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.
