first snow in portland

: the snowman they built :

: heron gives the snowman a hug :

meeting asher

this is asher glenn francis etienne billups, the beautiful son of our friends drew & sara, now living in seattle. it sure was hard to wait 3 weeks to meet this little guy, but we finally had the privilege during our holiday trip to seattle.

: top pot doughnuts, asher in the sling :

christmas in seattle

it's so amazing that now for most holidays & other special occasions we can drive three hours north instead of flying across the country. my mom flew out from north carolina for christmas, so every single garrels & ramsdale was in seattle for christmas celebrations.

mom bought tickets for us to see "the nutcracker" performed by the pacific northwest ballet, with costume + set design by maurice sendak of "where the wild things are". it's been a dream of mine for years to see this particular production, & i was so enthralled. growing up in peru i always wanted to be a ballerina, and since jungle-living isn't particularly conducive to ballet lessons, i would simply clear the floor, draw the drapes, and dance along to an old VHS of barishnikov's 1977 performance (yes, my dad made sure we had the latest technology--a VCR, even in the jungle!). needless to say, any time i have the chance to see this live, i'm taken back to my girlhood dreams.

: heron meets the nutcracker :

we had a christmas eve celebration with josh's family (on the eve of the 23rd, actually), then spent most of our remaining days with the ramsdales. the kids were so excited to have their nana in town...

: lucas was very particular with his santa sign :

: christmas morning :

: top pot doughnuts before heading back to portland :

mike & marti's 40th anniversary

for mike & marti's 40th wedding anniversary they wanted to celebrate with all the kids & grandkids. so we all met halfway between seattle & portland at great wolf lodge, an indoor waterpark & all-around indoor good time. we spent two days & one night here.

: the whole clan :

: the kids at the clock tower story time :

: mike & marti exchanging gifts :

: then opening one from all of us, a book of collected mike + marti photos & memories, from the four kids :

: the memories made us laugh hard :

: the kids loved the waterpark :

(and the adults loved the slides)

congratulations, mom & dad, to forty beautiful years! your children & their families love you, and continue to be inspired by who you are, how you've lived your lives, and your love and faithfulness to each other!

a visit to midland

: milda garrels :

a big motivator for our trip to the midwest was the chance to see josh's grandmother, milda garrels, "gramil", now ninety six. we knew that once our second child was born, now that most of our family is on the west coast, trips back to that part of the country would become even less frequent for awhile.

after some days in muncie, we drove up to midland, michigan to see gramil and judy, josh's aunt who lives with her. we arrived just after dinner and stayed up late talking & listening to (& recording) gramil's stories while drinking lots of sangria. we left just after breakfast the next day. a quick visit, but meaningful.

milda is in such good health and spirits. she is strong & feisty as ever, & hates being coddled in any way. she credits her long life & health to daily walks & stretches, & years of singing (perhaps a little sangria every day, too, eh?). she also continues to take classes, to keep her mind sharp.

(a rare portrait of the three of us)

back "home"

in early december josh, heron, & i traveled back to indiana to see friends, do some shows, and drive to michigan to visit josh's grandmother. first stop: indianapolis, to catch up with jay & jess kirkpatrick, & their son kian, heron's new buddy.

next stop: muncie. muncie, indiana, in particular, is a dear place to all of us, as it is where josh got saved, where josh & i met, where heron was born, & where many close friends of ours still reside. josh & i have both spent significant years of our lives there as part of the muncie alliance church community, & within that context have learned so much about community, calling, healing, & faith.

as we've watched MAC & the internship grow, it was exciting for josh to be a part of vecinos coffee gallery's grand opening in downtown muncie, in the old mezza luna building.

: heron made new friends :

(judah jones, naomi jones, israel mccrory)

: it was a pleasure seeing lauren again, with baby naomi :

: and lezlie, too, with eden :

: lisa ran merch for me while i kept heron from running onstage :

the next night josh played at the 509 in huntington. such a treat to be there, as jason & kari offered to watch heron & i was freed up to be merch girl once again. i saw my dear friend erin, and josh & jennifer miller who came all the way from southern california (to visit indiana family as well as see josh play).

during the muncie/huntington days with stayed with bill & robin, and were so thankful to be able to spend so much time with them during our visit.

(while staying at bill & robin's we also shared a lovely evening with pat + lezlie, jake + lauren, & lisa, in the carriage house where we were guests. all our little ones were in bed & we had a beautiful evening of laughing & meaningful fellowship that carried on into early morning. it was so refreshing & encouraging to our souls, so good to spend those precious hours with other friends who still believe in jesus)

: and... who could forget guy? :

thanksgiving in seattle

(the ramsdale + garrels families celebrate together at mike & marti's in seattle)