical part of his wardrobe... I told you my family was funny!)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
welcome to REAL WINTER
We made it! Yesterday was seriously one of our most stressful travel days ever. Actually, our morning went really smooth and everything was golden right up until check in.... when things took a dramatic turn for the worse :) Lots of snow and more falling, all over the upper midwest region. They offered us seats on a flight the following morning, but we opted to try and make it last night, and I am so glad we did.
The best moment was definitely about ten minutes before taking off for ND when all three of our kids finally slept (we had been waiting for an open, snow plowed runway for 90 long minutes before we took off)! It was a very quiet ride until Isaac woke screaming as the wheels touched down. The girls cried all the way off the plane, into baggage claim, and didn't calm down til they were buckled in car seats. Mercifully, they were asleep again within minutes.
We woke to six fresh inches of snow. Isaac took a few looks around, grinned at me and said "Mommy's house"! Yes, we are back in the house we have called home since July.
And we're busy getting used to our "new outside normal". This is what Matt calls REAL WINTER :)
The best moment was definitely about ten minutes before taking off for ND when all three of our kids finally slept (we had been waiting for an open, snow plowed runway for 90 long minutes before we took off)! It was a very quiet ride until Isaac woke screaming as the wheels touched down. The girls cried all the way off the plane, into baggage claim, and didn't calm down til they were buckled in car seats. Mercifully, they were asleep again within minutes.
We woke to six fresh inches of snow. Isaac took a few looks around, grinned at me and said "Mommy's house"! Yes, we are back in the house we have called home since July.
And we're busy getting used to our "new outside normal". This is what Matt calls REAL WINTER :)
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