album of the year!

so this is what the photo shoot was all about : josh's album was named ALBUM OF THE YEAR by christianity today!  we've known for a month or two, but had to keep it a secret ;)

here's a link to the full online article.  it tells quite a bit of our story, but i think mark did a really nice job with it.  the print edition comes out this week.  & here's a link to the list of other excellent winning artists!  this is SUCH an honor for josh, & i am so happy for him!

also, this week josh's love & war & the sea in between was listed among 2011's top ten non-ccm/christian albums by andy whitman in image journal.  (technically, "the top ten albums for christians who hate christian music", though i wasn't particularly fond of the title even though i get it)  his words about josh + the album made me teary.  he's a gifted & eloquent music critic (often writes for paste magazine, & was on the panel that chose love & war for CT's number one spot), & josh always feels really honored by his words & recognition.  i'll include his description of love & war here, but you should read the full introduction + list over at image journal.

If St. Francis of Assisi was a hip-hop/soul musician, he would be Josh Garrels. Shunning record labels and uninterested in the trappings of celebrity, Garrels simply releases his music on his own terms. He remains the best musical celebrant of the natural world, reveling in the beauty he finds. Mixing lovely acoustic folk music with strident beats and a rapper’s gift of rhythm and rhyme, Garrels continues to be an outspoken, poetic prophet of anti-consumerism, decrying our disposable culture and calling for renewed commitment to living out the implications of the gospel. This is his best album yet. Fittingly, he released it for free on his website.

heron wakes at night with leg cramps.  growing pains, we think.  we hear her crying in the middle of the night & we soak her feet in warm water & massage her legs.  the other morning i was up before everyone, having some quiet time by the christmas tree lights, & in walked heron with her aching legs.  so we set up a little soaking station by the heater with snacks before dawn.    

heron's first photos

yesterday on our walk to the park i was taking pictures of heron in the golden, late afternoon, almost-setting sun. then she asked if she could try taking pictures.  hesitant, i said yes, but felt better after putting the camera strap around her neck.  she loved taking pictures, & captured the above shots.  rather lovely for a 3 1/2 year old!  

after the privilege of taking pictures, & enjoying it so, she was much more apt to allow me to take her picture.  (though she is anything but shy, she doesn't presently like to get her picture taken)  

(i'm catching up a bit, & just posted pictures from our belated anniversary trip here)

heh.

i find some funny things when i google my husband's name.  above is a downloadable wallpaper that someone created.  (i guess i can see why people think he's so serious.  but he makes me laugh harder than anyone!  anyway, it's a cute little caricature of him.)  

& the title of this review made us laugh out loud!  i can't find the actual review anywhere, but you get the idea...

josh garrels new album sounds native american, lushly layered melting pot hit!

advent, day 1

it's not really the first day of advent, but today, december 1st, started the countdown to christmas on our advent calendar.  i made this little pocket calendar last year, & i'll be filling each date with an activity or gift (for the kids) to celebrate the season.  today they each received a little gift--a little fridge magnet for sheppy & a pair of little red rose earrings for heron.

now that heron is a little older, i really want to be more intentional about bringing the story of jesus' birth into our days of activities & gifts, in a meaningful, natural, engaging way.  ideas for 3-year-olds, anyone?

mae day

had the pleasure of hanging out with this sweet young thing yesterday.  & her amazing mama, too.  sheppy has a crush.

p.s. just posted a few thanksgiving pictures here.

crayon by candle

on thanksgiving, when asked what she was most thankful for, heron without hesitation replied, "CRAYONS!"

last night the power was out for a few hours, & the kids, both avid colorers, gained a new favorite activity--candlelit coloring!

my first paid gig!

i was hired by christianity today to do a photo shoot of josh for an article on his music for their upcoming issue (online & print versions, i believe).  it was a fun collaboration, & an adventure as always!  the photo editor had given me the wrong date, some clothes we'd ordered for the shoot hadn't arrived yet, & it was raining buckets in portland (not the usual drizzle, but serious downpours) during the only morning that we had free before the deadline.  our friend olivia had until exactly noon to watch the kids, so we had some serious parameters before us. but we came away with some good shots!  i've posted them here (a site still-in-the-making!  if anyone knows a good logo designer, please let me know!).  the above photo was a warm-up, but a favorite!

belated anniversary

6 years : 4 houses, 3 states, 4 albums, 2 babies. happy (belated) anniversary (getaway) weekend, sweet love o my life! 

josh was gone over our anniversary weekend, so the following weekend, thanksgiving, josh's parents watched the kids so we could take a twenty-four hour getaway.  we stayed in downtown seattle at the alexis hotel (where through josh's sister we were able to get a lovely suite with a fireplace).  though we visit the seattle area every few months for family gatherings, we rarely explore downtown during those visits.  so we enjoyed being tourists, eating good + quiet meals, touring the art museum, lingering coffee dates--things we are rarely able to indulge in with kids in tow!  

(last year's belated anniversary was celebrated in seattle, too)

thanksgiving

(fireside dessert)

: swings :

: and a family forest walk :

guest book : jennifer harris

jennifer harris, one of my roommates from my first year of working in peru with food for the hungry, was in town visiting family, & she stopped by for tea.  we hadn't seen each other since 2002!  she was meeting heron & shepherd for the first time, but she'd met josh when he came to visit me in pucallpa in '01.  she is still living in the jungle, now working with a local church, truly bringing transformation to the local community as well as many amazon river communities through the preaching of the gospel, educational & agricultural programs.

it was such a joy to share our personal journeys over the past decade, & to see that the bond of christ has made us even more like-minded over the years.  as is often the case with our friends living in foreign lands, her stories brought so much encouragement to our faith.  even the dead have been raised in her midst, in the name of jesus, & josh & i were so fortunate to hear these stories from her lips.  jennifer is a faithful saint, & her joy is contagious.

you can read more about jennifer's ministry here!  

ramsdales in portland

josh was in both california & florida this weekend, so my brother & his family drove down from seattle to keep us company.  heron & sheppy LOVE their cousins, & we had a great weekend together.  good homemade grub, a visit to porque no?, a rainy evening at playdate pdx, & a chilly morning at the soaking pool.

: in the rose garden :

: heron & shepherd shared their favorite tree-climbing spot with lucas :

teal in town!

we had an eventful weekend with teal in town, starting with andee's "dia de los muertos" gathering--a time to indulge in homemade tamales & sugar skull sugar cookies, but also a time to honor lost loved ones.  andee lost her dad when she was a teenager, & i lost my dad a few years ago.  i added pictures of my dad to her mantle this year, among the candles & handmade sugar skulls.

after andee's, we ran over to land gallery where nikki mcclure was showing her work from next year's calendar (the purchase of which is an annual tradition in our family).  i've seen her work in person a few times at land since moving to portland, but this was the first time meeting her.

after the gallery show, teal & i had a movie night slumber party & ate a yummy kasha (minus the mushrooms) +sunny-side-up eggs breakfast upon waking.

sunday was a rest day, then church, & then... my brightest diamond at mississippi studios!  a-MAZING!  authentically quirky lady, that shara worden, but beautifully moving, haunting performance.  entirely captivating.  (and this song, one she wrote for her son, had tears streaming down my face as i thought of my little shepherd)  best show in years, i'd say.  it was a great finale to teal's stay, as she left for l.a. today!  

first day of (montessori) preschool

hooray!  heron started classes at her new montessori preschool today!  a new school just opened up down the road from us--maria's place montessori (affiliated with montessori of alameda), and they still had openings two months into the school year.  maria's place is bilingual english/spanish & offers financial aid so we can afford it (unlike most montessori schools).  i love that heron will get the benefit of a montessori education in a culturally diverse environment.  her teacher ms. patti is a lively grandmotherly mexican woman who's taught in portland montessori schools for the past twenty years.  heron will be in school four mornings a week.  the house was so quiet while she was at school today, & we sure missed her.  but school seems like such a good fit for our social, eager-to-learn, spitfire little girl!  

(the shoes she's holding are her classroom slippers)  

halloween

growing up in peru, we would celebrate "costume day" on halloween, and the whole community, kids & adults alike, would have the day off of work or school, dress up, have a parade & a contest.  the costumes were pretty imaginative & elaborate (almost entirely handmade) but no one could dress up like anything scary.  that was key.  i don't ever remember trick-or-treating, so that aspect of halloween isn't really a part of my culture.  

due to shepherd's extreme fear of masks, i thought we'd forget about halloween altogether this year.  but heron had other ideas!  she'd heard everyone talking about it, & at the last minute she talked me into letting her go.  so we pulled this little snow white dress out of her costume trunk & joined some friends on their neighborhood jaunt (pictured above are joaquin as batman & cypress as the lion).  meanwhile, josh took shepherd out on a little father-son dinner date (he dressed up as a bee & buzzed all around the house later on).  heron was a big fan of trick-or-treating, so i guess i'll need to be a little more prepared next year!

{bee at bedtime}

birthday weekend

my birthday was sunday, & thus i had an entire weekend of birthday leading up to the big day.

beginning with a friday night date with josh : crepes + anthropologie + powell's

my uncle howard & his partner jerry were visiting portland from minneapolis this weekend, so they came over for brunch on saturday.  (heron is in a "make a funny face in every picture" phase)

i hadn't seen my uncle howard since my dad's funeral, & he had never met our kids.  we split up after brunch & sent howard & jerry to powell's, then met again for dinner.  my uncle asked me to pick a place for my birthday dinner, so i chose screen door.  it was a hit with everyone.  (there's heron making a funny face again!).  oh, that's my uncle howard on the left.

apparently my great aunt myrt & my second cousin(?) laura live out here in portland!  i haven't seen them since i was about seven, & they joined us for dinner at screen door.  myrt is a lively lady at eighty-three, & it was so much fun to re-meet her.  she & her granddaughter laura are roommates.  

sunday arrived, & i got to sleep in until 9:30 upstairs (in "the hull of the ship" as we call our cozy attic room that serves as studio space for me, small voice office, sheppy's sometimes-bedroom, & guest room. it has the comfiest bed in the house, & the darkest blinds--perfect for late-sleeping!), then was served breakfast in bed by my three loves.

we toodled about the house most of the day, then opened gifts.  the biggie was this lovely new camera bag/purse which i'm in love with.  also, a sweet robin egg blue camera strap instead of the sporty one that came with my camera ;)  

after a day with the family i was taken out for dinner by three dear portland friends--andee, robin, & jocelyn (robin has recently moved away, but she was in town for halloween), to one of my favorite places, lovely's 50-50.  i love these ladies.  we're all moms, & we were fortunate enough to end up as neighbors for a season.