More Christmas pics

Noah helped decorate

Our dearest friend Annmarie came to visit! She lives in Michigan and is studying at the

New Tribes Bible Institute

There were way too many beautiful moments in our first Christmas as parents - so we'll keep sharing.

Side note - I added some additional blogs to the blogroll over there -->
I've been finding some really interesting, thoughtful blogs recently, particularly the last 6 on our list, so I hope you enjoy them.

Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures of the Christmas weekend!

We were glad to have Matthew's girlfriend Kerry with us through Saturday (and Matthew too)

Uncle Matthew with Noah early Christmas morning

Santa brought a new dump truck....

...and a very silly dancing puppet. (Rockhouse guys do you remember this?)

He loves his new mini-maraca

More to come.....

Belated...

Merry Christmas!!
I (Michael) had dreams of some great blogs leading up to Christmas, with emotional outpourings about the holiday season, and then a simple but meaningful quote or verse on Christmas day. Alas, none of it happened. We hope your Christmas was beautiful and blessed, and that you could clearly see Christ above all.

Here's a brief rundown of our day....pictures will follow in the next post. We had a wonderful day with both families! We started at my parents' house, with traditional opening of stockings and some presents first thing in the morning. I don't know if I'll ever lose the excitement of Christmas morning, but it was increased many times over in sharing it with our son. He doesn't quite get the concept of opening presents yet, but his eyes were wide and he had a good time anyway. We then went to have lunch with my grandmother in her nursing home. It was truly special to be with her on Christmas, and seeing Noah always brightens her day! We went from there to Laura's sister Cindy's house, to have the Kunst/Erickson/Salvatierra Christmas celebration and dinner. What a job to host such a gathering. Noah loved seeing his cousins - they have such energy and joy!
Finally we returned to the Salvatierra home to put Noah to bed and finish opening presents.
It was quite a blur, but I do believe we experienced the love of Christ through our families. It is perhaps the last we will share with them in person for a couple years, so it was particularly sweet. Praise the Lord for his gift - "Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace, hail the Sun of Righteousness....glory to the newborn King!"

Playgroup buddies, Ryan, Mella, Caleb, and Joey all sport their matching scarves. Thanks for hosting us yesterday, Jeanette!

I married a prince

Give me a chance to tell you a little about my husband. As his wife, I feel that I have the closest view of who he really is and so I want to share some of that knowledge with those who don't know him as well. It will be best illustrated in the form of a story...
Monday night, Michael's mom watched Noah giving us a date night. Those are such precious times for us. We went to dinner at this new Italian place in Crystal City called Bebo Trattoria. We were welcomed by observing an Italian cooking class that was underway - reminding us of the one we attended while on our honeymoon in Italy. We had a delicious meal, sharing our entrees, a glass of Chianti, and a hazelnut torte for dessert while we had the chance to catch up and discuss things that only this kind of intentional time set aside can bring up. Afterwards we walked around Old Town, Alexandria. It was a rather mild evening, nothing like what it was five years ago on New Year's Eve when Michael proposed to me there after our carriage ride through the streets, trees twinkling with little white lights. This night we walked through those same twinkling streets, out of one shop on King Street and were greeted by a homeless man selling roses. "Two for $5!," he said to Michael, as he complimented me, trying to convince him that a pretty lady needed some pretty flowers. These roses were clearly the last of the bunch, wilting, petals loosely hanging on, and without fragrance, but Michael saw their beauty as they would help a brother in need. As he pulled out his wallet, he found he only had a $20 and the man only had a $10 in change, so he said "Four for $10! Sorry, it's all I have," and Michael handed him the money. My heart was warmed as I took my roses, some of the most lovely I've ever received because of the beauty that they reveal about who my husband is, a loving, generous, and compassionate man. Once we brought them home and gave them a little TLC, they perked up. They are sitting on my desk today, fading, but still a sweet reminder of the prince that I married.

Our little boy

These are blessed times indeed. Noah is 11 months old today, yep, just one month from being a whole year old. Is it really possible that just one year ago, I was placed on bedrest for preterm labor? What a gift that actually was, that I no longer had to work and was forced to rest, to enjoy the holidays with family, and prepare with great anticipation for our little boy who would soon arrive! If you asked Michael, he would tell you that my "bedrest" was certainly "modified." Praise the Lord that Noah waited until he was full term at 37 and 5.
Now, a year later, Noah is full of life, curiosity, expression, and energy! Over this past month, he has cut his two top middle teeth, learned to point to things, transitioned to the BIG tub, smelled a "Scratch & Sniff" book, sipped from a cup, and walked behind a push toy! In this picture, Noah was "helping" to put up our tree. His favorite ornaments to remove and carry around the house are bells and nutcrackers. We put the tree up last week, when his Great Aunt Cristina was here, and that was the same night that it flurried the first snow of the season. It made the evening seem so magical. Noah, of course didn't understand why all the excitement, but he was just happy to stay up past bedtime and be with everyone while we danced around to celebrate the first snow.
We are happy to announce that he is sleeping through the night, thanks to some good advice from a teammate of ours in Peru! It took a couple nights of letting him cry a little (sometimes for an hour), but the last couple weeks have been so much better - for all of us. Thanks for the advice, Lori!
I'm still reading "And Then I Had Kids" - and I'm still loving it. It takes me longer to finish books since I'm a slow reader and the only times I have to read are usually while I'm nursing Noah or before I fall asleep (often, sleep wins). In the chapter on discipline, she points us to Colossians 3:1-17, and brings our attention to characteristics of the "New Self." Once being clothed by the righteousness of Christ, we are called to "put to death what is earthly in you" and to rather...

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindess, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these things put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:12-17

It is my prayer that Michael and I, by the grace of God, will raise Noah to reflect these characteristics. I'm humbled at the thought of teaching these things to him, knowing that I must first learn them.

Two Things....

First, having just advertised for a concert on the 17th, I want to retract that and offer an invitation instead. On December 17th at 7:00, our church, Alexandria Presbyterian, is having the annual Christmas Candelight Service, this year entitled, "Open our Hearts in Wonder"
It is a beautiful evening of music and worship, with choirs, a brass ensemble and carols. Every year this service really ministers to me, so if you're in the area, I invite you to come! There will be a reception afterward, and you can find more information on the church's website (see "links")

Secondly, I have changed some of the links on the side, and fixed some that were incorrect. I especially encourage you to check out Covenant's new program where you can download entire seminary courses for free. It's pretty amazing. Have a great weekend!

Beautiful

As much as we love our son, it is nice to get a night out just the two of us. One such outing that didn't involve the munchkin was on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when we attended a Messiah sing-along. If you've never been to one of these, I'll briefly explain. It's just like a regular concert of Georg Frideric Handel's masterpiece for chorus and orchestra, Messiah, from which the well-known "Hallelujah Chorus" is taken. The only difference is that the audience is the chorus! Everyone brings their score (or rents one), and does their best to follow the conductor. It is a blast! If you ever get a chance to go, it is worth it. They are usually free (this one was), and even if you don't know the piece, it's amazing to listen to a several-hundred voice chorus in surround sound. There is a big one that takes place at the Kennedy Center concert hall every year - this year it is on Dec. 17 at 8:00, but you have to get tickets this Saturday at 10:00am. Nothing like singing with 2000 other people. I am particularly emphatic about it all because the Messiah is to me one of the most incredible pieces of music ever created. It's beautiful texts about Christ from the Old and New Testaments, set to the most glorious music - it truly is worship, exalting the Savior from beginning to end.

Outings, etc.

Like we said, there have been many events since Thanksgiving - which means many Noah photo-ops. More blogs to follow....

Daddy giving an early piano lesson

All bundled up and ready for winter. Actually here he's about to go to....

...a parade! The annual Scottish Walk was this past Saturday in Old Town Alexandria

Noah liked the bagpipes, drums and puppies that marched through the streets.

Last friday we went to Union Station to celebrate Laura's heritage and see the Norwegian Christmas display. They had a big model train setup, which Noah followed intently.

One of his day-brightening smiles, in front of the Norwegian Christmas tree.

Back in Arlington...

....we enjoyed thanksgiving part two with the Salvatierra family. Really, if you've never tried to fry a turkey, you are missing out.
Of course one of the best parts of thanksgiving is the leftovers. There's nothing like watching college football on Saturday eating a turkey-stuffing-cranberry-gravy sandwich. If you had any really interesting leftover creations, please share them in the comments section. Our Latino roots have to come through, so we made turkey tacos one night.
It is such a blessing to have two families that we love to be with.

One 14-lb deep fried turkey - thanksgiving heaven

Dad and me getting dessert ready

Noah helped by taking all the pans out of the drawer and banging them together

Thanksgiving

Whoa, it's been a while since our last post, and we apologize. Much has happened since, so we should have a regular stream of posts for a while.
We'll start with thanksgiving.....

We spent a wonderful week with Laura's parents in Stokes, NC, near Greenville. It is so quiet and peaceful there - they have a farmhouse with a lot of land, far from the city. We came the Saturday before the holiday, so we got to spend some great time together getting ready for the big day and getting familiar with their town. We got to attend church with them, Christ Presbyterian (PCA) http://www.christpres.com/ and received word that they will be joining our support team as we go to Peru - a huge encouragement! We also had the chance to meet with a family from that church who is supporting us. We are continually amazed at how the Lord uses his Body, the Church, to provide for it's members.

Three generations reading together - what sweet times

Dad loves his tractor!

Noah did his best to help by unloading the spice rack

Mom and Dad made a delicious feast!

Aunt Cindy and Noah had great fun together

It was such a treat to be with most of Laura's family! Cindy & Cass and cousins, Marlea & Harmony came as well as Laura's Uncle John, Aunt Terri and cousins, Michael & Stephen. We haven't all been together like that in a long time. This year was also special because mom's birthday fell on Thanksgiving! So we had birthday cake along with the pumpkin pie. Noah enjoyed lots of firsts at the dinner table - Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and even a little taste of vanilla ice cream.

We left the next morning after one of Dad's famous pancake breakfasts and headed home, just in time for Thanksgiving #2 with Michael's family. We fried the turkey this year with the help of good friend Daniel Harlan. Then we celebrated Michael's mom's birthday! (Yeah, it's weird, we know - both Moms, a day apart. It's even weirder that our dads are also a day apart, January 7th &8th). All and all, it was a delightful Thanksgiving holiday! We spent a lot of Saturday napping. (c:

1. For a good start to Saturday, our good friend Mark Chapman has written some beautiful thoughts here regarding the recent Ted Haggard situation. Thanks for reminding us of grace, brother.

2. Go Michigan!

3. We are leaving this morning for Greenville, North Carolina, to spend almost a week, including Thanksgiving, with Mom and Dad Erickson! We are looking forward to speaking and singing at their church – Christ Presbyterian, also one of our supporting churches - and most of all to great family time. We likely won’t be able to blog for the week, so we’ll put up an update when we return on Friday.
Thanks for reading! Happy thanksgiving!

More Noah Pictures!

Little Noah gets his picture taken way too much....we hope you enjoy these shots of a typical morning

Breakfast time!

He loves to feed the family dog, Jaz

Although sometimes he'd prefer to save some for later (I promise we did not pose this!)

A new discovery - getting into mischief already....

Good book....

I just finished a very interesting book called, "The Next Christendom" by Philip Jenkins. It was quoted often during our cross-cultural training and is about the shift in Christianity throughout the world. Whereas the church used to be almost synonymous with Western culture, it is now thriving and growing exponentially in Latin America, Africa and Asia. As the West (more accurately the North) has secularized and stagnated in population, booming third-world cities in the southern hemisphere are becoming the geographic centers of the faith. And there are remarkable implications - for church practice, missions, immigration, politics, etc.
The writer, a prof at Penn State, does his best to be objective and non-committal, but while he does not seem to be an evangelical Christian, he is far more sympathetic to evangelicals than most Western academics. Though I did not agree with every approach he took, I really enjoyed the book, and recommend it, if even just for the remarkable analyses of demographic projections and the church's interaction with culture. It certainly opened my eyes to a more global view of what God is doing, and was particularly insightful for our upcoming ministry in Peru.

I was just reading this, from The Valley of Vision, a phenomenal book of prayers and devotions.
It really caught my attention - I need grace so badly.

"Blessed Lord Jesus,
No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel.
Acting in eternal grace, thou art both its messenger and its message,
lived out on earth through infinite compassion,
applying thy life to insult, injury, death,
that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed.
Blessed be thou, O Father for contriving this way,
Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, for opening this way,
Praise everlasting to thee, O Holy Spirit,
for applying this way to my heart.
Glorious Trinity, impress this gospel on my soul,
until its virtue diffuses every faculty;
Let it be heart, acknowledged, felt..........
...O gracious redeemer,
I have neglected thee too long,
often crucified thee,
crucified thee afresh by my imprenitence,
put thee to open shame.
I thank thee for the patience that has borne with me so long,
and for the grace that now makes me willing to be thine.
O unite me to thyself with inseparable bonds,
that nothing may ever draw me back from thee, my Lord, my Savior."

10 Months Old!

Noah loves to stand!

Showing off his teeth

We spent the day with Annmarie and her family in Fredericksburg. What a treat!

This month has contained the biggest changes yet! Noah has mastered the art of mobility! This has been a big adjustment for me. It wasn’t very long ago that I could sit him down, turn my back, and know that he wouldn’t have moved more than a few feet. He can now get to where he wants to go via scooting, crawling (his quickest mode), or now creeping by walking while holding on to furniture! One of his favorite activities is pulling up to standing and then letting go and falling on his bum over and over again. Sometimes there’s a brief moment after he lets go and before he falls that he’s standing, hands free! With this newfound freedom comes a whole new world of learning. Michael was saying today how it’s funny that he’s learning how to get around before he can speak or understand words like, “NO!” “Stop!” and “Come here.” Ah, God will surely sharpen and humble us through this time. At least there’s hope for all the sign language we’ve been teaching him; last weekend he signed “more” for Cheerios!

Noah is showing some favoritism now – he loves being with Mommy! (Even though his favorite word is "dadadada" (c:) I must say this is kind of gratifying since I spend the most time with him, wake up in the middle of the night with him (no, he’s not sleeping through the night anymore – I’m open to suggestions in this area), and am mostly responsible for his activities every waking moment. While I’m often tired from chasing after or carrying my little boy, there’s nothing like the bright smile he greets me with when I walk into a room or how he crawls as fast as he can to me and begins climbing up my legs. He gives me his strongest hugs, wrapping his arms around my neck. Then, of course, there are his famous “Noah kisses,” best known for their wetness!

These moments are what I am storing up in my heart and remind me of how motherhood is one of God’s richest blessings. I just began reading a book by Susan Yates called “And Then I Had Kids – Encouragement for mothers of young children.” A friend at church gave it to me and I don’t think it could have come at a better time. Yates is a pastor’s wife and mother of 5, the youngest of which are twins. She has given me some great perspective and encouraged me especially in the area of vulnerability. She reminds me that my feelings of frustration, guilt, fatigue, and failure are normal for a mother to have. However, “great joy and growth comes as we see these feelings not as enemies but as God’s agents to lead us into deeper relationship with Him. Our self-worth should be determined only by God’s great love for us, which is constant and never changes. We can’t take it away, improve upon it, or make it more. His love for each of us is already the most it can ever be! (p36)” My own efforts of trying to be supermom will usually leave me to feel like a failure, frustrated, guilty, and fatigued. How sweet it is to know that Jesus is gently drawing me to himself, calling me to rest in his presence. Noah reminds me that I need to crawl to my Savior as fast as I can to be scooped up into his loving arms.

“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in his arms; He will carry them in his bosom, And gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:11

Learning

Noah woke up in the middle of the night, and though I was up to feed him with a bottle, he would have none of it. He pushed the bottle away and cried all the louder. There was only one person he wanted to see. We are trying to wean him off of nighttime feedings because he really doesn't need them, but he still thinks he does. His bottle refusal is only further proof that he's more upset than hungry. Yes, we're reading many good books on training kids to soothe themselves, but if you have any tips, they are of course welcome. Anyway, I'm up now, so I figured I'd blog.

I'm reading an excellent book recommended to us during our "Living in Grace" training. It's called "Holiness by Grace" by Bryan Chapell, the president of Covenant Seminary. It's just an honest practical book on what it looks like to bring the doctrine of justification by grace into our daily situations, to be truly changed at the heart level, and not just in outward behavior. This was the central theme of that week of training, as well as of a class we took through our church called "Sonship." It has been life-changing for us, and I need to be renewed in these ideas daily, because I am so prone to base my acceptance before God on my daily performance. There's a great summary of this which Chapell quotes in the book - it is by Richard Lovelace, from his book, Dynamics of Christian Life:

"Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God's holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification...drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from ehtier sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther's platform: you are accepted, looing outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude."

The last part there particularly gets me, and has proven true in my life, in marriage, etc. Can I start each day, each hour, each particular task or step of faith with the belief that I am accepted fully because of Christ, and see what entirely new direction of freedom and joy comes to the task? More often than not I find the answer is no. On those occasions which I do start with the perfection of Christ credited to my account, I do find a new rest, a load lifted, and actually a deeper motivation to labor intently.
But I am weak, and quickly forget. If you should think of it, pray that these concepts would be central in our lives, and in our ministry in Peru. We would love to do the same for you.

I get to be Noah's Dad

I have been absolutely amazed lately at the joy of fatherhood! Forgive me if I get a little sappy, but it's really knocking my socks off. I didn't think I was ready for it, and (cliche alert) I still feel like I am a bit of a kid myself. Really, though, it's true! How can I be given such incredible responsibility, to care for this precious boy? He has so much to learn, and is so helpless. He will look to us for everything, from changing his diapers and providing cheerios now, to learning to ride a bike and applying to college later. Even deeper, his understanding of God and His mercy will in no small way be shaped by the manner in which that is lived out in our family. Wow. So I feel a great sense of awe in standing before this two-toothed wonder. And though there is some anxiety in that awe, there is great joy and anticipation as well. If I could only capture the feeling when I walk into the room and he gives me one of his big squinty smiles, then gets bashful and buries his face in Mom's shoulder. Every little moment throughout the day makes me want to quit everything else: reading a board book, cheering him on as he explores and tries to stand up, guiding him away from danger, acting silly to bring out a hearty giggle. When people ask what has it been like being a father, I often say that it brings out rich feelings and emotions you never had before, and simply could not have any other way. There is a sense of deep love and protection, a desire for the best for him, and a new understanding of family. I am so blessed that Laura is Mom to Noah and wife to me. She is exceptional, a woman to be praised, and she shows me forgiveness and patience as Jesus does - completely undeserved. Now Noah is starting to teach me about a Father's love; the imagery in scripture is coming alive and it is just too much for me to fully grasp. But like Noah, I am learning slowly.

Thoughts on Election Eve

As we are enjoying this blog so much (and we hope you are too!), we want to use it for many purposes - besides the usual Noah updates. This being an online journal of sorts, I'd like to put down some thoughts about life, the world, the gospel, even (oh no) politics, and in general things we have been learning and pondering. I don't pretend to be articulate in this, but I'd just like to spark a discussion and see where the Lord leads it.
In doing this, I am inviting and encouraging feedback. Please let me know what you think, even (especially) if you disagree. I'd just love to talk about it, because it seems that much of the public discourse (and really much of the political blogging) is not real discussion or interaction. It is mostly people digging in on their side and shouting at or mocking the other side. There is hardly even a feigned interest in understanding. We all want to be right so badly that we have a hard time even listening, let alone "considering others better than ourselves," and we will even go so far as to claim that we have God on our political side. Both sides do this, and our pride will not let us lose.
"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." - Anne Lamott
It seems to me that God, the Lord of the universe, who came in the flesh to seek and save the lost, is bigger than any political or social ideology, and I really truly love discussing how the Gospel of grace informs, corrects and redeems our flawed positions on all sides of today's issues. So.....let us come and converse with humility, knowing that when we deserved condemnation, through Christ we were given mercy and love. Happy tuesday and go vote!

Halloween

We couldn't resist taking Noah out for his first trick-or-treating! Because his pumpkin suit had been well worn (see previous posts), Grandma found him a great costume, and he tried his hardest to be a scary leopard. Unfortunately he was just too cute and was a big hit with the neighbors. We did thank him after we ate all his candy. Is that shameless or what? It was such a nice night - did anybody else see more kids out than ever before? My parents definitely ran out of candy to give away. All in all, a fun new experience for little Noah. Happy November!

Well, it's been a little while, but we've had a lot going on in the last couple weeks, so we plan on putting a number of posts up in the near future. I have to admit, it took me (Michael) some time to warm to the blog idea, but now I'm sold. We love reading friends' blogs, and have been encouraged by those who enjoy ours. As we prepare for Peru, it definitely is a great way of keeping in touch with our wonderful supporters, especially those who don't know us as well.
We just spent a fabulous weekend in our recent favorite city, New York, visiting my brother Matthew! He lives and works in the East Village, a wonderfully diverse and interesting part of town near Chinatown and Little Italy. It is actually where "Rent" is set, though it has changed a bit and is now a hip (but not touristy) residential area. Matthew teaches at a middle school for low-income boys, and is also in grad school at Fordham. We really had a great time with him and his girlfriend - going out to eat, meeting his students, recording a song, and just getting to chat. My brother always makes me think and examine different perspectives, and I appreciate our discussions. Noah came along for the ride, and was again mezmerized by the commotion of the city. I feel like there's so much more to say about the city and my awesome brother, but I'll save it for later. Here are some pictures that weren't technically taken this weekend, but are where we were.

This is where my brother teaches!

The view from Matthew's roof, with midtown Manhattan in the distance

After our delightful trip to Harrisonburg, we came back over the mountain to meet our friends from APC at the Fall Fest. We went to a dairy farm in Midland, VA. Noah got to meet his first cow and pick out his first pumpkin!

One of these punkins is not like the other...

"How 'bout this one, mom?"

Our home away from home

On the road again! Who needs carseats anyways?

A perfect Fall day on the Quad

Our little Duke meets Duke Dog!

Noah enjoyed the game and somehow fell asleep just before the halftime marching band show

There's nothing quite like Harrisonburg in the Fall. Last weekend exceeded our expectations for a beautiful visit. We had the joy of being hosted by Justin and Jacquie at Chez Prather. We felt so at home with sweet friends and their 2 cats (Tang and Lady Grey). We got to visit some of our professors and captivate many college students by the site of a baby on campus, not to mention one wearing a pumpkin sweater! Now, don't think we parade Noah around just to get attention, although that is fun. His pumpkin outfit is simply one of the warmest things he owns, and it was surely cool and crisp outside this past weekend.
We attended a Madison Project concert in TDU on Friday night, which Noah enjoyed so much he decided to sing along a times - nobody seemed to mind, besides who could tell a baby in a pumpkin sweater to be quiet? Saturday, we got the chance to go to the Homecoming game vs. William & Mary, courtesy of Linda Allen, a colleague of Michael's from Gunston Middle School. She and her husband graciously offered us two of their season tickets - what a wonderful gift!JMU won and the Marching Royal Dukes played a fabulous show - now that's a sweet homecoming game.
That night, we got to briefly attend the missions conference dinner being hosted at our former church, Covenant Presbyterian. We saw many friends that were in town for the conference including Bill Allen, a missionary in Cuzco, Peru. We got to hear him share a little bit about his ministry in the Andes as a pediatrician - what an encouragement that was.
Sunday we attended church at Covenant where we witnessed our good friends' baby, Noa Noll get baptized. What a blessing it was to be reminded of how the Lord treasures His covenant children and calls us as parents to shepherd them and raise them by His Word and the power of His Spirit, for we couldn't possibly do it on our own. We rejoice in having so many friends with babies right now, that we can challenge and hold each other accountable to being parents who fear the Lord and want to raise up our kids by His Grace. After the service, where Dan Iverson (Sara-Beth's dad) preached on the topic of missions minded families, Eric and Sara-Beth invited us, along with their LARGE (c:) family and many other friends over for Noa's baptism reception. There again, we got to enjoy sweet fellowship with friends. What an encouragement this weekend was.

9 months ago...

Our Little Man

in the buff

With his favorite instrument, the ukulele

in the Harrison St. park swing

Silly Uncle Matthew!

It's so hard to believe that it was about 9 months ago that Noah was born. It's even harder to imagine life without him just 9 months before that! He now has 2 teeth (sorry it's hard to get a good picture of them), eats Cherrios, claps, sits up alone, crawls (combat style), and has just begun pulling up to standing on a few objects. He truly prefers to stand than to sit, which is why he still loves his jumpster! We've tied a knot in the strap to make it last longer for him - he just squeals with delight as he jumps and swings in it! He loves to play with his little pop-up box, where you turn or push the button and a little animal pops up. His favorite part is closing the lids again.

We've recently had fun finding parks in our area that have infant swings. They are often close to the schools where Michael is subbing, so we stop for a swing after we pick Daddy up - always a perk in our day.

Funny story: a few weeks ago, Noah gave me my first hickey...on my chin! He enjoys grabbing my face and pulling it to his mouth. We were both laughing as he sucked on my chin, then when Michael came home and asked what had happened to my chin, we realized there was a little purple circle there! How many people can say their infant son gave them their first hickey?

This weekend Baba and Papa AND Uncle Matthew were here to visit with us. It was so wonderful to have family here all together. We also had the privilege of attending Chris and Sherry (Montgomery) Doyle's wedding yesterday afternoon - what a beautiful day and celebration it was for them! They sang a duet in the ceremony, "Captivate Us" by Watermark. It was gorgeous! Congratulations you two.

Hope to add some more fun fall pictures soon. Stay tuned.