Bath Tubs and Snuggles

Jared has had the camera with him in Bhutan, so I haven't been able to take any new pictures this week, but here are a few from last month that I didn't put up.

Try and ignore how crazy I look and focus on how sweet my little boy is when he finally slows down enough to cuddle (for all of 60 seconds).

He loves the water. One day while Jared was gone, we went out and played in his pool/bath tub in the front yard. He had a great time and the neighbors enjoyed the show!

He loves bath time. He will sit and play in the water until it is ice cold and then we have to drag him out. There's only one small problem. I recently taught him out to drink out of a cup and now he is drinking his bath water (which isn't clean)!

Lots of new pictures to enjoy. Keep scrolling down!

A Glimpse at the Work

We originally created this blog so that our family and friends could see a glimpse of our life and work in South Asia. However, for some odd reason, since October 1, 2008, it has only contained photos of this adorably cute little babe. Well, this is my attempt to integrate a little of our work into this blog! These days, I can't seem to ever remember to photograph anything (other than a kid that is too cute for words!). So, we have been making a conscious effort to take more photos.

Today, Jared and a local pastor friend trekked into a village for a baptism program. On the way, Jared texted me to tell me that it was steeper than the trek to Gyaru (one of the highest villages in Manang where we used to work).

They gathered at a spring for the baptism.

Six men and women took baptism today - Praise God!

Afterwards, Jared encouraged them from the Word of God.

This weekend has been full of events! I cooked for 10 American volunteers on Friday, we had a funeral on Saturday, teammates in for a meeting (and a meal - two single guys living in India equals few home cooked meals!) Saturday evening, baptism program Sunday afternoon and a birthday party and dinner Sunday night for a Nepali friend. We are a bit weary but we enjoyed it all. Caleb is sooooo tired. He's been a trooper though. He loves sitting with the "big" kids on his own.

Chak Chak Lagyo

Roughly translated - that means a boy being a boy!

"I am so sneaky! I managed to get into the bathroom, grab my empty soap bottle and escape before they noticed I was in the bathroom (where I am NOT allowed to play!)."

"I know I went outside, unsupervised without your permission, but now I am in a bit of a pickle! Could you PLEASE help me up!"

Caleb's Birthday Cont'd

Here are a few more pictures from Caleb's birthday.

His Nepali friends came to celebrate with him. He quite obviously didn't understand blowing out the candle. He wanted to grab it while it was lit!

Our pastor friend giving him the traditional "khata". He also said a prayer of blessing over him for his birthday (a Nepali tradition).

Receiving a gift from his friends. They just happened to be pink and white light up shoes. There are no gender color rules here! They also think he doesn't have shoes because we never put them on his feet. They always ask why he doesn't have on shoes. My answer - who knows - I guess I am too lazy to cram them on his feet when he is just going to be inside anyway.

Our teammates joined us for the festivities as well!

Apparently Caleb doesn't like cake! I know - WEIRD! He wouldn't eat more than one bite of the cupcake. We tried both white and chocolate, icing and no icing. He didn't care for any of it. We were at another birthday party tonight, and he wouldn't eat the cake there either. He's more of a cracker, cheerio kind of guy.

His grandparents joined in for the party via Skype. Praise God for a good Internet connection!

"Yep - I'm 1 now!"

Birthday Boy!

Today, our sweet, precious little baby celebrated his first birthday! I must admit, last night as I was singing to him and praying over him, the tears overcame me. He isn't our tiny baby boy anymore. He is big and full of life. He runs everywhere, smiles contagiously and gives kisses all day. We had a family birthday celebration in the morning and a party in the evening. I only have pictures from the morning celebration right now as our friend took pictures at the party. So, enjoy a sneak peak of Caleb's first birthday!

My mom sent him some toy cars! He loves them. He wasn't big into unwrapping the presents, but he thought they were really cool when he got them in his hands.

This face says it all! He immediately figured out that he could take out the animal pieces and then put them back into the barn doors.

I can already tell this will be a life saver. He can stand at the fridge and play with these while I cook! He really enjoys the magnets.

We went to a beautiful park for lunch. We thought we would play in the grass afterwards, but Caleb wasn't feeling well. All day, he was running a fever of 100-101 and didn't quite feel like himself. However, he still managed to enjoy the day!

Please don't laugh. I know it may be hard, but try and control yourself. This was my first attempt at a birthday cake that was more than a rectangle with icing. So, I don't think I'll be sending it into any cake decorating contests, but I think Caleb will enjoy looking back on it!

So Old...

Caleb will have his first birthday next week! He is getting so big and doens't really seem like much of a baby anymore. He isn't the only one getting older though. My computer recently died (but we were able to resurrect it!), so I have been using a different computer. Of course, nothing is the same of this computer. So, I haven't done much e-mail or any blogging because it takes too long to figure out how to do it on this computer! I have some really cute video, but it must wait until my super smart, techno savvy husband is home long enough to help me. So, in the meantime, enjoy these pictures while I figure out how to do more!

We don't really have a doctor that we use here for check-ups. So, our friend at the local hardware store weighs Caleb on a regular basis on his scale. Caleb loves his wife and has fun playing in their store. It is nice because we can go in there and feed Caleb while we are at the market without having to run home. They treat him like their own son!

Caleb and I just got back from Delhi. The trip there was LONG (and our return was even longer). He loves to run in wide open spaces. He doesn't care if he can see us and he has never met a stranger. He ran all over the airport. Pulling on the pants legs of complete strangers until they picked him up (only to squirm so he could get down again). He found some friends to play. We have to be careful because he doesn't understand the meaning of the words softly or gently. He loves to grab ahold of his new friends and touch their cheeks. He looks so much bigger than these kids but he is actually the youngest.

This picture is for my mom. She got him this sweater before he was even born! I didn't think he would get to wear it, but I pulled it out this morning and it fit perfectly. It is starting to get cooler here, especially in the morning/evening. He had an entire box of toys to play with, but he grabbed the plug adapter and curtain ring! He much prefers to play with every day stuff over toys! He is pretty sweet and we can't wait to share pictures from his birthday!