Timo's birthday weekend - 3 years old!

Sunday, October 25th was Timo's 3rd birthday! It was wonderful to have his birthday on the weekend as we ended up having multiple 'events' to celebrate and spread out the fun & presents over two days (which was especially helpful since Jim arrived home on Sunday afternoon after a 5 day trip for work).

On Saturday we had Birthday Breakfast with Thea, Isaac and Theo - 3rd cousins! What a FUN morning!(Annie and Cici were out of town for a school trip, and John was working.) It was our 3rd year to celebrate with them, which is amazing to realize when we look at the special moments that have happened during our time in Colorado Springs so far. Isaac and Theo went crazy creating a special birthday morning for him, and filled two crates of hand me down toys & dress-up clothes to gift to Timo.

Leading up to his birthday, Timo kept requesting "blueberry cake" or "strawberry cake", so Thea made blueberry muffins, and we put 3 candles in for him.

Isaac and Timo getting ready to blow (again! I think we re-lit the candles 3 or 4 times for fun). Theo made the origami birthday hats for everyone.

Theo and Isaac got up early and made this fire truck for Timo (with special pouch to store "weapons to throw at enemies"), and pulled him around the house with a rope on the front. I couldn't capture a great photo because they all were so engrossed.

 

After the muffins, the boys brought out a "pinata" that they had decorated with drawings of trucks and filled with Lincoln Logs. It was absolutely hilarious trying to break open the bag (using a big stick that one of the boys quickly grabbed from outside)! Everyone took a turn and eventually their persistence won through! Phew.
 

This weekend was our first snow on Pike's Peak! Beautiful!! On the way home I pulled over and snapped a quick pic. You can also see some of the rocks at Garden of the Gods in the foreground.
 

After leaving the cousins, we had enough time before afternoon naps to do one of Timo's favorite things - go to the library! We LOADED up on books (always a good idea when Daddy is away). Here's the scene in the living room after we returned and Timo had looked through each and every book.  This is one of those scenes that makes my mom heart very happy. Note the overturned elephant stool: Mattias's work.
 

Sunday the 25th: Timo's birthday! At breakfast Timo opened his cards from extended family plus 3 presents (a book, Matchbox emergency rescue cars, and box of puzzles).
 

These cars were from Sam Ro, who sent them back with Jim after his stop in Los Angeles earlier this month. I don't think Timo has let the fire helicopter out of his sight for long all week - loves 'em.
 

After church (at which the 3 year old class sang "Happy Birthday") and afternoon naps, Daddy arrived home!! Bearing more gifts from Nonna and Granddad, who he saw for a day in Wheaton during his trip. Thankfully this "Giant Snowplow", as Timo immediately called it, fit in the suitcase! (Hey Gieser cousins, recognize this truck from our HoneyRock reunion this past summer?)
 

Of course, with Jim home again, all that Timo wanted to do was wrestle and then go outside and play together! So I chucked any ideas about making a cake, and decided we would all just go play (and have cupcakes together in 3 days on Mattias's birthday).
 

Hmm, can I sneak in a quick play with this digger before big bro notices?

Timo's other big birthday present - a tee ball stand!!

Ridiculous cuteness

"New" tricycle passed down to us from neighbors

And one last present (Nonna outdid herself again!) - a fireman puzzle! Timo is at the perfect age for learning to do these puzzles on his own. What a birthday was had this year!

Rachel and Abram here!

Finally posting again and getting caught up on the last few weeks - October has been a busy month.

Rachel and Abram came for a visit! What else is there to say in my excitement! Jim was away in Myanmar, and Rachel was able to find a flight last minute (thanks to a generous gift from another family member) to come for 5 nights/4 days with Abram. It felt a bit strange to just be us ladies with the three boys (and no husbands or older siblings), especially because just over a year ago Rachel was here for a visit by herself - and on that visit, Jim was also away, so it was just Auntie Rachel, me and Timo, and both of us were pregnant. It was amazing to have them here, now with three boys, even though most of the days were busy just doing toddler life (meals, naps, short walks, diaper changing, and moms staying up late at night to talk after the kids were in bed). It was especially significant to have Rachel here because it coincided with Oct 9th, our second "Gemma's Day", marking the day we said good-bye to Gemma. I was not looking forward to being on my own that week. Having Rachel and Abram with us kept us busy and happy, and kept my mind from going back too heavily to this week of two years ago. It was lovely to get flowers and cards and emails and texts from friends and family on Oct 9th, and when Jim returned the following week, we had more time to talk and process a bit together and eat pumpkin pancakes.

Of course I didn't get as many photos as I wished - and none of Rachel and I together!! ARGH! - but here are a smattering. We had sunny, mild weather while they were here so when everyone was awake we tried to spend a lot of time outside.

A walk and picnic lunch at Garden of the Gods.

One morning we walked over to Colorado College campus, and then got some lunch at a local sandwich shop. Amazingly, Timo rode his balance bike the whole way - which was a first for him. He's had the bike about two months but this week he finally sat on the seat and properly pushed and balanced. (On his own initiative. Does not respond to any kind of pressure from Mom!) Previously he had fun just holding the handlebars and running next to the bike. But now he is riding it well, and ever since this walk with Rachel, he has improved SO much - he's so fast on our walks that I often am jogging to keep up.

On Gemma's Day morning, there was a knock on the front door, and our four year old neighbor, Chloe, asked to play with Timo. (Their family was packing up to move house, so it was helpful that she came over to our house for a bit.) It was nice to have one last time for Timo to play with her before they moved, even though it was also a bit emotional for me to see her and Timo playing together, on that day in particular (and Chloe was wearing her pink tutu, underneath her dress!). They had a great time making up a game in the backyard with our rock border, pretending that they were farmers digging potatoes.

Anyway, back to Abram! Did I mention that he is 6 weeks older than Mattias? Such a happy guy, and so content to play with cars, making engine noises and testing it out on all the surfaces of the house. He and Mattias have both entered a 'frustrating' stage where they are almost walking, but have to cling on to momma's hands to get anywhere. Abram was particularly insistent about holding Rachel's hands to explore outside or go up and down the sidewalk, over and over... Hopefully this is just the beginning of boy cousin playtime and memories together!!

Pre-bedtime book. Timo wanted Auntie Rachel to read to him most nights.

On their last afternoon we tried to get a photo of the boys in the lovely late afternoon fall light... "boy cousins, this one is for the scrapbook, so you can look back at this in 20 years and marvel at how cute you were, etc, etc, no pressure because we also want to post this on social media, ah-hmm, yeah right." Umm, no one was really cooperating, even with Rachel trying to hold the younger boys. So this is what we ended up with! Did I mention Timo would not sit still!

Teaching in Yangon (part 2)

Here are a few more random pictures from my Yangon trip.

Treats (above and below) available at the Starbucks in the Bangkok airport. I tried toe Green Tea waffle - pretty good!

Treats in the staff room at our host seminary.

One of my students (on right) is practicing his interview skills with MEGST's academic dean.

Yangon was a British protectorate for many decades until the country's independence in the mid-1900s. There are numerous British government buildings from those days scattered around the downtown area.

 A break: Traditional Burmese tea at the Rangoon Tea House.

View of Yangon from the 20th floor of the tallest building in the city. Shwedagon Pagoda in the left distance. John's apartment and the seminary are not far from the Pagoda.
 

John Buchanan is a New Zealander who works at the seminary. Colin and I stayed with him for the week. We had a great time together. Here we are riding the bus for a day of sightseeing downtown Yangon.

Co-teacher Colin on the left with two students in the program.

Teaching in Yangon, Myanmar (part 1)

I just returned from teaching Research Methods with one of our groups of students in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It was a great week with the students and fun to experience another part of the world.

My colleague, Colin Rye, who is a Brit and also a full-time DAI staff person, taught Mentoring and Coaching, this semester's accompanying course. He is wearing traditional Burmese menswear.

Exploring the Shwedagon Pagoda, which also appears in the pictures above and below.

Our partner, Myanmar Evangelical Graduate School of Theology, rents several floors of this apartment building. Colin and a student are standing in the entrance.

Our town's pick n pay urban garden

Not that we are urban like New York City, but still, we are a big town - and what a great public garden and community resource to have here in Colorado Springs! One of the main gardens is about 3-4 miles from our house, so it's great to go down on a Saturday morning and see what is available throughout the summer and fall. The best part of course is seeing Timo exploring the crops and learning about how things grow. He gets SO excited.

I personally need/want to start learning more about how to garden in Colorado (what with our short growing season, frequent hailstorms, and hot, dry summers) and take more advantage of the resources that Pikes Peak Urban Gardens provides. Maybe a class?? Check out their website.

Even though it is late summer, there was still quite a bit growing, like root vegetables and greens and a few herbs and zinnias.

Timo picking some turnips

What's this, wild strawberries!!! Timo spent an extended time at this part of the garden.

We sat and ate our lunch at a picnic table, and then walked to the back of the property where there is a nature walk and Cheyenne Mountain creek. That was probably the best part of the morning - throwing rocks in the creek! Next summer Mattias will be right up there with Timo to participate.