The Salvatierras

Wants and needs.

2011-12-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

Last night after saying goodnight to Noah, he called to me asking if we would be going to church on Sunday since it is Christmas Day. I said that we probably would to which he replied, "Then I won't be able to play with my new presents, but we don't really need presents. We can live without presents, but we can't live without Jesus. We get to worship Jesus on Sunday!" Obviously moved by my son's understanding of this fact, I asked a little more about his response and heard that in his kindergarten class they had been talking about the difference between wants and needs. Thank you, Jesus, for working in Noah's heart in this way. This is such a delightful reminder to me of exactly why we celebrate the birth of Christ.

Now we will attempt to sum-up the year briefly.
Ethan: Two. Talking. Mama! Curls. Energy.
Noah: Five. Tap. Kindergarten. Karate. Reading. Rubber-legs. Vocal-percussionist-in-training.
Michael: Loves. Teaching. Children's Choir. Grad School. Lessons and Carols. Road-biking.
Laura: Home. Sewing. Harry Potter. Birth-Educator. Spanish. Doula.
All of us: Expecting a nephew/cousin, good times with grandparents, Disney.
We love Cville: Friends, church, jobs, neighborhood.

Thankful.

2011-11-30T18:34:00.000-08:00

Thankful for Thanksgiving in CVille with Michael's family the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Thankful for that smirky smile.

Thankful for this charming little man.

Thankful for Thanksgiving on the farm with my family.

Thankful for tractor rides!

...and pick-up rides.

Thankful that this boat is in the water and for all the hard work my Dad
and Uncle's family have put into it.

Thankful for the relaxation that we all experienced this day.

Thankful for an incredible day to enjoy it all together!

Thankful for the amazing man that I married.

so so so much to be thankful for....

Halloween Fun

2011-11-10T16:54:00.001-08:00

Noah has just taken up Karate and is loving it! (Sorry, not Halloween related)

On Saturday before Halloween, we trick-or-treated on the Downtown Mall with the "Strawberry" and "Snow Queen" Scharf.

That night we carved the first pumpkin.

The next day, we traveled to Harrisonburg for the afternoon and on the way back we stopped on Skyline Drive to play in the snow that came down there. So amazing to see snow and autumn colors on the trees still!

S'mores by the fireplace. yum.

The finished Jack-o-Lanterns.

That's a lot of apples! Fourteen pounds made about 7-8 pints of tasty applesauce.
Ethan was my assistant, as usual.

Applying "Harry Potter's" scar....

....and "Woody's" star. Glad he decided to put the costume on for Halloween. In fact, the following 2 days we left the house dressed as Woody - at least with boots, hat, bandana, and vest.

As has been the tradition the last 2 years, Grandma came to visit for Halloween!
It's always such a treat to have her with us!

This was the first year that Ethan "got" Halloween. He walked the whole way on his own, would knock or ring the doorbell, shout "Trick-or-Treat," and prior to leaving shout "Thank You!"

Noah asked me what we're celebrating with Halloween. All I told him was that it was an excuse to dress-up in fun costumes and visit neighbors - really, that's all that matters to me. (c;

playing catch-up part II

2011-10-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

Almost two months ago now, our whole family got to participate in the wedding of Miss Annmarie Breen to Josh Rinehults in Richmond, VA. The boys were ring bearers, Michael was a musician, and I was the matron of honor. And none of that would have been possible had not both sets of grandparents been there to help with the boys! It was a family event indeed as our sweet Annmarie married the man of her dreams!

A couple weeks after the wedding, Noah had an accident. We were walking back from the library on the downtown mall and it had been raining that day, which made the sidewalks quite slippery. Noah and Ethan were running ahead of me on one of the little side streets that is not a thru street. The nose of a car poked out from an alley, and Noah saw it and tried to stop, but his legs slid under the front wheel of the station wagon. Thankfully, the man stopped after seeing me and hearing me running and screaming, so only the first set of wheels went over his legs. He had not seen Noah at all. Noah's legs were a little scraped up and pink, but after he calmed down pretty quickly after it happened, I decided I would take him to the ER myself. The ER staff couldn't believe it, but he had not one broken bone! He woke-up stiff the next day when grandma and Grandpa came to visit, but was running by the afternoon and we haven't had any residual effects yet. We are so grateful for God's protection and mercy over sweet Noah! The man who was driving the car has been so very kind and concerned for Noah's well-being. We pray for God to work in his life through this.

The following weekend, we took a family retreat to Lexington, VA. It was delightful! We had a wonderful time in the cabin - the boys loved their loft. The next day we had a tour of Broadview Ranch and met the hogs, chickens, geese, and cows. We returned with some of their meats and picked a pumpkin from their patch! We also got to see the horses and hounds on their fox hunt! The boys had a blast on all the swings, playing on tree stumps, exploring the Bellfry and getting to run free. Thank you again, Grizzle family!!!! It was wonderful to meet the rest of you this time! And if you find a kite, it's ours, but don't bother trying to get it to us. (c:

While I was away for the doula certification, I got to stay with dear friends from college, Matt and Emily D'Antuono and their precious family! Their two oldest kids are adopted and their two little guys are being fostered by them. What a picture of grace they are. Those kiddos made me feel right at home as I got to help put them to bed and read stories to them.

Following the training, Mom and Dad watched the boys together in Arlington, allowing Michael to join me in Brooklyn to be with Matthew and Kerry for the weekend! It was such a blast to have time with them and meet some of their close friends. We even ran a 10k together on Saturday morning - and spent the rest of the day recovering and eating at some of their favorite places in Brooklyn. Of course we had to squeeze in some Settlers of Catan and give-in to their summoning us to get hooked on watching "Friday Night Lights".... all this amidst some wonderful conversations. What a treat to be with them.

playing catch-up.

2011-10-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, I have updated my Facebook status far more frequently than I have kept up the family blog. Perhaps it's a sign of the times. But this blog has taken the place of scrapbooking in my life, so I should not neglect it entirely or risk losing precious moments in our family's history. It just so happens that today I am in Brooklyn, NY, quietly sitting in Matthew and Kerry's apartment with very little on my to-do list - a rare moment, indeed! What better time to reflect about the goings-on of our family in the last two months (and maybe our summer too)? What better time to be reminded of all of God's blessings and mercies to our family?

Tulip Poplar trunk, at least as old as Monticello found at Kemper park.

Celebrating the 4th with friends at the Merricks' - what an awesome view of the fireworks!

Family hike to Blue Hole! Michael was brave enough to use the rope swing for a good cold dunking.

Big perk of the summer for Noah - he was tall enough to do the floating bridge at our pool!

Had a sweet visit with Matthew and Kerry. There's Uncle Matthew getting some more practice with kiddos - they are expecting their first in March!!! We are so excited to have a new cousin!

A visit to NC to see Baba and Papa and the nearly-finished boat.
It was placed back in the water in August and safely survived hurricane Irene.

Baba and I took the boys to Atlantic beach for one day of our visit and also saw the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores there.

A JMU visit before the students returned.

Brothers.

Nothing like summertime juice pops on the porch!

There's our kindergartener on his first day of school!!
It was so much fun to have Grandma here with us, too.

Noah began kindergarten at Venable Elementary, where Michael teaches, and is LOVING it! He loves his teachers, and comes home telling me of all the things he's learning - reading, writing, math, poems, songs (from his music teacher!), and his new friends there. He's sure to tell me when one of his friends acts out during class....he doesn't always tell me when it's him doing the acting out. But from what I hear, that's pretty rare, and he just truly enjoys learning! When he comes home, I find that he needs some time to himself to unwind from the day. His favorite activities are either playing with Legos, coloring, or making-up songs on the piano (to which he also adds lyrics, and sets-up a scene in his mind of where this song will be in the musical he is directing!). Noah's most recent interest is Karate. He will be starting his first month of classes soon and he seems to be really motivated by it!

With Noah in school all day, Ethan and I have kept ourselves quite busy. He accompanies me to work at times and really enjoys our mornings at Southwood - a mostly-Latino neighborhood, where we get to participate in a playgroup for moms and kids, and build friendships with them. The hospital has asked me to identify ways in which we can come alongside and assist these families in the areas of healthcare and health promotion. It is a joy for me to do this! I love seeing Ethan play with new friends and hear Spanish too. Ethan also really enjoys his mornings at Mainly Music - a musical outreach of our church to families with little ones.

Ethan sure enjoys his quiet playtime at home, especially in big brother's room. His favorite things to play with are his fire trucks and his Little People farm with "Pa-pa" as the little farmer. I often hear him singing to himself (Twinkle, Twinkle or Old McDonald), and making up stories with his "guys." Ethan usually loves to help me with whatever I'm doing and reminds me when it's time to "sweep-up" the floor or clean-up his toys before nap-time. He has also begun to find his defiant streak and has needed some time-outs to help remind him about who the authorities are in his life.

Michael is very busy with teaching his classes at school, directing the children's choir at church, and for now, the adult choir at church too. These are all things that he loves to do and is very gifted in (while he'd never say so himself). He enjoys applying what he has learned from his graduate studies to his classroom and has truly found his niche as an elementary school music teacher.

It has now been a full year since I began teaching Childbirth Ed through our community Hospital (Martha Jefferson) and I am loving it! They have also trained me to teach the Baby Basics and Sibling classes and lead the expectant parent hospital tours. The schedule is great. The people I work with are fantastic. It's a wonderful place to work. This week I have been in New Jersey getting my certification as a Labor Doula! What a great way to work with families. I'm looking forward to seeing how this skill can be used to help individual mommies in labor. While I was here for the certification, I got to stay with dear friends from college, Matt and Emily D'Antuono and their precious family! Their two oldest kids are adopted and the little guys are being fostered by them. What a picture of grace they are. Those kiddos made me feel right at home as I got to help put them to bed and read stories to them.

The Garden Issue

2011-08-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

I believe I neglected to post anything this summer about our garden. Being that this blog is a family journal, of sorts, it seems like something worth mentioning - if for no other reason than to remember what worked this year and what didn't. So, while hurricane Irene is brewing and blowing outside, it is with gratefulness that I post about a bountiful summer.

The peonies never disappoint!

We planted both a raspberry and blueberry bush. Michael did a lot to prepare the soil for the blueberry bush - our neighbor Todd (whom you'll meet in a minute) helped us figure out what to do. Michael gathered up pine needles from the park to help acidify the soil.

While we tried to start several plants from seed - most of them didn't really work out. The only ones that worked were parsley and a few string bean plants. Todd gave us his leftover tomato, pepper, dill, lettuce, eggplant, onions, beet, and spinach plants which all produced beautifully. I believe we bought cilantro, sage, and the basil plants from the farmer's market.

Dill - and lots of it!

Our first blueberries! (end of June)

We got several green/red bell peppers!

And beans! but I generally had to add them to a bunch from the store to have enough for a meal.

This is "Farmer" Todd, harvesting turnips from one of the community gardens that he helps run. We had the awesome opportunity to see him at work a couple times this summer! He let us help out in the garden for a couple hours and then we got to enjoy what was harvested that week on "market day." We feel that we owe a great deal of thanks to Todd for not only helping us, beginning gardeners to have a fruitful garden, but because he does a great deal of service for our community - when healthy foods are so expensive.

"Market Day" bounty. Noah and Michael harvested those cucumbers or "cububbers" as Ethan says.

Harvesting onions. We also harvested enough beets for one yummy beet soup. We had enough basil to make pesto sauce to last us through the winter, hopefully.

We had three varieties of tomatoes growing. This year I have skinned them and added them to a couple batches of sauce for the freezer. I'm too intimidated to try canning them. The cherry tomatoes came from a plant that popped up on it's own right next to our compost bin - dozens and dozens have come from it. The other day Michael noticed a pumpkin growing behind the compost bin under some brush! Gotta love those surprise plants!

Here is the latest addition to our garden. Michael's mom came to visit this week to be part of Noah's first day of Kindergarten. She brought me a beautiful blue daze and with it came this little guy! Thanks again for coming, Mom!

Orlando Vacation Part III: Disney World - The Magic Kingdom!

2011-08-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

After a long and wonderful day at Sea World, we all crashed and prepared for an early wake-up call to catch our shuttle to the Magic Kingdom! The boys were filled with anticipation, as one might guess...
We arrived around 9am and took the monorail over to the main gates. Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. That was the one Noah wanted to do the most! It did not disappoint. We were able to do it twice in a row with hardly any wait. Ethan loved it too.

Then we did Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride and visited the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. It's amazing how some things never change.

We did get to see Captain Jack Sparrow give us some lessons on how to be a pirate! That inspired us to go on the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride, which we did once more at the end of the day. That time we got stuck in the "Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me" room for maybe 15 minutes with the boats all backed-up. It gave us plenty of time to notice all the details and secured the song to our minds the remainder of the day. (c:

We boarded Senegal Sal for The Jungle Cruise!

We took a break for a picnic lunch in Liberty Square on a bench under an awning and let the first batch of rain come through. Noah and Michael enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic while Ethan and I found Peter Pan hiding in a nook behind the Castle! We felt bad that Noah wasn't with us when we met him, but he got a chance later on.

Noah and Michael did Splash Mountain, which was a joyride compared to Atlantis (at Sea World)...probably should have done this one first. Our fast passes let me return with Noah and do it again later that afternoon.

Of course, we got to see Mickey and all his buddies!

I think Woody was Ethan's favorite.

But Noah's clear favorite was Peter Pan. What a thrill!

Ethan got some much-needed naptime during the would-be afternoon parade that was canceled for a thunderstorm.

And here's the Kodak moment:

We had to do all the classics... Michael and Noah did Dumbo during Ethan's nap.

We did the Mad Hatter Tea Party, which Ethan wasn't so sure of at first, but once he saw Noah laughing, he began laughing too.

We thoroughly enjoyed the dazzling Evening Electrical Parade and found a great spot on the Tomorrowland Bridge to watch the 10pm fireworks - yep, 10pm....

...they were tuckered little pumpkins as we waded through the crowds of people, taking the ferry boat, and praying we would make it back to our 11pm shuttle bus.
Fortunately, the bus waited for us!

What a day. We got back to our condo around mid-night, completely exhausted. In the morning, we mustered the strength to pack-up and enjoy a half day at Sea World (for free) on our way to the airport. Ethan just had to see the Pink-Lady and dolphin show once more!! We arrived back to DC where Mom and Dad picked us up around 10pm, and the boys were just spinning in circles, so excited to re-live all their adventures to Grandma and Grandpa.

We are so grateful to both sets of grandparents for making this trip even possible!!!! Thank you so much for what you did to allow us to have a most memorable family vacation - I believe our first ever, just the four of us. It was so special to be able to take the boys right now, at their ages - all the awe and wonder was so worth all the exhaustion.

Orlando Vacation Part II - Sea World

2011-07-13T17:20:00.001-07:00

We arrived at Sea World around 9 am and visited these Sea Lions first. Michael and Noah got to feed them!

We saw the dolphin show, which was pretty incredible.

The show left such an impression on Ethan that he cried when we left the arena. For the rest of the day he said, "I wanna see the Pink lady!" The picture below was taken when we went back to Sea World the last day, just before going to the airport. We had to see the "Pink Lady" once more!

Noah got to pet a Wallaby - so soft!

Of course, we had to say "hi" to Shamu!

Visiting the dolphin viewing area.

Those Sea Lions are always so funny to see.

They had this awesome climbing and play area. (for the BIG kids too!)

We both got to ride with Noah on his first roller coaster, The Shamu Express. He loved it!We had a very special treat for dinner, sitting by the shark tank!! Pretty wild.

We pet the graceful and slippery stingrays.

We also got to pet dolphins, but I didn't get a very good picture of that. (c:

This was the flume ride, Atlantis, that Noah decided he would ride with Daddy. Perhaps it was a little too scary...

Don't know if you can see Noah's face. Shear. Terror.
They survived.

Orlando Vacation Part I

2011-07-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun getting ready for our trip.

We drove to Arlington the day before, so we could make our early morning flight.
We woke the boys at 5:30 am.

The boys did great on the plane; the first one since our return from Peru, 2 years ago.
They were so excited!

We arrived safely, picked-up the rental car and headed to Summer Bay Resort.

Over the next two days we took full advantage of all the fun the resort had to offer us.

There were lots of places to swim!

We also enjoyed seeing lots of wildlife - turtles, ducklings, toads and frogs, and some neat birds.

These Sandhill Cranes were quite bold - they approached our patio daily and were delightful to watch. They adult ones were taller than Noah.

The boys did a great job sleeping together for the first time, in a hide-a-bed.

Sunset from the patio.

Father's Day

2011-07-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

The Summer has already been very full of fun...but one of the best parts of Summer is having Daddy home with us during the day!! We feel very blessed to be altogether during these warm summer days. The boys wanted to celebrate Daddy's special day by painting him some special cards...

...and making him a pancake breakfast after letting him sleep in.

Michael definitely deserves the "Best Daddy" award for all the ways he loves our boys. He is always up for taking them on a long explore, giving them the gift of loving Creation and pointing their sweet little hearts to our Creator.

Michael has passed down his "Billy goat feet" to his sons - they are both quite sure-footed.

He loves to rough house with them, cuddle with them, sing with them, inspire them with music (listening to it or making it), pray with them, garden and read with them. He just began reading "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" with Noah - so many sweet lessons to learn in those wonderful books.
Ethan summed it up well tonight when he prayed, "Thank you for Daddy."

so grateful

2011-06-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

It's time to post again. I try to do it at least once a month, but I was looking over pictures from this past month, I am struck by how many wonderful things happened and how much we've been able to do. Again, I find myself just grateful for this life I've been given to live - so full of joys, and sorrows too - but I think sorrow makes those joys so much sweeter. Thus, another post to celebrate the joys.

First-off, a date-night to catch Chris Thile and Michael Daves at The Southern - what a duo!

Ethan reading to "Mono" in his crib.

Then Grandma came for a few days to play!

Noah surprised us his last morning of Preschool,
and had clearly thought ahead about his outfit that day.

Grandma couldn't miss Noah's preschool graduation!
Thank you Miss Heather for all your care for our Noah this year.
We will miss Great Beginnings Preschool next year.

Perhaps Noah just wanted to match Daddy for his Spring concert that same day...

More Strawberries!!

Memorial Day weekend project (we still have some details to complete.)
Noah was a big help!

That same weekend we got together with some new friends, The Meyers.
They were so gracious to have us and share the fruits (and veggies) from their garden.
Noah was a little nervous with their sweet baby goats - they were adorable!

Argh! (the chosen outfit to go to the library -
can anyone guess what kind of books we brought home?)

" 'Cause Pirates like to have fun too, Mommy."

Summertime Juice Pops!

Explorations Play Studio - what a beautiful spot to escape the heat.

As soon as Michael finished school last Friday, we took off for Baltimore
and Arlington for the weekend. We visited a dear friend from my middle school!
We stayed with Ian, played with his two sweet Labs, and did a little sightseeing.
We visited the Baltimore Science Museum and Fells Point.

Can't get enough of these curls!

On Sunday, Ian took us to the fire station where he volunteers.
The boys were just a little excited. (c:

Ethan wasn't sure about the outfit...

A lovely time with Geema (Ethan's new name for Grandma) and Pa-pa before returning home.

Tuesday, we had a playdate with The Purdys in Richmond!! What a wonderful time to catch-up.
We finally got to meet Lucy Grace (6mos).

Mother's Day

2011-05-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

I hope this becomes a tradition in our family. We went strawberry picking at Critzer's Family Farm again this year, the Saturday before Mother's Day.

Our little inchworm friend!

The boys worked very hard to pick the reddest berries.

Their homemade strawberry ice cream was just what we needed as a reward for all our hard work - 6 lbs of sweet juicy strawberries!

Afterwards, we visited Edible Landscaping where we picked out our very own Blueberry and Raspberry bushes. Michael got right to work putting them in the ground - with some help from Ethan.

My parents arrived that afternoon and stayed through Monday morning. Both boys loved having Papa help read to them and put them to bed. He loves his little buddies!

We enjoyed lunch out with Mom and Dad and then a low key dinner on the deck - a beautiful day!

My first buttercup bouquet from Ethan.

Noah helped me with the Strawberry Shortcake.

Gotta love these Peonies, just in time for Mother's Day!!

This week we spent a good amount of time out on the back deck watching all the big dump trucks, diggers, and steamrollers, as they paved a loop around our park - just right for some future bike riders.

Again, these are definitely some of the highlights of our week. I'm not usually taking pictures during the not so fun times of being mommy - this is the hardest job I will ever have. Thank you, sweet boys, for being patient with me as the Lord sanctifies me every day - showing me my need for Him when I am selfish and not patient, among many other things. Thank you, to both our Moms, for going before us in this journey, and encouraging us all along the way. We love you so much!!!

Spring Highlights

2011-04-27T19:12:00.001-07:00

This Spring has brought many sweet reunions. Above are a couple pics from our rustic cabin weekend on the Appalachian Trail with Matthew & Kerry, her sister Erin & Tom, Daniel, Peter, and Beth. It was a perfect getaway, complete with no electricity, cell phone signals, nor running water (aside from the nearby stream). However, I have never eaten SO well. Pretty amazing doughnuts and apple pie, and veggie/meat foil wrap-thingys.

For Spring Break, we spent a few days in DC and stayed with Mom and Dad. It was so fun to do the touristy stuff with the boys. Ethan rode the Metro for the first time. We were right on time for the Cherry Blossom Festival and visited the Natural History Museum.

Also got to check-out the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum at Dulles - the boys loved this and even got to do a short pilot simulation.

We had a wonderful day on Sunday of Spring Break visiting our former church, Alexandria Presbyterian and seeing many dear friends. We got to have lunch with Justin and Jacquie Prather, their two girls (Nora and Camille) and Tim Petrie. Later, we visited with Brett and Krista Miller and their two girls (Karina and newborn, Keira). Then in the evening we had dinner with Seth and Jess Blanchard and got to visit their sweet new home. What a day!! It was delightful to see SO many great friends in one day.

Then we returned home and got to prepare our garden and do some mulch slinging! Thank you Spencer, for letting us borrow the truck!!!

This felt like a homecoming picture...thank you for snapping it, Mom! We had the opportunity to attend Jenna Walton and Adam Hood's beautiful wedding! It was a blast to see many dear friends from years ago.

Fellow ICS grads, Ian and Stephanie. (c:

Gave Hot Cross Buns a try on Good Friday.

My sweet boys on Easter Sunday!

We all enjoyed attending the City Parrish picnic, not to mention the Easter egg hunt, and kickball game (adults vs. kiddos).

Here is Noah on Kindergarten Open House Day.
Do you think he's excited about starting big-kid school next year?

This past Thursday evening, Sara Daniel watched the boys so we could head over the mountain to visit our Alma Mater for a very special reason. Dan Flynn, the campus director of Campus Crusade at JMU was giving his last graduation talk in that role. It was a treat to see him, his family, and so many alumni that were able to make it.

Yesterday, a friend that I have known since elementary school came through town! Lindsay, I loved getting some time with you!

Finally, just today, we got to meet the man that Annmarie will soon wed - Josh Rinehults! And yes, they do make a perfect couple. Congratulations you two!!! Can't wait for September!!!

Another Birthday...

2011-03-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

This one is for my dear friend, Annmarie. About a month ago, we had an incredible opportunity to get away for the weekend. We were so blessed to stay in a cabin belonging to some friends and it was perfectly designed for the getaway that we were looking for - peaceful, quiet, and with just enough fun to make it an adventure. This was how we wanted to celebrate turning 30 together! Today is her birthday, so I thought it would be an appropriate day to post this. Happy Birthday, Am!!

Untitled from Laura Salvatierra on Vimeo.

The Birthday Post

2011-02-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a month or so, and we have all turned one year older. Noah had the first of the birthdays, turning the big 5 on 1/11/11!

We had some of his good buddies over to celebrate!

We had some free Lego building time, since that is something Noah is really in to right now.

We played musical chairs...

and Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey!

Michael turned 31 the next day. We went out for a dinner date, just the two of us! My birthday was two weeks later. I turned 30. I was sick that day, so we stayed in, made a fire, and I went to bed early. What a celebration?! Hopefully, I'll get a chance to celebrate with Annmarie in a couple weeks and make a getaway for a night or two with her. I'm glad I have a best friend to turn 30 with.
Just ten days after my birthday, Ethan turned two! We were blessed to have both sets of grandparents come into town to celebrate!

We had "Make your own pizza" for dinner - a favorite for Ethan.

He's really into tractors and equates them with his "Pa Pa" (my dad). He is a big talker now and the day after his party he woke me at 6am and said, "Hi Mommy! My happy. My cake. My Pa Pa. My toy." I think the party made an impression on him. So sweet to watch my baby grow into a little boy.

Christmas Time was here

2011-01-16T17:42:00.000-08:00

This year we hosted our first musical Christmas party here for our neighbors - a long-standing tradition in Michael's family.

Two brothers, brushin'

All Ethan asked for this Christmas was a "Choo-Choo."
Thankfully, Baba and Papa (aka Santa and Mrs. Claus) had one they didn't use anymore.

Papa and Noah had a Connect 4 duel

Then we made it to Arlington on Christmas night, avoiding the threat of a big storm. Sunday, the day after Christmas, Matthew and Kerry came down and that evening was the Christmas party.

Noah made his Christmas party debut performance.

Monday morning was 2nd Christmas!

Tuesday evening, Michael and I had the chance to see the Caps beat the Canadiens

Matthew and Kerry drove down with us on Wednesday for some fun in C-Ville!

We all went for a little hike on the Appalachian Trail on New Years Eve.

We celebrated the New Year with Matthew and Kerry on the Downtown Mall, with the bubble wrap stomp and a wacky juggler, Mark Nizer. Wish we could have taken advantage of all the other concerts going on that night too, but Noah got the stomach bug, which he passed to Ethan the next day. I think we had all had enough excitement for those couple weeks of Christmas break!

A Snowy Day for Catching-Up

2010-12-16T12:17:00.001-08:00

These last several weeks have been quite full! We have had a wonderful time with family and preparing for the Holidays.

Michael took Noah on an adventure in the woods, off our nearby Monticello trail.

Noah and Ethan are having so much fun being brothers.

We had the joy of hosting a bunch of our teammates from Peru before Thanksgiving! Amanda and Jeremy Ross and their girls, Kayla, Bella, and Janna visited for a couple days along with Susan Crenshaw and Anne Langhorne. It was so much fun to reminisce about our time together in Lima and great for Noah to see old friends!

Noah and Bella are 3 weeks apart in age and Janna and Ethan only 10 days!

After our Peru reunion, we left for North Carolina to have Thanksgiving with Baba and Papa.

Cindy, Marlea, and Harmony joined us too!!
We all explored my uncle John's boat that Dad is helping to refinish. They're making good progress!

Proud Papa on his tractor. Now every time Ethan sees a tractor, he says, "Papa!"

Cousins!

There were 13 of us altogether!

Harmony read to Noah before bed.

Noah got his ride with Papa too.

We had a great visit with Michael's parents and Matthew & Kerry after being in NC.

We picked out a Canaan Fir from Stonehearth Tree Farm, near Culpepper, VA.

Noah and Gray got to decorate sugar cookies this week.

Michael and Noah went to NOVA this past weekend and got to visit Union Station with Grandma and Grandpa. It's fun to see a similar picture if you look back to December 2006's blog posts.

And today was our first Snow Day!

We're lucky enough to have Grandma snowed-in with us!!

We ventured out altogether this morning and walked to Noah's eye doctor's appointment. His eyes continue to improve with his glasses and patching one eye a couple hours a day.
Now we are eagerly anticipating Christmas and even more time to be with family, dear friends, and neighbors. We love this season and all the hope and joy it brings to the darkest days of the year.

October Fun

2010-11-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

This month just flew by with all the fun that was packed into it.

As a gift from our family, we had a photo shoot with sweet friend, Eric Kelley, one of Charlottesville's best photographers. What a treat this was. If you want to see the rest of these click below and enter Salvatierra as the password
www.erickelleyphotography.com/events

The boys and I had the chance to visit an adorable petting farm

Noah is living up to his name as an animal lover!

Let us introduce you to Ally. She is a JMU grad and a Trinity Fellow who I get to mentor. She has jumped right into our crazy lives with us!

Had to make a visit to a pumpkin patch. This year it was Round Hill Farm in Culpepper, VA.

Ah, yes our dear Robin Hood...

...and a cute little pup.
(This costume was made for Noah in Peru for a Mother's Day performance.
See May 2008 posts if you want to see Noah in it.)

We had several occasions to dress the boys up in their costumes this year; the All-Saints Fair at church, Mainly Music, and of coarse, Halloween with Grandma! Just before she arrived our town was visited by a rather important national figure - here we are in line waiting to see if we would get into the Pavillion to see President Obama.

Even though it was late by the time we picked Mom up from the train station, the boys just couldn't wait to read a bedtime story with her.

The next morning we carved pumpkins with our neighbors, Clay, Sara, and Knox Daniel.

Then, we enjoyed a trip over the mountain to visit our Alma Mater.

Some friends gave us 4 season tickets that they couldn't use, so we got to see the game!
Sadly, JMU lost to UMass.

But we were there to see the marching band anyways. (c:

Ethan really got into Halloween this year and had fun sorting through the candy with Noah.

Another fun trip up to Carter's mountain with Grandma!

Noah's newest favorite past time - writing.

My first ever attempt today at canning, with a lot of help from Jen Sauder, a friend from Bible Study. It yielded 9 pints of fresh, unsweetened, tastiness to be enjoyed in months to come.

One Year

2010-10-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

We have officially lived in our home for one year today. We have experienced every season here. We've been snowed in, several times. We've made music here. We've had friends and family stay with us. We've sowed and reaped our garden. We've watched all the flowers bloom and fade. We've cooked and baked here. We've played hard here. We've rested here. We've prayed here. Yup. Feels like home.

20 months

2010-10-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

This week, Ethan celebrated 20 months of life, and so full of life he is! Here are some of his most recent discoveries:

- Newfound independence. I recently posted about his ability to leave his crib whenever he pleases. The good thing is that, rarely, does he do it when he knows he's supposed to be in it. He still waits for us to come get him in the mornings and after naps. He has also discovered, this week, that wheels can take him places. His little push bike he now likes to take all over our neighborhood and down to the park. He is completely dismayed when it's time to go inside, and if brought in against his will, he stands pushing on the door, bike in hand, crying desperately for someone to take him out again - until otherwise distracted by something like a snack.

- Newfound playmate. He loves to play with Noah and is quite bored if he's not around. He has yet to consistently call his brother by a name, but words are coming. Noah is also passing down to him a love for dancing, music, and rhythm. The boys love to groove together to a beatful tune.

- New words. On our trip to Virginia beach a few weeks ago allowed our boys to stay up late enough to watch the moon rise. As we drove, and our view of the moon changed, Ethan discovered the "moo", and pointed at it. For the last hour of our car trip, every couple minutes, he would rediscover it.

- New foods. He loves to eat whole things - whole pieces of waffles, pizza, sandwiches, and especially apples. He surprised us again, on the same car trip, as I had little to offer him for snacks except for a whole apple. He dug into it and ate almost all of it - core and all. He has been a pretty picky eater and is finally branching out a bit! He loves to use his fork.

- New ways to show affection. At bedtime, as soon as we finish reading, he hops down, makes a kissing sound and runs off to find Daddy and Noah and gives them each a wet Ethan "peck" on the cheek. He blows the sweetest kisses in the world. When I am holding him, often I'll find him patting my back with his little hand. Precious.

- New helper for Mommy. Ethan seems to appreciate organization. He loves to help put things back where they came from. It amazes me how much he understands in this regard. I have directed him to an object in one room and asked him to take it to another room, and he will often do it! I have also seen him spontaneously put something back before leaving a room. Yesterday, he was leaving the kitchen and paused to close a cabinet door before proceeding. It's the little things...but what a help!

A JMU Day!

2010-10-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I meant to post these in reverse order. Why don't you start at the bottom?

We had a lot of fun trying out being a family of six getting to babysit two sweet kids, while our friends, Josh and Michelle Crouse, got to attend a wedding. The kids were really close to Noah and Ethan's ages - they had a blast together.

Klines' Cookies n' Cream - umm good

We had the chance to get a tour the brand new Forbes Center for the Performing Arts. It was incredible! Here is the main concert hall stage.

Saturday was a perfect day to visit our Alma Mater.

AND a LOT of tomatoes! We got another batch this size too! We've made lots of yummy tomato-basil soup the last couple weeks.

...reaping a handful of puny sweet potatoes. (c:

On Friday, Farmer Todd came over and helped us with our final garden harvest...

Summer's Last Hurrah

2010-09-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend we met my parents in Virginia Beach for their annual Neptune Festival. My parents have gone with friends the last few years and this is the first time we've been able to join them for it. They brought their trailer and let us stay in one of the KOA lodges. It was so cute and just right for us! It had two bedrooms, bathroom, and a kitchen/common area.

We walked around the finalists' creations for the

North American Sand Sculpting Championship - pretty incredible!

Here's a link for more pictures.

This one was Noah's favorite.

Kohr Brothers

A perfect beach day!

We made some lovely memories with Mom and Dad and their friends,

Gil and Karen and Claude and Debbie.

After breakfast this morning with everyone, we came back to the KOA for a little "pillow jumping"

We ALL tried it out - it was awesome.

FUN weekend + long car ride = sleepy boys

When we came home, we realized that Fall had arrived. It was breezy and there was a chill in the air that we haven't had yet. We love Fall. We are so grateful for such a great weekend to bid those Summer Days farewell!

Busy Week

2010-09-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

How I wish I could take more time to write about the daily struggles and sweetnesses of being a mommy of two very busy boys... nonetheless, I feel I'm barely documenting the highlights of our daily lives. Let me say again, these are highlights - we have many, and feel extremely fortunate and blessed to be able to take advantage of so many wonderful opportunities. I was reminded again today of our lives in Peru. I missed being able to take Noah to a library - now, we go at least every other week. I just don't want to take all these opportunities for granted and don't want out kids to think these things are available to everyone in the world. So, here are some snapshots of this past week...

Just can't get enough of these precious moments.

Now, I gotta give these guys some props! They are honest, take great care of our car, and Mr. Joe has made some fans for life after letting Noah pull the lever to raise the car up for it's oil change. AND, for the day, he let them borrow two of his model cars that he keeps in the shop!

Datenight! Got to catch Peter Bradley Adams at The Southern and had the chance to finally try out "The Flat" a creperie I've been really wanted to visit.

Noah and his ark at the Humpback Rock Farm Festival

Michael picked up a dulcimer and gave it a whirl!

Don't worry, we found it just lying in the grass.

Noah's Lego "Briding-room"

Today, Noah got to be among the first to have a swim lesson taught in this brand new pool and fitness facility!

Lately...

2010-09-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

More fun at Carter Mountain, pickin' peaches...

We had a mystery plant in our garden, likely from the compost. It turned into a cantalope!

Got to see Grandma and Grandpa over Labor Day weekend...

Saw the Sound of Music at Wolf Trap...

Spent time with Michael's Aunt Joan...

Said our goodbyes to an awesome pool season...

Noah started Pre-Kindergarden...

At 19 months, Ethan is using his utensils regularly now...

Brought in the final harvest of basil and made a couple more batches of pesto sauce to last us the winter...
Enjoyed our baby carrot harvest - and we mean real baby carrots. (c:,

Finally, we have witnessed Ethan emerging from his babyhood. Sniff, Sniff. Although, I don't think he's quite ready for a big boy bed.

And we're back...

2010-08-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

Just in case anybody is still following this neglected little blog, please forgive the lack of posts. Since the last post:

- Michael returned after 5 weeks from his Masters program at the Hartt School in Connecticut

- Celebrated 7 years of marriage - woo hoo!

- We packed in lots of fun, celebrating Daddy returning to us!

- We went to Sag Harbor for a week with Michael's family

- Got a date with Noah to see Mary Poppins at the Kennedy Center

- We've picked lots of peaches

- I started a new job in Childbirth Education at Martha Jefferson Hospital

- Michael started school this past Wednesday

- We continue to enjoy some of the bounty from our own little garden

Humpback Rocks

Just pictures...

2010-07-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Father's Day Photo Shoot

Amazing meal with cousin Darcie and Dan in Boston

Beautiful wedding in Boston

Independence Day celebration at the Frontier Culture Museum

July 4th block party (but not our block (c:)

Cousin time!

Monticello

Fun with Uncle Matthew

Sag Harbor

The Intrepid Museum

Toys R Us in Times Square

Reading with Aunt Kerry in Bryant Park

The NY Public Library Lions

Our Pool

Birthday party at Greenleaf Park

Isaac's Awesome Birthday cake!

Playdate with the Purdy boys

Reunited

2010-07-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

We've been having a lot of fun this summer and I plan to post some more recent pictures, but I had to let the news out about a particularly important event...Aney has been FOUND! He was spotted last week in the worship office at church and yesterday Noah and his pup were reunited after a month of separation. The prayers of many have been answered! Noah has seen God's faithfulness displayed through his favorite little puppy.

Sweet Fun

2010-06-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

Events this week:

Harvesting the lavender

Peach picking at Chiles' Orchard

Picking his first peach

Arrrrgh!

We are soaking up Daddy-time since he got out of school on Friday. Tonight Michael took Noah to his first baseball game! UVA v.s. Oklahoma. Go Wahoos!

.................................................................................

Found in my journal, Aug. 31st of last year...

Today we were in the store and Noah asked to get some brightly colored cereal. Trying to think of a way to make it less desirable I said, "It turns your insides different colors- it might turn your heart green." Noah replied, "It could make Jesus green!" I just had to laugh.

Failure and Success

2010-06-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Success: Michael's awesome Challah bread that we shared with home group this week.

Finger painting fail: Read about making finger paint for Ethan to play with. End result was a meltdown and a messy baby.

Success: Coloring with crayons instead

Success: Noah requested that we sew a cape for "Belle" so that he could act out Beauty and Beast with his figures

I need to document more of my failures...I'm usually not thinking about how I want to share them. But transparency IS a good thing...

Fun with Boys

2010-06-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

We have been having a lot of fun as a family recently! Since Noah is out of school, we've had more playdates with friends and have visited the POOL now that it is open on weekends. So far we've gone to the pool once, if not twice each day it's been open. Yesterday, Michael went down to stand in line (it is often at full capacity), while I got Noah all ready for the pool. I stayed with Ethan while he napped and I sent Noah down the hill, across the park all by-himself to meet Michael! I stood on the back deck and watched him the whole way. It was so cute to watch my little boy setting off alone, carrying his big pool bag. He only paused for a moment, as he passed the playground. Of coarse, Michael was right there waiting for him at the pool. What a big boy!

Here are some pictures from some of our recent adventures:

Cherry and Strawberry picking at Chiles' Orchard

Going on a hike through Sugar Hollow.

This is the same hike where we had the fortunate chance to see a black bear!

...with "Aney" of coarse. Sadly, since this picture, Aney has been lost.

Noah misses him terribly!

All the recent thunderstorms have made great days for making some play-doh!

Our first meal out on our deck for Memorial Day!

Our little pirate has needed to wear his patch for a couple hours a day again, but his cool new patch is much better than the sticky band-aid ones he used to wear.

Noah's first campout with Daddy - complete with milk and freshly baked cookies (c:

Ethan had to check it out the morning after

Noah's awesome bee balloon from the balloon man at the City Market

Ah, our sweet lavender bushes are blooming!

Last Day of School

2010-05-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

First day of Great Beginnings Preschool this year...

Last day, today!

Ethan and I will be leaving soon to attend Noah's end of the year assembly. So much has happened this year - hard to believe we've been back this long already.

Mother's Day Weekend

2010-05-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

While we didn't celebrate Mother's Day this year in the same way as we have the last 3 years in Peru, it was special all the same. This time I got to spend it with my Mom! My parents came for the weekend and we had a great time with them. Friday evening we attended the "Boogie on the Blacktop" dance event at Michael's school. Noah enjoyed doing the Hokie Pokie and Macarena with Daddy.

Saturday morning we went to Critzer's Family Farm for some strawberry picking! None of us had done it before (except for my Mom, when she was a child) and we had a blast, even though it was exceptionally windy! So we came home with loads of strawberries and decided to make strawberry shortcake for dessert that night and strawberry sorbet for Mother's Day. {Can't get any fresher than that. We have a big bag of frozen strawberries in the freezer that I'm looking forward to using for smoothies and other tasty treats. I'm trying to help our family eat things closer to their source, and this is a great town for that. Our Farmer's market in the park behind our house started last week. That will surely be a weekly "must" for us. It reminds me of Peru in some ways...}

Noah deemed Saturday another one of Aney's birthdays (I explained that he could have up to 7 in a year with the whole doggie years thing), so Strawberry Shortcake was an appropriate cake, since "Aney LOVES strawberries!"

Saturday afternoon, my Dad and Michael did a lot of "Honey do-s," to include replacing some warped 2x4s on our deck. THANK YOU!! Somehow, I got a nap on our hammock that afternoon.

A dear friend posted a blog recently about her two youngest (of 3) crawling into bed with them for different reasons and how she wanted to savor those precious moments. Thank you, Angie, for the perspective on that, and how it truly doesn't last forever. So, this morning, when Noah came in at 5:15 and said "Mommy, I'm lonely in my bed. I just want to sleep with another person," we agreed it was okay. Recently, he's been doing a great job of staying in his bed all night long.

Every day that I get to mother these little ones, is a gift. They bring me joy and teach me way more than I teach them.

"Sweeter than honey"

2010-05-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

This morning, I woke-up to a little boy snuggling up next to me saying, "Mommy, you're sweeter than honey!" Awww. It's these little moments I'm trying to hide in my heart for those years ahead when he may not think I'm so sweet.

Yesterday, amidst a rather hectic day, Noah and I made a precious memory by attending his first musical! We saw "Beauty & the Beast" put on by Albemarle High School and it was pretty fantastic for a high school! We nearly didn't get in as it was totally sold out. Noah was crushed, and his big alligator tears melted the hearts of the adults with me in line. Graciously, one mother and teenage daughter who were on the waiting list to get in, got tickets and sold one to us so he could sit on my lap. The mother said she would rather Noah and I go together. WOW. We were so grateful. She gave Noah a bag of M & M's to boot! In case that mother ever finds this blog - I want her to know how appreciated that act of kindness was. Now, I'm not in support of Noah thinking that crying every time will get him what he wants, but we were grateful all the same. He thoroughly enjoyed it! His favorite parts were Gaston's song and the transformation at the end - complete with an audience filled with illuminated fake roses to help in making the magic happen. (c:

Ethan just figured out what kisses are and will give them when asked; if he's in the mood, that is. He and I just spent the weekend together again while Michael dropped Noah off with Grandma and Grandpa in Arlington and he took the train up to Hartford, Connecticut. He was interviewing for a summer masters degree program in music education with Kodaly emphasis. We all had a great weekend - Noah had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa, Michael's interview went really well and he got to see Matthew and Kerry briefly on the way back, and Ethan and I had a lot of fun at home together, going on lots of long walks and doing things around the house that I don't usually have time to do.

Here are some more recent pictures of my sweet boys:

Peonies from our garden that remind me of my Grandmother's in NY

Oh, how I love Spring!

Spring!

2010-04-23T17:02:00.001-07:00

We have been in awe of the beauty that is Spring. We have missed it! We are so grateful to our home's previous owners who went to great lengths to plant some beautiful perennials! We are learning so much about gardening and have a long way to go. It has been really neat to just watch and see what comes up this Spring.

Our neighbor's wisteria is growing on a trellis that is gracefully leaning towards our house

Noah has already spent hours observing and capturing these marvelous little caterpillars. Yesterday we tried out the bike trailer for the boys - man, am I out of shape?!

Spring Break and more

2010-04-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a fun few weeks. Here are some highlights:

Grandma took the train to come visit!

We dyed Easter Eggs

We played outside amongst Cherry Blossom petals

Grandpa came to visit too!

We all cheered Michael on, as he ran the C-Ville 10-miler!

We celebrated on Easter morning and enjoyed our "Resurrection Cookies"

(see the blog post here)

Sweet boys in Easter plaids

...then we took a road trip to North Carolina to visit some family

First stop: Charlotte, to see my cousin, Corrie, her husband Dan and their cute boys, Sam (3), Josh (5), & Tyler (7)

The Water Works at "Discovery Place" in Charlotte, NC

(Thankfully I did have a change of clothes for Ethan!)

"Uncle Michael" was no match for Tyler and Josh

Noah was in heaven when able to play their drumset

Tyler was so sweet with Ethan

All the boys!

A wagon ride with Marlea! It was the first time my sister and her family had met Ethan.

Marlea and Harmony show Noah their treehouse.

Tire-swinging together at one of their favorite parks in Asheville, NC

Both girls were such big helpers with Ethan.

Big News...

2010-03-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

Just this afternoon, Ethan took about 4-5 steps to Michael. Soon afterwards, we decided to film him and see if he would do any more than that. We couldn't believe we caught this "first" on film - but I think we can officially say that Ethan is walking!

Noah's Playlist

2010-02-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

Here's what I listen to all day:

The Sound of Music

Tarzan Soundtrack

The Lion King Soundtrack

Songs for Learning Spanish, Freddie Terry

Peter, Paul, and Mommy

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Don Quixote Man of La Mancha (musical)

Seize the Day (Newsies)

The Lion King (musical)

Hours of dancing and entertainment for all of us.

Grateful

2010-02-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

There is a LOT I have to be grateful for recently...I just wanted to take the time to reflect.

Lovely Paperwhite and Amarilis bulbs for my birthday

Having my parents come (in a snowstorm!) for Ethan's 1st birthday

Spending time with my parents at Massanutten (and the Water park there, so fun!)

Seeing our dear family friend, Azeb, and enjoying the incredible Ethiopian meal she made!

A weekend away (while Mom and Dad Salvatierra took the boys)

Time with Matthew, our sisters-in-law, and you too, Tom!

And a surprise late Valentine last night, getting to see the Punch Brothers. Thanks, Mike, for staying with the boys!

I am immeasurably blessed and by no merit of my own. I am just grateful for all of the people in our lives that love us so much. I am storing these memories up for times that may not be so fun-filled and joyful. For now I am savoring them. Be assured, my day-to-day "mommy" tasks are not so exciting, but I'm learning that those moments are indeed sacred and to be treasured too. Even those really hard, strong-willed child moments...yes, sacred.

Ethan's 1st Birthday

2010-02-05T20:21:00.001-08:00

He really did it...he turned one. I have been trying to make myself believe that he would always be my little baby boy. In a way, he always will be. Happy 1st Birthday, Ethan Matthew!

Ice Skating

2010-01-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

On MLK Day we got to try out our ice skating rink in town. Noah has really wanted to try it out, convinced that he already knew how to do it because he knows how to slide around the house in his socks. Maybe sock skating helped a little, but upside-down buckets were just the thing he needed. By the end of the session he wanted to try it without the buckets and did pretty well. We'll have to go back - we had a great time altogether!

Sweet brothers! Thanks again for the sweaters, Cristina!

Thinking of Peru

2010-01-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

Wednesday morning, I was stunned to see a newsflash that Cusco, Peru had declared a state of emergency due to flooding and mudslides. It breaks my heart to hear of people getting airlifted out of Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu, the pride and joy of that nation. With roads and trains closed, I imagine there is very little help for those left behind. With the lack of infastructure and widespread corruption in both local and national government, it will likely take a long time to recover from something like this. The decrease in tourism will affect not only the larger businesses, but even more so, the small ones - the families who run the bodegas, farms, and little shops.
I just watched a video I posted in April 2008 from my Inca Trail adventure and was reminded of all the beauty of the Sacred Valley - quite Sacred indeed as God's glory in His creation is so clearly displayed.
Please pray with us for Peru.

Birthday pictures

2010-01-23T17:25:00.001-08:00

We went to Arlington the weekend before Michael's and Noah's birthdays and got to celebrate Michael's Dad's too! Grandma and Grandpa gave Noah (and us) tickets to a "Teddy Bear" concert at the Kennedy Center for a Christmas/Birthday present. It was such a sweet event and great to both be able to go with Noah. They had a petting zoo of instruments before the concert. Noah's favorites there were the violin and autoharp. He brought "Simba" instead of a teddy bear. The concert was just right for Noah's age - he loved it!

After the concert, Noah went on a treasure hunt through the house and found a very special present...

...complete with figurines that his Daddy used to play with.

That night, Michael and I were able to have a date to celebrate his birthday! We went out for some fabulous Indian.

On Noah's actual birthday, I got to go to preschool with him and bring rice krispy treats to share. That evening, we invited the Ryans over for dinner. Noah was so excited to have Gray over to celebrate turning the big 4!

Last Saturday, we celebrated Michael's 30th with an open house! It was wonderful to have friends and neighbors come by for lunch, wishing Michael a happy birthday.

Celebrating New Years

2010-01-23T17:03:00.001-08:00

A family-friendly New Years' Eve. That's what we discovered that evening when we walked up to the Downtown Mall.

We visited our favorite noodle shop for Dumplings, got hot drinks, and waited for the stoke of 6:30 when we were all given the "go" to stomp the bubble wrap strewn about the plaza. Then we observed the processional down the mall, headed up by jugglers and hula-hoopers.

Brilliant. It sounded just like firecrackers. Despite Noah's "No!" in the video, he did get out and enjoy jumping around with Daddy. (c: We found that rolling the strollers over-top popped the most bubbles at a time.

Christmas pics

2010-01-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

A few days before Christmas, Aunt Annmarie came - bringing with her (besides her one-of-a-kind hugs and smiles) some sweet gifts - Ethan's first christmas present! Some stylish "little man" clothes. It was her first time to visit us in the house. We loved getting to host her overnight, keeping her up late helping Michael make his chocolate truffles. She also took Noah sledding, well what started out as sledding, but an hour and a half later they came in after mostly just playing on the snowy playground. (c:

It was wonderful to have my parents join us for Christmas this year in our new home - it sure made it feel more like home. They arrived on Christmas Eve in time for us to visit before going Christmas Caroling on our street! Between my parents and us, we had four part harmony! It was really fun to show some love to our neighbors in this way.

Before caroling

Noah woke up nearly every hour that night, beginning at 1am - "Is it morning yet?" Guess he was excited. We held him off until my parents arrived from their hotel, but let him open his stocking around 7.

Mom and Dad brought a turkey for Christmas dinner and Dad and Michael stuffed it together. This was our first real feast here! Again, we missed not having my sister and her family here with us. We are looking forward to going to visit them in Asheville in the coming months.

My parents graciously decided to stay the weekend putting up a lovely shed for us while we went up to Arlington to celebrate with Michael's side of the family.

The evening we arrived was the annual Christmas party! We had so missed this tradition while we were gone. I put Ethan in the same tux that Noah wore to the same party exactly 3 years before - a good excuse to dress up a baby boy. (c: His favorite spot during the party was underneath the grand piano when everyone was singing carols. It was plenty loud under there and he was "singing" his little heart out with the rest of us. Noah got to make another gingerbread house with all the neighborhood girls. Michael and Matthew joined their parents' recorder choir - this is a tradition that began while we were gone and is a great way to get everybody in on the music-making part of the party.

Noah absolutely loved the whole evening. Periodically throughout, he would ask me, "Is there more party?"

Our little superhero - Thanks Andrea!

The rest of the weekend we enjoyed a 2nd Christmas morning, seeing cousins Stephen and Sarah, going to the Botanic Garden and seeing their all-natural train set-up, visiting Nana all together, and a Caps game for the brothers.

On Tuesday, Matthew and Kerry came back to C-ville with us for a couple days. We had a blast with them and squeezed in 2 games of "Settlers" before they left.

Birthday Boys

2010-01-11T19:55:00.001-08:00

Pictures are coming, but I just had to wish my little boy a Happy 4th Birthday today! I guess, as I write this, his grandparents - Michael's parents, met him about this very time, exactly 4 years ago. Wow. What a life he has already lived! As I kissed him goodnight, in his dark room tonight, I imagined him still as a little baby.

Now, tomorrow Michael turns 30! Happy Birthday to you, sweetie!!! Sometimes, when I kiss him goodnight I remember our first kiss - 15 years ago!!!! Wow. That was half a lifetime ago for him now. Crazy.

All this to say, that we're doing a lot of celebrating in our house this week. We'll catch-up on Christmas and b-day pictures asap.

Way More Snow!

2009-12-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

We are finally venturing out of our home after the massive storm that hit on Friday and Saturday. Michael has been shoveling like mad. He measured over 20 inches on our back deck. We don't remember ever seeing this much snow! Noah's favorite part is eating it and sledding, of course. We were soaking up all being snowed in together - making cookies and hot drinks, watching "The Nutcracker," singing carols and celebrating advent. So excited to be looking forward to a white Christmas!

Ethan's 1st Touch of Snow!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

2009-12-13T20:04:00.001-08:00

Gingerbread Houses with Lisa, Gray, and baby Tate

Messiah Sing-Along at Old Cabell Hall

Warmhearth Christmas Tree Farm, Madison, VA

Our First Snow!!!

40th

2009-12-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving with my parents in North Carolina this year. The kids and I had just over a week on the farm with Mom and Dad, as Mom came to get us while Michael was away for a conference and had to teach a couple more days before coming. It was wonderful to be with them for that time and help out a bit as we prepared for Thanksgiving.

What my parents didn't know was that we were also preparing for a surprise 40th Anniversary party for them, that Saturday. Their actual anniversary was November 1st and while a little belated, we just couldn't let this anniversary go by without getting to do something special to encourage them. We had to tell them it was happening the evening of Thanksgiving because my grandmother was coming from Minnesota the next day and staying with them for a couple weeks, but they were still SO shocked and surprised to hear about it all. We had a lot of help from some of my parents' dear friends to organize it all and we hosted it at their church. The event went splendidly and they were so encouraged by the group of people that came - some of their closest friends and my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins were all there. We missed my sister and her family, though. Cindy has a new job as a photographer at the Biltmore Estate, in Asheville, NC and was scheduled to work the whole weekend. We need to get down there and visit them!!!

All in all, God blessed that time greatly and it was beautiful.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

It's been too long

2009-12-03T08:24:00.001-08:00

Wow - I think this might have been the longest stint that we haven't posted anything....Instead of playing catch-up, we're just going to post some pictures to summarize the craziness and the fun.

Ethan meets his other Great-Grandma!

Preschool Turkey shirt

Santa on the park bench - Noah said he wanted "a policeman suit with handcups, so I can catch all the bad guys and put them in jail."

At the Downtown Heritage Parade with Baba before she brought us

with her to NC for Thanksgiving

Noah and his "Best Cutie Pie," Aney

Noah's new book nook

This used to be mine...

Clifford week at preschool

From our sweet new neighbor, Miss Shirley

GO Dukes!

At the Harvest Festival at one of Michael's schools

We're home

2009-10-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

It's official. We are homeowners. Our new address is:

115 Chisholm Place

Charlottesville, VA 22902

We are so thankful to have my parents here with us this week to help us paint, clean a bit, do some small repairs/improvements, move-in, and move out of our apartment! Tonight, they are the first ones to stay in the new place, humbly sleeping on the aerobed. Tomorrow, Michael's parents are coming to help paint too. How sweet it is to have so much support! We met several neighbors tonight and a bunch of their pets - we felt very welcome by all and can't wait to get to know everyone. It's the beginning of a crazy week ahead of us. But we are so grateful that it's finally here. Noah is very excited about the new house. He excitedly asked me today, "Are we going to stay in our new house forever?" I think we're all kinda done with moving around for now.

House Update

2009-10-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering...no we're not in our new house yet, but we know for sure that we will be closing on it this Tuesday, October 20th at 10:30am! Let's pray that everything goes smoothly over this next week. My (Laura's) parents are planning to come for the week to help with moving from our apartment here, painting, and doing some other handy-man (definition of my Dad) types of things. Michael's parents will be coming up to help with painting and playing with the boys too. We are so excited to finally begin to truly unpack after so much transition and create our home here in Charlottesville. We are looking forward to meeting our neighbors and finding our niche in our new community. God has led us here and we are eager to see how He plans to use us now! We hope to post some more updates about moving in soon.

U2 - a delayed post

2009-10-17T17:53:00.001-07:00

Wow. U2 coming to C-Ville?! It was a surprise to Michael this Spring when he got tickets not knowing whether or not we would be living here. We have learned that this town is very small. So hosting a group, like U2, shuts the place down. Scott Stadium has only been used for concerts two other times; for Dave Matthews and The Rolling Stones. We heard people recalling the terrible traffic it caused. This was likely no different. But, it was incredible to take part in. There was an aura in the city on Thursday; everyone abuzz. Everyone was preparing for the unavoidable parking issues. People that lived near the stadium were even renting out parking spots in their front yards. Posters hung outside college houses. The Rugby Rd. bridge was painted like a billboard. They were the cover of "The Hook," our local paper.

Michael and I were in disbelief that we were going; our first datenight in Charlottesville. Only the day before did we find someone to watch the boys. A dear friend from nursing school, Lisa Cotten Hetherington, had just contacted me through facebook saying that she and her husband had just moved here too. She also offered to babysit sometime (being very qualified as a pediatric nurse!) and had Thursday night free, despite having to wake-up early for work the next day! Wow. That's a servant. (Thanks again, Lisa!)

We parked at Venable, Michael's school, and walked about a half hour to get to the stadium. It was a beautifully clear, crisp fall night. We could hear the concert going on already. We decided to miss most of the opener, MUSE, so that we could put Noah to sleep first. We were sitting with some of Michael's new co-workers, Laura and Carol, and it was nice to get to know them while we waited for U2 to come out. It was also nice to run into one of my nursing school professors, Dr. Hulton! She and her daughter were sitting a few rows behind us.

I didn't really have a category to put the whole experience into - the set, lights, and multi-media were unlike anything I've ever seen. Michael could only compare it to the last time he saw them, 13 years ago, but it was nothing like this. In describing the actual concert, I want to link to a blog that I read the night before going to see them. It showed a lot of insight and helped me enjoy the concert so much more. Here is the article. The crowd that attended ranged in age, from elementary schoolers (some in Michael's classes) to those appearing to be in their 60s. What's not to like about these guys? They have brought Gospel themes into pop culture in a way that speaks to and captivates their audience. An unforgettable experience.

A day in the life of "Mommy!"

2009-10-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

Woke at 5:30am to Noah saying "Mommy, it's time to get up." Now, I consider myself a morning person, but before sunrise - not so much. It wasn't but a couple minutes later that Ethan too was awake. I blamed Michael's alarm clock that had gone off and did a great job of waking up everyone. It's not the alarm clock's fault - this happens sometimes even when the alarm isn't set. It took me a few minutes to calm down and then repent of my anger to my son for waking me before sunrise and then to my husband for being mad about the alarm clock.....so I decided this early morning would at least be a productive one. We all got ready to take Daddy to work by 7 or so.

After dropping Michael off at school, I decided it would be fun to get some fresh bagels at "Bodo's," before heading to the grocery store. As we were walking in, with Ethan being carried in the bend of my elbow in his carseat and Noah in tow, we stopped at the line of newspaper dispensers outside. I picked out one for me and Noah wanted to pick one out for Daddy. A woman walked out of the store, saw me and began laughing. She said "You think you have time to read?!" I responded in laughter. She was speaking the truth. I haven't gotten past the first page all day of what I picked out - but I guess I could be reading it now...

Happily we got through grocery shopping - Noah with Bagel in the cart, Ethan in the Bjorn being entertained by his big brother facing him. Noah even helped me unload everything at the register. We had a few minutes to unload the car of all the refrigerated items before dashing off to Bible study at church. The boys were happy with their caregivers there while I got some great fellowship and teaching. I am so grateful for that time!

I'll skip ahead to this afternoon at the park where he introduced his stuffed puppy, recently named, "Aney," (Yes, it's a boy) to a new friend there. Then, Noah found somebody's forgotten toy remote thing, resembling what Noah believed was a cell phone. We walked along the Downtown Mall, using it to "call" Daddy and "the man who runs the merry-go-round." He had no problem coming up to complete strangers, holding it out, and saying, "I have my OWN cell phone!" Then he was so proud of how he could fit in his OWN pocket.

Ethan successfully took all of his naps in his carseat today. Poor second child. He was happy at most other times throughout the day, especially when giving carrots a go tonight at dinner - he chooses to eat them from the spoon primarily using his tongue, more lollipop style, and get them all over his hands and face too.

Lastly, as of yesterday, Noah has finally asked that we speak Spanish to him! Until then, he had not wanted us to and would get upset if we did - something about the way he divides his two languages in his mind perhaps. Then yesterday, Michael was speaking with him over dinner and now he wants more of it - reading it to him, refreshing his vocabulary, and even tonight he asked that both of his lullabies be in Spanish.

My precious boys. They teach me so much everyday. Mostly, lessons in patience, my own selfishness, and my desire to control everything. I'm sure glad I really can't control everything and that Someone else is in control of ALL things. Thanks for reading the ramblings of this harried mother...

8 Months

2009-10-05T08:11:00.002-07:00

Our little Ethan is 8 months old today. Enjoy his most recent pictures!

just kidding

2009-09-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

So, today is September 29th. We were supposed to close on our home today, but we found out last week that there were a few more things we needed to get in order which will push the closing back to October 20th. Thankfully our apartment is available through that time too! Instead of celebrating closing on our house, we'll just celebrate some other things instead:

1. Ethan got his third tooth on Friday, can now push himself up to sitting, and is beginning to enjoy real food. Squash was a hit yesterday!

2. Noah has made great progress on potty training and yesterday was accident free ALL DAY!!

3. Today is Brett Miller's birthday and I believe he's turning 29, so that would make it an extra special birthday for him - 29 on 9/29/09. Send him a happy birthday e-mail if you know him. (c: Happy 29th Birthday Brett!! brett.miller@uscm.org

Stephanie's Baby Shower

2009-09-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Stephanie with her Mom, Sister, and Mother-in-Law

What a cute belly! (c:

This past weekend we got to spend the weekend with Michael's parents. It was our first time back after moving to Charlottesville. Mom and Dad were so gracious, as usual, to host us and Mom let us sleep in bit as she got up with the boys - a rare treat! Saturday morning, Ethan and I went to a baby shower for one of my dear Stephanie Campbell. She and her husband, Brenner were the last ones to visit us in Peru, leaving the very same day we did. It was so sweet to catch-up with her and another good friend from middle school, Annie Provencher. While I enjoyed a delightful morning out with the ladies, Michael and Noah went with Grandma to visit Great-Grandma, Nana and play with piano for her.

That evening, we all enjoyed dinner together and then Mom and Dad watched Noah and Ethan so we could have a little dessert date. Another thing that has been lacking recently, datenights! But all in good time, once we are settled here, we hope to find some trustworthy babysitters. (c:

We also got to visit Mom and Dad's church, Walker Chapel, and see friends there that we haven't seen for a few years. It was such a lovely and relaxing weekend for us!

Just a week from today, we close on our house! My parents are coming into town next week to help with moving out of our apartment into the new house, and painting.

Updates to come...

Visiting Baba and Papa

2009-09-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Labor Day weekend with Baba and Papa (my parents) in North Carolina! We enjoyed just being together, going out on their boat, and rummaging through all of our stuff that they have been storing for us while we've been gone. We also got to visit with my Aunt Terri, Uncle John, and cousin Michael. It was great fun to be on the farm, but it was also a treat to visit their church which supported us a great deal while we were in Peru. We had the opportunity to share about our experiences there in a missions focused sunday school class. While we were there, Ethan turned 7 months old! We've been trying food, but he really isn't that excited about any of it so far. He is now sitting up on his own very well and he and Noah have really been entertaining each other more. Just as we were driving home, Noah and Ethan were just laughing and laughing together in the back seat - so sweet to watch!
Today, was Noah's first day of preschool at Great Beginnings, at Trinity Pres. He seemed to have really enjoyed himself this morning! It's very different from his Peruvian preschool, so a little adjusting will have to take place for all of us. Noah wanted to wear his old preschool uniform shirt to his class this morning. (c:
A quick update on Noah's eyes - he has new glasses and is supposed to still wear the patch for an hour a day. We have found a new doctor for him to see down here. It amazes me how well he does with his glasses. He takes good care of them now, being careful to place them on a table when he removes them and pushing them up when they fall down his nose. He says they truly help him to see better. It's likely that he will not need surgery since, with glasses, his vision is good. It's also likely that he will need glasses at least through puberty. Sometimes, at that time, the muscles mature and it may correct the slight crossing of his eye.

Polo

2009-09-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a first. On Sunday afternoon, after Michael's parents returned home (we had so much fun with them last weekend!) we decided to take a picnic and visit the King Family Vineyard in Crozet. It had been reccommended to us by a new friend we met in Atlanta who attended UVA and just loved Charlottesville. (Thank you, Justin!) It was amazing to get a chance to watch a Polo match, and have a picnic on such a beautiful breezy day, with the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains! Best part was, it was completely free! We flew Noah's kite and he even got to touch one of the horses on its way to get a bath. www.roselandpolo.com/

115 Chisholm Place

2009-08-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

This will soon be our HOME! It has been an incredible ride. We have been searching for houses since arriving, and we saw this house appear on the market Saturday. We had plans to go see a couple homes on Sunday after church with our realtor, and we asked if we could add this one. We met at another house that we were seriously considering, walking distance to one of Michael's schools, and then decided to stop by this one. As soon as we saw it we were drawn to it, especially because of its location - the yard backs up to a beautiful park, complete with a small playground and waterpark! We were the first ones to see it, and as we walked around inside, we just kept "wowing." There are three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a living room, dining room, lovely kitchen, a porch, a deck, and an attic for storage. It's smaller than anything else we were looking at, but the layout and location make it just perfect for what we need.

Now here's the crazy part...while we were there, one of the owners came in the house just to grab something for her baby and we got to hear about how great the neighborhood is and how much they love the house. They were the first owners. Then we realized we had a few things in common - they are members of Trinity Presbyterian, our new church, they are teachers, and they have two kids. We got to share a little about just moving from Peru as missionaries with MTW. Then she left, and we discussed with the realtor how we might go about making a bid on the house. We wandered to the park to talk it over and let Noah try out the playground. As we walked back to the car, we saw another realtor with some folks also looking at the house.

We prayed and talked, and decided to make a bid. Late that evening our realtor came by with a contract written because the other people were also writing a contract on it. It was submitted the next day, and on Monday evening we found out our bid was accepted! Apparently our bids were very close, but ours was a little bit higher, which the owners said was good, because they wanted to sell it to us!

Just tonight we were at that park for a playdate with the Ryans, and the owner and her son passed by the playground on their way to the Wednesday afternoon farmer's market (also at the park, woohoo!). She saw us and stopped briefly to tell us that she is quite familiar with Mission to the World as she grew up in an MTW family. They had been praying that this house would bless another family as it has blessed their own.

To make a long story (somewhat) short, we are in complete awe of God's good and sovereign hand over every detail of our lives, so clearly and perfectly demonstrated over these past two months since we've returned from Peru.

Our closing date is September 29th. Beginning September 30th, our address will be:

115 Chisholm Place

Charlottesville, VA 22902

Welcome to Charlottesville!

2009-08-21T06:32:00.001-07:00

So, we've enjoyed our first week living here in Charlottesville! Our realtor found us a furnished apartment for us to live in month-to-month until we find a home. It's just right for what we need right now; it even has air conditioning, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, and a pool we can use - such luxuries! The best part is that it is really close to our dear friends, Mike and Lisa Ryan - their son Gray and Noah are destined to be good buddies too. We've already had a couple play-dates at some of the awesome parks here.

We visited and really enjoyed visiting Trinity Presbyterian Church here on Sunday. Noah will likely be attending preschool there this year. We visited the library and got our library cards (another luxury!!).

We are finding new doctors. In fact our first night here, Noah woke-up crying at 3am. Michael went in to find him sitting on the floor and unable to put weight on his right leg - we checked to see if it was just asleep, but the pain continued. So, we decided to take him to the UVA emergency room. Michael prepared himself to go straight to work (for his first day of orientation) in case we were there for a while. We all went (Ethan stayed asleep mostly) and stayed long enough for Noah to get lots of x-rays, lots of attention from the fabulous pediatric care staff, and some early morning kids shows while we waited for the results - which all returned negative. Noah still refused to put weight on his leg, demanding to be carried, so we left the hospital just in time to get Michael to his first day of work, deciding to follow-up with another doctor if nothing changed over the course of the day. Later that afternoon, after Noah had slept most of the day, a doctor called from the hospital, and she helped us get an appointment with a pediatriac orthopedist the next day. After getting off the phone, Noah asked "What did the doctor say, mommy?" "That if you don't walk you'll have to go back to the hospital, " I said. "Oooh, going back to the hospital! That would be good," he said with a big smile. Soon after that Michael took him to a park, where he was easily enticed to put some weight on the leg and play! He did have a little limp the next two days or so, but now he's totally fine. Must have been a pulled muscle or something? We're glad he had such a good first experience at the ER, and glad that such good care is so close-by.

Thus, begins the newest chapter of our adventure called "Life."

The fountains at Greenleaf Park