I have to jot down quickly that my Sadie girl is getting smart! All of a sudden she is communicating so much! She has learned hand signs for "night-night," "milk," "bye-bye," "light,"
"hot," and "more." I love watching her learn and begin to "talk" to all of us. She also knows where her nose is and proudly points to it using her big finger. :) And she plays patty-cake on command. She is still just army crawling and I am sure it will be many months before she walks - but I am loving her advancements in this area! Sweet punkin. Both girls got "I voted" stickers today and loved them!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Nursery Rhymes
Here is photo of the Wachob family decked out for our Harvest Carnival on Friday. Elisa and Sadie are Little Bo Peep and her sheep, and Erik and I went (spur of the moment) as the clock and the mouse. (Hickory Dickory Dock). Pretty cute, huh?
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Indian Summer
Elisa, after her nap in the wilderness
Mommy and Sadie
Elisa sound asleep on Daddy's back
Today, after church and Sadie's morning nap, we loaded up the girls for a hike in the park. It was a warm and pleasant autumn day... the kind where the sun is shining and the air is crisp, and sweatshirts and jeans are the perfect kind of clothing to keep you just warm enough in the occasional breeze... We hiked along Jenny Lake and picnicked on a rock jutting over the water. We forgot the camera in the car and were lamenting the missed opportunity for family Christmas photos! :) It was past afternoon nap time, and both girls were getting sleepy. Nearing the end of the trail, they both fell asleep... Sadie snuggled against my chest in the Snuggli, and Elisa nestled on Daddy's back in the backpack. She was so cute! Erik and I decided to take a few short side loops, then trek through a field of sagebrush (where are we?!) in order to let them rest for about 45 minutes or an hour. When we got back to the car, Erik made me wake up Sadie first and retrieve the camera to capture sweet sleeping Elisa. She really was cute... and seemed so small and vulnerable. She is such a wild-spirited little girl that sometimes I forget how fragile and little she truly is. Anyway... here are a few photos from our sunny Sunday. A far cry from blizzarding two weeks ago! Fall in the West!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A Big Mess
A painted Sadie
Elisa, covered from head to toe with red and blue fingerpaint
Our posters! Come to the Harvest Festival!
Somehow this fall I have found myself on the committee to organize our church's Harvest Carnival. There are four women on the committee -- four women and seven children ages 2 and under. This morning we were supposed to meet at my friend Becca's home to paint signs. Her water went out, so met at our house instead. We spread butcher paper on the sunroom floor and started off by allowing James and Elisa (the two oldest) to finger paint. Whoa! What a mess! After we got the kids cleaned up, we started in on our projects - but how to keep the four one-year-olds, two two-year-olds, and a three-month-old happy in the process? Hayden kept trying to go up and down the tile stairs by herself, Ellie howled from the family room and tried to stuff food in her twin sister's mouth, and Sadie covered herself in orange and green when I leaped up to rescue Hayden from a crash. Little Eislie finally gave into a nap and slept through the cacophony. Meanwhile, James and Elisa were upstairs, playing in Elisa's room. All was quiet. When I checked on them I discovered why. They had emptied her bookshelf onto the floor, emptied her clothes from the dresser into a mound on the floor of the closet, shifted knick-knacks, stripped her bed, dumped out a basket of stuffed animals, and ransacked the guest room.
I had cleaned house earlier in preparation for Bible Study tonight - thinking we would be at Becca's. Oops! Out came the vacuum, the windex for the glass sunroom doors, the tile cleaner for a potty defiled by potty-trainers.... It was a fun morning. I love being with these ladies, even though our times together are definitely chaotic as we try to be productive while keeping track of so many energetic little ones. Our beautiful blessing babies certainly keep us busy! :)
As we served our church body in a sort of unconventional way today, we were mindful of the fact that two faithful church members passed away yesterday, both victims of cancer. Another long-time church member is currently at home with hospice care, expected to go home to Jesus soon. A good friend of Erik's parents (a young woman our age) just lost her dad last Saturday to a sudden heart attack. There is so much grief in the world. I think my own heartache this last year has made me so much more aware of the hurting of others... We are not alone in sorrow.
Today was also Sadie's 11-month birthday. What a big girl! She is sweeter every day. I love her snuggles and the way she laughs and the coy grin she gives as she cocks her round little head. She has about 1 1/2 teeth. It is adorable. Her life and Elisa's bring such hope to my heart, every day.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
A Snowy Day
I don't know if I am quite ready for this! Winter is coming!
Sadie had her first taste of snow... Elisa loves it! She remembers making "angels" and flopping in the soft mounds of it. Mittens and hats and scarves, oh my!
Happy 30th Birthday Amy!
Happy Birthday Amy! We love you! You are an amazing sister and auntie and we hope you have a wonderful day celebrating YOU!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Daddy
Daddy –
A year ago today I woke up and felt a flicker of excitement as I realized you and Mom would be returning from Oregon. You had only been gone for a couple of days, and yet I had missed you. Being neighbors and traipsing across the pond to see you was such a natural part of our lives… such a sweet part of my days. I talked to you on the phone as you cruised through Idaho, expecting to eat dinner with you that evening and hear happy stories of your beautiful new home and your time with Amy, Michelle and Ryan. The phone call I received early that afternoon flabbergasted me.
As I drove over the pass towards the hospital, weeping and praying, I couldn’t imagine God would really take your life. People survived heart attacks every day, and you were a fighter. You were strong. And you were needed. Your life made a difference and you were, to my thinking, not even close to being finished with the good you could do on this earth. As I reached the bottom of the pass another phone call came. Erik was sobbing as he told me that you had gone to be with Jesus. I couldn’t believe it then, and I still have a hard time believing it today. You were so full of life, so vibrant, so giving. You loved with your whole heart… served with your whole heart… embraced your calling and service with a whole heart. Was your heart simply so great and so big that it could no longer fit inside your earthly shell? Was such a loving and beautiful heart fit only for Heaven?
I imagine you in Heaven, Daddy. I imagine you singing with joyful tears on your cheeks… the way you would sometimes in the car when a praise song touched you deeply. I imagine you enjoying all the beauty of Heaven… and the freedom of body no longer bound by the hindrances of injury or age.
There are so many memories. I am so thankful you are my dad. That you were the one God chose to raise the four of us. My last memories are of that week at Lake Powell in September. I remember you chopping vegetables for your scrambled egg breakfast, so happy to be serving all of us. I remember you taking Elisa out for an evening boat ride, and playing with us in the water. I remember watching you out on the kayak… mostly I remember you loving patience. I remember you coming up behind me and kissing my head and telling me that you loved me. You were so patient with me, with Elisa. I am so glad we came with you that week. Do you remember singing Old McDonald to her in the car with that crazy musical book? She still calls that “Boppa’s song.”
I wish that I had gone with you on your trip to Oregon. You asked us to, but Erik was hunting and I couldn’t get word to him… so we stayed home. I wish I had been there to share one more memory… to have been with Mom that day. Sometimes I wonder if it might have made a difference… if I had been there, there would have been an extra person to start CPR sooner… and yet I know that Lord wanted you home that day. As Emily once said, “Heaven must have needed some fresh laughter.” We don’t understand, and we second-guess, and we grieve… but we do trust that God Is, and that He is good.
I love you, Daddy. I wish you could be here with us. I wish we were here together today just because… I wish you could see your beautiful granddaughter Sadie Pearl, and your sweet namesake baby boy – Ephraim Alvis. I wish you could take us out on the boat this afternoon and let Elisa sit on your lap and help you drive.
In all of our hearts, you are here. Our family is what it is because of you. Because of the love you and Mom shared and demonstrated, because of your steady faith… because of your exuberance and your passion. We love you so much.
We don’t exactly know where to go from here. But we want our lives to shine as brightly as yours, we want to carry on your legacy and honor you.
Thank you, Daddy.
We miss you so much.
A year ago today I woke up and felt a flicker of excitement as I realized you and Mom would be returning from Oregon. You had only been gone for a couple of days, and yet I had missed you. Being neighbors and traipsing across the pond to see you was such a natural part of our lives… such a sweet part of my days. I talked to you on the phone as you cruised through Idaho, expecting to eat dinner with you that evening and hear happy stories of your beautiful new home and your time with Amy, Michelle and Ryan. The phone call I received early that afternoon flabbergasted me.
As I drove over the pass towards the hospital, weeping and praying, I couldn’t imagine God would really take your life. People survived heart attacks every day, and you were a fighter. You were strong. And you were needed. Your life made a difference and you were, to my thinking, not even close to being finished with the good you could do on this earth. As I reached the bottom of the pass another phone call came. Erik was sobbing as he told me that you had gone to be with Jesus. I couldn’t believe it then, and I still have a hard time believing it today. You were so full of life, so vibrant, so giving. You loved with your whole heart… served with your whole heart… embraced your calling and service with a whole heart. Was your heart simply so great and so big that it could no longer fit inside your earthly shell? Was such a loving and beautiful heart fit only for Heaven?
I imagine you in Heaven, Daddy. I imagine you singing with joyful tears on your cheeks… the way you would sometimes in the car when a praise song touched you deeply. I imagine you enjoying all the beauty of Heaven… and the freedom of body no longer bound by the hindrances of injury or age.
There are so many memories. I am so thankful you are my dad. That you were the one God chose to raise the four of us. My last memories are of that week at Lake Powell in September. I remember you chopping vegetables for your scrambled egg breakfast, so happy to be serving all of us. I remember you taking Elisa out for an evening boat ride, and playing with us in the water. I remember watching you out on the kayak… mostly I remember you loving patience. I remember you coming up behind me and kissing my head and telling me that you loved me. You were so patient with me, with Elisa. I am so glad we came with you that week. Do you remember singing Old McDonald to her in the car with that crazy musical book? She still calls that “Boppa’s song.”
I wish that I had gone with you on your trip to Oregon. You asked us to, but Erik was hunting and I couldn’t get word to him… so we stayed home. I wish I had been there to share one more memory… to have been with Mom that day. Sometimes I wonder if it might have made a difference… if I had been there, there would have been an extra person to start CPR sooner… and yet I know that Lord wanted you home that day. As Emily once said, “Heaven must have needed some fresh laughter.” We don’t understand, and we second-guess, and we grieve… but we do trust that God Is, and that He is good.
I love you, Daddy. I wish you could be here with us. I wish we were here together today just because… I wish you could see your beautiful granddaughter Sadie Pearl, and your sweet namesake baby boy – Ephraim Alvis. I wish you could take us out on the boat this afternoon and let Elisa sit on your lap and help you drive.
In all of our hearts, you are here. Our family is what it is because of you. Because of the love you and Mom shared and demonstrated, because of your steady faith… because of your exuberance and your passion. We love you so much.
We don’t exactly know where to go from here. But we want our lives to shine as brightly as yours, we want to carry on your legacy and honor you.
Thank you, Daddy.
We miss you so much.
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