happy weekend!

{apologies for being absent from the blogging world for so long...we're outside away from the computer most of the time these days...thanks for checking back in!} 

{hello first strawberry of the season....}

and a few funnies for the weekend....

sweet silas' latest version of sharing with kai...

...and kai indulging in her space...apparently she thinks she has a lot of stretching to do to make up for her years in our russian apartment...

and last but certainly certainly not least, today is my baby's 2 and a half year birthday!  my how the time does fly.....

with all our hearts, we love you silas!!!

kadence faith

{cathey, me, charlene, kristen {and kadence!}}

kadence faith is the miracle who came into our lives and our family on december 27.  my niece, {tim's sister's daughter}kristen, gave birth to kadence the day before her own birthday...

i want to write this post not only in celebration of kadence's life, but in honor of kristen, the amazing woman that she is, the mom she is becoming and the child of God who is being molded and shaped by her daughter on a moment to moment basis.

on october 2 when kristen went to her doctor for a standard check up to find out her baby's gender, they discovered that kadence has spina bifida and hydrocephalus.  kristen had the opportunity to join a research group out in california so her and her mom {cathey}moved their life out to san fran for a little while for kadence.  in this research group, she was placed into a sub group where an inutero surgery was done on kadence to fix the place on her spine where her spinal cord was coming out...

weeks passed...cathey took care of kristen, i know they laughed a lot, they decorated her hospital room with christmas, monitored kadence, had good days and bad days...

and kadence took her first breath on december 27th, just in time for her momma's birthday on december 28th.

and everyday since has been a unique day, i know.  kadence has had good days and bad days but she is progressively getting stronger and healthier, like we all are hopefully...

they will be home from san fran soon hopefully, and i can't wait to hug them and love on them and get to know kadence, and get to know the "mom" side of kristen.

kristen, i am so proud of you and the way you are walking through this life change as you fall deeper in love with your daughter and your God.  i know there is joy and pain and questions and laughter and awe-struck-ness and tears and exhaustion and good things and hard things.  you are never alone!

love you!

extreme makeover home edition in tulsa, again!

and simmons is building, again!  simmons are the ones who are building our house {almost done!} and we are pretty big fans of theirs.  and next week, for the third time, simmons is building a house on extreme makeover home edition!

and if you are around, you can be a part because they are looking for volunteers to help.  anytime between january 28 and february 3 you can do anything from handing out snacks and drinks to electrical to plumbing to carpentry to loading and unloading to miscellaneous {do you think they would let me do ty's make-up?}... if you are interested you can click here to get more info and fill out a volunteer form.

our walk-through was moved up to this afternoon {yay!} so we got the scoop...they need volunteers and from what they were saying, {and from what i can imagine} it would be a really fun and meaningful thing to be a part of for a family here in tulsa who needs it.  what a cool way to be the body of Christ in action.

tomorrow {jan 19} at university of tulsa at 930am is the community pep rally...

maybe we'll see you there...

you've come a long way baby!

 september 17, 2009

 

 october 28, 2009

 

 november 12, 2009

 

 december 18, 2009

 

 january 16, 2010

final walk through: january 19

closing/start moving: january 27

{dear house, we can't wait to live in you!}

 

{oh and of course we had to document our first meal in the house...taco bueno tacos...yum}

haiti

my heart just breaks for what happened and is happening in haiti. some ways you can help from wherever you are include...

jesus in haiti

worldvision

samaritans purse

or text HAITI to 90999 and $10 will go the red cross for earthquake relief. {that will show up on your next bill} every bit helps.

everyday things

sometimes i think that i love my life too much...

its the little things. and the big things.

a few mornings ago silas and i were in walmart and an older man who worked there was stocking shelves. he had a big belly and a long white beard. silas is 2. you know what is coming. silas shouts in a booming voice, tiny finger pointing at the man...

"santa claus!!!"

i'm trying to not laugh too loud as i try to push the cart on and tell silas that that is not santa claus, but just a man who works at walmart.

he's sure about what he sees.

"no, that santa claus!"

a few minutes later "santa claus" was stocking shelves on the isle we were on. silas leans around me and says in the voice most filled with wonderment....

"hi santa claus. hi santa claus. hi santa claus..." {on repeat}

"santa claus" never acknowledged silas, but another customer stopped as asked me if that was indeed what he was saying, and she walked away laughing. i heard her laughing several isles over, too.

only minutes later on the cereal isle, an unsuspecting customer walks by us to grab his grape nuts off the shelf...and we would have just gone on, but it was early in the morning and this guy was still wearing his bright blue pajama pants covered in bright yellow smiling faced moons...

"mama, he in pajamas!!!"

silas yells this, perfectly clear, not just in that tongue that only parents could understand.

the man looks at me, obviously embarrassed and i can only laugh and explain that 2 year olds call it like they see it. fortunately this guy had a good sense of humor.


{the jokester himself pretending to sleep in the laundry basket as i write this....}

i will not take these things for granted

i am thankful for...

: my God
: tim
: my marriage
: silas
: my whole family
: health
: tims job
: the fact that my parents are still in love
: my siblings {by blood and marriage}
: sun
: rain
: getting to watch silas learn new things everyday
: plenty of food
: deep relationships
: developing relationships
: a home
: warm water
: electricity
: pumpkin pudding
: a car
: good soil
: imagination
: inspiration
: my favorite sweatshirt
: world perspective
: good conversation
: laughter
: tears
: clean drinking water

and so much more...

what are you thankful for?

{happy thanksgiving day!}

what a difference 17 months makes...

{summer 2008}



{fall 2009}


time keeps passing...trying to be present in these moments...they go by so fast!

{both photos taken by an amazing artist, erin conrad - thank you erin for these sweet moments captured!}

easy like saturday morning

oh the joy that comes from....

playing with plastic numbers...

eating lunch outside...

and playing in leaves...





simple is sweet.

the many faces of silas jack

sad

mad

pensive

surprised

happy

did you know that pouring skills directly correlate with reading skills?

neither did i. learning things like this is just one of the many many many joys that comes from living with my parents while our house is being built. thanks mom.

things like that, and binary math. thanks dad.

i'm so proud of my tulsa runner!

{almost finished!}


{cathey and tim at the finish line after the run}

good job tim and cathey on completing the 15k tulsa run!!! well done!



{the tulsa run is one of our favorite things about a tulsa fall...this year silas and i cheered tim and cathey {one of tim's sisters} on at the finish line...and it was a beautiful day.}

buy fair trade

trade as one's mission is to "use sustainable business to break cycles of poverty and dependency in the developing world"....this video is a great two minute education on what its all about.

lets take care of each other!

its the great pumpkin...silas

i have looked forward to taking silas to the pumpkin patch for as long as i can remember...so today we took our inaugural trip of the season {more trips and more pictures to come, of course}. big pumpkins, little pumpkins, mud, baby goats and ducks and pigs to pet, mud, hay bales to climb on, popcorn, mud, caramels, a camel to ride {yes, a camel}...and sunshine!









in other exciting life news, tim has started his job as the manager of fitness together!!! we are so thrilled for this opportunity, where tim's natural strengths and passions in life connect directly to the job he'll be doing each day!

also, ground has been broken to build our house! depending on the weather, we could be in by mid-january!

happy first day of "school" sweet boy!!!

{first first day of school pic}
{wow}
{"school" aka a few hours each week at our church in his mother's day out class}

hello again.

its been so long!

in a very serious attempt to transition well from moscow to tulsa {still very much in transition and it is sweet and good}, blogging didn't even make it to the back burner but got pushed off the back of the stove. but i do enjoy this online public journal, keeping up with friends around the world {and downstairs, mom and dad!} so i wanted to pick up where i left off in a sense, here.

life is good.

last i blogged, dear granny, lucille wiley had gone home to be with the Lord. we celebrate her life daily, miss her and love her so much. she is whole and without any aches and pains now!

i struggle to even know what to type to fill in the blogging hole from the last two months...i'm still catching up on pics on picasa, so check that out too.

i'll give the short version of the last two months here...and the longer version with details {lots of details...i love the details!} maybe over coffee or tea? or on the phone/skype while we both drink coffee or tea?

we left moscow on june 21, 2009. drove out of our neighborhood at 3am. it was dark, except for all the neon. i really miss it there. we got to the airport at 4am, all set to export our pup {50 pound pup, who is such a trooper!}, export the historical icon we bought, and get all 9 suitcases, 1 silas jack {complete with stroller, gear, snacks, diapers, surprise bag of new small toys to introduce as need on the flight...}, and 2 of us to the united states of america. we hit some bumps, some road blocks, some really long lines, were yelled at, shown amazing grace, shown favor, thought at the last minute tim wouldn't be flying with us that day...we had one calm child who peacefully sat drinking his milk through it all {used to by now more adventure than most 2 year olds dream of seeing before their second birthday}, and one peaceful pup who laid by our luggage {used to by now i think more adventure than a dog would ever expect in a lifetime}, and lots of grace. so many more details, but we made it. with silas {minus the stroller, that maybe we loved a little too much, crushed by the airline}, and the dog, and all our suitcases, less money, a couple more wrinkles each and innumerable more experiences and understandings. God is good.

and since then, we have gotten to:

- spend time with family
- spend time with friends
- eat at some restaurants we were looking forward to {i.e. - tin star fish tacos!}
- get reacquainted with life in the US {still very much an ongoing process}
- got to vacation with my family in colorado for a week
- got to go to a debriefing and renewal retreat for missionaries who are coming back to the states after living abroad. it was priceless, perspective and life changing.

...and more than i can list here...

we've been walking forward in an exciting job opportunity for tim...more details to come as that works out.

and as mentioned above {alluding to my mom and dad reading this from downstairs} we are blessed to me living with my parents for a little while, as we get our feet on the ground. thank you guys!

in the midst of a lot that goes on in a transition like this, we are trying to be intentional about resting, too. keeping our eyes on the point of all this. so that translates to...

- lots of time in the sandbox and at the splash park with silas!
- dates!!!
- trying to be very present in the moments...

we miss moscow, no doubt. but we are so happy to be here, too. the freedom to speak in paradox is really important right now - two seemingly opposite things can be true at once.

more soon.

love,
ally

ida lucille wiley

april 3, 1918 - june 16, 2009

...wife...mother...daughter...friend...sister...aunt...granny...great granny...great great granny...

she is home now.

I stand upon the ocean shore.
As a ship at my side opens her sail
to the morning breeze and begins to glide
across the water blue.

She is a beautiful sight.
I stand and watch her as she glides
with grace and strength into the clouds
on the horizon.

Just where the sky and the ocean meet
and come to mingle with one another.
When I hear someone cry out,
"She is gone." and I must turn and say to them,
"Yes, but gone only from sight."

For within the mind and heart she can always
be found.
For life is eternal,
Love is immortal,
and death is only a horizon,
and a horizon is nothing save the limits of our sight.

{author unknown}

if you are looking for an amazing photgrapher in the tulsa area...

then i HIGHLY recommend erin conrad. she took the wonderful and special pictures that are the new header of this blog, and the ones in the slide show off to the right...

we got to do this fun photo shoot last summer in beautiful woodward park right before we came back to moscow...and i can't wait to get more photos done with her!

she is talented and so kind and a joy to work with.

you can see more of her work here.

'tis the season {isn't every season?} for a lovely outdoor photo shoot!

all our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

not really, but close. most of our bags are packed but we're not quite ready to go yet.

soon.

but first, some more "see you later"'s, last time {for a while} on arbat street, last time {for a while} on red square, and of course, time with friends {most definitely not the last times}.

these are sweet days and we are trying to be very present in these moments. to quote adam duritz, "can't remember all the times i tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they passed..."

a few details from these last days that have been wonderful...

::time with friends and students

::silas' first wii experience - who knew a 20 month old could be such a tennis pro? {thanks liz!} or that his mama would rule the lanes at wii bowling? ;o)

::silas turned 20 months old and was totally happy to stay up 3 hrs past his bedtime with us on arbat while we looked at art, and then went right down to sleep without a peep

::dinner with friends at hard rock, moscow {not to mention joe perry's 'rock your world' quesadillas}

::our hot water went off and won't come back on until 2 days after we leave. {there are multiple and varied stories {depending on your source} as to why the hot water goes off for three weeks every summer on a rotation schedule throughout moscow, {i.e. cleaning/repairing pipes, vacation time for the workers at the plants, because they've just always done it that way, to save money, etc}...regardless of the reason, we'll miss you hot water....

{and just for fun...on june 21 we're on lufthansa flights 3189, 430 and then 5770 and this is a fun tool to track planes...in case you are into that sort of thing.}