My daughter the model...

Claire does not really enjoy getting her photos taken and doesn't stay still for a second, but our talented friend Beth captured her well in San Antonio this weekend, for some 18 month photos. If you live in the San Antonio area, I HIGHLY commend her to you! Click HERE to see the preview. Claire was in love with Beth's first born, Carter, who was helping, by entertaining Claire. A perfect little photog assistant! Thank you Beth, Claire will model for you any time!!

Claire Evans World Tour #1- great success

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I will post a link to our photo album as I finish it, but the month of travel is now over and we are grateful to be home. I've now been to 26 countries, currently beating my husband by one, but that shouldn't last long:) And Claire has 5 countries of passport stamps to her name. I could not wish for a better baby, she was a champ, confidently walking on cobblestone and not afraid of new places or things. And she slept in 17 different beds!! What an easygoing kid. I am blessed. I think I might try to write an article for a magazine on traveling with kids. We shall see.

Claire's First Birthday

Our talented new friend Kara took photos of Claire's special day, from waking up, partying her heart out, to nap time. Enjoy them!

You can copy and paste this to see them:)
http://karachappell.smugmug.com/Friends/Claires-1st-Birthday/12615368_pnEyk#906445438_L3W3u
Or press HERE

Texas State Aquarium

We had a lot of fun at the aquarium for the first time. We looked at alligators, birds, sea otters and many other animals. Claire tried to jump into the dolphin tank a time or two, but other than that she was safe. The fish and rescued sea turtles were a little more interesting to mommy though, baby was just as content to play with and eat mommy's flip flops. Maybe next time she'll be a little more into it. I think we'll buy a year pass, such a great deal!
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First Pony Ride!

I realize I am months behind on actual stories about our lives... but when you have a 10 month old, some times a quick photo or video is the easiest way to put up a post! Claire has continued to grow leaps and bounds. She's been walking for a month and is doing it by herself without prompting, which is so cute/wobbly. She still has 6 teeth and is giving me more bruises these days from "love bites."
Her newest 'milestone' was her first pony ride. Our church had a Western Night (chili tasting, s'mores making, etc.) this Sunday. At first I just wanted to get a photo of her on the horse, since she has been around them (at my mom's old stables in NY) and been pulled by one (in MN). But she was petting it's mane and really happy, even started giggling; so we decided to let her go for her first ride. Growing up around horses myself, I couldn't have been more thrilled:) Enjoy!

We are so proud!

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Serving up some Christmas Joy!!!

This is the best story ever. Ever. And it is so cool to have been a small part of it.

Towne Family

Sweet Little Ben

A week ago, Carin Towne wrote on their Caring Bridge blog about 3 year old Ben's desire to "serve (a tennis ball) just like Roger Federer." If you have not yet read their blog, do it right now. You will never forget it in your life.

So anyway, compelled by the desire to bring joy (albeit limited) to this family, I wrote Roger's mom and his US agent an email. I told them Ben's story and attached their blog. Why not, right?! Ben's body is ravished with cancer, and his days are limited. He has already suffered more than any human should have to, in his short life. Then my brilliant friend Shannon also cast her net wide and found a friend of a friend (of a friend, you know how that goes) who knew Tiger Woods, and another that had been on the tennis circuit as a pro years back and could call the head of Nike Tennis.

Long shot, right? NOPE!! Less than a week later, little Ben Towne got a couple surprises in the mail and on the phone today and yesterday... I can't tell you how happy that makes my heart. Read his mom's account to hear the story; it is so sweet in the midst of their pain which is anything but that. I am so grateful for all the strings that were pulled to reach Roger, James Blake and Andy Roddick within a week. Their willingness to reach out to Ben makes me even more of a tennis fan! I was partially disappointed, because I was literally praying that Roger would get on a plane in Switzerland, leave his vacation, to come to Seattle and visit Ben. Ben is MORE than worth it. And that hasn't happened (yet). But I'm still overjoyed in the joy that Ben felt being contacted by those 3 guys. Now I'm starting to pray for FREE 2009 US Open tickets for his parents. They want to go in honor of Ben. They have suffered the worst pain imaginable the past year, and are hanging in there by the grace of God. The most riveting sentence in their recent blog is his mom saying she wishes Ben's life could be saved by the love that has been shown to him this past year. So if you haven't been til this point, start praying: who's with me!!!!

"Stay at Home" Moms/Dads

5 years ago, when I was a big idiot, I asked my boss an un-thought out question. (not much has changed, unfortunately, I constantly: 1. Open mouth and 2. Insert foot) This is a chronic issue with me, this speaking before I think... In any case, his wife is one of those annoying combos of brilliant, beautiful and as gracious as can be. Lovely woman. Capable of anything, she even got straight A's I think all the way through schooling, kindergarten-college, except for one B, or something crazy like that. SO, in my stupidity, I thought, "if she is used to achieving, then clearly she would want to have a job, staying at home raising kids must be like, a temporary setback..." And I asked, "So, does she ever feel sad that she's not working?" I can remember his response as clear as day. At first I thought he was mad, but then I realized it was more an are-you-completely-clueless-Casey?! kind of response. He urged me never to voice that kind of question to a stay at home mom.

Well, I didn't. But I didn't understand why until now. Since many of our friends have begun having kids, I am watching them navigate the tricky waters of employment outside the house and paying for child care. I am realizing how most moms would give their right arm to be able to stay home with their babies during those first few formative years that they can never get back. Witnessing all of the "firsts": first smile, roll over, crawl, stand/walk, word, sentence, potty training (man, this is a big one!!), etc. It seems to rip their hearts out, to go to work, and entrust a stranger with protecting/stewarding their little ones. Our friends struggle to figure out how they can adjust their lifestyle/income so that one of them (usually the mom, though I know some awesome stay at home dads) can be home with the kid(s). Even if one can only work 1/2 time, that seems like a partial victory.

And wow, is staying at home ever work! For my friends that can stay home, the last thing I would call that is leisure, they're constantly doing stuff! Nursing and napping schedules stress me out, and I don't even have to do them! Add to that all the in-and-out of cars and stores and social dynamics with other kids, and teaching times (letters, colors, dumptrucks/race cars, toys and tantrums and laundry and snacks at home... Let alone the struggles added when parents take on adoption! Balancing structure and freedom, discipline and creativity, safety and adventure, it's enough to make me want to take a nap! AND parents don't even get to sleep as much as I do, OR have as much time to do WHATEVER I WANT ALL THE TIME.... Sacrifice. They know the meaning of sacrifice in a way that I definitely do not yet.

So I hereby repent for any of my idiotic thinking of 5 years ago, stay-at-home parents, you are amazing to me. Nothing short of an every day hero. You who invest in the character of your kids are making this world a better place one person at a time. Thank you.

Kids Say the Funniest Things!

If you need a laugh, READ THIS from our friends in South Carolina! Their 2.5 year old Elise is awesome...

There Goes the Neighborhood

Maybe it’s because I just watched The Dark Knight (newest Batman flick, good one) that I’m feeling a desire to fight injustice. Not organized crime, per se, but that of the broken homes and underage drinking persuasion. Like 13-year-olds ditching school, getting drunk and going to the hospital with alcohol poisoning kind of underage drinking. Last night I was talking to some great neighbors while waiting for Burly to do his business, when a car came screeching up next door to them and a girl ran out of the car and hopped through a bedroom window. Two minutes later her parents showed up to pick her up and were screaming at her in Spanish, b/c she wasn’t supposed to be at Kayla’s house. Little did they know she had been elsewhere. 3 minutes after that my 13-year old neighbor and a bunch of her miscreant posse showed up, open beers in hand (from the car!) This was at 11, the last I saw them was after 3am. No mom in sight.

My heart is sad for her, as she has little role model in her mom. A few months ago, her parents got divorced. A new man was in the house shortly thereafter. As a tight-knit community, our block took it pretty hard. That schism has changed the dynamics of our street some, turning their house into a dysfunctional place where teenagers can do whatever they want. It’s made me think a lot about community and how sad I am that none of us were allowed in to the couple’s lives to know that they were hurting. If we had been, I wonder if being loved from other couples and being given resources could have changed the dynamics or outcome of their situation. Maybe not, but maybe. What makes it so hard for us to tell people when we need help? If it ‘takes a village’ to raise kids, then we need community…

I want to tell Kayla, that at 13 she’s making decisions with boys and drugs that are setting her on a path that isn’t going to lead anywhere positive. She’s already been kicked out of a school, and the friends she’s surrounded herself with are not going to lift her up and inspire her to any kind of greatness in life. Watching her compared to her next door neighbor who’s only one year older is like watching the book of Proverbs’ concepts of wisdom and folly being fleshed out. Wisdom respects her involved parents, has chores, works hard, is honest, does well, and will have the world at her feet when she finishes school. Folly by contrast, does none of the above, and is blown with the winds of peer pressure and erroneous judgment.

We have the power of choice in life, we are not merely recipients of the cards we are dealt. I know a guy from Atlanta who just shared his amazing life story with me. He realized that education was the way out of his broken family, projects life. After high school, he got a full scholarship to Penn and then Harvard Business School, when his mom had just completed 7th grade. He retired at about 40, set for life.

It makes me sad that the path he took is more rare and the path people like Kayla are on is more common. But then again Scripture says ‘broad is the road that leads to destruction and narrow is the road that leads to life.’ I wish life for Kayla, and all her friends. I don’t necessarily know how to communicate this, but I think it starts with the stirring that I feel in my heart.

London

Our time in London was delightful, definitely a place we'd go again, which I can't say about too many places. We saw the musical Wicked, which we both loved, and enjoyed hanging around town for a few days. I bought a book at the famous Foyle's on the American Revolution from the British perspective, which I am excited to read. Los bought a Noam Chomsky book, which he is devouring. Our hotel was right by Europe's first Whole Foods, so we ate there a lot, which was a blessing. We were also a stone's throw from Hyde Park and Kensington Palace, which was nice.

I loved seeing all the kids and moms hanging at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. The most stylish playground in the world.

We did a River Thames cruise and went on the London Eye, jff:


The London Tower, where William Wallace and Anne Boelyn et al. had their heads chopped off.


Parliament Building and Big Ben from the air

Watching Euro Cup semi's in the airport. Heathrow's Terminal 5 is awesome! They have cool architecture and food, Tiffany and Co., Harrod's, and all kinds of gucci stores- hardly like any airport terminal I've been to in the world... It was nice to wait there for our flight to Athens.

Kids we like!

In case I sounded too down on kids in that post, here are some kids we like. We've already featured Sophie (our favorite 2+ year old girl) and big bro Gavin

Isn't she awesome?!

and Judah, (Below) our favorite <1 year old boy, both of whom live in Jacksonville, FL; but here are some neighbor kids and friends' kids we hang out with. Our neighbor kids are crazy, about 6 of them have those mini-trucks that they drive around all over the place (the sound haunts me while I garden and study- it's worse than chalk on chalkboards). They're up and down our cul-de-sac on bikes/trikes all day long too. But we like them, and they LOVE Burly (the only dog on the block that they can pick up, b/c he stayed 'puppy' size... so it's cool.


Burly playing in the sprinkler at the other Evanses house on our street
Chunky Caleb and Ashley

Monica and Erik's baby Audrey and big bro Jackson




We also can't wait to meet other friend's kids, like budding artist Elise and her sister Ainsley in South Carolina some day.

Even while writing this blog, I got a call telling me I'm going to have another little cousin for our future kids as Mike and Anna are pregnant again, that's fun. Maybe Nathan and Kaeden will get a sister? Better go add it to my list, I'm telling you, babies are everywhere!!