Jail Time??

While discussing birthdays the other morning, Sam reminded us that he will be 5 on his next birthday. Although that is not until November, I "ooohed and ahhhed" and imagined what an incredible boy we will have then. I turned to Lydia and said, "Lydia, what will we do with a five year old boy in the house??!!" Without prompting or flinching or, strangely, barely thinking, she replied,
"Put him in a cage!"

At a School Disco

Puddles

The weather has been getting so nice lately, and we've been able to get outside. Amy and I took the girls to Window on the Waterfront a couple days ago. There were big puddles and lots of mud, so we put the galoshes on them and set them free. Elinore follows Lydia ("ya-ya") around like a puppy. She just loves her. They splashed and played and Elinore fell in. It just feels good to stand out in the fresh air and not be weighted down by coats and scarves and hats...

A Month Ago

Here is the picture I had intended to post along with my "Home Alone" entry. Looking at it now makes me grateful for the 60 something degree weather we enjoyed yesterday. Spring is coming!

Good News

We just got a phone call from Elijah telling us that he had made the Marine Corps Wrestling Team. What an incredible accomplishment and honor--especially for someone who has struggled with life as much as he has. He will truly get to see the world; some of the wrestlers just returned from Turkey. His goal is to wrestle in the Olympics when they will be held in Chicago in 2012. By now, Quantel should be back in California, having left Iraq and Kuwait. More good news and the answer to many prayers. We are hopeful that both of them can come here on leave soon. We hope to have a welcome home (and belated high school graduation) party for Quantel. We are so proud of both of them.

More good news--Hope just won their game in WI, by about 13 points. They will play tomorrow, and, if they win then, they'll be headed to Salem, VA for the Final 4 next weekend.

Yogurt

Elinore decided she wanted to eat her yogurt with a spoon all by herself this morning. Look at how proud she is!! I nearly had to take her out to the hose to clean up. We ended up at the Aquatic Center later in the morning, so I figure the chlorine will have gotten anything I missed! I made this picture the background on our computer. Everytime Elinore walks past it she starts cracking up! I guess she finds herself as funny as I do.

Sophie 7 mos

Eric, Ang & Gabe:
We are so excited to hear that we will see you soon! I thought I'd send you a couple pictures of your new niece/cousin so you would recognize her when you see her next month...by then she might be sporting a couple teeth as well. We love you guys!

April Plans

Since our plans may seem a bit sudden, Eric & I were just thinking maybe we ought to explain why we're coming back to visit in April. I (Ang) had been hoping to go back for the wedding of one of my best friends. We have been praying about it ever since she told me that she was getting married. Probably most of the impetus, though, came from Gabe. As some of you may know, I found our last trip home both good and difficult. A month seemed too short to have enough time with all of our friends and family, and I left feeling that we had given priority to partners and friends and had given too little time to family, especially since it was the only time in four years that we would see some of you. Though I was sad about it for my own sake, I was even sadder for Gabe's sake. When I was growing up we not only spent holidays with family, but they were a very regular part of our lives. My aunts were like second mothers to me and at times we saw our cousins a couple of times a week. I think it was very important to our mothers that we had close relationships and I really appreciate this now. One day Gabe was saying he'd like to work with his grandpa in the shop again and it hit me, "the next time he can do that he'll be six--almost seven. He may not like the same things. He may be a different kid. He has already mostly forgotten his aunts and uncles and only Sam, Elijah and his grandparents remain firmly in his mind. I find this incredibly sad. I really don't want him to spend his childhood feeling like he is always meeting his relatives for the first time. Most of the children growing up here see their mission family as more important than their extended family, and sadly, that mission family is not going to be a big part of their lives after age 18. As a result, I've been praying that, if God wills, Gabe, at least, could see most of his family once a year for as long as we are overseas.

I really did not think it would happen this year, but thanks to several generous gifts, we find that we can come back. Our desire is to spend almost all of our time with family. For this reason we'd like to request that you not spread word of our coming. We focused a lot on friends last time and will do so again next year, but this time we'd just like to be with family.

Second-hand Smoke

It's been a while since I posted or commented mostly because I was having trouble with the new blogger due to my defunct e-mail account. Anyway, I thought I'd get back with the program. This past month and a half has been a bit of a blur. I feel like I'm back to the early days of being a mom with interrupted rest every night. I don't think Gabe has slept through more than three nights since January. In the middle of the night he wakes up coughing in spite of the air cleaner and air conditioner. Right now is the burning season and dust season. The dust is as bad as it has ever been since we've had no rain in four months. We've also had no wind to blow the smoke away so it just sits over the city till it looks like we're in a fog. It's been especially bad this week and the health dept. issued a warning. Some people have been talking of flying down to Bangkok to get rid of their coughs. It's bad when Bangkok is a haven of fresh air. Anyway, hope you're all well and enjoying your crisp, clean air.

Home Alone

Many people have asked me how I'm doing, home alone. Because of children who call and invite me for dinner, a kind neighbor who "loves to snowblow," a few great recent TV specials, a working furnace, and more than enough work to do, I'm fine. I am, however, really getting eager to hear about all of Dad's adventures, ask him about many small decisions, and, in general, share life once again. I'm sure he will be more faithful about feeding the birds (5 different feeders), filling the heated birdbath, and feeding the fish, but overall things have gone smoothly. He will probably want to eat with chopsticks for a while as he said they were having rice three times a day in Vietnam and he was doing well with chopsticks. Well, I'd better go feed the fish--don't want them to pass away while he's gone. Thanks for your kindness and concern for this "old lady."