Peek-a-boo cuteness

Josiah surprised me with a new "skill" tonight just before his bedtime.  I was cleaning up the dishes and had to back to him while he was sitting quietly on the living room floor.  When I turned around he had his hands over his eyes and when I spoke to him he proudly removed them and grinned widely at me.  It was his first self-initiated peek-a-boo and it was beyond cute!  He continued to play in different ways over the next several minutes - using his hands, bending completely over and hiding his face between his toes, using a burp rag and even a pair of shorts to hide his face.  I was so proud. :)  Here's a taste of the fun we had together.

Ode To The Meredith Family

I have a lot I'd like to say about this special family.  Coming soon...  But until then, we miss you Meredith family!

Grieving...

I have been in Redding for 11 years now, the longest I've ever lived anywhere in my life!  We have been blessed to live close to many relatives on my mom's side of the family, my parents are here quite a bit (they come and go between here and Canada) and we now have most of Ashish's family here as well.  Over the years we have been blessed with some very dear friends here as well.  So much life has happened here in this place.  I went from being a single woman to a married woman and then to a mother of one and now a mother of two beautiful, precious children that mean everything to me.  I have a job and a ministry that I love and am blessed to see God moving in tangible ways quite regularly.  I have a fantastic group of colleagues that I work with and whose company I genuenly enjoy.  I have so much to be thankful for!  And yet today my heart is heavy as I face the reality of one of the downsides of living in Redding:  people leave.

I know that this is a common reality today.  Families move, kids go off to college, friends receive job offers in different states or even countries.  I moved several times growing up, from Minnesota to Arizona, to British Columbia and then to Redding.  In my years as a Resident Director I have had over a thousand students come through my residence hall(s).  This, of course, is to be expected.  Students are typically here 4 or 5 years and then they move on.  Many of them leave deep imprints on our hearts and while we celebrate their accomplishments and what God has planned for their futures, their departure is often painful.

But it's not just the students who leave.  Friends and co-workers seem to have a high turn-over rate around here.  And to be frank, I don't like it.  I've found myself putting up walls around my heart as the years have unfolded.  The pain of loss has toughened me up and strengthened me in some ways but has made me callous in others.  I have become much more guarded than I'd like to be.

This is a reality that I've been working on for a while now and I've slowly been letting the walls down and letting people back in to the deeper places of my life.  The result has been a much richer day-to-day experience as I've experienced community in deeper and more profound ways.  I have found safety and comfort in understanding and supportive friends and family and have been able to offer that in return.

But this summer, I am faced with a deeper sense of loss than I've felt in some time as some very dear people are saying goodbye and moving across the world and across the country.  On one hand I rejoice for these dear people knowing that God called them to something new, something different.  I celebrate their accomplishments and will continue to cheer them on and lift them up in prayer as they venture into exciting and challenging territory.  But the selfish side of me hates it.  I miss my friends who have already left deeply.  I'm going to miss my relatives terribly.  And I'm going to miss the others who have held a special place in our hearts but are also leaving this summer.

I don't usually blog about the struggles and hard things in my life.  It's so much easier to share the happy things that we are experiencing on a day to day experience and avoid the fear of dragging others down with our disappointments and struggles.  But in an effort to keep from putting my walls back up again and to avoid "stuffing" the grief I am feeling over these losses, I'm sharing honestly from my heart and praying that the Lord will continue to bring people into our lives that we can experience community with in the way that He desires for us.  Thanks for "listening" and for letting me expose some of what's going on in the deeper places of my heart.

Swimming Lessons

Swimming Lessons are underway and day two (of eight total) is now complete.  Priya is enjoying her lessons and is slowly easing into the structure set forth by her teacher, Mr. Steve.  She is in a class with 4 other kids and tends to sit back and observe.  But she is doing well and enjoying herself.  I'm so curious to see where she'll be at the end of next week when the lessons are complete.  My hope is that these classes will not only serve in helping her learn to swim but also help her to grow in her ability to listen and follow directions.  Here is a glimpse of her class this morning.

A Day At The Lake

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at Whiskeytown Lake today with Ami and Phil.  We are so thankful for times like this with family and feel so blessed to be able to spend so much time with them lately.  Ashish was up to his eyeballs in studying for a big exam that will take place tomorrow so he sadly wasn't able to join us.  But we managed to have a great time soaking up the sun, playing in the sand, having a picnic lunch, swimming in the lake and Josiah even managed to take in a nap as well.  Ahhh the joys of summer...  Thanks for all of the help today, Ami and Phil!  We couldn't have done it without you!

Josiah's first lake experience...

Sand castle time!

I love Priya's proclamation at the end of this video, "I'm a good helper..."

Time to make some mochas!  Yum!

Ready for another dip in the lake.

Love my little boy!

Josiah is such a happy baby!  Always so full of smiles.

Josiah has been doing great sitting up over the past few weeks.  He has also been making all sorts of new sounds (that I've yet to capture on video).  He started saying "mama" about 3 weeks ago and has added "gaga", "baba" and "dada" to his repertoire.

Hmm...should I stay up and play or take a nap?...

Ahhh, the nap won out!

Gearing up for another round of swimming.

The happy couple.

4th of July

Can you believe that although Priya is almost four years old, she had not ever had the joy of witnessing a 4th of July fireworks display?  This was the year that all of that finally changed!  We didn't worry about late bedtimes or concerns about meltdowns, tantrums, etc.  We were going to make this happen!  We showed Priya youtube clips of fireworks and shared with her the simplified story behind the 4th of July.  She was giddy with excitement when we pulled up to our vantage point with Ami and Phil about 2 hours before the show began.  We played, talked, walked around and enjoyed each other's company until 10pm finally rolled around and the fireworks began to light up the sky.

Josiah fell asleep in his carseat before the show began so his real first experience will have to come at a later date, but he sure did well out there despite the heat and without the comfort of his crib.  But Priya loved every minute of it and has continued to talk about it for days afterwards.

Priya's "New Room"

Priya apparently decided that she needed to expand her bedroom to include the hallway outside our apartment today.  Our apartment spans the length of the hallway on the left side of this video (we are about 2/3 of the way down the hall in this video).  The rooms across the hall are occupied by students during the school year.  But since the summer is officially upon us, the rooms are vacant.   Hence the extra play space...  :)

Child Dedication

We did something last Sunday that we've been wanting to do for quite a long time.  We dedicated both of our kids to the Lord.  The timing was wonderful as we were able to have many family members present from Ashish's side of the family as well as mine for this special time (Aunt Judy missed this by only one week).  Thanks to all who were there and joined with us as we publicly committed the lives of our precious children to God.  And thank you to The Stirring family for blessing us, for caring for us and for praying with us!  We are so excited that the recent change in Ashish's work schedule has made it possible for us to return!