Without Measure

Today is my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, a golden day of worth and value without measure. In Spanish, the word for "fifty" is "cincuenta," which can be a pun for "sin cuenta," without measure. Infinite. Uncountable. 

Two years ago I had the honor of sorting through decades' worth of letters that my grandmother Beth Phelps had saved, letters from my dad in college and later from Viet Nam, then piles of letters from Peru. Beginning in 1971, there were letters from my mother as well, and eventually letters from me and Anita. 

This treasure of family history took my breath away.

There was one word that emerged as a theme from these carefully folded missives: 

Thankfulness.

Over and over again, these words emerged: Thank you. 

And these are the words that I have for today: Thank you. 

Thank you for giving me and Anita an upbringing of immeasurable worth, experiences across continents and countries, a life among the Quechuas - these beautiful and marginalized and beloved people - our own heritage. 

Thank you for your steadfastness, with each other, in your faith, towards us.

Thank you for your generosity and selflessness towards others.

I love you, sin cuenta.

Ten - Dhjet - Diez

Valerie is TEN years old!

She had gifts in the morning and cake at school (not pictured), then we sang to her in the evening as well. (My parents are here!)

Then on Friday, we invited some friends over for a cat-themed party with games and more food.

This is the first actual birthday cake I have ever made for either of my kids - carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It came out perfect! 

I think she liked it! 

another milestone!

Gabe lost his first tooth! It was loose for about a whole month before it finally fell out; the new tooth was already growing in behind it - my sister called it a "shark tooth"! 

He was very excited to leave it under the pillow of the Tooth Fairy or el Ratón Pérez (either one will do!)

One funny thing that happened, early during our home leave we were at a hardware store and he was wiggling it absent-mindedly. The woman at the cash register asked him if it was his first loose tooth, and when he said yes, she told us that when she had her first loose tooth her dad tied a string to the tooth, and the other end of the string to an arrow... and she shot it out of her own mouth herself, with her bow and arrow!

It's just so Rockingham County, it made me day. We actually tried it, too! We used Gabe's toy bow and arrow though and it didn't actually work - the string just slid off the tooth both times we tried. But it was fun to, um, give it a shot!

This Kid Turned 6!

 This was Gabe's first birthday celebrated in the place of his birth! We didn't have a big "do" like last year, but I think the hamburger cake was memorable. His first loose tooth is hanging on tight in his mouth, it has been 3 weeks now, but that's another landmark moment happening now.

He was asking me the other day about topiary, and when I said you can shape shrubbery like "anything" he said "what about God?" This kid.

Anniversary!

Kind of weird to have your wedding anniversary on Good Friday; we didn't go out or do anything particularly out of the ordinary but it was a beautiful day anyway. We hung around the house doing ordinary things - laundry, shopping, cooking, playing with the kids - and it was kind of idyllic in its own way.

(I also have very few pictures of the two of us so this lily - a lotus blossom? - will have to do.)

I remember one of our first conversations - perhaps the very first? I asked Terry what his favorite book was, one of those standard get-to-know-you questions, and when he said "The Lord of the Rings" I about fell off my chair. I was sitting in the kitchen of the MCC house in Yapacaní, Bolivia, while he made food (aha! Foreshadowing!). I think at that moment at some level I knew we were going to end up together (though I wasn't necessarily convinced that would be a good thing!) It

was about a year before we really fell in love; a year of many wonderful conversations, arguments, and rescues.

One thing I've always loved about Terry is his enthusiasm. Sure, he's cynical and skeptical and all that, but when he's for something, he's whole hog. I dated a guy once who would only (and even then only grudgingly) walk me half-way home. But when I told Terry I wanted a teddy bear for Christmas, he bought me four. 

bear #1 of 4

cuz I had to put the kids in somewhere...

So here we are, almost 20 years from the day we met (September 17, 1996), and 16 years from the day we got married. Pretty soon I will have known him half my life (I was only 23 when I went to pick up the new guy at the airport in Santa Cruz!). We've been parents for almost 8 years. So many adventures! New Zealand, South Africa, Central America, Albania, and now Colombia.

Thank you to this smart, generous, funny man for walking this road together with me. I love you.

 

43!

My birthday was on Saturday, but I delayed posting about it because I wanted to show off my new glasses! After 13 years with the same frames I went for something drastically different. Obviously I have yet to master the art of the selfie, but this will have to do. I got my hair cut too, finally after forever, though you can see the shape a little better here:

I'm a wash-and-go girl, so there you have it. 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Terry! 

I realized while writing this post that I really only take pictures of you by accident, when you're in the same frame with one of the kids... but at least I found these two! 

In celebration of this milestone, I found this collection of photos of things that happened the year you were born - Enjoy!

Bug's Birthday

This morning Bug was remembering his birthday a few months ago, which we celebrated "in that place where your mom lives" (as he remembers it), "and all my friend came and I gave them numbers." (One of the games was a raffle).  I realized I never put up photos of the actual party, so here they are! 

Driving

Besides defending my dissertation and getting the kids' visas renewed, while we were in the US I also got a new driver's license. It was crazy! My old license had expired while we were here in Colombia, but because I was turning 40 I needed an eye exam at the DMV. Well, I figured out much later that I could have had an eye exam here and had it validated somehow, but I thought I had to actually go to the DMV, which is why I couldn't just renew it online. 

So I had to take both the road and written tests again. It was me and a bunch of tiny little nervous teenagers. The written test was nerve-wracking - I had to review a lot and take practice tests online but some of the questions were really hard! Some sounded like trick questions and I would overthink them. Some things I just didn't know. But my muscle memory for actually operating a motor vehicle was fine, so the road test was super easy.

Here are a few random photos of the kids playing at the Children's Museum, but it kind of went with the car/driving theme :-)

Grad

This is a totally self-indulgent post (but then, aren't they all?)

I just got back from a week in the US to celebrate my PhD graduation!

It finally feels real... 

9 years, 3 continents, 2 babies, 1 degree.

Looking back, it seems like a crazy thing to have undertaken. But when I look at each separate decision along the way, I'm not sure I would have chosen differently at any of those points. I do think, though, I was very naive going into the writing stage as to what that would take to finish. 

This looks like individual achievement, but it depended on support from so many people in absolutely critical ways. My parents, my in-laws, Terry, Rosanne... friends in the department, Shpresa.

My grandparents got married in this very room! 

(Most of the photos above are from the commencement ceremony on Sunday the 24th; the last one is from the Anthropology department reception recognition ceremony.)

Finished. Finally.

Valerie is Seven

Zero

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

A Year in Review

Valerie is turning SEVEN tomorrow! Here is a series of some of my favorite photos from the past year.

First day of big-kid school, May 2014

Favorite dress + favorite pastime!

Playing dress-up in Mama's skirt

Minutes after getting her hair cut! The pin was from Great-grandma Beth P.

Grinning with delight at a new dress-up dress

Enjoying cookies and hot chocolate at the local bakery

New Christmas dress and shoes

The Pirate Fairy - this dress was a gift from Grammy Dot!

Snow days in Harrisonburg - Grandma Irma made this dress!

This is STILL her favorite dress...! 

At this age she LOVES wearing dresses and playing dress-up. She thrives on being physically active but is also balancing that with great intellectual growth, grasping concepts quickly. Spanish has been a challenge this year, being in a 100% Spanish school, but I'm thrilled with how much she is learning.  She has 8 permanent teeth, and is tall for her age. She is able to help out with a lot of things around the house now and does so ably. It is a delight watching her grow!