Every Language . . .

Thad at four

2014-11-09T00:41:00.003-06:00

I final took some photos of Thad now that he is four and four months...

in his snazzy plaid blazer

our silly boy

cheese

cool dude

I really like this one with the sky background

our roaring lion!

and a bit more subdued

peek!

bonus photos with Thad and Thea

2014-10-22T04:55:00.000-05:00

Here are a few bonus photos which include Thad (4) and Thea (2 1/2)

Thad

Zeke, Thea, Thad

Thea

Thad, Thea, Zeke

Zeke: 1-year-old photos

2014-10-19T04:54:00.000-05:00

Hezekiah David Halverson turned one in September! It's hard to believe our baby is already 1!

Our friend Debbie took a bunch of photos to commemorate this milestone.

Zeke has been very steady at standing for months. This past week he has gotten more confident to try walking and will choose to attempt walking rather than crawling.

He is such a smiley, happy guy. I really think that he tries to tell jokes and do silly things to make others and himself smile. Last week he "said" something to Thea, and then got a big grin on his face like he had just told a funny joke!

Everything goes in this guy's mouth! On Friday he got hold of a stick and was biting all the bark off of it...but will he take bites from one of the graham crackers he got for his birthday? no!

Zeke loves being outside and is always watching for a door to be open that he can go out. He is very careful, but quite speedy at going down the single step at our front and back doors. He recognizes when mommy or daddy is putting on the Ergo baby carrier and comes crawling and begging as soon as he sees it being pulled out.

last of the vacation - a trip to the ocean

2014-10-11T00:46:00.000-05:00

At Jais Aben - a resort

some local transport

look at that blue water!

was SO handy to have this little "boat" that we borrowed for the trip!

Thea

Zeke, Daddy, Thea

some little fishes we swam with

This resort was really nice, and would let you swim on their beach if you bought something.
We enjoyed ice cream cones and some really yummy steak fries!

Thad and Thea

2014-10-08T00:43:00.000-05:00

just like a big brother to mess up your hair just before a photo shoot!

look at that coconut tree growing out of Thad's head!

sillies

posin'

dancin'

arrr!

cheese!

a few more vacation photos - yummy things

2014-10-05T00:40:00.003-05:00

A few more photos from our vacation in August...

mmm! pineapple!

Drinking kulau (young coconut milk) with a straw

I'm a big boy drinking from a straw!

yummy!

nature

2014-09-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

These are just some photos off our porch

sunrise

coconut tree blossoms

the coconut tree

A willy wagtail bird on its nest - in the tree right off our porch. Jamie even saw the babies on the day we left!

a wave

looking out to the ocean

water fun

2014-09-05T20:06:00.000-05:00

Thad had recently gotten some small sea creatures. We brought them along, and pulled them out one morning for the kiddos to play with in some basins of water. It was great that they could splash all they wanted and it was warm enough that it just felt good until it dried!

early morning fishing

2014-09-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

We recently took a vacation to the coastal town of Madang. The kiddos woke up early pretty much every morning. But on this first morning, just Thad woke up as the sun was rising so Jamie took him out for some early morning fishing.

As you can tell, the place that we stayed was pretty close to the ocean with some beautiful views and nice sea breezes.

heading out together

beautiful sunrise!

the fishermen

You can't tell, but there are some pretty big rock/coral just past the grass. It just drops off from there to the water, so it's not really a place you can take small kiddos swimming.

cowpokes

2014-09-03T19:52:00.001-05:00

We got some new dress-up clothes in a package recently. Had some trouble getting a smile out of the 4-year-old without some silliness though!

cowgirl

do I HAVE to smile??

CHEESE

fancy coffee

2014-08-15T06:22:00.000-05:00

My barista at work

Jamie, the non-coffee drinker in our house, has become quite the fancy coffee maker. He has started experimenting with different flavors and has come up with a really yummy combination:

Put in the coffee press with about 2 c. water and let perk for a few minutes:

Coffee grounds,

1/8 t. cinnamon, ground

1 pod of cardamom seeds, crushed with the back of a spoon

1 heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder

¼ t. vanilla

After the coffee has achieve perfect brew-ness, pour into a large mug and add:

1-2 teaspoons of sugar

Chocolate soy milk to taste

This weekend he even got REALLY fancy, and whipped up some cream for the top! It did make it seem like something I should have to pay money for J The extra cream he froze in dollops on a cookie sheet and once solid, transferred them to a freezer bag. So now I can put a dollop of whipped cream on my coffee whenever I need that extra “something”.

What an act of love from a man that isn’t fond of coffee himself!

some of the ingredients

At the table - Aug 04

2014-08-14T06:20:00.000-05:00

Doing some activities at the table…

I decided to try letting Thea string buttons on a thread..

she had a lot of fun...but I did end up re-threading the needle too many times to count!

Thad discovered the fun of the game Blokus

He placed, removed, and replaced the pieces quite a few times...and then had to get a little silly for the camera

pony rides - Aug 02

2014-08-13T06:17:00.000-05:00

Thad and Thea got to visit the horse paddocks for pony ride day…

Thea

Thad

getting a little silly

fun with dominoes - Aug 01

2014-08-12T06:07:00.000-05:00

Dominoes are a hit with all members of the family...

Thad's dominoes were a launching pad for a spaceship!

Thea's were a train track

Zeke's dominoes made some nice loud clapping noises

playground fun - July 31st

2014-08-11T06:05:00.002-05:00

We had a playdate at the playground a couple weeks ago.

Thad had fun riding his bike (a recent gift from friends) on the basketball court--our roads are a bit too bumpy and rutted for him to ride on, so this smooth surface is a welcome place to ride!

Zeke with a friend

another of our smiley baby

He finds all sorts of interesting (and yucky!) things on the ground

Some kids came to watch the bike-riding

Zeke has 5 teeth now!

Thea trying on mommy's glasses

Thea LOVES to swing!

Zeke is 9 months old

2014-07-02T00:59:00.000-05:00

Zeke is 9 months old - so we took a few photos on the weekend. Thanks for the cute shirts, Aunt Shelly!

Thad, Thea & Zeke

look at that tummy!

always happy to clap

There's that dimple

happy 4th birthday Thad

2014-06-28T23:52:00.004-05:00

Thad turned 4 this month. We had a small party, our family and a some friends, to celebrate!

Playing "pin-the-eyepatch-on-Kwazii"

Mommy and Thad with the cake

opening some presents

trying to "cast" a fishing pole fish into the rope "pool"

Zeke and his friend

going on a treasure hunt - "that way!"

"now there"

The treasure hunters and their find--popcorn and Tootsie pops to eat...

while watching "Octonauts"

Thad's arm

2014-06-28T23:48:00.002-05:00

At the end of April, Thad fell out of a tree and broke his arm. Because of its placement, Thad, Zeke and I ended up on a medevac to Cairns, Australia so that it could be set properly by an orthopedic surgeon there.

strapped down (wearing a life vest) on the medevac flight

In the emergency room in the Cairns hospital, waiting to be seen by a doctor.

The new (plaster) cast and sling

As a nursing baby, Zeke got to come along with Thad and mommy and was a happy guy most of the time

Thad, and the crocodile friend we acquired in Cairns, now 5 weeks later waiting to have the cast removed at our own clinic.

The removal process is noisy and a bit dusty. The fiberglass top covering first...

Then the plaster underneath...

prying it all apart...

And the arm is free!

Announcing...

2013-10-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

highlights from June

2013-09-16T11:33:00.001-05:00

We arrived in Washington mid-June. The last week of June we joined my family at the Cannon Beach Conference Center for an awesome time! Really good speaker, people to watch the kiddos, fun with family, and yummy Tillamook ice cream from the Coach House--what could be better??!

haystack rock

Thea, exploring the beach with Grandma

Wading in the COLD Oregon Coast water in June!

Oooo! water! one of Thea's favorite things

wave jumping with the cousins

spinning!

running!

say cheese!

Thea loves to smile for the camera

On Thursday of the conference they usually have a little carnival for the kids. It was rainy outside, so it was moved inside to the gym. Thad and Thea had a fun time exploring the booths. Thea, once again, loved the bounce house--but my pictures all came out blurry! Thad got to try this blow up obstacle course thing. He had a really fun time going through it, even though he was a bit smaller than was ideal .

starting off on the obstacle course

through the hole

up the climbing part...a bit of help required for one so small!

wahoo! down the slide!

Thad was excited to try out fishing--you know the drill at these kind of things: throw your line over the cardboard wall, and the person behind attaches something to it. When Thad pulled out his "fish" he actually threw it back at first, being so surprised that it wasn't really a fish!

One of Thad's first fishing experiences...

Look--you caught something

This is a funny kind of fish!

Fishing

2013-09-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

We interrupt the highlights to bring you something rather current!

Jamie really enjoys fishing and so that’s something that he has been glad to be able to share with Thad now. We gave Thad a little kids fishing pole for his birthday and he has been able to go out fishing with Jamie 3-4 times now. The first time they went to a couple of fishing spots a few minutes’ drive away. Thad was able to catch two fish on his first fishing expedition!

The proud fisherman--the two Thad caught are on the left

Then Jamie took Thad down to the little stream that runs right under the driveway of the house we are staying in, and Thad caught another fish or two—don’t think I got pictures of that one somehow. But the third trip Jamie’s mom came to watch and she was able to corral Thea while I took some video clips and pictures. (Once again at the little stream that runs under our driveway.)

This is the fish Thad caught (on the fishing expedition show in the photos below)

Thea and Grandma
(you can see the house we're staying in in the background)

The fishermen at work

Thea is excited to try fishing too!

The REALLY funny part is how excited Thea is to take her turn at fishing. She is only 20 months old—but sure seems to catch on to things quickly! She told Jamie after the first time Thad went fishing: “fishing [with] Daddy” like she really wants to go. And the last time they went without her she stood at the door and cried and cried. Yesterday Jamie went fishing with his brother, and then was talking later about the good fishing hole they’d found and that it would probably be a good spot that he could even take Thea. Well even though she was playing in the other room, she stopped what she was doing right away and ran into the room where he was talking, saying, “fishing Daddy!” Jamie had to tell her that they wouldn’t go today, but maybe another time. Tonight we ate the fish he had caught and she must’ve eaten at least 2 whole fish (about 9” long), just kept eating and asking for more. These were some nice brook trout that have the pink-y color of salmon. They’re a pretty good fish. She seems to be a pretty fish-y girl!

catching up: May part 2

2013-09-08T10:28:00.000-05:00

Since we were planning to leave 2 days after Thad’s birthday in June, we decided to have his party a couple weeks early. I made a cake with a road on it at Thad’s request (made to represent the road to aviation with a bridge and the ‘hanger’ with airplanes at the end). Our friends graciously hosted the party because they had a bounce house that Thad and Thea enjoy playing in.

Me with the cake--I looked at a bunch of ideas on the internet to figure out what to do: green colored grated coconut for the grass, blue frosting for the water, oreo cookie crumbs for the road, Bush biscuit (like animal crackers) crumbs for the dirt at aviation. We had found these little airplane candle holders at a store, and Jamie painstakingly covered an orange van with white masking tape to make it look like aviation's P2-bus which runs between our centre and aviation.

Top view

See the bridge over the river...there really is a bridge over the river to drive to aviation

Thea LOVED the bounce house! A combination of two of her favorite things: jumping and balls!

Thad loves everything with wheels, so enjoyed playing with the big trucks!

Eatin' cake

enjoying the afternoon

fun in a hoammock!

opening gifts

more fun in the bounce house

playing with the cake--you gotta try out the road!

happy girl!

food & friends! what could be better?!

catching up: May part 1

2013-09-06T10:20:00.001-05:00

In May, some of our friends threw us a surprise baby shower. We had fun eating yummy food, playing games, and just chatting together!

catching up: April highlights

2013-09-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

Jamie took a few photos on his way to Vanimo (in the NE):

These are some interesting flowers Jamie brought home one day. The outside was really hard, and then these little tiny flowers sprouted out of the little ridges:

We made a paper chain to count down the days until we left PNG for the USA--seemed really long to begin with!

Enjoying some Peeps that mom sent us in a package--Thad and Thea thought they were really funny the way they were colored and fluffy!

catching up: March

2013-08-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

Not a lot of pictures taken this month--too busy just getting by.

Here are a few from the park--Thea on the slide and Thad trying to do a somersault:

We enjoyed a visit from my friend, Tuula, whom I worked with for my first two years in PNG.