Videos

It’s been a while since I uploaded any video for your viewing pleasure. Below are three videos from the past few months – all of them of Gwennan, of course. I was tempted to upload the video snippet I made of Catri and Mark conversing about cheese as we were driving back from Florida in August, but I decided to spare you all. I thought it was pretty funny – the two of them going on and on about different cheeses they like or don’t like – but I realize not everyone shares my love for the absurd.

First up is Gwennan the Scavenger. If you open the refrigerator door and Gwennan is in the kitchen, she makes a b-line for the vegetable drawer or whatever she can get her hands on. You see, the refrigerator is a box of TREASURES. She’ll usually grab whatever she can get and take off with it. In this case, it was a partially eaten bag of Romaine lettuce. She squatted on the kitchen floor eating it like a little scavenger monkey. Only, she really wasn’t eating it …

Next is Gwennan the Silly Banana. I’m not really sure what she’s doing here, other than being a nut. She demonstrates some of the new skills she’s learned lately: spinning in a circle and dancing. The walking backwards thing she does in the end is a mystery. No idea where that came from.

Finally we have Gwennan and Ian: the Clean-up Crew. While our Life Group was enjoying a meal together in the dining room, Gwennan and Ian found the broom and mop in the kitchen. Earlier that evening they had conspired together to put as many toys in the trash can as possible before getting caught. We fished out about a dozen magnets and various other toys and put the trash can on the counter.
(Sorry for the length of the video. One day I will either learn A: when to hit the stop button, or B: how to edit video.)

Roses and Babies

Mark and I have the most amazing friends. Calling them friends doesn't seem like enough, though. It's like that word just doesn't do them justice - it's not special enough. We sometimes say that they're more like family, but that doesn't work either, because the word "family" (for us) has painful associations that go along with it. They're more like co-sojourners, wandering through life alongside us. They laugh with us, they cry with us, and they pray with and for us. When Mark and I are going through difficult times, they are the ones who carry us through. They're not "superpeople", and they're not perfect, but that's part of what makes us love them so much - we don't feel any expectations to be "super" or perfect ourselves.

In the past three months, Mark and I have experienced two miscarriages. It has been horribly sad, painfully disappointing, and has left us feeling a bit confused, a bit angry. We don't understand why I suddenly can't keep a baby in my womb. I'll be going to the doctor about it in October, but we're having to put off trying to conceive again for now, which means our plans to have babies about two years apart are simply not going to work out.

Our friends have mourned our losses with us. They have prayed for us, listened to us, and simply gone through the experience with us. Last week, Bevin and Zellyn sent roses (a flower I adore) with the following note:

"We love you guys so much! We've been thinking of you tons this week. We're sorry for this loss. We're glad we can be your friends in shitty stuff as well as fabulous stuff."

So are we. Mark and I often say how wonderful it is to walk through life with such amazing people. We thank our God for them every day.