A chapter is closing

On the 22nd of May, Tim graduated with his Masters of Divinity from AMBS in Elkhart, Indiana. Here he is walking into the commencement ceremony. Tim's cousins, Allan & Marilyn, and their kids, came down to help us celebrate this big event. It was so great to have them there!

After the ceremony Tim proceeded to wear his masters hood, which is very long, and Myra thought it was a cape, so she called him "super daddy" till he took it off. Here is a lovely family picture taken outside after commencement.

We did what we could to say goodbye to all our friends in Elkhart & Goshen before and during commencement, since early the next morning we would begin our slow drive to BC. We've made a lot of wonderful friends during our time there, and we miss them already.

Packing up with two kids proved to take twice as long as our move to Elkhart was. Allan & Marilyn and their kids stuck around after our celebration to help us finish things off. Even then, Charlotte was up all night taking care of the last few details. Here is the trailer and the car all packed up and ready to go. When all was ready, we went through each room in the apartment and shared a favourite memory about each room.

Then we piled in and drove down the picturesque driveway of AMBS in a similar manner to the way we arrived - packed to the gills in our little Mazda.

And so we headed west to Illinois, to join that route one is supposed to take when you plan to travel west. To get our kicks on route 66 (or at least, a good part of it).

We spent our first night in Cuba, Missouri - the gateway to the Ozarks - which were, in fact, quite pretty. It was a little funny to arrive at our Holiday Inn to discover it had been bought out by Motel 6 four days earlier. Thankfully they still had our reservation, so we didn't have to make alternate arrangements.

They had a nice little pool there, so we took the kids swimming - a great way to tire out a toddler after a long day in the car.

Anyway, we realize we are way behind on our posting for this trip - we'll try to catch up - tune in next time for Kansas adventures & more...

Early Morning Photo Shoot

5 months old!

So Isaiah is 5 months old today - hard to believe he's that old already, but then, he sure has been growing! Here are a bunch of pics of him and Myra in no particular order:

Myra hugging Isaiah, who is relaxing in his baby bathtub.

Myra and her new favourite dog, Abby, who belongs to Jeff, Monica & Joah.

a random pic of Isaiah in the stroller, back in Feb when we still had snow.

there's a handsome lad!

Daddy & Myra reading together. Myra ended up focusing more on the drinking.

Isaiah and Myra in the laundry basket today.

Hangin out in the exersaucer and watching his sister have a bath.

Myra loving her new sleeping bag.

and lastly, Isaiah going to town on one of his toys. Yup - that's what he loves to do. If you know much about 5 month olds, I don't imagine you're surprised. :-)

COCONUT MILK :D

I am very excited to have recently discovered the wonders of coconut milk! :D Coconut milk is made by grating the white flesh of the coconut, soaking it in boiling water and squeezing it through cheese cloth - not to be confused with coconut water which is the thin liquid found in the middle of the coconut when you open it up.

Anyways....Isaiah has had dry skin since birth and recently I've been noticing large dry scaly patches to the backs of his arms, knees and thighs. Turns out they are classic eczema patches. Eczema symptoms are often accompanied by asthma and food allergies and from what I've read, a dairy sensitivity or allergy is a very common cause of eczema. I consume A LOT of dairy - we easily polish off 2 gallons of milk a week, love cheese, yogurt, cream gravies, butter, whipping cream, sour cream, cream cheese...you get the picture. I would say that at my diet is 90% grains, dairy, and chocolate with some peanut butter mixed in at times. (Not balanced I know!) So, the decision to be dairy free for the next 6 weeks feels like a major life change.

My choices for milk: soy...has made me feel sick in the past and is also a common allergen; rice...I hear from friends that rice milk is quite gritty; almond...in the nut family and I've been encouraged to avoid nuts as well; and hemp milk - makes the most satiny delicious cooked chocolate pudding but has a strong aftertaste when just drunk. :( Then I discovered coconut milk - dairy free and oh so healthy!

Summarizing what I've read on-line:

Coconut milk is very high in saturated fat but because it is made up of short and medium chain fatty acids, it is easily metabolized by the body and converted into quick energy and can aid in weight loss. Plus it has a high content of lauric acid (50%) which is also found in breast milk and has potent anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial properties.

"Because the short-and medium-chain fatty acids of extra virgin coconut oil and coconut milk are easily and quickly assimilated by the body, they are not stored as fat in the body like the long chain triglycerides of animal products."

"While coconut milk is high in saturated fat, it is much healthier than other saturated fat products, and the fat is easily metabolized by the body. Coconut milk also offers some particular healthbenefits. It is anti-carcinogenic, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral. The main saturated fat that it contains, lauric acid, is also found in mother's milk and has been shown to promote brain development and bone health. Some hope that coconut milk, with its powerful anti-viral properties, can one day be used in the fight against AIDS."

Here's what I do:

1 can of Thai Kitchen's coconut milk

2 cups of water

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Mix together and serve.

It's pretty good (I don't mind the taste of coconut)....goes good with cookies and cereal and yesterday I used the coconut milk cream in my banana muffins and they turned out so yummy (no coconut flavor at all). I do feel it gives me quick energy - I took a small amount to work my past two shifts. Plus, it makes me feel full so I don't consume nearly as much as I used to with cow's milk. It's been 3 days and with no other intervention, Isaiah's dry skin is resolving so it looks like I'll be dairy free for as long as I continue to nurse him. I'm so happy to have found a dairy alternative that is yummy and healthy!

Myra's adventures

So I guess we're supposed to post pic's of both kids now, but this one is all about Myra. Sorry.

Anyway, we picked up a toddler bed, second hand, for Myra now. Here she is right after we set it up. This also allowed us to finally set up the crib for Isaiah, since we picked up a new mattress for Myra's bed.

Tim & Myra also had a few adventures in the snow this week. We finally bought Myra some snow boots for this season (now that they're all on sale). Here she is making a snow angel.

Later, Myra and Tim built a snowman. Actually they built two. After building the first one, Tim figured they should build one in front of our window's so that we could see it from our apartment. Here is Myra touching up the snow.

Then they used a baby carrot, and chocolate chips to give him a face.

And here is a cute one of Myra giving him a kiss.

These are just some more pics of their adventures walking around.

And here is Myra trying to catch the snow flakes.

Anyway, that's all for now. I guess we'll have to post all about Isaiah next time. :-)

So many new activities!

Myra has been having a lot of fun with her straws & connectors these days. Here is a lovely little house that she made with Daddy.

Isaiah has finally started to notice the toys hanging above his head on the mat.

We tried him out in the bumbo chair the other day too. He doesn't seem to sure about it yet, and I think we probably agree. Maybe in a few more weeks :-)

We did bring up the exersaucer though - and he sure seems to like this.

Myra likes to kiss Isaiah and bring him toys when he's in the exersaucer.

and this was just a lovely picture of Myra, all ready for bed, and looking fresh and clean after her bath.

Anyway, that's all for now...

Sunday Morning Photo Shoot