Jacob in Green Pond

Yay! Thanks to Grayson (and uncle Josh who has the camera and took many of these shots), we have more precious Green Pond joy to share with everyone!

 First, we'll do a close-up of Jacob's time this summer with the whole Chell group.

What kid doesn't like corn-hole? 

 Or being swung- which still makes his parents nervous. His left arm gets stronger everyday, butttt....

 And of course, that kid LOVES meat. Especially when he 'assisted' in the day long smoking process (meaning he tasted the apple juice being sprayed on the meat, chatted up the cook, and shredded the pork as seen below).

 Jacob is huge. And he now has a huge-boy bike that he is so great at riding. (And obviously Thomas wants to do the same thing- just listen hard and you may hear his precious and desperate "mine toooooo").

 He continues to be our strong,

kind and gentle,

clever and hilarious Jacob every single day. 

Let's make a deal.

Alright faithful blog readers: Our camera went on a 2 week hiatus (we thought it had found its way into the trashcan with a Thomas assist- fortunately, it was hiding a Ma and Pa's house!)

The deal: catch-up on our August lives and pictures but very quickly.

Nature of Green Pond...

 My boys.

Green Pond fire pit time: awesome.

Flash forward: our backyard!! We absolutely love it.

  Jacob attended VBS (pandamania for another summer- he loved it -again). As a child, I'd get shy/anxious/cry-ish when it came time for 'recitals' and the like...apparently Jacob is similar. Though, he insisted it the crying was because he didn't want to wear the yellow shirt. He's the tiny blond head in the middle front.

 Playground exploring in Winston-Salem.

 DP ripping up grass to make space for a bit of gardening.

 After breaking up the soil and adding so much good dirt, Jacob and I planted seeds. (Thomas assisted but was just so fast!)

 Jacob is such a tender child; he delicately placed the lettuce seeds and patted them 'safe' in the soil bed.

 I'll update photos of our garden soon- we've got lettuce, green beans/peas, spinach, cucumber, and pumpkin plants looking great. Bring on more rain!

In the meantime; Jacob and Thomas have started school and LOVE it. Jacob is already spelling and writing the word r-e-d and making more friends than last year. There are only 5-6 pre-K students and the teacher is long-time teaching veteran; a perfect match for our sweet boy! Thomas cried under 3 minutes the first day and 0 minutes yesterday. Seriously, no tears.  We couldn't be happier with how this is all going!  Now, if I could just land a great job.

It's been a whole... actually the longest hiatus in the history of this blog. Partially this is because the viewership of this blog is starting to shift. While it used to be for the people we love on the east cast to keep in touch with us when we were in Berkeley, now I suspect we will gain viewership from those on the West coast whom we are beginning to miss dearly. Below you will find a summer video, the first of two. Hopefully I will be able to post a second one in the coming weeks.

Things are going extremely well here in Winston-Salem. Jacob and Thomas are doing well, growing like weeds and laughing like children should. We have already hosted several visitors and look forward to more to come!

Here it is: the first video of 2012!

Resume Life.

Long time no blog.
Sorry!
A snippet of our fireman and his cousin Dani breaking it down while we were in AZ!

Now we're in NC and we are all well. Actually, we are really all great!  As of last week, we are renting a one-level 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with an absolutely gigantic backyard. While about 20 minutes from Daniel's work (he started as the Associate Pastor at Augsburg Lutheran Church last Friday-exciting), it appears we are still close enough to hospitals (job opportunities for me) and friendly people. After you can see the floors again...oh the joys of moving in....we'll post some pictures!

Up until that point, we'd been hanging with Ma and Pa in Raleigh while Jacob goes to Arts Together for morning arts camp. Some may know, but Arts Together is where I danced, i.e. lived, while growing up here in Raleigh.

In our downtime, we've played on the deck.

Let it all hang out.

 

 Helped clean a bit (xylophone vacuum, it's not yet copyrighted, so jump on it).

 And tonight, Thomas learned how to jump. And it's hysterical.

 Don't you agree?

.

Happy Birthday Geysin

Clearly, Thomas hasn't learned this song yet while Jacob can sing it while barely paying attention. We love you Grayson and can't wait to see you SOON!

Ordination!

Pretty sure I don't need to explain (and won't right now due to crazy packing and whatnot)!

Thomas and Cousin Dani before the service

Didi and Jacob being acolytes together<3

Luke wrangling in Thomas the wanderer.

Daniel and Bishop Talmage

Laying of Hands (by other clergy)

Megan became Thomas' best girlfriend in Berkeley (Eric -Jacob's BFF- was part of the graduating PLTS crew); this is where he wandered numerous times during the service.

Pastor Daniel Pugh!

Wahoo for Steven being here!

Just a quick check-in. In the past week: 

Yaya and Didi came to visit Berkeley.

Jacob had his last day of school at Mustard Seed preschool. (blue shirt getting hugged)

 

Daniel (and KD and others) graduated from Seminary with his Master of Divinity (and I'm hoping to get the better pictures soon. woof).

Daniel received a call from Augsburg Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem, NC beginning June 15th!

Jacob left Berkeley with Yaya and Didi to avoid the boredom and the overwhelming component of packing up his life.

Thomas and we parents packed and cleaned with the help of our sweet friends (definitely loads of Thomas love and cleaning assistance from KD, John, and their parents).

Wednesday at 1pm, we drove away from Berkeley and our incredible community. tears.

Thursday, just in time for dinner, we made it to Phoenix where Jacob treated us like he'd only been gone for an hour! Earlier, Tally and baby Dani (cousin who is 6 wks younger than Thomas) arrived and Jacob was already in love with this baby girl (thank you Rosie Roberts and Roman Worzala Dumke for teaching Jacob how to appropriately love on baby girls).

Saturday, Steven Fuller has arrived and everyone is getting excited because...

Sunday, Daniel gets ordained!!

Crazy. Emotional. Our children our incredible as are the people who keep loving us and helping us- from those helping us leave in berkeley, those helping us transition while here in Phoenix, and those ready to help-us adjust to life back in NC.