Autumn Beauty

We had a campfire dinner picnic last night just outside of town, sure was pretty

Third birthday

Julian turned three last week, here he is opening some presents while Audrey tries to contain her jealousy.













Here's Julian "lighting" the candles on his dinosaur birthday cake, while his friend Teagan hams it up.









And here's the big boy on a recent family hike.










The biggest advancement by far in Julian's growing-up journey is his speech. Last summer he would only say a handful of words and didn't string any together. A few nights after his third birthday, it's dinnertime, the parent are urging the kids to eat, and Julian half whispers to Audrey "we don't have to do what they say". What?!!

Julian continues to be a physically active, sweet, and shy, little dude. He and Audrey play imaginatively together for hours each day. He loves to go to the library and read books and if he is having a hard time saying goodbye to mama at preschool drop-off his teacher can always ease the separation with a book. He works hard on his smile when he is posing for a picture, but hides his face if someone is saying hello to him.

Cowgirl princess and other things that are said

Audrey got the pink tiara cowgirl hat from her sweet Auntie Ashley and Uncle Brian yesterday (they are trying to convert her into a Texan) and she has not taken it off since.

Audrey's words:

"I'm going to be a cowgirl when I grow up and then I'll know a lot about horses. Now I know that horses say neigh. I know that horses gallops like unicorns and ponies. I know that horses have feet that look kind of funny but the horse feet are just like ponies and unicorns because horses and ponies and unicorns look a lot alike except for the horns on unicorns. That's all I know about horses."


Speaking of words Julian is talking a lot more which is pretty exciting, yesterday he mimicked me perfectly when I called Audrey bossyboots. One of the sweetest things he says is his response when Chris or I tell him I love you, he says "love mama, dada, Audrey" and sometimes throws gampa in too since he just stayed with us for a month.
It seems like Julian's vocalizing really took off when we were in Nicaragua a few months ago. One night we were sitting at the table a couple hundred yards from the ocean, eating some fish that we bought at the fish market next to the port. When he put this together it must have blown his mind because throughout the meal he repeatedly pointed to the fish on the plate and out to the ocean and repeated fish water fish water.

Julian on Lake Nicaragua

Kiddies enjoying grandpa story time last month

Remembering my mom

One month ago my mom passed away.  She was at home, as she wished, and had visits from friends and family.  She also asked for singing and even dancing around her bedside and so we fulfilled her wishes.  The solidarity of joining voices and invigoration of dancing eased the sorrow of seeing her physical decline.  It was a powerful experience to be there at a time when great unanswerable questions about the mysteries of the universe were so present.  There were words floating around that I never got the full context of, but the gist I got was that my mom had said "we come into this world alone, and we leave this world alone" and I'm not completely sure what she meant because I haven't had the chance yet to delve into it with ones who know, but again it begs contemplation on those great mysteries.

One thing I do know is that my mom would want us to keep on living fully, celebrating and appreciating what we have in this life.



Chris and the kids came to Michigan to be there for the memorial service and it was a lovely event with loads of meaningful participation and storytelling.

And then we drew ourselves away from Michigan and came home to try to get back into the swing of things, in the midst of the holidays.

Audrey participated in a beautiful Christmas pageant at her school.



Chris and I had a lot of fun and silliness at our friends' annual Christmas party.


Our little family celebrated Christmas with all the allure and excitement of Santa and elves.

And we rung in the new year with a couple close friends, we watched televised broadcasts of midnight in other times zones and we laughed together and sang one last song for 2015.



Below is my mom's obituary and the program for one part of the memorial service with a piece of writing that brings comfort, reminds me of the great care, concern and interest she had in those she met all around her, and inspires me to live with love and peace in my actions.