A Belated Merry Christmas to You!

This Man...

This man . . . is one of a kind.

This man . . . is a risk taker.

This man . . . is genuine and full of passion.

This man . . . is intelligent and thoughtful.

This man . . . is an innovative problem solver.

This man . . . is goofy and full of life.

This man . . . is a faithful worker and provider.

This man . . . is a father full of love for his child.

This man . . . is gentle, yet so bold.

This man . . . is full of grace and quick to extend it.

This man . . . is a warrior.

My sweetheart, my companion . . .

. . . my love!

As we celebrate our second anniversary (a few days late), all of the reasons I chose to marry this man come to mind. We jumped into marriage, knowing full well the challenges we would face, the sorrow and joy that would come, and the maturity that would be required to do it well.

And . . . we are learning.

We are learning through slow, difficult lessons that prove themselves to bring about the destruction of our pride and selfishness. As Paul wrote in Romans, 'I do the things I hate and do not do the things I should', so it is with me. Oh how I wish I would not be bull-headed and stubborn, showing through my words and attitudes disrespect and distrust. Oh how I wish I could say "I forgive" and truly forget the transgression in my heart. Oh how I wish I could give up my selfishness for the sake of our marriage. Oh how I wish I was not the "quarrelsome and fretful wife" when I allow control to compensate for my insecurities. Oh how I wish my salvation would be brought to completion to avoid the pain and the heartache I cause. Oh! how I wish . . .

But . . . we are learning through the joyful moments as well!

One thing I do know is that God is so much bigger than our marriage, our sin and the pain that it causes. I do know that there is forgiveness through Christ who died for our selfishness and pride. And for that, I AM THANKFUL!

I am thankful for this man who will stand beside me through my insecurities, pain, pride and selfishness... through my ugly sin. I am thankful for this man that faithfully goes to work each day knowing that the burden is on his shoulders alone. I am thankful for this man who chooses each day to work on our marriage and do his best to love me "as Christ loves the church" and to love our son with his whole heart. I am thankful for this man whom I deeply love!

Thank you to our parents for raising us in the knowledge of Christ and the discipline and love of a healthy marriage relationship. We are so blessed to have parents who are still together!!

THANK YOU, LORD!, for your MaNy blessings! May YOU be honored and glorified today!

[Note: Photo by Suzie Bauman @ lifeartphotots.blogspot.com. Thanks Suzie!]

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 . . .