Crawling!

Teething joys!

We've not been blogging much lately due to sickness and technical issues which prevented us from using the techology. The giardia is gone now, but yesterday and today Jonathan has had his first real fever illness. I guess that is his prize for turning 10 months old yesterday. I don't think it's anything serious but please do pray for his safe and timely recovery!

Our technology issues continue, but for the moment I have blog access so I'm going to post some fun things while I can!

TEETHING!
Would you believe Jonathan has SIX teeth now! So now we are brushing teeth every night.

The first night I decided to let him try on his own first.
Uhm, okay so he's not a genius yet. He's been learning a lot of new skills lately, like crawling and standing, which accounts for the bruises on his head here. Since these pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago he's learned how to fall mostly on his behind instead of his head -- quite an improvement.
So for about a week, he LOVED getting his teeth brushed at night. Sigh, a week of ease. Now he's not so fond of the ritual and will only submit if Daddy does it singing silly songs. Did you know that the BEST teething toy is a flip flop sandal? Dave and I have house sandals for inside. Jonathan was constantly finding them to chew on, which is kind of icky. So I finally bought him his own pair -- they have many rubbery, spongy, textured surfaces perfect for teething on! I'm tempted to give this as a baby gift next time I'm invited to a shower!

Eric

Eric Thor Hanson
October 9, 1964 — August 30, 2010

This entry is dedicated to the memory of Eric Hanson. Eric went home to be with the Lord this last Monday evening after a long battle with brain cancer. He leaves behind his wife Beth and their ten year old daughter Anya. I am moved to tears as I write this entry because of the hole that his loss leaves in so many hearts. I became friends with Eric while attending the Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle where we were "older students". Eric taught me to laugh at myself and our mutual Scandinavian heritage (as you can see from the above photo he was also proud of his Scandinavian heritage). I also witnessed Eric and Beth's blossoming romance while at Bible college and became friends with both of them. Eric and I shared a passion to serve the Lord in missions and Eric was not embarrassed about the Gospel. Once, Eric and Beth came marching into our school auditorium with a giant styrofoam plane that said "Help send Dave to Madagascar". At the time I was raising support to serve as a volunteer in the Malagasy Lutheran Church. Eric made an effort to be at the most significant events of my life as you can see from the wedding photo below. In the photo we are with our other Bible school friend Paul Hamidi. God blessed Paul and I with the opportunity to visit Eric this last June. Eric knew he was dying, but he was not a man without hope. He spoke honestly about his death and asked Paul and I to be additional uncles for his daughter Anya (just writing that makes me cry). I know that Eric is in heaven with our Lord, but I grieve the loss of a man who served the Lord with joy and laughter in China, Africa and the United States. Please pray for Eric's family and friends as they celebrate his life at a memorial service tomorrow.

(Photos in this post by Susie Hamidi)
Eric's own web site: www.caringbridge.org/visit/babaanya

Jonathan's lunchtime "ministry" at school

Every day (almost) Jonathan and Jennifer go to school to take Dave his lunch! Dave is on lunch duty every day with the highschoolers, frequently making patrols to make sure everybody cleans up after themselves.

Jonathan's part of the ministry is to cheer up the highschoolers! Girls and guys alike flock around him. The seniors asked the other day "Can he be our class baby?"

Here's another fun scene from school lunch hour!

Spices for Lunch

It is said that tofu takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with.
We had a tofu dish last week and here are the spices used to make it taste good!
Everything is fresh and nothing out of a bottle -- all of the roots and cloves were ground up with a mortar and pestle. The leaves were stewed whole. Pour in a bit of coconut milk and our tofu dish was delicious! Sorry I don't have a picture of the finished dish!

On the Move

Trying with a slightly bigger video now. Jonathan again, but I know you grandmas and aunties will enjoy this!

My new name is Trouble!