Baby shower - what! Yes, indeed!

Several months ago Ling offered to host a baby shower for me - for boy #3 - and she was so excited by the prospect of hosting "her first baby shower", I couldn't help but get excited too - plus I knew that she would make some great Chinese food! It's amazing to see that after 14 months here, we actually do know people and have some friends to invite! On the day there were 13 women able to come; half of those were from the international office that work with Jim, and the other half are friends here (mostly who I've met from Bible study, not counting a few others who couldn't make it).

Sadie also got involved and offered to coordinate/emcee during the shower, and she brought some  thoughtful elements that made for a really special afternoon. Because of that I really felt encouraged and supported, and more mentally prepared for this upcoming birth.

At the beginning for introductions, each woman lit a small candle and then said her name, followed by "the daughter of... who was the daughter of...". It was interesting to hear the names and see how far back each woman could name her grandmothers! Then we put all our candles in the center of the room. Later, we went around again and each woman shared a thought or blessing or prayer for motherhood. Each woman had also written down the blessing and then pinned it onto a 'prayer flag'/pennant that Sadie had sewn and hung across the room. She even collected blessings from extended family, even though they weren't there in person. (We haven't hung it up at home yet because the pennant is very long, but we will!)

Sihong and Ling hard at work making a ridiculous amount of steamed buns

And look who made it into town just in time (literally with minutes to spare) for the shower - Hannah!! It was amazing to have her there, along with Adella. (They had just arrived for a spring break visit.)

Hannah, Sadie, Gayle and me - wonderful ladies!

Adella and I enjoying the view from Ling & Steve's front deck

Kaitlyn (co-worker with Jim and also our neighbor) got in on the bun shaping too

Miranda and Scarlette (from Jim's office) hanging their blessings on the pennant

Sadie made yummy date 'truffles'

I got stocked up on cloth diapers - it was awesome!

All of the women (minus Tiffany, who was taking photos all afternoon) - Erin (and 6 week old Asa was in the background), Betty, Gayle, Adella, Hannah, me, Kaitlin, Ling; Sadie, Miranda, Scarlette and Sihong

Of course, afterwards I went home laden with gifts and leftover Chinese food! I didn't get a photo of it but of course Timo and Mattias went crazy for the buns. Mattias gobbled down three very quickly and possessively; it was quite cute.

Early spring picnic

It was warm and mild for a Sunday afternoon picnic of scones and yogurt parfaits (from a couple weeks back). This has become one of our stand-by Sunday supper menus. The boys are SO fast on their bikes now. And we love the view from the top of the courthouse/library hill! And love that it is just a few minutes walk from our house!

Already this view has changed a lot this spring - much greener. All the tulips and dogwoods are blooming, and the cherry trees have moved from blossoms to green leaves; the hills in the distance are turning green. Apparently the nearby strawberry farm is also open for picking, so we need to head there soon!

Brief visit from Rachel

For the Freys' spring break, Rachel drove herself and the three kids from Florida up to Durham (we just missing overlapping with them), and then drove alone out here to Sylva to hike for 3 days/2 nights along the Appalachian Trail with a friend. So we got to have her stay with us for the night before they started the hike, and the night after they finished! It's wonderful - even briefly - to share life and spend an evening chatting. And of course Timo had to give Auntie Rachel a tour of the house (even though they were here last summer), and then both boys showed off their bikes on a short walk over to the library.

The weather was really chilly the day she arrived and there was still some snow on the tops of the hills! But that night and early the next morning it rained, and then the weather cleared and was milder and mostly sunny throughout their hike.

Rachel and her friend Christy, who also lives in Gainesville and drove up for the hike (and supplied most of the gear)

And don't forget - the FIRST TIME EVER!!

At the ocean, that is! (I forgot to post these photos last week after we got back from Durham.)

Jaja and I were able to take the boys to the beach for a day, for their first time ever (yes, it was even Timo's first time at age 4) to see the sand and ocean. Even though it was early March, the day we were there was sunny and clear and about 70 degrees. And, thankfully, Wrightsville Beach (outside of Wilmington) is only a 2 1/2 hour drive from Durham, so even though we only stayed for one night it was "worth it".

Seeing the excitement and sheer joyful energy on the boys' faces was amazing. I tried to capture a few photos with my phone, but mostly we just enjoyed ourselves and didn't try to overthink it. Timo spent almost the entire afternoon running up and down, squealing and yelling, "This is so fun!" Once he got his swimsuit on, he was jumping in the waves (even though it was too cold for me!) almost up to his waist. And yes, I had to chase down the sand to get him to come inside at dinnertime.

Mattias took his time a little more to get into the water, but it didn't take long before he was running after Timo and squealing with delight and digging his feet into the sand. I never saw him look fearful about the waves and the open space, even when he slipped and went face first into the edge of the water.

Swimsuits on now!

Mattias would run away from the waves and yell, "Hang on!"

Washing off before heading into the hotel

We had hoped to spend the next morning down on the sand, but the weather turned very chilly and very windy so instead we played in the hotel swimming pool and then went to a really cool local playground before we drove back home in the early afternoon. It was fun to play at the park since it is the same place where we Hawkins kids spent countless hours playing basketball over the years during our family trips to Wrightsville.

We were sorry to miss having Jim with us on this trip ... but we are resolved to go again together as a family. I definitely realized how fun and 'do-able' it would be now to take the boys to the beach for a family vacation. They loved it and were very content, and would be to play in the water and dig in the sand and look for shells and ride their bikes the whole day. And of course we were all completely exhausted and ready for bed by the end of the day!

crossing the channel and heading home...

Spring Break in Durham

While Jim travelled to the UK for ten days to visit partner campuses (on behalf of Western Carolina), we three stayed in Durham for a nice visit. It's been a mostly quiet week, with some warmish days but mostly chilly and some rain. We've stayed close to home - but of course made time for daily bike rides and a few treats, like riding the Duke campus bus and getting gougeres from a favorite bakery downtown.

Sorry, all, these photos were with my camera and don't feature Grandpa or JaJa or even myself! I will try to remedy that before we leave in two days!

Bike ride and bus ride on campus, plus a snack while waiting to meet Grandpa

"It's so beautiful!" Says Timo as they race into Duke Gardens

Playing hide and go seek with Grandpa in the new branch sculpture

Near-daily bike rides in the woods along Ellerbee Creek

And don't forget time to build roads!!