Piano Recital

Cosette
Shannon

Eliana

These are some pictures of a few of my students (all the same age and gender, you notice, because they were the only ones who wanted their pictures taken...what a fun age :) We had a great time even though the recital took about half as long as I expected and the kids were so ready to be done that they practically flew off the stage to get back to their seats. It was hilarious to see them running around outside afterward. You could tell that they all had so much pent up energy. I'm mostly taking a break on piano for the summer. Even though it's nice to have more flexibility in my schedule, I'll miss teaching them. It's been a lot of fun.

a wonderful visit

This is an older picture, but several weeks ago we drove to Fargo, ND to meet up with Yesupadam and Monika. We hadn't seen them for three years, but this time their US trip brought them somewhat close to Minnesota, and we jumped at the chance. They had never met Isaac, so that was a really fun introduction! It was too short, but it was lovely to get to catch up a little, reconnect, and talk some about the book. I've been very grateful that they are stateside while I'm working on the book. It means that answers to many of my questions are only a (national) call away, rather than an international one. Hooray for visits!

engagement

Just thought I'd post a picture of my grown-up brother and his lovely fiancee...amazing, isn't it? Congratulations, you two!

June 30, 2007

the latest trip to nc (sorry, read from the bottom up)

Isaac with the new love of his life, Albert. They loved one another, except when they were fighting over the same ball (Albert winning) or Isaac pulling Albert's tail or ears (Isaac winning). They were inseperable.

You've heard of crying over spilt milk, but ice cream?!?! Isaac decided to be grumpy and was refusing even this nectar of the gods...until he got a taste of it, of course. His new spoon-handling skills came in handy.

We let Isaac enjoy the garden, complete with the red-clay mud of North Carolina. Good times!

Then it was on to James and Angie's wedding, which was lovely.

Meanwhile, Vance and I took an anniversary trip up in the Blue Ridge Mountains...it was lovely. We had TWO nights away this time! We took a 7-mile hike to view some overlooks, and took some stops every now and then to read and talk. It was very relaxing and quite wonderful. You never realize quite how great it is to get away until you're there.

Nana bought him some Superman pajamas. I remember AJ having some of those when we were growing up. Again, we probably enjoyed them more than he did, but I think he could tell he was gaining at least some superpower from his new outfit :)

Isaac's first tractor ride, with Papa Frank. I think he enjoyed it, but probably not as much as we did.

I realized that we hadn't taken any pics of Isaac on an airplane. He's been on over a dozen flights since he was 3 months old...and I didn't fly until I was 17! Here he is, whiling away the time with an apple. Like father, like son.

We just got back from a great trip back home. We visited Vance's parents, went on an anniversary trip, left Isaac at Grandparent Camp, and went to James' wedding. Quite a weekend! Here are some shots of our events.

After all these baby pictures, you're probably wondering why I have this very mundane picture of me signing a paper. What is it that she is signing, you may ask? I am signing my very first book contract! That's right, I now have a publisher for my book! I'm thrilled. For those of you who don't know (or have forgotten), I have written a book about Yesupadam, an Untouchable former communist/gangster/atheist/alcoholic/deadbeat dad whose life was radically transformed by Christ, and the ministry he started in India to reach the rejected, hurting, and opressed of his nation. It's a book about reaching the untouched of India, and it'll be coming to a store near you Christmas 2007. I hope you read it!

And I hope it impacts you almost as much as it has me.

at the park...

Of course it wouldn't be a complete morning in the park without some mulch up the nose. Ugh. Maybe we should go back to Seth's cute newborn pictures.... :)

While Seth was busy showing himself off as the photogenic cousin, Isaac was off to more active endeavors. Fortunately, he found a new friend in Uncle David, who was just as excited as he was to play horsey. And for those of you who know Vance, he wasn't about to let David have all the fun by himself.

Our New Nephew

He certainly won our hearts! Just look at that smile....

We went to the park one morning, and Seth was very busy being cute




Well, we're back from our whirlwind trip to DC, where we tried to visit everyone possible in about 5 days... :) Our real reason for going, though, was to meet our brand new (and first!) nephew, Seth David Bragdon. What a sweetie. Doesn't he have an expressive face?

life at the playground

He was too scared to go down the slide by himself, so we went down with him.

We took a trip to one of the many playgrounds close by so that Isaac could sample the joys of the bigger kids' swings. He absolutely loved it!

aargh!

Today is April 11th. And it's snowing. 2-4 inches projected. I think I need to get out of town, go someplace known for nice warm weather....our trip to DC is looking pretty good (for many reasons, of course :). Snow, snow, go away! Come again some other day.

Swing your partner!

I would describe the event as random, somewhat strange, but lots of fun.

Our other pastor, Mark, and his wife Mary. That would be the do-si-do.

We had a marriage retreat in early March, complete with a square dance. It was quite a sight, let me tell you. In the Cardinals shirt is our pastor, Rick. I don't think he'd ever square danced before :)

playtime at the Whitakers

He's 100% boy, totally in love with anything round that can be thrown.

As soon as it gets even close to warm, we are outside enjoying every bit of it. We took some time to play on the tennis courts behind our house. (less mud, and therefore less laundry:)

Here's Isaac reading one of his favorite books, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" He's a big Eric Carle fan...especially when his books are upside down.

More snow...

I know you may be thinking, "Terri, it's April. Who is interested in snow? Think spring!" I agree. But the truth is, we can't. It's something like 20 degrees today, and we are all pining away for anything approaching warmth. It snowed a few days ago, maybe half an inch. So this is your opportunity to sympathise! :)

Vance and Isaac with our neighbor, Elijah. Notice the extra 9 inches of snow on top of the snowman since I had built it a few days before.





Vance and Isaac taking a little walk in the snow

snow baby

Isaac, being sick, wasn't as excited about the snow as we were, however.

on to more recent things...

Now that I've finally posted Isaac's birthday pictures, I can catch you up on what we've been doing for the past two months. We had a fabulous series of snowstorms in February (at least I think it was February), although Isaac was unfortunately sick through most of it. This snowman was my attempt at getting some exercise after rocking a sick, tired baby all day. My first snowman ever built all by myself! (Note the appropriate use of Vance's atrocious mad bomber hat)

one last January photo

That is one satisfied customer...

first cupcake......

blowing out his birthday candle....

thoroughly enjoying his first cupcake!

more birthday pictures

Hallelujah, my friends...thanks to high speed internet, you will now see more (and more frequent) pictures. Here's one of Isaac's birthday treat--I stayed up half the night to bake and frost alphabet sugar cookies....

pictures pending....

Belated Birthday Pictures

Sorry I didn't post these earlier, friends. The one-year birthday celebration gang: the Saari's and Aunt Beth. Note the Isaac-as-Bono look.

Our good friends and neighbors, Nick, Alicia, and Caleb, giving Isaac their own special version of "Happy Birthday to You". It was a special moment, you guys.

brush, brush, brush

Thanks to our dentist neighbor Nick, we have a whole set of baby stage toothbrushes for Isaac. We've recently let him brush on his own, and he loves it. "Brush brush brush!" I say, and hand him his toothbrush. Sometimes he cries when I take the toothbrush back. I have one cavity, Vance has none....we're hoping for a good dental record starting early!

date night

I know you all have probably been wondering if Vance and I are still around, after all of these pictures of Zack. We are, and we're doing well. Here's a shot of us at the Winter Carnival last week. Although it was less spectacular than we were hoping for, there were some neat ice sculptures......and it was the "coolest carnival on earth"...judging from my toes, at least, which I couldn't feel after about 45 minutes. Here we are at the Ice Maze :)

room to grow

Isaac's shoe, Uncle AJ's shoe....any questions?

our sweet sleeping boy

he never slept like this as a newborn, but now that he's older, he's a napping pro (at least some of the time)...hurray for 2 hour naps!

new camera, new pictures

one of the (many) new pictures I've been taking with my Christmas present from Vance....uploading is another story :)

Cheryl Lynn Stolldorf

October 28, 1959 - December 5, 2006

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:21