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.