We are PROUD of him for getting into this competitive program and excited to partake of his knowledge (literally) when he returns.
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| From August 2010 |
Friday, August 20, 2010
New country, new language, new food - Viva Italia!
My brother Paul stopped by on his way back to Texas to check in, give hugs and drink some wine with me and Kevin before he heads on to a 3-month adventure in Italy! Paul will be learning about sustainable farming - and by "learning," I mean, digging his hands into the ground and fertilizing the crops and harvesting them when ripe. Yep, my brother will be a farmer for a season in one of the most beautiful places in the world - the Tuscan region in Italy.
We are PROUD of him for getting into this competitive program and excited to partake of his knowledge (literally) when he returns.
We are PROUD of him for getting into this competitive program and excited to partake of his knowledge (literally) when he returns.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
It's a girl - I can't believe it!
So my dear friend Belen had a baby GIRL last night, and I am thrilled. Belen is a natural romantic at heart, and I can just see her setting tea parties, tying bows, inventing romances, reading Anne of Green Gables, and twirling with Elena Jayne Jonker.
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| From August 2010 |
Monday, August 16, 2010
Cause for Celebration!
This past weekend, the Grays treated us to a *magnificent* dinner out to celebrate Emily's graduation and move to East Carolina University as well and Kevin's and my 2-year anniversary. It was a memorable night with amazing food and great conversations, and we felt very... celebrated!
The beautiful graduate herself - GOOOO PIRATES!
Michael with Aunt Kristen - so happy :)
The Gray girls.
Blane, Kristen, Michael, Emily, Susan, Rick, me and Kevin after a luxurious and filling dinner!
Michael had fun.
I will say... 2 years, and I wouldn't change a thing.
The beautiful graduate herself - GOOOO PIRATES!
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| From August 2010 |
Michael with Aunt Kristen - so happy :)
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| From August 2010 |
The Gray girls.
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| From August 2010 |
Blane, Kristen, Michael, Emily, Susan, Rick, me and Kevin after a luxurious and filling dinner!
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| From August 2010 |
Michael had fun.
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| From August 2010 |
I will say... 2 years, and I wouldn't change a thing.
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| From March 2010 |
Friday, August 13, 2010
In Loving Memory
This week, we have had the gift of remembering and celebrating the life of Grandma/Nonnie Peterson, or Gertrude Dowd Peterson, who passed away last week. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and we will always be grateful for her quick smile, her gracious love, her contagious giggles, and her endless kindness.
We love you, Grandma, and we will miss you.
We love you, Grandma, and we will miss you.
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| From Peterson Family Get-Together |
"I am."
From Diana Gabaldon's book, Dragonfly in Amber:
"Babies are soft. Anyone looking at them can see the tender, fragile skin and know it for the rose-leaf softness that invites a finger's touch. But when you live with them and love them, you feel the softness going inward, the round-cheeked flesh wobbly as custard, the boneless splay of the tiny hands. Their joints are melted rubber, and even when you kiss them hard, in the passion of loving their existence, your lips sink down and seem never to find bone. Holding them against you, they melt and mold, as though they might at any moment flow back into your body.
But from the very start, there is that small streak of steel within each child. That thing that says "I am," and forms the core of personality. In the second year, the bone hardens and the child stands upright, skull wide and solid, a helmet protecting the softness within. And "I am" grows, too. Looking at them, you can almost see it, sturdy as heartwood, glowing through the translucent flesh.
The bones of the face emerge at six, and the soul within is fixed at seven. The process of encapsulation goes on, to reach its peak in the glossy shell of adolescence, when all softness then is hidden under the nacreous layers of the multiple new personalities that teenagers try on to guard themselves.
In the next years, the hardening spreads from the center, as one finds and fixes the facets of the soul, until "I am" is set, delicate and detailed as an insect in amber."
"I am."
"Babies are soft. Anyone looking at them can see the tender, fragile skin and know it for the rose-leaf softness that invites a finger's touch. But when you live with them and love them, you feel the softness going inward, the round-cheeked flesh wobbly as custard, the boneless splay of the tiny hands. Their joints are melted rubber, and even when you kiss them hard, in the passion of loving their existence, your lips sink down and seem never to find bone. Holding them against you, they melt and mold, as though they might at any moment flow back into your body.
But from the very start, there is that small streak of steel within each child. That thing that says "I am," and forms the core of personality. In the second year, the bone hardens and the child stands upright, skull wide and solid, a helmet protecting the softness within. And "I am" grows, too. Looking at them, you can almost see it, sturdy as heartwood, glowing through the translucent flesh.
The bones of the face emerge at six, and the soul within is fixed at seven. The process of encapsulation goes on, to reach its peak in the glossy shell of adolescence, when all softness then is hidden under the nacreous layers of the multiple new personalities that teenagers try on to guard themselves.
In the next years, the hardening spreads from the center, as one finds and fixes the facets of the soul, until "I am" is set, delicate and detailed as an insect in amber."
"I am."
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| From Grandma's Birthday Party and Birmingham |
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Good Friends
When conversations flow and you start at point "c" instead of "a," that's when you know you are with good friends.
When inside jokes make sense and you can give each other a hard time in love, that's when you know you are with good friends.
When you laugh at each other's children and their respective diaper disasters, that's when you know you are with good friends.
We were with good friends this past weekend, and... it was good.
The Gaffords, the Loomis (minus Brandi), the Jonkers, and us!
Jen, Belen and me.
Michael and James want to be good friends with each other...
... and with Eli Gafford.
Yay for Baby Gafford! Jen and A.J. are such wonderful parents already!
Oh... and good friends dress alike unintentionally.
When inside jokes make sense and you can give each other a hard time in love, that's when you know you are with good friends.
When you laugh at each other's children and their respective diaper disasters, that's when you know you are with good friends.
We were with good friends this past weekend, and... it was good.
The Gaffords, the Loomis (minus Brandi), the Jonkers, and us!
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| From August 2010 |
Jen, Belen and me.
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| From August 2010 |
Michael and James want to be good friends with each other...
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| From August 2010 |
... and with Eli Gafford.
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| From August 2010 |
Yay for Baby Gafford! Jen and A.J. are such wonderful parents already!
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| From August 2010 |
Oh... and good friends dress alike unintentionally.
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| From August 2010 |
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Outer Banks!
We just got back from a wonderful week at the beach with the Petersons. The weather was great, the time together as a family was even greater, and the fact that we are back with Michael sleeping in his own crib is... blissful. Haha, traveling with a 10-month-old is so funny - as we pulled away from Annapolis at 5 a.m., I laughed to myself that my first thought was "what side of the car will the sun rise on" and "will the sun hit his face and wake him up".
Michael's response to the first day of sand was tepid, at best. The second and third days were much better, and ultimately, he ended up with mouthfuls of sand on, in, or near his mouth. He's on his way to being a beach baby yet!
Here are some pictures of our time together!
Kayla, Michael and I, trying to teach Michael how to enjoy the water.
Surfers extraordinaire.
Michael showing off for Grandpa.
Grandpa showing off for Michael.
It was nice to relax for a week.
Haha.
The boys.
Michael's response to the first day of sand was tepid, at best. The second and third days were much better, and ultimately, he ended up with mouthfuls of sand on, in, or near his mouth. He's on his way to being a beach baby yet!
Here are some pictures of our time together!
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| From August 2010 |
Kayla, Michael and I, trying to teach Michael how to enjoy the water.
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| From August 2010 |
Surfers extraordinaire.
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| From August 2010 |
Michael showing off for Grandpa.
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| From August 2010 |
Grandpa showing off for Michael.
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| From August 2010 |
It was nice to relax for a week.
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| From August 2010 |
Haha.
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| From August 2010 |
The boys.
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| From August 2010 |
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