A Belated Trick-or-Treat!

Happy Halloween, Mr. Monkey!

Eli's SuPer goofy (and SuPer fun!) cousins: Gilly, Spiderman, Darth Vader and Bumble Bee!

Rest assured, the cousins ate plenty of candy in Eli's honor!

Our little BOO!

Return of the SIX MONTH Baby!!

Alright, blogger world... it's about time for a new post! Since it has literally been AGES since our last visit, I will be heavy on the pictures and light on the writing. [... and there was much rejoicing!] :)

Eli celebrated his 1/2 birthday with a cold, recovering from 7 (yes, 7!) shots at the doctor's office. Grandpa Frank was in town and decided to brave the sickness and bring us lunch! Thanks Grandpa Frank! This is the only picture we got of him that day, but we think John Deere looks good on him!

Though more posts are to come, here is a pic of Eli doing his best to enjoy this fall season! Before daddy bagged all of the leaves (11+ bags to be exact!), we threw Eli in the pile and he wasn't quite sure what to think!

Happy Fall Everyone!

World News Today

Eli has found a new passion in life... CNN. For all of those who don't know his daddy very well, Scotty loves reading up on the world news and Eli is definitely following in his daddy's footsteps! (He got the clicking down and everything. Just don't tell Daddy about the drool!)

Enjoy a good laugh today... :)

Visiting Philadelphia

So back in July on our crazy trip, we also stopped in Philly and stayed with the Luzar family, Brandon, Elizabeth, Agnes, and Charlotte. Agnes was really excited about Baby Lijah coming to visit. She also called him Baby Jai-ah. Agnes is two and has awesome nicknaming superpowers. We also got to go to Nathan and Sabrina's wedding, which was awesome to see them again after leaving them on their own in Denver :( We miss them, and it was great to celebrate with them and remember our own wedding. They also had their reception at Swarthmore, so Eli got to see his Daddy's campus for the first time. (Not that he'll remember it). Of course, we had to take a family picture in front of the big Adirondack chair that started out as an art project the year before I went to Swarthmore and is now a campus landmark.

Agnes liked playing on the chair. If/when we have another kiddo, this is probably what a lot of our family pictures are going to look like.

(Anisha, fabulous job capturing the essence of our family! beautiful wife and children, goofy looking dad.)

Sleeping on the last airplane home after a race across, under, and through the Detroit airport to make a quick connection. What a trip! I think we finally recovered sometime in August. It is such a blessing to be able to travel to see family and friends. Mom has finally met everyone in Dad's extended family. And reconnecting with college buddies is just beyond words how much I enjoy it and treasure our short visits with folks like Brandon and Elizabeth, Jesse, Billy and Anisha, Nate and Sabrina (even though they were a bit busy :) ), and Nick Groh. We can't wait to see everyone again.

This is kinda scattered. daddy must be tired. and it's only tuesday. oh well.

New Picture

So even though Daddy didn't get a picture of Eli with Great Grammy Birney, Aunt Karen (Great Aunt Karen) did! yay for picture happy aunts! :) Eli likes having crazy, fun great aunts and uncles. He told us when we got home . . .

Lots of Catching up to do!!

So July turned out to be a crazy busy month for the three of us. We left for vacation (Eli posted a quick blog right before we left), had a great time introducing Elijah to both sides of Dad's extended family, met some friends in Lubbock and in Philly, and then came home to host Diana, Matt, and Jamie on their cross-country drive for their move from Boston to Albuquerque. Here are some quick pictures with more to come soon!

Technically, this was Eli's fifth flight from Austin to Philadelphia. (We flew from Omaha to St. Louis to Dallas to Lubbock, spent two nights in Lubbock, Lubbock to Austin to Philadelphia, and then Philadelphia to Detroit to Omaha to get home!! whew!)

The Birney Clan. now 20 people strong. I think.

The Hajj Clan. now 17 strong.

including Siti who couldn't make it to the beach.

The newest and smallest Birney family.

Our first trip to the beach, complete with toes in the water and everything.

Great-Poppy Scott got a chance to have some one on one time with Elijah.

Somehow Dad didn't get a picture of Great-Grammy with Eli, but she did get some time with him too!

We also got a chance to visit Siti (Great Grandma!) at Crosslands before coming home to Nebraska. She had a blast holding Eli, making faces, and getting great big smiles from the little guy in return!

Eli still has to meet Great Grandpa John and Great Grandma Charlotte (Mom's grandparents). We can't wait to see them. hopefully sooner rather than later.

What a blessing to have five Great Grandparents to love our son!

and we know that Jidu (Dad's Grandfather), Marge (Mom's Grandmother), and Kilbourne (Mom's Grandfather) are watching from heaven too! There is such a powerful legacy in the men and women of God that have come before our son and walked a path of righteousness and humility by the grace of our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. As we learn what it means to raise Elijah Khalil up in the way of the Lord, we can look to his grandparents and great grandparents to guide our steps. God has blessed Stacy and I so much with families to look to and see His love, grace, and wisdom shining through their lives.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

Hey guys,

This is Eli. Mommy, Daddy, and I are all going on a trip today! I've been ready for ages, but the two of them are running around like crazy people trying to get things done. So, I thought I'd blog and tell all of my favorite people bon voyage (whatever that means...)!

We're headed to Omaha to stay in my first hotel room before we fly out, on my first plane trip, to TX. Daddy gets to be in one of his friend's wedding and dress up like a penguin--that should be pretty funny! Thanks Grandpa & Doonie Birney for letting us use your wheels and your house while you're gone. I'm excited to see it! Then on Sunday we're off flying to Philly where we will drive to Bethany Beach, DE to meet all of my relatives on Daddy's side. I've never stayed in a house with 20 people in it-- I hope I don't have to share my crib with any big kids! After that, we head back to Philly to see my Great Grandma Sitti (Penny) and then another wedding at Swarthmore (Daddy's school)! What a blessing to be able to see all of my family at once! Thank you, Jesus, for making planes so that I don't have to sit in that dreaded car seat too long!

I'll be sure that Mommy posts lots of pictures of all my "firsts" when we get home. Mommy says she's ready now, so I'll leave you with a picture of yours truly, all ready for my adventure!

Don't mind my misshapen head. It's the mirror... I promise!

Love you... EKB