We're back...and starting a new adventure!

It is hard to believe it has been more than two months since we wrote an official blog entry.  Update: We took our hard drive into a data recovery place and paid some big bucks.  They were able to recover about 80% of our data.  Most of the pictures that were unable to be recovered (probably 18%), were of our wedding and wedding receptions and we were so sad at the thought of losing them.  After hearing about our loss of pictures, Jed's Uncle Harvey remembered that he had some pictures of ours on his computer from a slide show we did at our Washington, D.C. wedding reception in May of 2009.  When Uncle Harvey copied the pictures of the slide show onto his computer, he "accidentally" copied ALL of our wedding pictures to his computer.  SO, he was able to give us all of those files.  What a miracle!  The process we went through of surrendering six years of digital images, not sure if we would get them back, was a difficult process.  God refined our character big time!

I think the best way to summarize all the things that have happened in our lives since our last blog post, 2 months ago, is in a bulleted list.  

• 7-9-11: Celebrated Hosea's 1st birthday with family and friends in the backyard of our cousin and aunt's home.  It was such a fun time.  Hosea got a soccer ball from his cousin Cam, which he has already learned to dribble...like father, like son.  

Birthday party Popsicles

Hosea's gift from Mama & Daddy - a scooter-type bike & helmet

• 7-10-11: Went to a Bela Fleck concert at Wolf Trap with Cousin Deb & Cousin Cam - so fun!  

Mom + snacks + being outside with Cousin Hosea = Happy Cameron

Hosea is overwhelmed by how amazing the music is

• 7-11-11: Hosea turns one!  We love this little guy more and more each day.

Hosea is clapping because he loves being one!

• 7-15-11: Celebrated Cousin Kari's birthday in Maryland with a BBQ and sailing...probably the most gorgeous day of summer we experienced on the East Coast!

Happy Birthday, Kari!

Family snuggles in the hammock

Jed & Cousin Scott getting the boat ready to sail

• 7-17-11: Jed takes me on an amazing 31st birthday date (few days early, as my b-day is 7-20) - we ate some delicious Asian cuisine and played skee ball and shuffle board. 

Birthday love!

• 7-20-11: Bethany turns 31!  She is served breakfast in bed by Daddy and Hosea and celebrates over a delicious family dinner with Cousin Deb & Cam.
• 7-28-11: Trip to the Reston Zoo with Deb & Cam - the kids loved it and the parents got quite a kick out of the safari ride.

Zebras and bison and CAMELS...oh my!

• 8-3-11: Nationals Game with Deb & Cam - We got rained on for a portion of the game, but the kids had a blast.  The stadium is really nice and we had amazing seats in left field, where the boys could wander around, eat snacks, clap, and dance to the organ music.

Ready to head into the park

Only in Washington, D.C. would you find "President Races" around the field.  Hosea is a little afraid of Teddy.

Enjoying our empty section in the outfield

• 8-7-11: Trip to Sky Meadows State Park - I have mentored/discipled two girls from The Falls Church over the past 6+ months.  We had a little outing and picnic together, which was really fun.

At the top

•  8-8-11: Hosea is learning to feed himself.  He likes to say, "I do."  He's a little messy, but he's doing a good job for being less than 13 months old.

Our messy boy won't stop moving, so it is hard to capture a clear picture

• 8-8-11: Hosea is OBSESSED with water - drinking it and playing in it (pool, bathtub, sprinkler, toilet, dog dishes).  I had no idea that squirting my son with a hose with give him so much enjoyment.

This little boy is the cutest EVER!

Happiness

Snuggles with Mama...getting dried off

• 8-12-11: Theater in the Woods production at Wolf Trap with Deb & Cam - Wolf Trap is such an amazing outdoor venue and is very kid friendly.

View from the back of the outdoor theater

• 8-13-11: Day Trip to Westmoreland State Park and George Washington's birthplace

Future president???  Learning from Mr. Washington

Gorgeous hike at Westmoreland State Park

Enjoying the beautiful view and trying to keep the baby asleep in the Ergo carrier

• 8-15-11:  Cousin fun!  After Hosea and Cam get sprayed by the hose in the yard, they enjoy a warm bath.  These boys LOVE each other so much.

Bath time is the best!

• 8-16 - 8-21-11: Our cousins from MN visit - Jeremy & Sarah Hedlund and their three daughters and Jess & Ben Kubicek and their two sons visit.  We enjoy meals together, a game night, and time sightseeing D.C.

Leaving the Jefferson Memorial and headed for the Washington Monument

Our son is so patriotic

Good meal after a day of sightseeing

Big family dinner and game night

• 8-21-11: First experience of Kenyan cuisine with our dear friend, JoEl - JoEl is one of our most special friends from Falls Church.  We feel so thankful to have gotten to spend time with him and this day was extra special, as he took us to Swahili Village, the only restaurant he knows of in the area that serves authentic Kenyan food.  We ate goat for the first time.  The food was delicious!

Clean plate club - the food was so yummy!

• 8-24-11: Trip to Baltimore Aquarium with the Lorah family - we never got a chance to get up to Philly to visit our dear friends, the Lorah's.  So, we met halfway in Baltimore to celebrate their daughter's b-day at the aquarium.

Group shot after visiting the aquarium

• 8-25 - 8-28-11: Trip to Rhode Island beach to spend time with our friends, the Beckwith's.  We were so thankful to be invited to spend a few days with the Beckwith's (who traveled from Vermont) at a beach cabin in Rhode Island.  Our trip got cut a bit short because of Hurricane Irene, but we still had such a sweet time.

This baby loves the beach...probably because WATER is there. 

We LOVE the Beckwith family!

Dinner at Mystic Pizza..."THE" Mystic Pizza

• 9-1-11: Baltimore Orioles Game with Cousin Deb, Cousin Cam, and the Ensor family - the Ensor's were able to hook us up with some stadium suite tickets.  We had such a fun time!

Thank you, Ensor family!  We had such a fun time at the game!

The kiddos LOVED playing inside the suite.

• 9-5-11: Trip to the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial with our friend, JoEl 

A rainy day, but we had a good time together

MLK Jr. - what an amazing leader!

• 9-7-11: Our last family dinner at 103 S. Cherry St. in Falls Church, VA - family dinners have been one of our favorite parts of the last year.

Always amazing food and great time with family

• 9-8 & 9-9-11: Packing all our belongings to leave Falls Church, VA

Packing up

• 9-10-11: Leave Falls Church, VA and headed for our new home....FRESNO, CA!  

We have begun a very round about and long road trip to Fresno, CA.  Jed and I will be sharing a pastoral position at a church there beginning in December.  Since leaving Virginia on 9-10, we have been to Durham, NC, Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, MO.  We arrived at my parents' house in Hartland, WI on Friday, September 16.  Today, September 20th, we leave for a three week trip to Ireland and Portugal.  We arrive back in Wisconsin on October 11th.  We will then road trip to Seattle, where all our belongings are.  We'll spend several weeks there relaxing at Jed's mom's vacation home, before heading to Fresno.  We will update more later, but wanted to give an overview of the last two months and let you know what you can expect in future blogs.  Team vS is beginning another adventure!

Technical Difficulties

We apologize for not posting recently.  The reason we haven't posted is not because we don't have anything to write about or pictures to post.  On the contrary, the last few weeks have been really fun with Hosea's first birthday and Bethany's 31st birthday.  We have been having some problems with our external hard drive (where we keep all of our pictures stored).  We have been unable to access any of our pictures.  The thought of losing more than 6 years of pictures is quite sad and stressful.  We have been wrestling through how to hold loosely to our possesions, even those in digital form on an external hard drive.  We are doing our best to recover our hard drive and thousands and thousands of pictures and other documents, but we are also working through the possibility that we might not be able to get our pictures back.  I, in particular, am having a difficult time with this process of surrender.  Recovering our data (if even possible) is going to be quite an expensive endeavor, money that is difficult to think of spending in a time of upcoming transition.  We appreciate your prayers as we move forward with the decision about whether or not we should recover this data, and if so, the means to do so. 
We will be back blogging soon.  We hope to have many great images to share with you. 

Wedding time...with our little bruiser

This last weekend we celebrated the wedding of Karin Effland and Doug Scott in Edgewater, MD.  Jed worked with Karin at YouthCare in Seattle for four years.  It was a beautiful celebration and BBQ on the water.  We had the opportunity to reconnect with several of Jed's former co-workers and friends from YouthCare in Seattle, which was so fun. 

The bride (Karin), groom (Scott), and officiant (Tracy)

The happy couple

Jed, Tracy, & Karin - dear friends and former YouthCare colleagues

Great times with Carrie (former co-worker at YouthCare) and her husband, Lance

Group shot with the YouthCare/Seattle crew

Hosea had his first major spill (one that left a mark), while he was walking around at the wedding.  He tripped on a brick path and his nose caught his fall.  Thankfully, he was not seriously hurt and recovered fairly quickly.  Knowing Hosea, this is only the first of many injuries to come.

We captured a picture of Hosea's nose injury while sleeping.

Hosea seems to have no fear.  He jumps right off the edge of the swimming pool into our arms, climbs stairs (and thinks he can jump off them), and tries to crawl off beds/couches/chairs.  He is constantly getting into everything he can't have (dog dishes, cords, cabinets with cleaning supplies, outlets, toilets, trash cans, etc.)  As parents, Jed and I find ourselves saying, "No", "not for Hosea", "stop", "come here", "don't touch", etc. all day long.  This is SO tiring!  When will he start to listen?  Will he grow out of this?  I think not.  We are doing our best to embrace Hosea's curious/risk-taking nature and, at the same time, determine how to best teach and discipline him when he is disobedient.  It is difficult to know how much a child of his age and development understands and can be held accountable for.  Even though Jed and I both have a lot of experience with children, we find ourselves feeling incompetent and confused when raising our own child.  It is a humbling experience.  We continually ask for the Lord's help and wisdom.  Bottom line: Parenting is hard work.

Talking, Eating, and Getting into Trouble

Anchors aweigh!

It is so hard to believe that our son is nearly one year old.  Over the past month and a half, Hosea has become a little wrecking ball.  He has always had a strong personality, but ever since he learned to walk, he has turned into a little cyclone/tsunami/tornado/hurricane on the move.  This amount of movement and activity requires lots of energy and lots of communication...hence, our little mister has become an eating and talking machine. 

Hosea continues to breast feed quite often and is eating 3-5 BIG meals each day.  It seems he is always ready for a snack.  He is enjoying more and more "people food" and loves eating things right off mom and dad's plates.  Recent favorites are freeze-dried bananas and strawberries, rice, beans, corn, quinoa, chicken, lentils, and pancakes.

Hosea's first corn on the cob - Uncle Matt took Jed and Hosea to Maine Avenue Fish Market in D.C.  Daddy thought it was a little too early to introduce crab to Hosea, so he got corn instead.  "Wise choice," says Mama.

2nd time eating corn on the cob (at home) - "Dad didn't leave me much.  Maybe I could eat the cob."

Is that a hint of ginger I taste in the rice?  (eating rice and beans at the airport)

This is Hosea after getting his fill of breast milk - clearly it is a fan favorite!  Cutest smile ever!

Hosea loves talking/shouting/singing/screaming...you name it.  Words we hear him saying on a regular basis:
-Mama (all day long)
-Dada (sometimes...a few months ago he only said "Dada", but now he has taken a break)
-More (this word means "yes", "please", "I agree", "now", "again", etc. and usually comes in pairs)
-Please ("eeee")
-Ice
-Up
-All Done (he is so cute when he says this...he tips his head forward, chin to chest, and opens his mouth really wide)
-Tickle tickle tickle (I gotta capture this on video...it is the cutest!  He says it when we read a story.)
-"Moo" - loves cows!  Says this every time he sees a cow.
-"Neigh" - recently starting making horse noises
-Knows how to sign the words "Water" & "Milk" (created his own versions of American Sign Language, but we understand them)

Hosea also loves books!  It is very common to see him sitting next to his bookshelf flipping through books, all by himself.  Sometimes he even lies on his tummy and reads books...it's the best.  He loves books with real people and real animals (not cartoons or drawings).  He also loves to drool on his books and put them into his mouth, so his Mama only lets him read and play with board books.  He doesn't mind.  :)

Enjoying a good read...upside down

Reading with Daddy is the best

"You guys got any more books?"

Even Hosea's reading is "high impact" - Be Safe!