Underground Nuclear Test Site

Moving On!

2008-07-21T21:02:00.003-04:00

We are leaving our underground nuclear test site and heading elsewhere. Should you want to continue on our little journey, please email jmbollman@yahoo.com, let me know who you are and we will send you the new blog address. This is our attempt to keep our blog semi-private. Thanks, and hope to see you soon!

Our little musician

2008-04-09T10:52:00.003-04:00

I really should be packing and cleaning this morning...However, Moriah has made it difficult to focus and instead I want to sit from afar and watch,listen and enjoy the exceptional mood she is in. She has been all over the house singing and dancing and making up stories to books. She is in rare form as you can see from this video clip. This is just a preview of what has been taking place since 6 this morning. This is her interpretation of Old McDonaldS and Father NAbraham...

Wedding Bells

2008-04-06T21:43:00.007-04:00

Lovin' Moriah's genuine smile!

We had the honor of attending Emily and Shane's wedding last week. Technically Emily is my sister-in-law's sister-in-law...ie. Luke's (Jamie's husband's) sister. It was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. Moriah was completely mesmerized, infatuated, and overcome with joy. Her eyes were on Emily at all times and she cherished the moments when Emily so generously stopped what she was doing to pick her up, dance with her, or set her on her lap. Moriah spent the majority of the night on the dance floor twirling and spinning. The little boys wanted so badly to dance with her but she wasn't interested! Way to go Mo! I only wish I would have taken more pictures, but truth be told, I was too busy enjoying the wedding myself!

Luke in the background is looking like a very proud brother!

A cute video clip I caught...

Happy Easter

2008-03-25T22:03:00.012-04:00

What a treat it was to have Lona and Luiz come for the long holiday weekend! Jer and I needed the down time and the girls needed some undivided attention. We did it all - went to the zoo, decorated easter eggs, ate great food, and still found time to relax and hang out. Thanks for making the trip Meme and Giichan, and for bringing the easter bunny with you! We love you!

FUN! Easter Baskets!

On a mission to find some easter eggs...

After finding all her hidden easter eggs, Moriah insisted on peeling the shells off ALL of them.

At the Zoo...

Meme and Giichan bring the girls new spring clothes...time to play dress up!

Luiz teaching Jeremy a thing or two on the guitar

Buds.

Okay, Okay, enough waiting already!

2008-03-25T14:41:00.006-04:00

Our Big news I spoke of in our last post??? We are moving! (Again, *sigh*) Where, you ask? Boone, North Carolina. Why, you ask? Because moving is what we do best. No, not really. Jeremy has scored an AWESOME job with Mountain Lumber Company, one we couldn't refuse. FINALLY, we can see ourselves committing long term to a company and a town (*sigh*). Since breaking the news to friends and family I've heard nothing but good about the area - beautiful, very outdoorsy (skiing, hiking, white water rafting, fishing), great schools (second in the state), a great company to work for (received the Employer of the Year award from the chamber of commerce), a lot offered through Appalachian State University (for you football fans, they were the no-name school who beat Michigan in the season opener this past year), etc...

When will this be taking place, you ask? It already is! Jeremy started working last week. The girls and I are making a slow transition over the course of the next few months. We will be temporarily renting a 2 bedroom basement-apartment that the manager of the Mountain Lumber so kindly offered at a great price. Since housing is completely UNaffordable out there (the locals first question is "Are you looking for a first home or a second?), we are considering the option of building, which would be a dream come true for us.

And that, my friends, sums up the most recent excitement in our lives. I realize it is hard to keep up with us (literally) as we've moved one too many times. In the coming weeks our address and phone number will change - I will send a mass email out with our new contact info. You can still reach us at jmbollman@yahoo.com.

The Madelyn Madeleine

2008-03-12T19:50:00.010-04:00

Lots of changes going on lately. Lots. Through it all the girls remain the same lovable, adorable, wonderful children we can't seem to get enough of. Madelyn turned ONE yesterday! Looking back, what a great year! We have so much to look forward to. Soon Madelyn will officially have teeth. Right now her top two and bottom two are just barely poking through. To mark her first birthday she officially started (Real) crawling. She loves to be outside. She points to the door, waves her hands, and says "Dye Dye".

More BIG news to come in the next post...(no, we're not having another baby)....

A trip to the park

2008-02-26T15:05:00.009-05:00

The girls enjoyed a lovely trip to the park this past weekend. It is one of our favorites about 15 minutes from Winston in Kernersville. The ground is made of rubber mulch which is definitely a plus - no sand to brush off the girls.

I can't tell who is more scared? I don't think Maddie has quite figured out what is about to happen.

Moriah is a bit excited...can you tell she REALLY loves her sister?

I'm so proud of Mo. Just 3 weeks ago I could barely get her to go down the slide on her own. Everytime we went to the park, she would steer clear of the slides...which left for swinging, and more swinging. Finally 2 weeks ago she watched Claire (who is 17 months) go down on her own which convinced her that maybe she too could do it! That same day at the park I looked for Mo and found her dangling from one of the openings of the playground equipment, about 4 feet in the air. Another mom and I quick ran to catch her from falling to the ground. The mother commented, "Saw that coming." Not me. Mo just started sliding - how was I to know she'd take up bungee jumping the same day?

Porcupines

2008-02-24T18:05:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day - we sat out in the backyard for an hour before packing a picnic and heading to the park. While outside Moriah was concerned about Madelyn playing in the grass. "Is it porky on Maddie's toes?" Porky? Jeremy looked at me and said "prickly" and I guessed "pokey". An hour later while driving the topic came up again. "Dad (Moriah now calls Jer dad although we prefer the endearing term Papa), the grass is porky like porkypines!" Aha! That explains it!

More pictures from the park to come soon...

2008-02-21T08:41:00.009-05:00

Last weekend we took a trip to the Raleigh Children's Museum and boy was it worth it! Moriah had a blast. Tons of hands-on activities, craft stations, and exploratory toys. They even had a special exhibit on the lives of Japanese children - everything from their classrooms to their bedrooms. I was very impressed with how much they invested into this exhibit. It brought back tons of memories - not that I lived this day to day, moreso just being exposed to it on a regular basis. Part of me wondered if the girls would ever experience what I did growing up or ever get to know the familiar sights, sounds and smells of where Jeremy and I met and spent a year of our lives together.

Snow Day

2008-02-19T19:35:00.006-05:00

Last Wednesday night we unexpectedly got 2.5 inches of snow so we took advantage of it Thursday morning while it lasted. Believe it or not, all the snow you see melted by late Thursday afternoon. We went over to my friend Emilie's house to play with her daughter Claire. Luckily their backyard is part of an old golf course, which makes for great improv diaper bag sledding.

Fun video clips of the girls.

When I'm Bigger

2008-02-18T08:15:00.002-05:00

A recent conversation Moriah and Jamie had at the dinner table:

Moriah: What's in your dinner?
Jamie: Chicken, potatoes, onions...
Moriah: I don't like onions.
Jamie: I didn't like onions either when I was little. Now that I'm bigger, I do. Maybe you'll like onions when you are bigger.
Moriah: Oh. Jamie, do you like rice season? (She is talking about furikake, a common seasoning Japanese people sprinkle over thier rice. Definitely an acquired taste and surprisingly Mo loves it.)
Jamie: No, I don't like it.
Moriah: Well, maybe when you get bigger you will like it.

Hello. How Are You? Goodbye.

2008-02-17T21:11:00.015-05:00

Whenever Moriah has a pretend conversation on the phone it goes like this: "Hello, How are you?, Goodbye." It lasts maybe 4 seconds. It kind of feels like our recent visit with my parents which lasted all of 18 hours. They flew in last Friday afternoon with the intention of staying 10 days, however a family emergency came up and they had to fly back to Michigan the following morning. As you can tell from the pictures we made the best of the few waking hours we had. I love the (unstaged) shots of Moriah smiling - so genuine, so real.

A common pose for Madelyn: Point in the direction she wishes to go

Skating in the kitchen rink

I love the way Maddie looks in this picture-

Maddie is very talented with her feet

Moriah's "heart hurt" when we dropped Bachaan and Opa off at the airport.

It was very interesting watching Mom interact with the girls. For the first time I realized, and Jeremy pointed it out too, I am much more like my mom than I ever imagined. As she played with Moriah it suddenly occurred to me that twenty-four years ago she was doing the same things with me...the very things I am now doing with Moriah. Thanks Setsuko-Mama! You've passed down some great qualities that help me enjoy being a mother to my two wonderful girls.

2008-02-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

The body language says it all...

Home

2008-02-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

A little overdue. Here are pics of the house. This is definitely the most "homey" a home has felt to us. We'd love to get some more artwork on the walls - all in good time.

Downstairs bathroom

Master Closet. It keeps going, and going, and going. I didn't know what to fill it with, so I decided to keep the girls' clothes in here too. Who has time to go up and down stairs delivering laundry?

Master bath

Girls' Bathroom
Office/Guest room

Pottery Shed
In case you are wondering, that red pot on the grill is our compost pot. Jeremy and Moriah have a compost area in the far backyard that is coming along beautifully. Should make for some good all-natural-fertilizer for our garden in the spring.

Happy Groundhogs Day!

2008-02-02T16:16:00.000-05:00

...and speaking of shadows, we seem to have one with us here constantly. Moriah loves to be in the same room as us. Always. She usually wants to be doing whatever it is I'm doing. It is great to have help with the mundane tasks such as emptying the dishwasher, doing laundry or making the bed. Other times she just wants to be in the same room. Several months ago I was replacing all the outlet covers downstairs and Mo was quite content playing with her basket of toys. Soon, I noticed she would pack up her basket and move as I moved. She kept her distance, always about 3 feet behind me. I took her all over the house, and as long as I didn't complain about having a shadow, she didn't complain about unpacking and packing her toys. Then there are the times when I need just a few minutes to myself. Moriah and I have started calling this "Mama Time".

Today Jeremy got to experience the need for "Papa Time". He had a few things that he had to get done around the house quickly this morning. Moriah was all over the place - back and forth, trying to keep up with him. Finally, Jeremy very sternly said, "Moriah, please stop following me." Then he looked over at me and asked, "Is this what it is like?" Yup. Mo was a little sensitive and started to pout, but quickly regained her composure, came back to Jeremy and said, "I'm sorry you yelled at me."

Then there is Madelyn, who is still very self-sufficient. Given the opportunity, she will grab one of Moriah's books and hide under the foot stool!

One of our activities this week was to make Moriah an art desk. Making art projects seems to keep Moriah well occupied for long periods of time. We encourage this in our household!

Home for the Week

2008-01-30T08:43:00.000-05:00

Our van has petered out. Thankfully it lasted long enough for the very hungry, tired girls and I to make it home on Monday afternoon. (One of my worst fears is getting stranded on the side of the road with the girls). It turns out we need a transmission, a costly decision we are thinking over. In the meantime we will try to think up some fun activities to do during the day so we don't get cabin fever.

Cute things Mo has said lately:

*We had good friends over for dinner last week. Moriah ate a ton of couscous, a food I'm not sure she's had yet. When she asked what it was we said "Couscous" and she kept asking "Why are there two of them?". The next morning I asked what we had for dinner the previous night and she said, "Cous".

*Instead of mustache, Moriah calls it a "lipstache".

*Moriah has a couple different ways she says/means to say "forget". Here are a few examples: "Don't get-for your keys." "Mom, you for-got-for to give me some milk."

2008-01-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

Madelyn is learning about rhythm and control. In the end, she reverts back to her version of "peek-a-boo"

So Close

2008-01-23T20:23:00.000-05:00

The closest Madelyn has gotten to getting on her knees. This is a good first attempt...

Rainy Day Activities

2008-01-22T17:16:00.000-05:00

The weather here is blah. Overcast, COLD, no snow, occasional rain showers. I'm sure if I got the girls bundled up we'd last all of 7 minutes. When Moriah wants to REALLY go outside she pitches it to us like this: "Can I go outside and get some energy out?" On days when she can't get her energy out outdoors, we like to play hopscotch.

Toy Boat

2008-01-22T16:34:00.000-05:00

Moriah and I decided we would give book illustrating a try. I love Moriah's details - and she always points out that her little boy does not have a string attached from the boat to his finger. In the book, he let go of the string and the boat floated away.

Multipurpose Cardboard Roll

2008-01-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

Moriah and I have an ongoing game we like to play...we think up different uses for this roll and write them on it. Here are a few examples we've come up with.

Fire Hose
Cast
Telescope
Horse
Telephone
Walking Stick
Paint Can
Car Tunnel

Paw Prints

2008-01-17T13:05:00.000-05:00

"I'm making paw prints!"

Finally! Winter has arrived. All last night they were predicting snow and sleet. The plan this morning was to take Moriah out to play once Madelyn went down for her nap. Then plans changed. I looked out the window to see rain, and lots of it. The snow was quickly turning to mush. Who knows when we'll get another good snow again...I got Moriah dressed as fast as I could and sent her out. Only problem was her mittens were nowhere to be found. So, off she went until I could find the next best thing to mittens...

Mom- have you found anything for my hands yet?

My temporary solution: Papa's work gloves.

Moriah walking backwards so that she could watch herself making paw prints.

Really, it was more like Moriah got to play in the rain.

"Mom, it is a beautiful day!"

Moriah putting her soaking wet gloves in the dryer.

Ah ha! An even better solution: Papa's thickest pair of socks!

"Look Mom, I'm skiing!"

Moriah told me she wanted "those things" (skis) like in the cartoons. This was the best I could do given my limited resources and time.

"Ooohh, I'm so cold."

Where's Madelyn?

2008-01-13T22:22:00.000-05:00

2008-01-13T21:28:00.000-05:00

Playing in the Mud

2008-01-12T15:06:00.002-05:00

Recently we converted a small storage room attached to the house into a pottery. Jeremy spent some time with Moriah this afternoon playing in the clay.

Can't believe I actually caught this on video:
Moriah is using a sponge to keep the clay moist...

Racing

2008-01-10T19:26:00.000-05:00

6 o'clock rolled around tonight, a time when Jeremy normally spends with the girls. Instead the phone rang and Jeremy was consumed for the time being. Quick, I had to come up with something to do with Moriah, something that would engage her, something we hadn't done yet today. To my dismay Moriah hasn't really taken interest in cars (and me having been a tomboy, had trouble with the excess of dolls, princesses and pink) until tonight. Moriah had a blast racing cars with me! I loved it. Then Papa came along, and of course was a better race car player than me. His engineering skills came in handy and the two built a race car ramp...

Big Girl Apples

2008-01-09T10:17:00.000-05:00

So close to getting out the door this morning with the girls...instead, I laid Maddie down for a nap. She will gladly take two naps a day, but doesn't always get the chance to because we are out and about. She didn't sleep much yesterday (I think she is FINALLY teething) and so I knew she would be extra tired today. I still don't feel any teeth cutting through but it is WELL past time for her to get some teeth! That's right, she turns 10 months in 2 days and the girl is "gumming" all her food.

Moriah was kind of bummed we didn't go out this morning seeing as she has been sick and we haven't gotten out much lately. I convinced her to keep a "sparkling attitude" as her Uncle Luke would call it and that we'd get some special Mama-Momo time in. We sat down to read a new children's bible we got for Christmas from one of her cousins:

We have other bibles that have served their purpose while Mo was younger - full of great pictures and with paraphrased stories. Moriah is to the point where she can sit down for extended periods of time and listen to books. And so, we began with the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. For the most part I think she understood it - the book does a great job of explaining in children's terms w/o dumbing down the stories. Once the story was done Moriah said in response to Eve eating the forbidden fruit, "I eat BIG girl apples, I don't eat them from the tree."

What are YOU funny about?

2008-01-08T15:49:00.001-05:00

Whenever Moriah hears us laugh and wants to know why, she asks, "What are you funny about?"

Christmas morning Moriah came downstairs and upon seeing all the wrapped presents said, "Look Papa, the Elves have the same paper as we do!"

Common words Moriah inserts the letter B into: Bee-tatoes (potatoes); Bee-sign (design); Bee-sghetti (Spaghetti); aaBeecado (avocado); Bee-tend (pretend)

Bippity - Boppity - Boo

2008-01-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

Mo LOVES to play dress-up. This is papa's latest creation...

This morning Mo said to me, "Mom, let's play dress-up. I'm going to turn you into an ARG." And so, a pirate I became.

Torn

2008-01-07T13:58:00.000-05:00

Oh, what to do!? Moriah has been sick for the past few days, leaving me worn out and with little patience. Both girls are finally down for naps and I am torn between taking a nap (only to be rudely awakened to Moriah yelling "MOM, come get me. I'm all done resting!") and trying to stay awake, reading, drinking a cup of coffee and having some MICHELLE time. It's funny- just the other day Moriah and I were playing pretend and she would wave her wand over me to turn me into a princess. When we were through, she waved the wand one last time and said, "And now, I turn you back into a MAMA." It is times like these when I realize so much of my identity is wrapped up in being a mom. Already I can see it will be hard to go through the whole empty nest thing in 20 years. Then again, I'm sure Jeremy will be so excited to have just the two of us in our home, he'll have adventures galore planned. Alright, a decision has been made - I just remembered Jeremy has a meeting after work and will be home late. I'm going to go nap and get some extra rest in preparation for the hours between 4 and 6 pm when babies and mothers seem to struggle most...

2008-01-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

2008-01-05T08:59:00.000-05:00

This is my friend.... His name is Chom Chom.

2008-01-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

Goin' Places...(just not very far)

2008-01-03T15:45:00.000-05:00

The girls and I are taking the week off...no running around, no going from here to there, just hanging out, spending time with each other. We needed a few days to recover from Seattle and get back onto a somewhat normal schedule. Moriah decided that since she wasn't able to go on the airplane trip with us, she would take a trip of her own...

Sister-in-law Amy has recently done a wonderful job blogging and I find myself eagerly checking her website daily for new pics, stories, etc. I thought I'd give it a go and try to keep you-all out there updated on the little daily happenings of our lives.

Today Moriah insisted that while I go into the other room she would "Get an eye on Madelyn". It took me a minute to realize she meant "Keep an eye on Maddie". She has also started using the phrase "Perfectly this" whenever things seem to be going well or as expected.

Yesterday Moriah and I spent the afternoon taking down Christmas decorations. It took a couple minutes to convince Moriah it was okay to put away all of the festive decor and that next year we would do it all over again. For the most part we did a great job working together, except when she started hanging the ornaments BACK on the tree. Even better, she sang Christmas carols the entire time.

Madelyn no longer likes to eat food from a spoon. My home-made-baby-food-making days were rather short lived. Yesterday she had tofu for the first time and seemed to like it...must be the Japanese in her=)

Seattle Sacraments

2008-01-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Michael and Megan. Thanks for everything. What a great trip!!!

A Very Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T16:32:00.000-05:00

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

2007-12-24T23:56:00.000-05:00

2007-12-13T17:12:00.000-05:00

And she's off!

2007-12-12T11:40:00.001-05:00

A Few Random Shots...

2007-12-11T16:04:00.000-05:00

Sisters:

Stretch Break on the way to D.C. for Thanksgiving

Mo loves to rake...

...But after 5 minutes she has lost interest...

...and she is on to bigger, better things.

Family Reunion in South Carolina

2007-12-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

Jeremy's Grandmother Olson moved to South Carolina just before Thanksgiving. We went down to give her a big welcome and to introduce her to her great-grandchildren. The trip started out a bit rough - Maddie and I got sick on the way down (a nice little stomach bug Moriah passed onto us from the previous week, which we passed onto Jamie and Jeremy the following week). However, all ended well as we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather and great company. I had a blast using Luiz's camera which (as you can see) takes incredible photos.

Meme and Mora Racing

2007-11-21T08:03:00.001-05:00

Fish Out of Water

2007-10-30T14:25:00.001-04:00

Feed Me Please Mama!

2007-10-30T12:55:00.000-04:00

and...my personal fav.

and now, for it in real time...

Goat Lady Farm

2007-10-29T11:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we took an afternoon trip to the Goat Lady Dairy Farm, a thriving sustainable farm that has it all: goats, pigs, chickens, a flourishing garden, delicious cheeses and features some of the local artists.

A Simple Girl with Simple Needs

2007-10-27T19:28:00.000-04:00

Things that make me smile...
*Jeremy cooking up a big breakfast for dinner
*a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks
*watching Mo chase squirrels in the backyard
*the way Maddie squints and looks like a mole when she first wakes up
*playing volleyball Monday nights...and winning
*"family weekends"
*trying a new recipe and having it turn out better than expected, then adding it to my new recipe book

My new favorite picture.

2007-10-25T21:51:00.001-04:00

Random thoughts of the Mo

2007-10-24T21:42:00.000-04:00

Moriah decided to share this with me today right in the middle of a very (not-so) focused discipline discussion:

Moriah: Mom, sometimes Margelow (who is actually Marlow, her cousin) gets grumfy (grumpy).
Me: Oh yeah, what does grumfy mean?
Moriah: It means she needs to eat a sandwich and take a nap.

You Are Forgiven: Lessons Learned from a 3 Year Old with a Big Heart

2007-10-22T22:49:00.000-04:00

Moriah: Mom, I'm sorry for not listening.
Me: I forgive you.
Moriah: I forgive you too.
Me: ?...I'm sorry too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moriah: "I love you anyways."

Happy Birthday Baachan Branderhorst!!

2007-10-21T13:45:00.000-04:00

Making the Best of it...

2007-10-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

Last week Jeremy's sister, Amy, came to visit with her kids. Moriah had a blast with Marlow, who is 2 months older than her. The two girls were left at the house while the adults and older kids watched Grandpa butcher 2 of Keith's roosters. I willingly (and gladly) volunteered to stay and watch the girls. At first Marlow and Moriah were disappointed they couldn't be with everyone, but disappointment quickly turned to laughter as the two began to entertain each other...

Mama-Momo-Maddie Time

2007-10-18T16:25:00.000-04:00

Moriah Turns 3!

2007-10-15T15:04:00.000-04:00

Check out pics of Moriah's birthday party. Can you believe it??...our little girl has turned three!

A continuation of knock-knock...

2007-10-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

Moriah: Mom, let's play knock knock.
Me: Okay, Knock Knock.
Moriah: A cow.
Me: ........(uh, moo?)

Rolley-Polley Giggling Girl

2007-09-25T15:08:00.000-04:00

2007-09-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

The promise of another soccer player - Check out Maddie's foot-eye coordination!

"There Are Seven Days"

2007-09-21T21:23:00.002-04:00

It is hard to tell from these videos that Madelyn is at all vocal, especially when she is up against Moriah. I am loving this Google Video feature so you are sure to get some more footage, hopefully of Maddie making some noise.

"Once Upon a Dream"

2007-09-21T21:23:00.001-04:00

Moriah LOVES to dress up in her princess dresses and sing and dance. Even more, Madelyn LOVES to watch Moriah.

Say "AAAHHHH"

2007-09-21T20:30:00.000-04:00

These first couple shots are of Madelyn's first experience with solids. Really, it wasn't as bad as some of her facial expressions made it look. By the third bite she couldn't get her mouth open wide enough.

Moriah calls these, and any other cotton shorts for that matter, her soccer shorts. She loves to go outside and kick a half inflated rubber ball up and down the yard. She has already shown signs of being a skilled soccer player, which most likely comes from the Branderhorst in her.

*She also calls any long sleeve shirt resembling a sweatshirt a "sweaty shirt"
*Me: "Knock Knock"
Moriah: "Who's Home?"

Our Many Thanks...

2007-09-16T21:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I got to witness my parents in a way I've never seen, or perhaps taken the time to appreciate in the past. They came for the first 9 days in September, just as we were finishing moving from one house to the next. Their timing was perfect and I only wish it could have lasted longer. Individually they had no needs or wants of their own - their sole purpose was to help and serve us - whether that meant painting, cooking, cleaning, unpacking or spending time with the girls. Dad managed to paint (after applying a coat of primer first, of course) the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, living room and toy closet. Mom spent every waking minute with the girls and even found time to cook all the meals. Words can't express our gratitude and the tremendous help you have been mom and dad - know that we take to heart all that you do for us!

A Series of Fortunate Events

2007-08-04T16:54:00.000-04:00

The last two months have been rather exciting and full of changes for us. The way things have come together goes far beyond mere coincidence, many including us would call it the favor of God. Allow me to explain in further detail.......

Two months ago Jeremy put his resume up on career builder to see whether any better opportunities in his field (Engineered Wood Specialist or EWP) were available. In less than 24 hours he received calls from 3 recruiters, all drilling him with the same questions and giving him the same blah-blah-blah schpeel. The 3rd recruiter, let's call him Chris, is by far the worst and goes on to tell Jeremy he will never be able to find a job making as much money as Jeremy thought he deserved with the few years experience he had. After hanging up the phone with Chris, Jeremy decided to call it quits and took his resume off the internet.

The very next morning Chris calls back saying he has found a position in High Point with Builders First Source (BFS) and would Jeremy be available for an interview that week? It turns out the day before Jeremy posted his resume, the head of BFS's Engineered Wood Department put in his two weeks notice. Within the week Jeremy has an offer on the table to be BFS's next EWP specialist with a base pay increase and guaranteed commission.

Jeremy designing floor systems on houses all day does not help the case of "house fever" he has had since we have been married. We've lived in some pretty interesting places (cottage, professor's basement, apartments, his grandparents', more and more apartments and currently a beautiful home we are housesitting/renting) all for which we are extremely grateful. God's provision of homes has never stopped Jeremy from continuing to look for land to build on or for homes for sale. Within the last few weeks I have decided to get on board and entertain the thought of getting a place of our own.

Three weeks ago while visiting friends we noticed a small house for sale (House A) just across the street from them. We peeked in and though it needed work, it was reasonably priced. Already the cost had dropped $10K since it was first listed, what a deal! We decide to drive around the neighborhood to see what it was like and came across a nicer home still in our price range (House B) that was having an open house that Sunday. After church we pile the kids in the car and convince Barb to come with us. Well, House B was cute, cute, cute - but just not right for us. As we are heading back to the car Barb flags me down - she has walked two houses down to the neighbors (House C) who happens to be selling as well and asks if they too are having an open house. No, they were not, but we were invited in to check it out anyway. House C was by far my favorite but a little too expensive. Nonetheless, I walked through the house admiring the less-than-3-year-old appliances, great fenced in backyard with playground, huge bedrooms and so forth. Barb comes to me and says, "I've just given your contact info to the owners, would you like theirs as well?" Sure why not, I don't want to seem rude.

Five days later House A has dropped another $10K. At this point the house is listed under 100K and investors/flippers are likely to snatch it up and flip it. We get in for a showing and put in a bid that Thursday afternoon. Two offers are to follow that day and a bidding war has begun. We decide not to get carried away - if this house was meant for us, great. If not, we can't wait to see what better offer is awaiting us. The weekend rolls around with no word from the agent. Sunday afternoon Maude (the owner of the home we are currently renting) stops over for a visit. Maude is home for 6 weeks from China where she teaches English. She informs us that she is going to be putting her house on the market come October. Not to worry we tell her, we have some things in the works and hopefully House A will be ours within the month.

Monday morning rolls around and still no word on the deal. I come home mid afternoon and there is a message on the machine - it is our new friend, the homeowner of House C, saying they will be taking the house off the market and would we be interested in renting or perhaps buying for $7K less than they were asking? Basically all the owners wanted was to pay off their current mortgage - they weren't looking to make a cent off the deal. Later that afternoon we are informed that House A went to a higher bidder. We get to thinking- hmmm, what if we rent House C for one year at which point we decide whether we want to buy it, and if so have all our rent $ go towards the cost of the house? This will give us the opportunity to get our feet wet with the whole "home ownership" deal, find out just how much we like the house and the neighborhood without making the commitment of buying. Jeremy calls and the owners agree to the win-win deal. Last night we signed the contract and plan to move in September 1.

And there you have it folks, a series of fortunate events! We have truly been blessed.

Our first house.... almost.

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Last night we signed a 1 year lease with option to buy. We will move in September 1st and hope to purchase the house in 2008. Details to come.

Michigan June 07

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Last month the girls and I took a trip to Michigan to attend my cousin Beth's wedding. Moriah was the flower girl, wearing Beth's dress from when she was a flower girl at the age of 3. This was Moriah's first debut and we were proud that she made it down the aisle, regardless of the fact that she forgot to throw the flowers (oops!). The plan was for Jeremy to fly in midweek to attend, but his flight was canceled and therefore could not make it for the festivities. So, I was left to fly both ways with the girls with a connection in Chicago. People looked at me as though I were crazy for taking on such a task with two young ones. Those of you with kids know what I'm talking about when you walk onto an airplane and everyone gives you the look, "Man, I sure do hope she isn't sitting next to me with kids who are sure to cry and interrupt my less-than-comfortable nap." The girls ended up doing great, surprising me and all the fellow passengers on our flights.

Above is a slideshow of the wedding and the week we spent with family. This was the first time in over 4 years that my parents, three brothers and I have been together since my wedding. Moriah was a little confused at first and called all of my brothers "Uncle John", unable to differentiate between the three. I must give credit to Kyle Bultman, the photographer of the first 33 shots of the slide show. He is my cousin Katie's boyfriend and an excellent photographer. He managed to capture great shots and I can't thank him enough for sharing his work with me (and you). Be sure to check out more of his work or order prints through him at: Bultman Photography & Bultman Blog

Long Overdue....Memorial Day Weekend at Meme and Gichan's

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Jeremy did a great job putting together this slideshow - be sure your volume is on

Fun in the Sun

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Life in the World of Momo and Maddie

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*Moriah has been "poop-trained" for nearly a year and a half...as of last week she is now fully potty trained. It turned out to be easier than I expected, making me wish I would have exerted the effort far sooner. All it took was one day of wetting her pants outside multiple times and having to stop playing, come inside, get washed up, and change clothes before returning to play. Moriah figured out real quick that if she went potty on the toilet her playtime would last longer.

*Moriah-isms: i did it all-my-by-myself; what is that color is that?; what are you are doing?; mom, what are you thinking about?; play-doh = "clay-doh"; moriah still tells me once a day "Happy Mother's Day"; the only color she never mistakes - brown; restaurant = runtaurant; "i can do anything i need"; after Moriah has had a time out, she will say "I am ready to be sweet now"; if it seems like we are arguing or if we raise our voices, she will interject "hey, be nice to each other"

*Moriah's favorite things to do: playing the piano and singing made-up songs, gardening, emptying the dishwasher, reading books while going potty, running (preferably with you right next to or behind her), singing Barney songs, going to church "to go see Jesus," and of course playing with the aunties.

*When Madelyn is tired there are two things that will always satisfy her: a good swaddle and sucking at least three of her fingers (we have Jamie J to thank for that).

...more to come soon for Madelyn. Right now her days are filled with eating and naps. She has become much more responsive and smiles quite a bit. There are times when she looks as though she wants to belly laugh but hasn't figured out how to. Instead, she just gives us a big cheeser and kicks her legs as fast as she can.

A few images for the Farmsick.

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Montreat College Class of 2007

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On Saturday, May 12th, we all went to Grant's Graduation in Black Mountain, N.C. Congratulations Grant, we look forward to having you home this year.

life is beautiful...

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This past Saturday after our breakfast ritual I got Moriah dressed and took her outside to play and take pictures. Out of 150 shots this is my favorite. Looking back I can't really remember an intentional decision to capture this moment. To me this picture illustrates everything wonderful and great about youth. When I look at this picture it makes me happy.

Angel

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Family Shoot...

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Madelyn

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Two weeks in pictures...

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Mo Knows Baseball

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Moriah and Madelyn

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"MoMo, wake UP! Come play with me!"

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Easter Sunday at Miller Park

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Saturday morning photo shoot.

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Moriah

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Madelyn

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This is how we get Moriah to Cheese REAL BIG!

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Wyatt's Birthday Bash

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This past weekend we went to Moriah and Maddie's first birthday party. Good times were had by all!

A week with the Branderhorst

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We had a great time last week with Michelle’s family. They came for 10 days of food, NCAA basketball, babies, malts, running, playing at the park, and enjoying 80 degree weather after a harsh winter in Michigan. There are a ton of pictures here, but I had to sort through about 3 ton of pictures to post the best ones and I am sure there are a few I missed. Sorry if it took forever to load the webpage. Michelle’s Mom cooked up a storm. Featured below is our Saturday night blow-out feast with tempura, panko fish an’ shrimp, gyoza, clams, and veggies. If you were not here you missed out! On Friday Michelle’s brother John made a surprise visit from San Francisco. Read more about this on his site. After taking Michelle’s parents to the airport we got to spend the afternoon with John eating, shopping, and drinking coffee. It was an eventful week to say the least. Thank you Gary, Setsuko, and John for everything; we love you guys and will miss you!

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Stretching with Papa

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3 Generations

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Flower Girl

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4th of July Park

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Nuclear Family

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Opa

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Baa-chan

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itadakimasu (An expression said prior to eating a meal, means "I will receive.")

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For those of you who wondered if Maddie did anything other than sleep.

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Moriah and Uncle John

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Mo's New Hat...

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Sleeping Babe...

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Moriah and a Daffodil

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Relaxing with Maddie

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