More Glimpses of the Week

Aunt Ginny reading to the cousins ...

Cute Marie

Uncle David bonding with Emma!

All the turtles swam up to greet us at the National Zoo!

& Lots of fun on the playground!

Playing Catch-Up

I apologize for the serious lack of blogging over the last couple of weeks ...

but we were having an absolutely wonderful time!

First, we visited Aunt Ginny in Washington, D.C.

It was a wonderful visit and we squeezed in a lot ...

the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum,

the Museum of Natural History,

the carousel on the National Mall

(a highlight for the kids)

& the National Zoo (& the pandas)!

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We also just enjoyed the gorgeous fall weather &

the lovely walking trails along the Potomac.

Check out the progression of pictures above

as Benjamin & Daddy play hide & seek!

Then we drove up to Philly to spend

a week with Michael, Rachel, Alise, Marie, & Emma!

We had a fabulous time & here are just a few pictures with more to come!

Double Cuteness!

One more shot of everyone!

Year 5: New Beginnings

To celebrate our 4th anniversary Ada stayed at the grandparents, and we did a mini stay-cation at home. On Friday night I made shrimp alfredo for dinner and we watched a movie. The next day David packed an amazing gormet picnic. We ate in the city center enjoying all the lovely Christmas decorations downtown and the gorgeous weather (in MS you can have a picnic and Christmas decorations at the same time!). The food was amazing, but my favorite part was that he had carefully packed little love notes throughout the picnic basket. It was such a surprise as I unpacked the food! Then we each picked an activity to do together. I chose the art Museum which was really fun with David because he could explain the various artists' styles and techniques to me. David chose mini-golf which I had not done since I was in high school. It turned out to be a blast, and we were able to just relax and be silly and laugh a lot! He beat me, but only by 3. ;-) We were very blessed, and the year ahead was filled with new beginnings ...

That was the year that we welcomed Benjamin into our family!

I will never forget the feeling of holding him for the first time. There are literally no words to describe it. I was overwhelmed with love for this new little person!

It was an amazing blessing to have Gramaw with us for the birth as well! (This is one of my favorite pictures ... ever!)

Grandma certainly made the transition home so much easier!


It was beyond wonderful to have her there to help out
& to join us in celebrating Benjamin's arrival!
It was also a very special time because she really bonded with Ada!
Since that visit, Ada has talked excitedly about "Gramaw" and
regularly asks to go see her in Tukrey!

We dedicated Benjamin to the Lord a few months later,
which was a very special event for our family!
We were so blessed to have Gramps, Grammie, and Ompak with us!

It was wonderful to be able to dedicate Benjamin to the Lord, but it was also a time when David & I were dedicating ourselves to the Lord again. During that year we knew that our time in seminary was coming to a close, and we struggled to hear God's voice and discern what the next steps for us would be. As we prayed about what to do, we gave ourselves, our marriage, and our family to the Lord once again. We found such peace when we were able to surrender ourselves and wholeheartedly commit to follow and serve Him. These months of prayer and seeking brought us much closer together as a couple, and renewed our calling. It was a tremendous blessing to see that God's plan unfold that year as we stepped out in faith. We feel so grateful for the way that God continues to lead us on this journey!

Next week ... Year 6!

We're thankful for our cousins!

We just got back from a wonderful visit with our cousins, Alise, Marie, & Emma! Aren't they three of the cutest little girls you have ever seen?

We all had a lot of fun together visiting parks, baking & decorating Christmas cookies, making an Operation Christmas Child shoebox, and enjoying the lights and decortions at Peddler's Village.

We all played together really well & made many wonderful memories!

Many more pictures to come soon!

Here are the girl cousins in their matching "Hugable" shirts.
We got one for Anya too even though she couldn't be with us!

We love you Anya!!!

We have been tremendously blessed with an abundance of sweet little girls in our family!
So much to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Year 4: A Home of Our Own

We celebrated our third anniversary by going out to dinner at Thai restaurant on the top floor of a highrise in downtown Baku. It was a lovely evening!

A few months later we returned to the US and bought our first home!

It was such an amazing blessing to have our own place!

I have never loved a home as much as this one ... it is absolutely perfect for us!

This is not just a house ... This is the place where we hang our stockings.

& ... This is the cozy corner for the tree decorated by little hands.

This is the red front door where we take pictures on the first day of school!

This is the place where we welcomed Benjamin home (more about that next week)!

This is the dining room where we have had countless family dinners.

This is the backyard where we have had so many pool parties & cook-outs.

This is the hearth where our kids preform regular talent shows!

This is the owl that Ada blows kisses to every night!

This is the kids' cozy book nook!

This is the kitchen where we make birthday cakes.

This is the office where David found his real passion for graphic design.

This is Ada's big girl bed!

This is the murral Daddy painted for the kids.

We settled into our home that year. We also settled into a new phase of life that included graduate school, spending time with family (near and far), and enjoying life in the USA. It was a year of relief, refreshment, renewal, and rest. God was so good to us! He knew exactly what we needed after all that we had been through. This was the year that our house became a home. Oh, and it was also the year when we found out that our trio would become a quartet!

Tune in next week for Year 5: New Beginnings!

Birthday Recap

Year 3: Overjoyed

At the very end of our second year of marriage,

we came back to the US to prepare for the birth of our first child,

I had planned to have the baby overseas,

but some medical complications changed our plans.

We went out to dinner to celebrate our 2nd anniversary.

I was only 3 days away from my due date,

and I still remember laughing that my protruding belly barely fit

between the bench and the table in the restaurant booth. :-)

And then, our lives changed forever, and our sweet little girl was born.

Our third year of marriage was filled with the overwhelming joy of being parents!

Watching Ada grow, and seeing each other delight in her was such an amazing experience.

We retruned to our tiny apartment overseas,
but having our baby transformed it into a home.
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There was still plenty of stress,
but there was so much joy now too!

We laughed so much together that year.
And we celebrated each little milestone.

Ada was such a happy & smiley baby!

She made friends with strangers!
We suddenly found that everywhere we went we were met with welcoming smiles!

We celebrated our first Christmas as a trio.

Grandma & Super Papak came for a visit.

We made so many new local friends that year,

it was amazing all the doors that were open to us

now that we had a baby.

We were able to connect with other families which was a huge blessing!

We also found that our new home

had more fun activities than we had realized!

We explored all the city parks together!

And we enjoyed our cozy evenings at home together too.

Our apartment was still not an easy place to live in some ways,

but it came to feel more like a home because we made so many memories there.

I learned an important lesson that year ...

tremendous stress is tolerable when we have tremendous joy!

Next week ... Year 4: A Home of Our Own!