For Kenny and Liz

Friends of ours in Pittsburgh are planning a deck project and were asking to see pictures of what others have done.

Here are some pics of a deck Matt did last summer for someone else:

I only have one picture of our deck in TC with me. The rest are packed!

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with...I definetly vote for the hot tub...

Sightings

Saw today:

A squirrel
A dozen or so huge dragonflies (some mating, some wishing they were :-)
Several species of birds I cannot identify
2 geese
Salamanders
A deer
Several bright blue butterflies
5 peepers
A beaver
Bear tracks

Rocks

Matt has an affinity for rocks that I don't always quite understand. He finds them wherever we go. They almost seem to seek him out. For him, rocks often have a specific significance . To me, rocks are rocks. Sometimes are they pretty, they make a nice seat, once in a while I take the nice ones home but then I don't quite to know what to do with them and they end up gathering dust.

Since we have moved here, however, I have been a lot more aware of the rocks around me. There are so many more large chunks of beautiful rocks in the woods here. Quartz and granite, pyrite and marble abound (must be why the curbs in town are made of granite:) The milky white and pearly pinks of quartz and sparkle sheen of pyrite are especially noticeable in the streams and ponds.

I love how water can bring a whole new life to rocks. On dry land, a group of small stones seem ordinary, drab, even ugly. Submerge them in water and colors, hues, and textures emerge that where previously hidden.

Playing at the pond at camp with Abigail the other day I realized how much we are like these stones. Dull, muted, hidden, and forgotten on many days. Stepped on by many, unnoticed or scorned by the world. Until we are surrounded by the rushing, babbling, leaping living water that Christ promised the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4). When we are touched by this water, a new person is revealed, a beauty is discovered. The most mundane of us becomes dazzling. Our uniqueness is brought forth and people cannot get enough of us. Not because we alone are so wonderful but because we have been transformed into something surprising by a power greater than ourselves. The living water Christ describes in John 4 isn't some kind of cheap fix that makes appear better than we are. No, he talks about himself as being able to reveal our true identity and satisfy our all our longings.

I took some before and after water pictures of some rocks at the pond to remind me of the difference God's presence can make not only in my home or devotional life but in how others view me as well. When we are well steeped in the Lord, every aspect of us is transformed to others as well and people are drawn. I need to be reminded what an important impact my life can make to other people simply by living daily in God's promises.

Discovering our roots in Plymouth

Not really!

So you'd think being in one of the earliest settled areas of our country, we would be exploring our historical roots. But to be honest that just hasn't made it on our agenda yet (side note: do you know that Plymouth rock is only a smidge larger than a laptop and has been moved several times breaking into smaller pieces along the way?! I mean, who wants to take their preschooler and toddler to see that when the beach is so close?!).

Anyway, Matt had a camping conference/meeting last week in Plymouth. Since Plymouth is right in the ocean and Matt's meeting was only in the morning, the whole clan piled into the van for the 4 hour drive.

While Matt was learning and networking, the kids and I explored the Girl Scout camp where the meeting was being held. We hiked around for an hour (that is a long time for a 3-year-old) and Abigail even had her first poop in the woods. I told you this girl was going to be tough by the end of the summer!

During our drive to Plymouth, the weather was rainy and pretty nasty. But soon after we started hiking, the rain turned to a soft mist and the sun began to filter through the clouds. There were lots of evergreens in the woods and the other trees and rocks in the area had this beautiful, inviting seafoam and mint green lichen and moss growing on them. It was thicker and fuller than the lichen here in western Mass. I am guessing that the moist ocean air makes the difference. I felt like we were walking through the green section of the crayon box. It was lovely!

After lunch, we all made our way to the beach for a lively afternoon of exploring, splashing, digging, seashell collecting, rock scrambling, bird spotting, and playing. We all really had a great time. It was the first time we have really had a chance to relax and play without time restrictions since we arrived. What a blessing!

We finished off the day by stuffing ourselves at a great beach side restaurant and had a quiet (i.e. sleeping kids) mountain view filled ride home. The beach, relaxation, and play were a much needed reprieve in the midst of many hectic days.

Tristan turned 1!

Tuesday we celebrated Tristan's very 1st birthday! Matt was able to take a break from work so we could have dinner, open some presents and eat yummy cake.

Note: Tristan is wearing just a diaper not because it is so warm here (I wish!). We were preparing for the cake smearing/smashing/eating immediately to follow.

So here is the story on the funky-looking cake. There aren't any cake pans in the apartment we are staying in so I bought one of those foil ones not realizing until after I got home that the recipe I bought ingredients for was for a 8 x 8 pan not 9 x 12. I was NOT going back to the store (grocery shopping with two young kids once in a day is enough) so I improvised; I folded the pan instead and it turned out great. In fact, the pan acted as a reflector for the candle which added to the atmosphere of the event. :-)

Tristan very instensely studied the cake (as he does most new things) and gingerly played with the icing for about five minutes but he would not eat it! I put some of the icing on my finger for him to taste but no go. Can you believe it? What kid doesn't eat at least some cake for their first birthday?

Ah, well. Maybe he'll like vegetables instead. Every mother's dream.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my baby boy with the intense, dark, kind eyes, insatiable, contagious smile, curious mind, impish looks, old man face, and belly full of giggles!

Camp is Awakening

Today was wonderful! We spent the whole day exploring camp and the neighboring farm. The weather finally broke today and the snow on the mountain is beginning to receed, which means the pond starting filling up yesterday and breached the spillway this morning.

After Tristan napped in the van for an hour, we hiked up Tablerock and Abigail served a lunch of snow, bark, and mud. Yummy!

We were then invited to the neighbors farm for a lunch of delicious pea, mushroom, chicken, fiddlehead fern soup and bread. The couple that live at the black bear farm have llamas, goats, a horse, 3 dogs, chickens and a donkey. Tristan cooed and babbled in the backpack on the mile and a half hike to the farm. And Abigail was in her element splashing in puddles, petting the dogs, helping the neighbor stir and taste the boiling vat of maple syrup, romping in the mud, checking out the animals, and taking her very first horse ride! Dannie the horse is quite old and gentle. I was excited for her to ride but skeptical that she would actually go through with it. As soon as Dannie was ready, Abigail got right on (with help of course) and rode that horse like she was born to be a cowgirl! I was so proud and so was she. With all the exploring, falling, getting wet and dirty, and new experiences she is encountering thus far, I think we are going to have one tough girl on our hands by the end of the summer.

The assistant director arrived this week and Abigail has taken a shine to her. Ab also made close friends with the neighbors today. Matt and I have decided that she is going to probably become the camp mascott this summer. I am sure she is going to love all the staff and kids and they are going to love her. And Tristan's spunk has really started to show this week, especially now that "NO!" has been added to his vocabulary thanks to his big sister's coaching. Watch out Mass!

Sunshine

The sun showed its face today, woohoo! It is good to see the blue sky. I was beginning to feel like we were still in Pittsburgh with all the rain and gloom.

So we spent the afternoon at a nearby playground while Abigail ran off some pent up energy and Tristan enjoyed some lunch.

So (in you are interested) here are a few random but nonetheless striking observations I have made about this town over the last few days of exploring.

1) Most of the curbs in town are made of marble! Seems like a strange use of resources to me for a blue collar town. But I must say that curbs are in really good condition, not crumbling all over the place like in TC, and look like they have been there for a long time. (I told you this was random!)

2) There seems to be a high rate of teenage mothers for a small town. The school is on spring break this week so kids are out and about and I have seen at least 7+ way-t00-young moms in the last 2 days. Sad.

3) This is most certainly a small town. People you don't know chat with you on the street, stop there car to comment on your cute children, etc. New and a bit alarming for me.

Adjusting to this new way of life is going to take a while for all of us. But Abigail seems to be having the hardest time right now. Many of the pillars of her life (nanas and papies, her yard, her dog, her bed) are not here, everything is different, and camp is not what she expected. We realized on the way up that she was thinking that we would go to the camp as soon as we got here, life in a house there, and there would be lots of kids her age around to play with. It is hard to watch a child so young struggle with disappointment. We are enrolling her swim lessons which start next week and hope to do some other things that will bring some structure and familiar faces in her life. The sun is shining with a promise of warmer weather to come, we are making connections to people and God has always provided for us and will do that once again. It is a joy to watch His work.