Boop!

2008-08-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a wonderful, busy summer, and we really should tell you all about it sometime soon. We will.

...But not in this post.

Instead, this is to let everyone know that we have finally got a photo gallery back online for everyone to view! We expect it will get updated quite regularly, since we take photos quite often and uploading them for everyone else to see is really easy. I (Jon) hope to get more of our older photos uploaded soon.

In the "Recent Updates to Jon and Beth's Gallery" section of our blog here you will see the latest five albums in our gallery that have had anything new put in them, and the date when that happened. Click a link to go straight to the album.

If you want to be notified automatically about new updates to our photo gallery, go to the main gallery page and click on the big "Subscribe to Updates" button in the upper right corner. This will add an automatically updating subscription to our gallery in your web browser that will let you see at a glance when something is updated.

2008-04-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Elena's Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter this year. Though this was Elena's second Easter technically, she was only a few months old last time so this was her first Easter where she could actually do the egg hunt and everything. We dressed her up in a strawberry dress her Grandparents Moskowitz gave her and she LOVED the dress. As you can see she enjoyed standing in front of the mirror and spinning around to watch her dress spin. She also had fun running down the halls of our condo building. After our Easter morning, we had Easter dinner at her Grandparents Stovell's house with the Stovell family. As you can see in some of the pictures, she had fun riding on her Uncle Garrett's back while he did push-ups. She also had fun finding chocolate easter eggs all over the living room and spent about half an hour playing a game of giving the eggs to each of us and then putting them back in her container and giving them to someone else. It was FUN!

On another note, Beth has officially finished her first year of her PhD! She wrote her last paper yesterday and turned it in. She's feeling very relaxed now. Jon is still finishing his last papers this week, but will be done soon.

2008-03-20T07:11:00.003-07:00

Elena's Snow Day!

We took some pictures a few weeks ago that we thought you'd like to see: Elena having her first day in the snow!! We had a really great time!

2008-01-15T16:46:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

We just wanted to correct an oversight. In all our busyness with moving this summer, we forgot to mention our visit from my Aunt Julie Wilgen this past June. Aunt Julie visited us at our apartment in Vancouver. She stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast within walking distance of our place which made it easy to take walks together down to Commercial Drive for several lovely meals. Aunt Julie is Beth's aunt (one of her mother's sisters). Aunt Julie and Beth have always shared a special bond as Aunt Julie is a professor at the University of Delaware. Both Aunt Julie and Uncle Michael have given us much encouragement as we pursue our academic careers which has been so special!

During Aunt Julie's trip, she and Beth got a chance to see a performance of Romeo and Juliet at Bard on the Beach. The play took place under a tent on a beach in Vanier Park. The play took place at sunset and we could see the sun setting behind the actors as they performed. It was quite amazing! She also spent time with our little Elena. In the picture, Aunt Julie took us out to one of our favorite restaurants. Vancouverites will recognize Fetz immediately by the crazy murals of the Rolling Stones behind us.

Elena is SOO little in this picture! We are looking forward to another visit from Aunt Julie this August to our new place in Ontario!

Love to all,
The Stovells

2007-12-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays to all our wonderful family and friends!

We have been so busy over the past few months that we haven't had much time to keeping up with blogging. Elena has been changing from a little baby to a little girl right under our noses.

In September, we started our first semester as PhD students as McMaster Divinity College. We also began our new jobs as teaching/research assistants. Jon and I have been really enjoyed our work. Jon's job has included editing for publication, research, and grading while my position has included more teaching. We both have enjoyed the profs we work for and the classes we have been taking. Our first semester has been a time of great transition as we got back into academic life, but it has been a joy to be reading, writing, and researching again.

Thanksgiving

In October, we travelled to New Brunswick for Thanksgiving and got to spend time with Jon's mom, his brothers, and Jon's new step-dad Rex. Elena loved seeing her family and also loved meeting all the people at the big thanksgiving dinner hosted by Jon's mom. The little kids especially enjoyed playing with her.

Halloween

Beth and Elena both dressed up for Elena's first Halloween. Beth dressed as a purple haired Goth girl and Elena was a pink baby cheetah. Dave and Ovelina surprised Elena with a "first Halloween" gift: a Fisherprice phone that teaches numbers, letters, and songs.

Visiting with Auntie Erin

Elena had the joy of seeing her godmother Erin Morgan (Auntie Erin) two times this semester in October and December. She and her Auntie had a wonderful time playing together and reading books.

Elena's first birthday!! Times 2!!

November 16th Elena turned ONE! We celebrated her birthday twice. On Nov 16, we spent the afternoon at Elena's Great-Grandma Gwen and Great Grandpa Bruce's condo (Jon's maternal grandparents). Jon's mom Debbie and step-dad Rex and Beth's mom and dad travelled out to see Elena on her big day as did Jon's brother David Noah and his girlfriend Chrissy.

We also had a party on November 16th at Dave and Ovelina's (Jon's dad and stepmom) place. Dave, Ovelina, Grandma Beulah, Beth's mom and Dad, Gary (Jon's step-brother), Crystal (Jon's step-sister), David Brophy (Crystal's then fiance now husband), David Noah, and Chrissy all attended. Beth made a monkey cake in honor of the occasion (since we call Elena our "little monkey"). Elena loved both of her wonderful parties very much!

Beth's Parents' Visit

From November 14-November 27, Jon, Beth, and Elena had the joy of seeing Beth's parents. It was a great time to be with the Moskowitz family again!

Elena's Grandpa Steve taught her a funny game where she grabs her head and shakes it back and forth when he says, "Oy Vay!" It's hilarious!

Stovell Family Tree Decorating

Before Christmas, we helped decorate the tree at Dave and Ovelina's house (Jon's dad and step-mom) in a night of family fun and merriment.

Crystal and Dave's Wedding

Jon's step-sister Crystal was married to Dave Brophy on December 8. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was so much fun! Elena was the "baby of honor" and had a little dress that matched the wedding party.

Gingerbread Weekend with David Noah and Chrissy

We visited David Noah and Chrissy's place from December 15-17 and had a gingerbread/Christmas dessert making weekend. Jon and David Noah made a replica of a Stars Wars Star Destroyer. You may recognize it from the opening scene of the "first" Star Wars (New Hope).

Christmas 2007

We had two different Christmas celebrations. First, Jon, Elena, and Beth all had a cozy Christmas at home on Christmas morning. Then later in the day they visited Dave and Ovelina's place for a big family Christmas. (These pictures just represent the early morning, more will be added later).

Note: There are more Christmas pictures on their way soon.

2007-08-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

OUR NEW HOME: THE STOVELL FAMILY IN HAMILTON (AND HOW THEY GOT THERE!)

This blog promises to be full of stories and pictures from our recent cross Canada trip.

FROM VANCOUVER TO CALGARY

Jon, Elena, and I left Vancouver on June 30 and travelled across BC and into Calgary, AB on our first day. We spent Canada weekend with our friends the Kern Family.

Elena enjoys seeing the mountains in Banff.
Wow, Daddy, those mountains are really tall!!
While in Calgary, the people at the table next to us at a family restaurant we were eating at decided to win Elena a stuffed bull "just because she is SO CUTE!" (they said). Here she is playing with her bull and eating lunch.
Here are part of the lovely Kern family who we visited for two days.
This was a common sight looking in our backseat. Elena loved her new carseat and slept fantastically (and she was so adorable!)
This was also a common sight: Our Happy Elena!
Elena had a great time playing with her Uncle Kevin. Kev is a friend that Jon and I made while at Regent. He now lives in Calgary where we visited him. Kev has been like a big brother to me.
After a while, Elena decided she had this whole driving thing figured out and she should take a shift! : )

ACROSS THE PRAIRIES

All of us really enjoyed our time in Saskatchewan. Here Jon and Elena take in the beautiful view from our campsite.
We were struck by the beauty of the expansive sky in the Prairies. In Saskatchewan, we had an adventure. When we went to set up camp at 9pm at night, we realized that we left our tent poles in Vancouver so we decided to sleep under the stars. That was just fine until around 3am when a storm blew in and almost drenched us. We took down camp quickly and decided to start our drive to Manitoba early.
We were one of the only cars on that Saskatchewan road at 4am! But, WHAT A SUNRISE!!
In Manitoba, the park we camped in had a beach right beside it so our little monkey Elena had fun learning about sand.
One morning Elena decided she wanted to sleep in and snuggle with her daddy. Jon was so happy that "it was her idea!"

NORTHERN ONTARIO

Travelling into Northern Ontario, Jon realized that we would be driving past his godmother's house in Sioux Lookout, ON. Jon hadn't seen Harriet since he was little. It was such a gift to be able to spend time with her and her family. Here Harriet holds Elena on her deck.
As we continued along our way in Northern Ontario, we found a beautiful little rest stop with rapids.At first Elena was afraid of the rapids, but after Mommy and Daddy showed her it was okay, she had fun splashing in them.

SOUTHERN ONTARIO (AKA VISITING WITH FAMILY)

As part of our trip into Southern Ontario, we took a chance to see the places that Jon grew up. Here Jon and Elena spend time at Boiler Beach in Kincardine, ON.When we visited another hometown of Jon's, Paisley, there happened to be a tornado storm that ripped through nearby and we caught some pictures along the way.
While in Kincardine, we stayed with friends of Jon's mom, Josie and Bill.
Jon's brother, David Noah and his girlfriend Chrissy were nice enough to let us stay with them at their new house in Welland, ON while we apartment hunted and visited family in Hamilton. Elena really loves her Uncle Dave!
Elena also loved spending time with her Aunt Chrissy.
Jon's Dad (Dave, AKA Grandpa) was very excited to see his little granddaughter and she was SO happy to spend time with him!
Jon's StepMom (Ovelina, AKA Grandma) loved playing with Elena and making her giggle and laugh.
Elena even got to see her GREAT Grandma Beulah!Elena also got to visit her GREAT Grandpa Bruce...
and her GREAT Grandma Gwen (Jon's maternal grandparents). We are so excited that we will be living so close to so much family!

VISITING NEW BRUNSWICK (AKA VISITING FAMILY)

From Ontario we travelled to New Brunswick to visit Jon's mom and brothers. Elena had fun learning how to swim (which for Elena meant splashing her arms and legs around and putting her head under water.) Elena had fun with her Uncle Zac.
Elena and her Gram (Jon's mom Debbie) had tons of fun swimming and playing together.
Elena was our Hawaiian bathing beauty with a flower behind her ear.
Elena's Uncle Nathan spent lots of time looking after her. Thanks, Nate!

COMING BACK TO HAMILTON

After our trip to New Brunswick, we returned to Ontario in time to visit the Stovell Family Reunion in Northern Ontario. We will add pictures of that event later (we haven't processed them yet). Then we spent a few days with Jon's step sister Crystal and her fiance Dave. On August 15, after a month and a half of travelling we finally moved into our new apartment in Hamilton. School starts in a few weeks as well as our new jobs. We have had a wonderful summer visiting with so many friends and so much family. We LOVE Y'ALL!! Thank you to everyone who provided us with a place to stay. We are very grateful!

We are looking forward to this new adventure here in Hamilton, but a little nervous as well. We will keep you updated as this adventure unfolds.

2007-06-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

The Big Move Is HERE!

Howdy, everyone! Well, the big move is finally upon us. Jon, Elena, and I will be travelling in our car across Canada from Vancouver to Ontario and then on to New Brunswick and back to Ontario. Tomorrow the moving truck is coming to move our stuff and today is CRAZY move day! We are working hard to pack everything in time and Elena is working hard playing with every box and piece of tape and cord that she can (when we aren't looking of course!)

Just to let you know, this website will continue to exist while we are away, but our photo gallery and Beth's Blog will not be available for about a month as we get settled in our new place.

We love you all and promise that we will post lots of wonderful pictures of our trip in about a month or so and let you know how it went.

Love,
Beth, Jon, and Elena

2007-06-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

BEACH FUN, OUR ANNIVERSARY, AND THE BIG MOVE!!

Elena has been having a blast playing on floors these days since she has learned how to crawl backwards and is on her way to crawling forwards. Right now she does this thing that looks like she is doing a full body push-up and then lunges forward. It's amazing how far she can go! Elena with her shirt on her head looking very proud!

OUR ANNIVERSARY!

Jon and I celebrated 3 happy years of marriage on May 30! We celebrated the occasion by taking Elena to experience her first day at the beach, at the beach where Jon and I first decided to date one another. Then Jon and I spent the evening dining at one of our favorite restaurants, Banana Leaf, a Malaysian food place. After dinner Jon took me to Fisherman's Wharf to look at the boats and see the beautiful skyline at sunset.
Jon and I at Fisherman's Wharf.
Elena, the bathing beauty, and her first experience of sand!
Elena and her daddy explore the water and mud.
Elena poses with her mommy.

It turns out Elena's eyes have turned my colour and are now a grey-blue with a brown center just like Mommy!
Elena makes a grab for the camera!
Jon and I spent part of last Sunday at a birthday party for one of our church friends and someone took this great picture of all three of us together (a rarity). It was a Greek restaurant and Elena experienced her first pita bread and her first taste of spanikopita. She LOVED IT!! Our friend Amber noted that Elena was all dressed in purple...she was a purple pita eater...hehe!

ELENA AND THE BOXES

Elena has been having lots of fun with all the boxes everywhere around our apartment since our moving day is quickly approaching. Jon and I decided if Elena liked boxes so much we would put her in one...here were the results.

"Playing in a BOX!" says Elena.
"Wow, this is fun!"
"Hmm, Daddy is closing the box...""Okay, I'll just stay in here, Dad..."
"Whoa, now where is Daddy taking me?"
"Daddy, are you sure this is how I should go to Ontario?""Um, can I come out now?"

Moving day is June 29th and we are mostly packed. We are tearfully saying goodbye to life in Vancouver and starting over anew with joy in Ontario. Jon was offered a job this week as a teaching assistant for the professor of theology at MacDiv and Jon very happily accepted. Jon will be teaching on subjects that interest him, grading, and assisting the running of the courses. Jon couldn't be happier about it.

2007-05-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Newest News (and Some of the Old Stuff : ) )

ELENA UPDATE

Elena gives big smiles to everyone! If her lip looks shiny, its because she is drooling preparing to get TWO TEETH!! The second one popped through this week! We had a fun time at the beginning of April celebrating Easter with Elena.

We also introduced Elena to solid foods. So far she has eaten rice cereal, potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocadoes, queso (a hot cheese dip used with tortilla chips common in Texas), and most recently smushed green beans and brown rice organic baby food. Here are pictures from Elena's first bites ever!

Also on the Elena front, Elena is now sleeping in her own bed and sleeping through the night!!! Her very sleep-deprived parents breathe a loud sigh of relief (and sleep very hardily!) I'd show a picture, but I think a picture of her sleeping might wake her up : )

JON'S TRIP TO NB

In April, Jon went to visit his mom in New Brunswick to celebrate her 50th birthday. Great joy was had by all, but Jon did feel a bit homesick for his wife and lil girl! The theme of Jon's mom's b-day party was 1957 and everyone dressed the part. Jon wore a 50s style suit-vest.

Jon's mom was trailer trash from the 1950s. She put curlers in her hair, wore bright makeup, had a glass of liquor in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and she kissed all the men at the party wearing bright pink lipstick! She was the star of the party (as she should be for her b-day!). Here she is with Jon and his brother David Noah.Jon's brothers played the part as well. Here are David, Nathan, and Zac.
Here is Jon's mom, Debbie, with several of her friends.
This is Chrissy, David's girlfriend. This was the first time Jon got to meet Chrissy. Here she is dressed in her 50s outfit (not her normal fare).
Here are David and Chrissy, posing together.

BETH AND ELENA'S TRIP TO TEXAS

While Jon was in NB, I (Beth) was visiting my family and friends in Texas showing off Elena to everyone. Elena and I were in Austin, TX for 9 days, but it felt like much longer because of the whirlwind of visitors. We arrived on Tuesday after a surprisingly successful plane flight. (Flying alone with a 5 month old is NOT easy! But God really blessed me with patience and blessed Elena with lots of sleep!) On our first full day in Texas, my paternal grandfather Joel Moskowitz and my Aunt Janie (my dad's sister) and Uncle Harold Babitch came down from Plano to visit for two days. This was particularly special because none of them had seen Elena yet and I hadn't seen my grandpa since I was 11 or so. The last time I saw my aunt and uncle I had only been dating Jon for two weeks and they visited Vancouver. They met Jon at the time and really liked him. They joke that they had to approve him before I could marry him : )
Uncle Harold watching Elena show off rolling around:
Aunt Janie holding lil Elena:Grandpa Joel and Elena had a real rapport. She loves her Great Grandpa!

After my dad's family left, my best friend Heather and her husband Tim and two year old son Hunter came to stay with us for the weekend. On Saturday night, I threw a big party at my parents' house for my group of closest girlfriends and their families. Our group of friends have been close since high school and some of us since junior high. We used to meet as a discipleship group every week, praying and hanging out together. Through my university years, we continued to remain close and even since life has taken all of us in different directions, we still make a point of seeing each other whenever we can. Out of the 8 of us ladies, 5 of us have gotten married, and all 5 married ladies also now have kids. Our current kid total is 7, but two of the girls are currently pregnant (Heather and Natalie) and by this fall, there will be 9 kids. Our ladies will be outnumbered by our kids! The party Saturday night was a big success. All except one of my dear friends came with their kids and two brought their husbands as well. We managed to snap a picture of most of us (Elena was sleeping.)In the front row is deb coleman, Keri Giambrone, Natalie Little and her son Timothy, Rachel Bickford and her son Luke,and Rachel's husband John holding their daughter Sarah. In the back row is Tim Morgan (Heather's hubby) with their son Hunter, Heather, Lorna Hunt, and me.

The following day, Sunday, Natalie had a party celebrating her son Timothy's 2nd birthday. All the ladies came except deb and we all had a great time. It was Elena's first kid party and she had a lot of fun watching the other kids. In the picture is me and Elena, Keri holding Rachel's son Luke, Heather, Lorna, Natalie holding her son Timothy, Angela, and Rachel. Angela brought her daughter Michaela to the party (her daughter Emily had school the next day so she stayed in Houston).

Here is Michaela being silly. She's so cute!

I can't tell you what joy it was to see my family and friends again and to introduce them to Elena! There were so many beautiful moments that I could write many pages in the blog. For example, most nights Elena would show off for my parents and roll all the way across the living room on a big comforter, laughing and smiling. My parents had such joy in spending time with their granddaughter.
Grandmama Mary Louise (my mom) with her little granddaughter.
Grandpa Steve (my dad) and Elena in her cute sailor's dress.

On Monday, I spent some time with my best friend Rachel at her house in Kyle. Rach's son is only a few months older than Elena and they had a lot of fun playing together, along with Rach's older daughter Sarah who is 3.

Also on Monday, my Auntie Beth (my mom's sister) and Uncle Jack came over for dinner and got to visit with Elena. On Tuesday, my Uncle Bill (my mom's brother) and my Cousin Cindy (Auntie Beth and Uncle Jack's daughter) went to dinner with my mom, me, and Elena to one of my favorite restaurants, Bamboo Gardens. My family has been visiting Bamboo Gardens since I was a very little kid. We know the owner and all the people who work there very personally. My Cousin Cindy brought her two kids, Brianna and Justin. We had a lot of fun! When we returned home to my parents' house, the kids asked me to read them a story so we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar together.
My Auntie Beth hugging Elena.
My Cousin Cindy with her two kids, Brianna and Justin.
My Uncle Bill with Elena in her car seat.

Elena and I flew back on Wednesday with joy and sadness. I was so happy that my parents made our trip to Texas happen and were so kind to share us with so many people. It was a truly blessed time!

POST TRIPS

After returning from our trips, Jon and I rejoiced at getting to see one another again. We really missed each other, while loving our time with family. Unfortunately, I must have caught a bug on the plane because our whole family very quickly came down with the flu and were sick for several days. In the midst of this flu, I preached at church. Man, was I exhausted! Shortly after our sickness, Jon graduated from Regent College with his Master of Christian Studies degree. We were SOOO proud of him! We also found out this week that Vineyard International Publishing wants to publish Jon's thesis and make his thesis into a course for the Vineyard Bible Institute. This is FANTASTIC news!! We couldn't be happier!

We are very excited about our upcoming move to Ontario. We are counting down with less than two months to go! Then we will be doing a cross Canada drive to move our car to Ontario (as well as ourselves). We are so happy that we got to spend time with family and friends and look forward to spending time with more family soon.

2007-04-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hey friends and family,

There is a new entry on Beth's blog. I'd love to have y'all read my entries and leave me comments if you get a chance...if you want.

Here's the link: http://bethstovell.homeip.net/blog/

Love,
Beth

2007-04-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here are the newest pictures of Elena...

Elena has learned to sit up. She is still really wobbly and needs our support, but she can play for short periods sitting up. Jon and I spent a large part of Saturday playing with her and watching all she can do! We are SOOO proud!

Elena also has learned to enjoy playing on her tummy, especially with Mr. Monkey.

Elena also is learning a love for books...well, she likes tasting books!

Here Elena reads with her daddy! Elena loves to listen while Jon reads stories to her (and to her mommy!)

Our friend Erin bought Elena this t-shirt that says, "Mutha Sucka" on it and Jon and I think it's pretty funny!

Elena and I went for a nice outing on Saturday in matching clothes. We got lots of attention which Elena LOVED! (Wonder where she gets that from?!)

In a week, Jon and I will both be travelling. Elena and I will be visiting my friends and family in Texas while Jon visits his mom for her 50th birthday celebration (and visits his brothers as well). We are both excited about the trips, but will miss each other.

2007-03-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Even Elena is amazed at how cute she is! Elena is growing up so quickly. She weighs almost 17 lbs now and is very tall with long legs and long arms (and really long fingers!) Now that she is a little bit older, Elena has started a regular napping schedule and is sleeping more at night. Elena is very interested in the big world around her and seems constantly fascinated with something, especially if its shiny.

This is what happens when Jon dresses Elena and me for church: we look cool in our skulls!
I love this picture because Elena looks like such a little girl rather than an infant. Elena especially loves playing with her toys these days and is learning how to roll. She can roll from her back to her stomach and from her stomach to her back. This also means that she can move more quickly around the house. Watch out, Mama! Elena also has found her feet and likes holding them up in the air.
Since Elena is now much more predictable at 4 months old, Jon and I have started having date nights twice a month. Several of our close friends have volunteered to babysit. Here Jon and I are ready to go on our first date in months. We spent the evening at a romantic italian restaurant named La Rocca and then chatted about life at a coffee shop. This past Friday we had our second date and watched the excellent movie 300. It was amazing!!
Last Sunday, Jon dressed Elena for church and we put this fun hat on her. She was quite the center of attention, which she LOVED! Elena is very much a people person...or people baby as the case may be.

As we ready ourselves for the coming move, we are also having a bittersweet time of it as we say goodbye to our friends here in Vancouver. We have really enjoyed this season in our lives and will take with us many fond memories and close friendships. Ontario will be a big adventure as Vancouver has been!

2007-02-24T23:31:00.001-08:00

We Have an Announcement!

We are excited to announce that Jon and I will be moving to Hamilton, Ontario this summer to begin our PhD programs at McMaster Divinity College (MacDiv) in the fall. This decision came after much deliberation and consideration, but we are overjoyed and feel MacDiv will truly be the best place for us. We are especially excited because this means that we will be living much closer to part of our family, Jon's side specifically. Jon's maternal grandparents will be 10-15 minutes away and Jon's dad, stepmom, grandma, stepsister, brother, and their loved ones will all be in neighboring cities. Also Jon's mom and brothers will now be within driving distance as will my aunt and uncle. We are overjoyed by this! Especially since it means that Elena will grow up for her first 3 years near family (something very important to us).

Our PhDs at MacDiv will both be generally in Christian Theology, but Jon's PhD will focus on Systematic Theology while mine will focus on New Testament. We have already been in contact with the professors who will be mentoring us and they have expressed excitement at working with us as well. We felt MacDiv was the best choice because it addressed our lives in the most holistic way. We feel it will be a good place to grow intellectually, spiritually, and personally.

As for our li'l Elena, she is practicing laughing these days which is really fun because she tries to mimic my laugh and I laugh four or five different ways just to see what she will do. Sometimes she just lets our a squeal of joy. Other times it sounds more like a giggle and still other times it sounds like a loud guffaw! She is so adorable!

She has also just learned the joy of the Jolly Jumper.

In this picture, Elena is wearing her squirrel overalls. One of my favorite outfits on her!

We look forward to our cross Canada trip this summer and hopefully seeing some of you along the way. (You probably know who you are : ) )

Love,
Beth, Jon, and Elena

2007-01-30T00:17:00.000-08:00

A quick note from Jon to say that our mostly empty website (see links section) is not so empty anymore. In particular, I encourage interested parties to read Beth's personal blog on her section of the site for some deeper thoughts and reflections. Meanwhile, the Photo Archive will soon be populated with many photos at full resolution, suitable for saving to disk and getting developed at a photofinishing store if you are so inclined.

2007-01-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

Ah, the joys of parenting! Elena surprises us with something new all the time. The past few weeks Elena has shown a deep fascination with the visualizer on Jon's computer. She especially loves when we play Trance/Dance music. In fact, she loves the same music that she did in the womb and will attempt to dance to the music and smile big smiles when it comes on.

Elena turned 10 weeks yesterday so she is now 2 and 1/2 months old! And wow is she big for her age! She is almost 14 lbs now (13 lbs, 14 oz to be exact) and is getting longer too! She has almost completely grown out of her 0-3 month clothing and is now wearing her 3-6 month clothes. Here she is playing in her new fun toy: the Tiny Love 3-D Baby Gym that our friends Myles and Karen let us borrow. Elena will play in her little gym for 20-30 minutes at a time, allowing me some much needed time to get things done around the house.

Elena loves her giraffe towel. She especially loves when we let her shower with us and then we wrap her up in her towel, put her on her changing table, and sing to her. She smiles so widely sometimes we can barely see her eyes.

Elena's favorite stuffed animal is Mr. Monkey. Elena loves to talk to Mr. Monkey, hug him, and even tries to "kiss" him. She also loves sitting her chair which vibrates.

When Jon gets home from work, he usually loves holding his lil girl and playing with her. The easiest way to calm Elena down is to put her in her baby carrier. She usually konks right out. Here she sleeps with Jon as he surfs the web (one of Jon's fav pasttimes).

Having a little baby to care for can be challenging at times, but Jon and I have such great joy in watching Elena learn new things. Recently she has learned that she has hands and will hold them out in front of her face and try to use them. I wake up and step out of the room and come back to find her reaching out for me with her little arms and hands spread wide. It is a beautiful sight!

2007-01-02T17:54:00.000-08:00

January 2, 2007

It's a new year and we have more tales of Elena our Moon Monkey! (that's one of Jon's pet names for her. Don't ask me why, but it makes us all laugh!)

On December 9, my dear friends Amber O'Neill and Joanna Pallister threw me and Elena a wonderful baby shower. Amber organized the shower and Joanna hosted the shower at her house. I feel so blessed to have such great friends and felt blessed to be able to share my shower with my mom who was in town to help us with Elena.

Elena turned 6 weeks old last Thursday and we had our final midwife appointment. Elena weighs 12 pounds on the dot and is almost 24 inches long. She is healthy, fast-growing little girl! Jon and I have been greatly rejoicing in Elena's new use of sounds. Besides making "oohs" and "ahs," she has started repeating the sounds we make. This week I was singing to her and she starting singing back to me in perfect pitch several times! I was SOOO excited! And then she sang back to Jon as well. We aren't planning her career in opera yet, but it is great to know that she can sing!

Here you can see the great joy that my dad has in holding his little granddaughter. Elena is so strong that she is standing when we just use our hands to steady her. My dad visited us in Vancouver from December 19-28 and it was such a joy to have him near and watch him interact with Elena!

Jon insisted that Elena "open" her own presents. Here Elena opens the beautiful gift that her Grandma Ovelina and her Grandpa Dave sent for her to open on Christmas Eve. Inside was a lovely ornament for Elena's first Christmas tree!

Elena also learned to smile just before Christmas as you can see in these two pictures.

Elena received her first stocking and Jon and I thought it would be funny if looking back she got to see that she FIT in her stocking!

Elena keeps surprising us with all the new things she is learning to do. She has begun talking in baby gibberish and seems like she is going to be a real talker. She is always "telling us stories" and "singing us songs" : ) She also loves staring into people's eyes and smiling. Her favorite game is "flying baby" which Jon plays with her every day!

On the not-specifically-about-Elena front, Jon and I have been busily putting together our applications for PhD programs and hope to find out in the next few months where we will be living next and which program we will working in. It is very exciting, but also a lot of work especially with a newborn!

Well, I must be going. Elena is waking up from one of her afternoon naps and needs my attention. We send our love to all and our well wishes in this New Year!

2006-12-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

The further adventures of Elena the Wonder Baby...

Elena is now over 2 weeks old and growing bigger by the minute. In fact Elena grew a pound in her first week and has continued to grow quickly since then. She also seems to be getting longer. Her little feet stick out of her receiving blankets now.

We love our little bunny! This picture is from Elena's first week of life. We will be very sad when she can 't fit in this little sleeper any more.

Elena loves her Grandmama Mary Louise! After the joy of having Jon's mom Debbie Lightbown with us, we now have the joy of having my mom, Mary Louise Moskowitz, with us. Momma has been changing diapers and burping like the pro she is and we are SO thankful for the extra set of hands. We feel very blessed to have so much family supporting us!

Here in Vancouver we had a big surprise when we had a very unexpected snow. The city has been pretty crazy in response. Vancouver doesn't get snow very often and almost never in November! Here Jon celebrates Elena's first snow in front of our house (we live in the basement).

Jon often uses his finger to distract Elena when she's hungry so I can get a chance to prepare myself for feeding her. In this case, Jon decided to see if she would suck his nose instead of his finger. She DID! We all had a good laugh!

Like her mom, Elena loves chatting with her girlfriends. : ) Actually Elena (on the right in pink) had fun at a reunion party for our prenatal class. We placed all the babies on a padded mat on the floor and watched as they interacted with one another. Here Elena was looking at Lily who is only a week older than Elena.

Behold the power of the Baby Flower! We snapped this shot at our prenatal class reunion. Elena is wearing pink near the bottom of the circle and lying to the left of the only little boy in the shot, Joseph (wearing orange shirt and overalls). Joseph's mom and dad live on the same street that Jon and I live on and we have enjoyed having friends with a newborn so closeby. We all had to laugh because Joseph is such a ladies' man being the only boy with a whole group of girls. Joseph's the MAN!

This is the first time that a little girl held onto Elena. This little girl is Zara the daughter of our prenatal class instructor. She's four and was very helpful with all of the babies.

We love our little Elena. Though sleep is scarce, we find ourselves experiencing the greatest joy just playing with her, holding her, and getting to know her. She's a wonderful little person!

Our love to all,
Beth and Jon

2006-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Let the clamouring for photos hereby be stilled. I present to you Elena Larissa Stovell!

Elena was born at 5:26 PM on Thursday, November 16, 2006. Since Beth had been in early labour for two and a half weeks (!) already (the medical term is prodromal labour), and she was now ten days past her due date, we went in on Thursday morning for some pre-induction tests to see how little Elena was doing in there. She was a happy and strong little baby, but they discovered that there was very little amniotic fluid in the uterus, and so it was decided that we should induce labour right away, rather than waiting a few more days as would otherwise have been done.

Now, during those weeks of endless early labour, Beth had already gotten a good head start on things and went into the induction with 4 cm dilation already accomplished. As a result, after only three and a half hours of labour and forty minutes of pushing, Elena was born! Beth is still regaining her strength, but she is doing well and loves her little girl lots and lots. Dad is doing well, and everyone says he is clearly in love.

Elena is a happy and content little girl, who seems to find this whole-crazy-new-world-with-lights-and-sounds-and-colours-and-smells-and-stuff thing very interesting! She is quite strong and can already lift up her head and look around (though eye focus is still a trick to be conquered). Aside from eating and snuggling, her favourite form of entertainment so far is watching the visualiser effects on the computer screen as it plays techno music (her favourite in the womb). One can see the "Wow..." on her face every time!

Look for more info on the adventures of the bunny-eared wonder and her parents soon.

2006-09-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

October 12, 2006

Portrait of the Great Delay

I thought I would give this blog a heading fitting of my lack of blogwriting ability. I have friends who like to blog everyday and share the most recent events in their lives. Jon and I basically forget we have a blog and then remember about once a month (if we are lucky!)

The pictures above are my most recent pregnancy shots (taken last week). I am officially 9 months pregnant with just a few weeks to go before the baby comes. We are SOOOOO excited!! Observant friends and family will also notice that I cut off over a foot of hair (13 inches!).

Anyways, the most exciting news right now is that Jon FINISHED HIS THESIS!! This means that Jon will be graduating in April and will be officially done with Regent in December!!! We are so excited! We went out to celebrate at the end of September. September 23 was Jon's birthday and I threw him a party. During the week prior to Jon's birthday I painted the baby's bedroom (blue trim with yellow stars and moons, for our space theme!) and very little party planning happened. We ended up hanging out with our friend Ross and having a great time watching a movie and eating yummy food. I also made a cake that was the ugliest cake any of us had ever seen, but tasted great! (Cocoa Fudge Cake with Caramel Icing). My gift to Jon this year was a birthday dinner consisting of his favorite foods: steak, tomatoes, and green beans in a red wine sauce, twice baked potatoes, and homemade cherry cheesecake from scratch!

We have had lots of fun over the past few weeks. At end of August, Jon and I went to the 2nd birthday party of Sophia Pallister, the daughter of our dear friends Wade and Joanna. We had lots of fun playing with the kids and mingling with the adults.

In this picture, Jon is pushing a little girl in a swing. It was SOOO cute!

Here are our lovely friends Wade, Joanna, and Sophia Pallister!

In this pic, Jon and I are looking happy at the end of my 7th month of pregnancy. (In August).

This is a picture of Sophia blowing out the candles on her b-day cake. She is adorable and we love her!

This past week was Canadian Thanksgiving and Jon and I spent time with our friends the Pallisters again at their annual Thanksgiving feast. When I say "feast," I mean "feast!!" The food was PHENOMENAL!!! There were tons of loud "yums!" coming from us!

Wade, the master chef of the Incredible Team Pallister, is carving the turkey.

Our Thanksgiving Party!

Besides eating an amazing Thanksgiving dinner at the Pallister's, our dear friend Kirsten Jarvis invited us over to her place for a Thanksgiving dessert/game night. We played Cranium for several hours with lots of close friends.

Those of you who have taken the time to get this far in our blog also get a very special surprise. Below is a picture of Jon pretending to be Pamela Anderson while playing Cranium. Enjoy!!

2006-07-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, time really goes by quickly! I can't believe it's been a whole month since we last wrote! I (Beth) am WAY bigger now and entering my 7th month of pregnancy this week. I'm also entering my third and final trimester. November 5th feels like it is coming very soon and simultaneously is very far away. Here I am in all my most recent pregnant glory!

Since our last entry we have been busy spending time with dear friends and spending time with our daughter-to-be. Our friend Danielle Akert and her two beautiful children have been visiting from Switzerland so I have gotten the opportunity to play mommy's helper with a two year old and a 4 month old. Good practice for the future! We also had the joy of celebrating the second birthday of Ari St. Louis, our friend Shannon's son. We gave Ari a little wooden train and a book called "Everyone Poops" all about exactly that. ("Everyone Poops" included drawings of different animals pooping). Our presents got quite a response! Shannon said it was a great gift because she was potty training Ari the next day. Ari is the little boy in the middle holding the little train we got him. His mom, Shannon, is pointing towards the camera.

In the baby department, our most recent excitement has come from learning that the baby's eyes have now opened and she can see light. According to the baby books, babies at this age will respond to a flashlight placed on the mommy's tummy. So we tested this out and, boy, did it ever work! She came right up to investigate this weird shiny light thing. We decided we had to take it to the next level and throw her a baby rave. We started playing her some of her favorite music (Andy Hunter) and flashing the flashlight on and off in time to the music. She found this very exciting and danced in rhythm while following the light wherever it flashed! Our baby is a regular PARTY ANIMAL!! Like her momma and daddy!

We have also been blessed with an abundance of baby items starting to come in. Family has been sending us baby blankets, clothes, stuffed ponies (thanks, Ovelina ), and so on. Some of the items have been hand made, others were handed down from previous generations. All of them have been very special. We have also been receiving donations of baby items and furniture. We now have a crib, a changing table, two diaper bags, a bassinet, and a jolly jumper that hangs in the doorway, as well as some little baby clothes for 0-3 months. Our apartment is officially being babyfied!

On a side note, something very strange happened to Jon last night. Through a strange combination of chemical reactions, Jon's hair first became streaked platinum and then turned Atlantic Blue! Such a rarity of natural occurence is quite remarkable. (We may have helped mother nature a bit!)

2006-06-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

By popular demand, we present photos of Pregnant Beth! Note the large belly. She's pregnant, and she looks good doing it.

Beth and I have had an eventful few days. On Sunday morning, I decided to try to see if I could feel Baby Bunsen kicking. I was rewarded with a solid little thump right in my hand! We should have tried it sooner...

On Monday, we went to have our sonogram. Beth was convinced her bladder was going to explode, and complained bitterly about how miserably difficult it is for a pregnant lady to hold her urine to begin with, never mind with that much water in her system! The baby spent a while hiding from the sonogram lady before being cajoled out into the open by Beth's pacing and coaxing. And then we got to see that...

We are having a daughter!

She takes after her mother in that she stayed nicely posed for her picture, but only until she got bored... We got to see her from many angles, and even watched as she did a flip! In this picture one can see the profile of her head and face looking up, and her torso to the right.

Our baby girl has been very responsive to her daddy's voice lately, so we decided to strap the headphones to Beth's belly last night and played her some good bass-thumping electronica. She was surprised at first, spent a little while deciding that this was the most seriously cool thing she could remember ever happening, and then (being the hyper-intelligent little girl destined for world domination that she is) she realized that the best response was to have her own little rave party! What amazed me most, however, was the fact that within 45 minutes or so, I could feel her thumping against the uterine walls in almost perfect time with the music! Our baby's got rhythm!

In other not-so-interesting news, the car is in the shop today for an expensive brake repair job. :( Why can't someone invent a perfect non-degrading material to build things out of?! Stupid laws of physics, always ruining everyone's fun. Hrmph!

2006-06-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

This is our first time creating a blog so Jon and I are very excited about this! We hope that this blog site will enable family and friends both far and near to keep up with our busy lives. We also anticipate this coming in handy with new baby pictures in November (Baby Bunsen is on the way November 5!)

Since our last newsletter, I (Beth) graduated from Regent College with my Masters in Christian Studies. In the picture above Beth and Jon are spending time at the graduation with their dear friends Sarah and Barrett Lee who also graduated this year. Graduation was a fun and busy time! Especially with Beth's burgeoning belly! (Not obvious in the picture above due to the enormity of my robe.)

In other Beth and Jon news, Jon recently got a raise at his job where he works construction. In the meantime, I have changed jobs from a shipper with the Regent Bookstore to a grader for the Continuing Studies Department at Regent College. The pay is much better and I am finding great joy in doing more academic work. This job also enables me to work on my own time schedule from home and to work part time. This is such a great joy, especially since it means not being on my feet all day!

Well, I suppose that's enough news for now. We send our love to everyone!

Love,
Beth and Jon