The Brown Thumb

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Cooking!

We've tried roasted pumpkin seeds, play-dough, and pretend pancakes. I think she likes the table and chairs more than any of the cooking!

Pumpkin Patch...and some catching up

How does one segway into a post that follows last Christmas? Suffice it to say, I do hope to fill in the gaps of the following events with pictures, but here is a run down of a few highlights since my last post.

*My brother-in-law, Tim, married his beautiful wife Angela at a wedding in Taichung, Taiwan. We, along with Geoff's immediate family from Houston enjoyed sightseeing and time with Geoff's extended family from Taiwan. The reception was in Angela's hometown/city of Puli in the mountains. It was a beautiful trip, including a visit to the church where Dad and Mom Chang were married. We were warmly welcomed by Geoff's family, and appreciated seeing all of them. What gracious hosts!

*We've enjoyed visits from lots of family and friends:
~Dad and Mom Naus from Bloomsburg

~Jason, Theresa and Talia, and Andy and Angela from Houston/CA

~Kristin and Carrie from NOVA (DC to everyone else;) while Geoff was at the Gospel Coalition in Chicago

~Dan, Ashley, Sam and now Iris who moved here to be on staff and who were good friends from CHBC in DC

~Steph's brother Tim from Chicago

~Geoff's sister Jennifer from Houston

~Dad and Mom Chang from Houston for Jubilee's birthday

~~~~We saw other friends from DC (including Jamie Joan, CJ, and Lucas) many who were coming for work or to visit others, but we enjoyed grilling them about life at CHBC!

*Finally, we did some traveling of our own:

~Geoff spent 2 weeks in SE Asia on a vision trip for friends of ours going to live there

~Steph and Jubilee visited Dad and Mom Naus in PA for that time and saw lots of friends and family!

~We took a family vacation to Houston in August and spent time at the beach in Galveston with Geoff's entire extended family living in in the US.

~We also spent a few days in Bend, OR. It's a high desert in the mountains and has some fun biking trails.

~Steph and Jubilee also traveled to visit Dad and Mom Chang in Houston (sadly without Geoff) for Steph to attend a college friend, Nikki's, wedding. They took great care of us!

Phew! I think that covers it, and if you're still reading this, you can probably disregard any Christmas letter we send;) Please do know that we love seeing you all, and we appreciate the time (and cost!) it took for many of you to visit us. The Lord has been kind in helping us transition to life out here through these visits and we know they won't always be this often.

Onto the aforementioned pumpkin patch. A twice enjoyed tradition, we went to the corn maze/pumpkin patch recently with the Lawrences and Schreiners. Here's a clip of Jubilee's search for a pumpkin.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Swimming

We started a new Christmastime tradition--swimming! We took Jubilee, now almost 6 months, for the first time with friends. The pool is quite amazing with fun kiddie areas, complete with a lazy river and tube/slide. Quite literally, no reaction. She just seemed to enjoy "sitting" on the water. How easy life must be when someone else is doing all the lifting!

Christmas Eve 2010

As usual, I can't pick just one to post!

Geoff led the service and gave the message at Hinson on Christmas Eve. Similar to HCC, Shiloh, and CHBC, many people stayed around afterwards to visit and fellowship. We both had a few significant conversations and are so thankful for the way God is knitting us into this congregation.

Christmas 2010 home

Wish you could have joined us. Our first year with a tree! A live Douglas Fir. Now that we've taken the tree down, I'm starting to see my lack of real decorating!

Christmas

We missed being with family for Christmas, but new friends in Portland took good care of us. We enjoyed a meal with church friends and brunch and games with our neighbors, the Suydams.

Sleeping

Sleeping like a baby...

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Pop Pop and Grandma Visit part 2

Out for a stroll around the neighborhood. The castle-like building is Hinson Church. It was built around the time CHBC was and looks amazingly similar. We live around back.

Pop Pop and Grandma Visit

Where else, but Multnomah and surrounding falls!

We had a great time! Pop Pop found all kinds of projects to help our house become a home. Jubilee decided to test out her stranger anxiety on Grandma, but to no avail. By the end of the week, Pop Pop and Grandma kept Jubilee overnight. What a treat for us! Thanks so much for a lovely visit.