great memories

as our time with the hendrix family comes to end (we head to sacramento tomorrow) we are overwhelmed with what a great trip we've had. good times with friends, great time with family. yes, lots and lots of good times. yesterday we all headed to bonneville hot springs for a relaxing day. mom and dad treated everyone to some spa treatments and we hung out at the pool, hot tub and sauna. pretty over the top.

the christmas season was kicked off about a week ago as we had a family progressive dinner. with jake & rose, adam & emily both having homes in vancouver, it made for a great night. the rules for the night were only this, that you provide your portion of the meal, and at your home, you do any family traditions you have.

we started at mom and dad's house where we were responsible for appetizers. we read the christmas story out of the 'jesus storybook bible'. then isaiah and alaythia wanted to do a dance party. one song of just them dancing, and the second song everyone dancing. isaiah picked out both songs. the first one was fast, the second was slower. we all paired up and danced in the living room for the second song u6.

we headed to jake & rose's house where they served soup, bread, cheese and wine. rose's family tradition is to sing christmas songs out of songbooks. each person gets to pick a song, each person gets a veto. you must sing 'good king wenceslaus' with a king, women and page parts being divided up. and you must sing the 12 days of christmas, and each person has a part and must act out their part. this was hilarious.

we then headed to adam & emily's house where they had worked like crazy the week before to get it ready. remodeling done, decorating done. it was beautiful all getting to see it for the first time together. we all sat at their brand new huge dining room table for the main course. they put brand new wood floors in and they were SUPER slippery. we moved into the hall/family room and began taking turns sliding in our socks. lots of fun, funny memories.

we ended the night back at mom & dad's for dessert. at this point we were all longing for the huge overstuffed purple couches. it was a pretty amazing night.

adam made a video from my footage of the night. he set it to the first song that isaiah and alaythia danced to.

some fun

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for the skeptics

on monday we had our christmas party for our preschool co-op that we're a part of. each child got to pick a name of another student and buy a present for them. we got a short list for each child of what they liked to help us with our gift giving.

i emphasized the fact that the kids each had to pick out the gift. we had fun going to target one evening to shop for their friends.

the interesting thing was alaythia picked another girl in the co-op...whose name is alethia. same name, just spelled a little differently. so for those of you who thought we were absolutely crazy for naming our daughter that, and feel sorry for her because she has such a weird name, just know, she is fine. she has a classmate with the same name!

here is the picture of the present tag...

isaiah's favorite song right now -taken from matthew 1

the red umbrella

i've mentioned it in previous posts. there have been many times when i've called it something else. for all intents and purposes, it has been our main stay, our community since we've been in louisville. and as i sit to type about it, i'm not sure i can put words to it. we were talking a few days ago, as we reminisced about the red umbrella and we said we should write a book. all of us contributing our piece. this post will not even scratch the surface, it is not a complete picture, but it's something. a beginning point.

every day, if it's not raining, or snowing, all the kids in the neighborhood come out to play. and while the kids play, the mom's sit under a red umbrella and talk. we parent too as we navigate our children, but mostly we get a chance to connect. every day. for hours. so you can imagine the friendships that have been formed.

the reality is we're all up in each others business. we're all in the same stage of life, husbands about the same thing. we help each other save money, we're quick to share our tricks on how to make it work. we're watching each other, learning, comparing, sharpening. each of our belly's grew, each of us gave birth. joy, tears, laughter. cooking each other meals, taking each others kids, even cleaning each others houses.

and today marks the end of an era, as the first of us leaves. the lump in my throat has been there all day.

i've said goodbye before. moving is a part of my life and story. i'm not sure why this one is so hard. maybe because i'm the one being left instead of the one leaving. maybe because i feel like i didn't get enough time. or maybe it's that i'm not ready to start this process. the process of people leaving little by little.

that's the really sucky thing about seminary. every one is here for a season, every one is in transition. so you know eventually you'll all go your separate ways. but this is the first, and the bonds forged in the last year are strong and true...constant.

she's taking the red umbrella with her, it's hers after all. and i wonder how big the hole will be. i wonder what louisville will look like without them.

this picture was taken on wednesday at our 'going away/christmas party'. the coloring is not great, but i'll forever be grateful for it. each of us with our newest additions, there are 6 other kids not seen here. and rachel, in the middle, had her baby 2 days go.


when i was going through pictures, i found some of our kids together and was shocked at how much they have grown up, and grown up together, in the last year plus.

jenna & alaythia then - just weeks after we moved here.
jenna & alaythia now.
lauren & isaiah then.
lauren & isaiah now.
we love you bilbys. you will be missed!

three of a kind

we're having so much fun with the kids. each of them brings so much joy in their own way.

sophia laughed for the first time the other night. matt was giving her zurbits. her belly laugh was a straight shot of joy into my heart. she also is so into her fists. often times when she's sitting in her bouncy chair you can catch her holding one or both up and staring. she loves them so much she's decided she wants me to kiss them. so when she's nursing, she raises her fist, power-to-the-people style and keeps it there until i kiss it. she'll do it several times until she feels i've given it enough love. it's adorable.

alaythia is so into christmas. for some reason she calls it chris-me. once all the christmas decorations were up she said, 'chris-me makes me happy mommy!' christmas lights send her into near hysterics. she's impossible to take into stores because every decoration, every gift sends her gasping and running to check it out. her joy over all that she's seeing brings a new excitement to it all.

isaiah is TOTALLY into football. he's interested in any sport that's on really, but this has been taken to a new level. he not only knows all the teams, all the positions and who is playing who...wait for it...he's created his own fantasy football team. matt ended up writing it down and keeping track so they could 'play' each other every week. we're sorry we ever let him see the game. that's all he talks about. this receiver did this, that tight-end did that. and if you'll let him, he'll tell you all about it too. thursday through monday it's all football baby. but it's pretty darn cute to see his big brown eyes light up as he repeats all that he's just seen.