Footprints

I will try to make this quick since I should really be making our Christmas cards and Alex is bouncing in his crib (supposed to be napping).

We threw a low-key Christmas party Sunday night. We had around 18 couples/families. It was a ton of fun. The kids were running everywhere. We had a paper snowflake contest :) I was originally thinking gingerbread houses (I was going to make the gingerbread) but realized probably no one but me would think that was cool.

Brian's brother came home from Kuwait/Iraq on Friday and it has been wonderful to see him. Alex took a little bit to warm up but seems to enjoy playing with his uncle now.

Alex has been wanting to use the potty on and off for about a month now. Last weekend I tried to rush him to the potty after he had already started. He finished and we did the clapping, etc. Changed his diaper, put his pants & socks back on. I went back to looking at something online and he ran around for 20 minutes...until I noticed a strong poop smell. I looked down and there is Alex, feet up in the air, with poop all over his socks. I took a closer look and there is poop smashed on the bottom of his pant leg. I removed his pants a piece fell out. How did this happen I wonder?! I looked around only to realize there are little poop footprints all over the carpet. So I threw him in the tub and washed him off. Rinsed his clothes. Put new everything on. Then got him comfy in the basement with his only video - The Jungle Book - and spent the next 20 minutes searching the first floor for the remains. I probably cleaned 20 spots on the carpet, mopped the kitchen floor and cleaned the dining room floor by the time it was all done. I guess it was his way of motivating me to get the floors cleaned a little earlier than planned before the Christmas party. It also reminded me that once he's started there's no 'finishing' on the potty.

What the Kingdom of God Will Be Like...

What the Kingdom of God Will Be Like...
Originally uploaded by FreakyNami

A friend of mine in Australia took this photo after noticing the irony of the situation. The sign advertising this church's likeness to the Kingdom of God is surrounded by luxury sport utility vehicles. So that's what it's all about, huh?

Weekend in Traverse City

Sarah and I had a really nice weekend in Traverse City together. Just the two of us.

Here's the view from our hotel room.



Here I am baring my teeth.



Mrs. Coop.



Droplets on a leaf. Kind of obvious. Sorry.



One of the renowned lakes in the Sand Lakes Quiet Area in stormy weather. I was standing on a bouncy bog when I took this. It was fun.



A path to the end of Old Mission Peninsula.



The light house on Old Mission Peninsula.



So yeah, spending one on one time with your wife is a beautiful thing.

Fall

So Summer and Winter got together this year and just kind of decided to skip Fall. It was approximately 75 degrees outside like three days ago and now there's an inch of snow on the ground. Good times. So here's a few photos taken during the niceness a few days ago. Another post will hopefully go up soon detailing the adventures of Sarah and I up in Traverse City over this weekend. We had a nice getaway. Remember, you can always view the photos larger by clicking on them.

Alex looks up to our neighbor kid big time. Wants to be just like him. With those cowboy boots I really can't see why not.



Sometimes we catch Alex looking like a clone of my brother Tom. It's pretty incredible.



As toddlers are wont to do, Alex is always in search of the next adventure.



What can I say? God made a nice baby.



We're reaping the rewards of labors of the previous owners of our house. The trees are beautiful.

Alex's Antics

Alex is a new dog, and he's learning all the old tricks.

Squishy face is a recent favorite. He generally prefers to dispense the squish on mommy or daddy's face, but his own will do in a pinch.



Peekaboo is another staple. He just can't get enough.



And of course there's nothing so thrilling as stepping into daddy's shoes and clomping around the place just like daddy does.

Halloween

Here is Alex in his Dragon Halloween costume, provided generously by his Grandma Johnston. He didn't like it at first, but eventually warmed to its insulated comfort and fearsome appearance. He enjoyed shouting at the trick or treaters, daring them to brave the fire of his breath.


Here is the daddy pumpkin.




And here is the baby pumpkin.



And here they are together chilling in the in the dark.



This little guy is our neighbor, he's about six months younger than Alex.



These two are brother and sister to the little guy above. We ate a terrifying dinner of mummy dogs, eyeballs, rotted filth and coagulated nast at their house (it's a Halloween tradition).

Potluck and Hayride

With only 15 years to go, Alex is already revving up his desire to possess a driver's license.



Sarah and Alex are the cutest.



Fall colors from the hay wagon.



Our friend Jayden.



Sarah, Alex and friends thoroughly enjoy the blistering wind and itchy hay.

A pa pa (a pumpkin)!

Fall is my (Sarah) favorite season. We've been enjoying the hayrides, pumpkins and the yummy food. Alex is an outdoors man - he is a boy after all. I have braved the cold days and bundled us up so that we can throw leaves, ride our truck super fast and visit the neighborhood dogs. I brave the cold so that when winter really hits I won't be such a wimp.

For Halloween I bought a small pumpkin for Alex and a big pumpkin for us. Brian did a wonderful job carving them in under 20 minutes since we were rushing to a 'spooky' dinner with our neighbors. Alex was a dragon (thanks to grandma) this year and took pride in yelling at the tricker-treaters if they dared come his way.

His favorite activites at the moment are, of course, taking the tops on & off the pumpkins and going on a good bug hunt. Now that we've freed the spider we held captive in a canning jar he goes outside in search of bugs under rocks and leaves. He can spend over 15 minutes poking things and shouting "bee!" even if he hasn't really found a bug.

I'll try to get Brian to get some pictures up soon but he's a busy man so I don't promise anything today.

I Know Why You're Here

Is it just me...

...or does the the passage of time accelerate at an alarming rate?

I mean come on - how much faster can it go?

Canning/Freezing

Well I'm finally done! But did it really have to end this way? I have canned over 5 bushels of fruit, frozen 1/2 bushel of beans, 1 flat of strawberries (as jam or berries) and 6lbs of blueberries. I think that's pretty good for my first summer doing any of it. Everything has gone well until my last night, argh. Not one broken jar or bad seal but tonight we had 3 strikes. 1 broken jar, 1 just blew the top off and 2 possible non sealers since they're oozing applesauce as we speak.

I guess I better not complain but if only I had saved the best for last, right? Well I did because my wonderful husband is letting me go away for the weekend with 2 long-time friends in Chicago! Woo hoo! I hope to cook, eat cheesecake, & get lots of sleep. I doubt it since I can't sleep even when I get the chance. So...

Here's to my wonderful husband and prayers that Alex co-operates this weekend. I love you lots. I promise to scrub every crevice of the kitchen when I get back.

Exciting Times

I entered a few photos into a contest at Wired.com a while back and then forgot about it. I noticed the contest url in the drop down list today while typing in the address for another site and figured I'd check it out and see if I had any winners. For the reader's choice category I had nothing, but in the "Top 10 Wired.com Fall Photos, Decided by Us" category the photo department chose two of my entries, which can be seen here and here.

Time Stands Still

Summer is over, but here are few shots to take you back to the heat of it all.







The busyness of the summer season has wound down a little bit, but I think we're still feeling pretty weary. We've continued to grieve the loss of our baby, and the whole emotional, spiritual and physical aspects of the process are leaving us really drained and feeling like we have no passion left for life outside ourselves. I never realized how long and painful healing would be.

Thank God for Alex - at least he never stops making us laugh. I never realized how deep of a source of joy a child could be until we had our own.

The Photos from Family Camp are Finally Finished

If you're interested, please take a look at the photos I took at Upper Peninsula Bible Camp this year. I'm finally finished processing all of them, and now I can move on to some fantastic ones of Alex dancing around in the sprinkler. Stay tuned.

Miscarriage

A couple months ago Sarah and I found out that she was pregnant with our second child. We had been trying for a few months and were really excited. We told some family and a few friends but decided to try to keep it mostly under wraps for a couple more months.

Over the next several weeks, due to some medical test results and other signs, the conclusion was reached that we were most likely losing or going to lose the baby. We started to grieve, we named the child, and we sought comfort. But we still had an appointment at 7 weeks to check for a heartbeat. On the ride to the doctor's office we talked about what we would do if the baby beat the odds. We tried not to get excited, to push down the hope we thought would only disappoint us. As the technician started the ultrasound I didn't want to look at the screen. Then she said "There's the heartbeat, see?" My heart leaped and I looked over at Sarah, who was trying to hold back her response. The last month turned upside down, and I felt ecstatic as the technician printed an ultrasound capture showing our tiny little baby in the yolk sac. After the talking to the doctor we set up another appointment for the next month. On the way home we thanked God and called the people we had told about the possible miscarriage to let them know that the baby was all right.

Sarah went to the next appointment, which was about two weeks ago on a Thursday, by herself. We knew that the pregnancy was still high risk, but things didn't seem to have changed too much from the last appointment. There were still some signs that could have been bad but are also common for healthy pregnancies, and Sarah still had morning sickness.

After the appointment Sarah called me and told me that we had lost our baby.

In some ways we're at peace. We know the child is with his true Father. We know that we're not alone. Three young couples that we know have lost babies to miscarriages within the last year, and uncles and aunts and friends have let us know that they've been here too. It's been hard but we're grateful for the hope that we have in Christ. Pray that God would bless us with time to talk and to mourn together.

Sick

I hate to complain, but I lived for a year and half in Australia and did not get sick once. Even my seasonal allergies were minimal. But now that we're back in Michigan it feels like I'm catching every single thing decides to make the rounds. Is my immune system protesting or something?

UPBC

Upper Peninsula Bible Camp. Of course there are words to describe it, but for me it is always difficult to convey the depth of my feelings.

Lets start with the drive to camp. The anticipation begins the second I climb into the car in our driveway in Grand Rapids. It waxes as the mile markers disappear behind us, and hits a peak as the Mackinac Bridge slips into view while we slide up 75. The metal grating is the only way to cross - windows open, heads hanging out and hearts surging with adrenaline as the water flys by 200 feet below. The rolling beauty of the varied forests along the highways, the untamed reaches of nature's grasp. The Seney Stretch: more than 20 miles of perfectly straight and nearly perfectly level two lane highway; the crazy 180 degree turn from 28 onto 94, at the bottom of the huge hill; the violence inherent in the crossing of Slapneck Road and Slapneck Creek. The crosses Bill and I made as a memorial for Matt and Mylissa at the intersection where they died; poignant reminders.

Then, oh glory of glories, Bible Camp Drive! The glimpses of the buildings through the trees, and finally we're there.

As I step out of the car the smells overwhelm me: evergreens and cold nights, stargazing and the northern lights, good food and warm hugs. My head spins with memories: the tower, the crack of 22s, the raft, conversations on Randy's dock, fights, wrestling matches, backrubs, friendships, the wind in the pines fading to silence, ripped shorts from the rope swing platform, T-111 and Jilberts. I don't think it would be possible to overstate the depth to which camp and the relationships I formed there have influenced who I am and who I want to be. It was at camp that I first understood what God did for me. It was at camp that I came to know true intimacy, trust, service and love. I was at camp that I really began to know and love the woman who is now my wife.

It was near camp that I watched as an empty logging truck hit my friend's car at 55 mph as he and Matt and Mylissa crossed an intersection. It was with tears in my eyes and desperate prayers on my lips that I shattered his window, held him tight and told him it would be all right. It was with denial and desperate sobbing prayers that I looked at Matt and My's bodies hoping for a sign of life. It was with devastation that the truth sank in. It was with gut-wrenching pain and loss that my friends' arms surrounded me and our tears mixed in the dirt. It was with blood on my hands, face, shirt that I returned to camp.

It was through the pain, grief, hope, truth and hard work that followed that my deepest and most enduring friendships were formed. I will never forget that summer.

I love camp because God used it as a tool to shape and unite the hearts of me and my friends. Camp is where I have seen the body of Christ most fully realized.

Since July

We've had a few things going on lately.

I'll try to get some posts and photos up.

So...check back here soon and check out Flickr for the photos (they're usually up there before they're up here).

Godwin and Jeni's Wedding

Last Friday Sarah and I left little Lex behind with the 'rents and headed off to East Lansing for my friend Godwin's wedding. I met Godwin when I started at the University of Michigan. We were both new arrivals at Phi Alpha Kappa (the Dutch House), and I think I may have been somewhat influential in convincing him to become a pledge instead of just being a boarder. I quickly came to love Godwin as a dear friend and brother, and his love for life and lack of inhibitions always spurred me on to greater depths of outlandish behavior. His love for Christ coupled with his thorough thoughtfulness inspired me and left me wanting deeper things for my own friendship with God.

It was with intense joy that I reunited with Godwin after my return to the United States from Australia. Sarah and I had the privalege of meeting him and his lovely fiancee Jeni at the flapjack place in East Lansing. Their joy was a joy to behold.

More recently I met with Godwin in Grand Rapids to discuss the mysteries which soon be made known to him. Good times.

I was able to meet Godwin again at the flapjack place for lunch before the wedding along with several of his groomsmen. With barely constrained excitement and just less than embarrassing volume we shared the kind of advice that makes you turn red and feel very warm all over. Oh Godwin! The joy and the sorrow, the pain and the happiness which are yours will be deepened twofold now. It is good.

The wedding was beautiful, the bride and groom stunning, and the guests fascinating. All who wish can view the photographs I captured here. More are coming soon that are not there yet. Here is a small sample of the day:

More Cute Pictures of the Nieces

We miss them a lot.







And last but certainly not least:

The CA Crew Shows Up

Sarah's sister Hannah, her Husband Jeremy and their two girls, Clara and Ruthie came to visit for a week recently. We haven't seen them since last fall, so it was great to be back together again for a few days.

Here's Alex showing off his slick reading skills in front of his cousins:



Actually, he usually does get books right side up, and he loves looking at them and being read to lately. His attention span can cover "Blueberries for Sal" now.

Alex laughs his head off with Grandpa Johnston:



Clara has such a wonderful smile. I'm glad she uses it so often:



Ruthie and Hannah search online for the perfect diaper bag design, or some other such elusive prize: