Joys, sorrows, and more joys

Well, it's Thursday morning (like your Saturday) and we are taking it slow and relaxing as a family in front of some electronic device.  Oh, Colin is ready, actually.  Aberly is playing her Curious George game/puzzles on the iPad and I sit here and blog.

There is a lot to blog about.  I've sorta been putting it off; knowing I'll need some time to get it done.

First off, we finished off our summer in Oregon.  Colin and I got away together to New York while Aberly stayed home with my parents for the week.  My parents loved every minute but were definitely exhausted by the end of it.  If you don't know our daughter, she just doesn't stop.  She goes goes goes all day.  She helped my dad with yardwork, helped my mom around the house, and they enjoyed little adventures each day going to Wacky Bounce, the park, making cookies, etc... 

On the other side of the continent, Colin and I were staying in my brother's dorm room at Union Seminary (part of Columbia).  The dorm wasn't anything exciting, but it was in a beautiful old building attached to Riverside Church while is gorgeous and amazing.  We attended church the first Sunday and were blown away by the architecture.  The rest of the week Colin attended his reading conference and I relaxed in a coffee shop, went to the Museum of Natural History (where the movie "Night at the Museum" was filmed, and is HUGE), shopped, and just hung around.  A few other teachers from TAISM were also at the conference and it was fun to see them too.  And one night we had a great dinner with a family friend of mine who I haven't seen in many years and lives in New York. 

 

The huge surprise and excitement of our New York trip is that we discovered that we are PREGNANT with Baby #2.  We had decided at the beginning on July that we would start trying later this year, after returning to TAISM.  Apparently God decided that us being "mentally ready" meant it was go-time and two weeks later, He knit this baby together!  Baby Price is due to join us around the first week of April.

(What, really, pregnant?)

After that excitement and returning to my parent's in Oregon, we enjoyed a week at the beach with my family as our final "hurrah" before coming back to Oman.  The beach was fun and Aberly was ready to hit the sand (despite how cold) each day to dig in the sand.  My two aunts also joined us for the week and treasured that time with their great-niece and us.

 

(Aberly thought playing barber was the best game ever on this trip so we got 

our hair combed and snipped all week)

Upon returning to my parents for our last weekend before returning, we were devastated by the news on Saturday morning that a fellow co-worker (from TAISM) and her daughter were tragically killed by a drunk driver in Minnesota just days before they would also be coming back to Oman.  Michelle and her daughter were absolutely the most wonderful people and the news struck deep within our school community.  Michelle's mother-in-law, Marta, was also in the car and died.  Jason, Michelle's youngest child, survived with injuries, thanks to a citizen who came upon the wreck and pulled him from the burning car.  Our hearts also broke for Mike, Michelle's husband.  In one moment he lost his mother, wife, and daughter.  Mike is now left with his two oldest sons and Jason.  This article below comes from the local paper that covered the story.

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/166638326.html?refer=y

Michelle and Julia will truly be missed.  Michelle was the kind of person you strove to be.  She was the most kind, considerate, optimistic, and loving person.  Everyone she walked away feeling special.  I honestly can say that I don't think anyone has a bad memory of her or a negative thing to say about her.  She was just that kind of person.  The Hoffman's live next door to us in our new home and there will be a huge hole in our lives this year.  Mike and his sons are set to return to TAISM on September 11th. 

The news hit us hard but we had to move forward for the next few days to see family that was set to visit and to get ourselves packed up.  On Saturday afternoon, my mom's extended family came to see us and to celebrate my aunt's 60th birthday.  The next day, Colin's brothers, dad, and grandma came to visit.  Monday, we packed and packed. 

 

 

Tuesday morning, we headed to the airport and spent 24 hours traveling back to Oman (Aberly did great).  Since then, we have been slowly unpacking, getting over jetlag, seeing friends, starting work, crying with friends over the loss of Michelle and Julia, getting used to having a live-in nanny (who by the way, is fabulous and we are loving her), and figuring out what we'll need to get this year for our new home.  Aberly has been having tons of fun seeing all her little buddies again and we are happy to be back with our friends and part of our TAISM community.  We are thrilled to be in our new house and have a safe unit where Aberly can play outside and have two friends next door to play with (Marin and Izzy). 

And so for now, I think I will sign off.  We have a lot on our to-do list today but it should be fun.  But first, we need to shower and get dressed! 

All the best from us here in Oman!

End of July and start of August adventures

This summer has continued to fly by!  August 8th already?  Yes, yes it is. 

Here is a photo and caption re-cap of the last (almost) month since I last blogged.

We had a great time re-connecting with friends.  Aberly loved playing again with Gracie and Elliott (our neighbors, Gracie is on the right, Elliott not pictured) and getting to know Abbie (center) better.  Abbie is the daughter of our renters.  I spent time working in our yard to help out since our renters were expecting their 2nd at the beginning of August, and we also had a garage sale together.  Aberly had lots of fun at Gracie and Elliott's combined birthday party in July and playing with all of the other kids there, and we joined a playgroup one week connected with church families.  Timid at first, Aberly hung back with the new groups of kids, but quickly jumped in to join the fun.

Always thrilled to get out in beautiful Bend combined with Colin's love of good craft microbrews, we joined Papa Skip and Uncle Connor at the Fermentation Celebration in the Old Mill.  The guys tried lots of great beers and Aberly and I wandered along, playing, shopping, and seeing people we knew.  Colin also had the joy of attending the Oregon Brew Fest in Portland with his dad and brothers at the end of July.  We also spent a fun time at the pool with Papa Skip, Angie, Kevin and Connor one evening and playing at his home.  Aberly pretended the water tube was a snake and loved attacking her all of us with it.  She is lucky to have such young at heart uncles who hammed it up for her when they got attacked by the snake.

There are some beautiful places to get out and hike around Bend so we headed out to Shevlin Park with Uncle Connor for a 6-mile hike loop.  Aberly enjoyed hitching a ride with daddy most of the way.  She got out a few times to walk but quickly got tired and wanted back in or on mommy's shoulders.  We found a caterpillar at one of our rests by a creek and I got this sweet shot before we finished the loop.

Aberly loved playing with her GeeGee (Colin's mom) all summer.  She helped Nancy work in the yard and do all sorts of jobs around the house, and pretty much was her shadow each day.  Aberly especially loved riding in her bike seat (here she is with Colin) and going around the neighborhood with GeeGee, and drawing chalk together in the driveway.  Here they are looking for fish in the pond by Aspen Hall. 

 Aberly is daddy's girl when it comes to dessert flavors.  She will take berry any day over chocolate. 

Aberly died and went to heaven when we bought her a bracelet to play in the bouncy area at a kid's area at a local festival.  And she is a monkey!  She climbed and wiggled her way through the giant blow up courses, passing many kids older than her.  Her favorite one was the "one with the man" (there was an obstacle course with a strong man at the front).  It had lots of climbing (picture above with block steps) and the big side at the end.

 We spent time at local parks.  This park had faux rocks for climbing which Aberly enjoyed quite a bit.  

Our daughter has become a Dora the Explorer fanatic.  GeeGee bought her these new jammies and she was thrilled.  I asked her to give me a "big smile" and this is what I got.  "CHEESE!!!!"

Aberly was a very lucky girl and got to see animals at my friend Kirstin's home.  She was enchanted by the bunnies and after a nervous start, petted, brushed, and rode the pony.  She also got to see a steer before we headed home. 


After our Bend adventures, we headed over the pass and are now staying with my parents in Corvallis.  They are now having the joy of being in Grandparent heaven and love playing with Aberly.  Aberly loves helping her Papa and has been his shadow now.   We've been playing ping-pong, hiking, playing Fisher Price (Andrew's and my old sets), running in the yard, went swimming, and headed to the county fair.

 Snake!

 Lady bug!

 You roosters are loud!