this week

...in (no more than) 48 words.  A rhythm for the weekend.  Taking time to look back on the week past.  A simple way to remember the weeks, the moments and to stay present.

I would so love to read your words!  If you take time to ponder the week and write, please share them.
---------------------------------------------
Picking up coffee, supporting and being with amazing people every day as kids went from station to station - snack, music, recreation, craft and Bible time.  Going through rosters and setting up for the next day.  Laughing tiredly and about randomness.  Loved every minute, but glad for rest today.

and she turns one

Oh little Iris.  What to say about her at this one year mark... 

She is an easy little one, but can also have quick reactions to little things.  She isn't bothered too much by the big things though. 

She is cheeky, playful, fun.  She sleeps a lot and sometimes we miss hanging out with her when she sleeps so much. 

She waves goodbye, jabbers, says mama and dad, blows kisses (thanks to June & Julia), crawls as fast as she can and laughs easily.

We like her.

It had to be a quick celebration during the time that she was awake and everyone was around.  She didn't get any of the cake, but we enjoyed it for her :).  She had homemade whipped cream/dairy for the first time with strawberries and watermelon and had "happy birthday" sang to her a number of times throughout the day. 

A fun, quick, low-key celebration.  Perfect for a first birthday that is treasured by us, but not remembered by her.

breakfasts

I've been taking shots of the girls at breakfast randomly for a bit now (starting in April)...maybe just one a month.  For some reason I would think to pick up the camera around that time...maybe because Iris now eats at the table with us.

Anyway, just for fun, and possibly only for me, here some are...

this week

...in (no more than) 48 words.  A rhythm for the weekend.  Taking time to look back on the week past.  A simple way to remember the weeks, the moments and to stay present.

I would so love to read your words!  If you take time to ponder the week and write, please share them.
---------------------------------------------
Camp, camp, camp...lots of getting ready for the summer camp at church (like vbs).  Should be a super fun week.  Afternoons at the pool, iced coffee...anything to stay cool in this crazy warm weather.  Date afternoon/evening with my love...thankful for that time and him.

I miss you...

The other night I could not sleep.  I started thinking about the somewhat transient nature of our lives thus far.  I began to ponder all that I will miss and those I miss already.

I miss family - all of them, both sides.  Sweet grandparents.  All the little ones who I don't know nearly as well as I wish I did.  Regularly I want to squeeze and love them.

I miss that I've only begun to know the wives of my awesome brother-in-laws.

I miss that I can't hang out regularly with my sisters and brother and their wonderful partners. 

I miss watching the girls be with their awesome grandparents...it is always precious when they are together.

I miss sitting regularly with my friend who I met in junior high and was a highlight to my growing up years.  We were in each others weddings and got together just last week (which only happens once every couple years).

I miss my two amazing friends from college (one who is a friend all the way from early childhood) who are further away than I'd like, but yet I feel that they are somehow not far at all...it seems we didn't miss a moment when we are together.

I miss our dear friends in Indiana.  They originally taught us about community.  A group of people who took us into their homes, fed us, loved us and who I think of all the time and see every chance we get. 

I miss friends who have already left Princeton, a year before us.  I miss dropping in on each other, late night talks and too many other things to count.  People who I knew before seminary, but never realized I would know them like I know them now.

I miss all those who have recently gone (my previous post) and those who are still at school, but will have to say goodbye to (for real) in August and then again in December.  I'm not quite ready.  I will miss all that will happen in their lives in the year(s) ahead.

And I will miss, the people that is a whole other community in Princeton...the wonderful woman who I sit next to at the office and is a dear friend, the family who have taken us into their home (for 6 months!) and those who I see week in and out.

And how this list will evolve as life moves on...I anticipate the great people who will come into our lives in Christchurch and New Zealand in general.

I was telling this to Clint over dinner one night.  In the midst of all the sadness, I realized that if we hadn't moved each time we had, I wouldn't know the people that I'm currently missing.

So I will take that point and I will be grateful, even in the missing.

But know, I miss you.

traveling (aka. pictures of the girls in carseats)

A recap of the week: travel. (!)  Lots of car travel.  We put hundreds of miles onto the car over the course of a week (35+ hours of travel goodness), got to see family and friends and drove back to Jersey, arriving around 2:30am.  It was a good week, although I think that Iris is a bit apprehensive when we put her in her car seat now. 

Memories specific to being in the car include Julie singing songs from "Sleepless in Seattle" to Iris so that she wouldn't cry, going back and forth from the front seat to the back too many times to count (we all took our turns...me, Jules and Clint), and Iris puking 15 minutes before arriving at a destination.  Clearly Julie's singing was the highlight.

In pictures...from the beginning of the week to the end trip.

 

this girl

For real?  This girl is too cute.  She's going to be 1 year old at the end of this month and I can hardly believe it.  Have I mentioned that I think she is going to be just like her Aunty Joni?

Lots of traveling this week and time with family.  Not tons of internet access, though, so pictures will wait have to wait!

this week

...in (no more than) 48 words.  A rhythm for the weekend.  Taking time to look back on the week past.  A simple way to remember the weeks, the moments and to stay present.

I would so love to read your words!  If you take time to ponder the week and write, please share them.
---------------------------------------------
Settling in to a wonderful living situation with friends, learning about "second dinners" and eating good food, going through cupboards, combining spices, lots of play for Evee ("now I have 3 sisters", she says) and lots of sleep for Iris.   Getting set at work for summer camp.  Traveling.

good bye

In the midst of packing, cleaning, pink eye (both girls), citizenship appointments, loading and unloading...we have moved out of our 3 year long seminary apartment.  I don't know quite where to begin or if I should.

Even in the midst of mold, insects and generally wondering if we'll all have long term health affects because of seminary apartments, I have loved most every moment within the confines of the space.  3 years have seemed to go by much too quickly.  I don't believe that words, beyond what I've previously shared, can do much justice for all I feel for this time and the people that came into our lives because of it. 

As much as these pictures make me both happy and sad, and even though I'd love for a few others to be captured here... these pictures of "the last days" will have to suffice...

It's been lovely.

dating

A reminder to date your spouse was the last bridal shower card I wanted to share.  Its a good reminder, I believe.  And lady from who it came, I remember her and her husband walking the pier in Grand Haven, MI very regularly.  They always seemed happy and content to be together...at peace. 

Clint and I went away for a night for our anniversary.  It was a gift.  Quite literally because some wonderful friends had the girls and we went away with much ease.  A hotel, wine, eating at hole in the wall places with great food...I felt quite spoiled.

We went post packing, moving, and starting to settle in to a new place.  As we started off I felt that there was too much on my brain, but that quickly turned.  We reminisced about the past 9 years and thought about the year ahead and all that it holds and how we can be together within it all.

It was good and I feel like that couple who I would see walk the pier.  They took one night a week to just be them.  They are much further ahead of us in their marriage.  We will continue to take their advice to heart.  We will keep dating. 

this week

...in (no more than) 48 words.  A rhythm for the weekend.  Taking time to look back on the week past.  A simple way to remember the weeks, the moments and to stay present.

I would so love to read your words!  If you take time to ponder the week and write, please share them.
---------------------------------------------
Continued to sort, pack, load...although that is now finished.  Another bridal shower card sums this week up appropriately...

"Make the most of every day; don't put things off until tomorrow.  Enjoy people, places and things as God places them in your life."

Wise words.