Wednesday, October 25, 2006


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.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

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.

Thursday, October 05, 2006


My sister, Cindy, is the best photographer I know. She did an amazing job while we were at the beach this summer. Check out her website. www.clicksphotography.net

We got to host playgroup today! Mommies: Emily, Cathy, Kira, Laurie, and Jeanette with Babies: Caleb, Joseph, Granville, Mella, and Ryan. Noah crawled for the first time before this crowd last week!

Grandpa teaches Noah how to dance to Alison Krauss. "You Say it Best When You Say Nothing at All"

Noah meets Noa Noll - only 3 days old!

This one is for Annmarie. We miss you!

Noah tried his first bite of Grandpa's Mexican beans!