Big News...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!