Christmas Newsletter

Happy Christmas and a Jolly New Year from Spokane, Washington!  Indeed, as many of you know, we are now Washington residents.  This move has been the biggest part of our year and will, of course, influence most of our memories as we reflect on God's goodness to us in 2011. 

We found out about our move well in advance.  Last fall, in his last year of grad school, Keith applied, interviewed and accepted a job working for a national accounting firm with a branch in Spokane.  This seemed ideal, if we had to move, because it was still so close to our beloved Moscow, ID.  Miraculously, we found future renters for our house as early as January.  At the end of May, three days after our fourth anniversary, we packed up and moved 90 miles north. 

But moving wasn't the only big news in our lives this year.  A few weeks before we moved, we found out we were expecting our second child!  And so we settled into Spokane (me feeling the queasy benefits of early pregnancy) over the summer.  We have joined a lovely sort of "sister" church to our church in Moscow, Christ Church of Spokane.  The fellowship of the saints here is sweet and we are enjoying the smaller church body, even if it is spread out a lot farther than we are used to!  Distance doesn't seem to stop this congregation from being absolute party animals.  We have been to more fellowship meals and picnics and hoppin' church functions in the last seven months than we would normally attend in Moscow in a year.  We did not think this was possible!  Aside from church parties, we went camping, to theme parks, visited family nearish and far, explored lots of playgrounds, shopped, and otherwise mastered the general layout of the city of Spokane. 

Among other fun events, Keith got to go hiking in the Wallowas over Labor Day weekend, a yearly hoped-for highlight.  He currently spends lots of time tickling Charlie, watching shows with me, rides the bus to and from work, and does a good job of being "our man," as Charlie would say. 
And on top of all this, Keith has been diligently studying for the CPA exam, a four part test qualifying him to be a public accountant.  He's already passed the first two sections!  He must pass two more within the next year, and we hope to be done, Lord willing, with all the studying by June of 2012.

Charlie-boy remains the delight of our days with his wit, insanely clear verbal skills and enthusiastic love of life.  He absolutely loves to play mini-golf, jump off the bed into a pile of pillows, really take his time eating meals, and ask me endless questions.  Among his current favorite questions is, "What are we gonna do?" following my answer with, "And after that?"
 
For instance:
C:  What are we gonna do?
Me:  Go to bed?
C:  And after bed?
Me: Have breakfast.
C:  And after have bressick?
Me:  Play.
C:  And after play?
Me:  Go to the library.
C:  And after go to the library?
.... And so on.  The list can extend as far as three days in advance before I try to deter him.  (And woe is me if I don't know what is coming up next.)  It is not uncommon to repeat the daily list about five times on the ride home from the grocery store.  Sometimes, usually about the fourth time through, I'll answer with, "Go crazy!"  This answer typically isn't good enough for Charlie.

While Keith has been studying, I've gotten to know some wonderful ladies at prayer group, met and hired some good babysitters, tried to keep up with my crafting, juggle pregnancy with potty training, and generally tried to adjust to life in a new city.

I'm currently three weeks from my due date and anxiously waiting to hold our little daughter in my arms instead of my belly!  We thank God for a healthy pregnancy so far.  And while I'm a little anxious that we'll be spending our first tax season caring for a newborn, it seems we have no choice but to trust God's timing, since we certainly wouldn't have planned it that way! 

We are well-fed, warm, in good health, and learning daily what gratitude and cheerfullness really look like.  God's goodness truly crowns the year! 

Much love from Keith, Nellie, Charlie and (soon-to-be) Olivia Marie

More Summer Adventures... in October

The great thing about having in-laws in Florida is that I don't have to pack up my shorts until after our Fall/Winter visit!  This year we decided to plan our visit to include Halloween.  We originally were planning to go between Thanksgiving and Christmas and do a sort of combined holiday thing, but Baby Girl prevented that.  And of course, we don't mind her interference at all.  All this to say, I'm finally getting around to posting about our vacation.  (I don't know how people with children manage to post so frequently, sometimes daily, without going to extreme measures.  For instance, I am, at this time, sitting next to Charlie on the couch while he watches one of his favorite movies, and I type on the laptop.  I'm using 8-month-pregnancy-fatigue as my excuse for doing this at 9:53 am.  There.  I said it.) 

As I said, we decided to go to Florida over Halloween weekend, not because we particularly value that "Holiday" but because I thought it would be pretty cute to see Charlie trick-or-treating for the first time in his life around his grandparents' neighborhood.  And it was cute.  But more on that later.

Okay, so this first picture isn't in Florida, its Charlie with our punkin'.  Looking through all our recent picture downloads, I was shocked at how grown up he looks!  And I wanted to share...  Anyway, this was early October.

 Our biggest concern surrounding this trip was the plane ride.  Actually, plane rides.  The trip to FL included two stopovers, which equals three plane rides to get there.  Our previous experience with Charlie-boy and planes included tension.  I mean, how would you feel if you were a little person with lots of wiggles and nowhere to go?  But praise the Lord, Charlie did great!  He loved the air and light buttons, the armrests, the seat belts, the juice from the flight attendants.  He surprised us with a nap during the second flight.  He even cheered loudly at the end of two landings "Yay! We landed!" and  "There's the control tower."  And brought chuckles from the people around us.  And can I just say we LOVE our portable DVD player?  If you are attending a baby shower and have some extra cash, bring one as a gift.  I'm just saying.

Moving on.

Once in Florida, we soaked up the humidity, hugs and kisses from Granny and Grandad and settled in for some relaxation and fun.  Lakeland has some fun parks, a must for us.

 And aside from city parks, Florida of course has theme parks.  This year it was Legoland!  There was a lot of hype in FL building up to the opening of Legoland because the park was meant to be specifically for toddlers to twelve-yearolds.  For the Dimelers, it did not disappoint.  And thank you Granny and Grandad for the early Christmas present!

 If you read my last post, you'll see that Charlie was more than ready to tackle rides.  And he really did!  Every ride that allowed for his height/age he got on with enthusiasm.  The funny thing is, he always forgot to smile!  But he must have had fun, because he wanted to do all of them.  The capstone of this park for Charlie was the rollercoaster.  Indeed, there was one coaster that allowed my two-yearold to ride (with an adult).  It wasn't without some nervous flutters that I watched him walk with Grandad to the line.  Charlie has watched a video about rollercoasters, so he knew all about what you are supposed to do.  He lifted up his hands, I think before the ride even started, and with quite the serious expression on his face, enjoyed his ride!  Attaboy!

Sometime in the mid-afternoon it started to rain, but we were not deterred.  Keith, and later I, joined Charlie on the last two rides of the day.  And they were wet.  The look on Keith's face might convey something like "Wow.  That's a lot of water."  He was quite tough about it, actually.  I'm the one who cringed as I sat down.  All for the kids.

While waiting in line for the fire truck ride, Charlie surprised us with another nap.  He fell asleep right there in the middle of Legoland in the rain. 

 We also had the chance to visit Keith's brother and sister-in-law and their daughter, Carli.  Just check out those curls!  We told Charlie to give her a hug for the picture.  She wasn't sure what he was doing.

 Here's a picture of another early Christmas present: the Tornado Tee.  Or, as we've come to call it, The Golf Machine. 

The other big adventure we had was riding on a seaplane.  This was more of a feat for me than anyone else, as I don't like heights.  But I was only a little nervous and tried not to act startled everytime we hit a little "air" up there.  The pilot didn't say anything.

 And here are a few shots of our trick-or-treating adventures.  Charlie got a little braver at saying "Trick or Treat" as the evening continued and collected quite a nice little bundle.  He was dressed up as a train conductor.  And Keith was... Gandalf?

It may seem that we didn't have a moment to rest, but truly we all got plenty of naps and relaxation time.  We were quite ready for the big leaf clean-up that awaited us at home!

Proud Parent Day

Earlier this summer, we spent a day at Silverwood theme park.  They have rides, food, and a water park.  After Keith spent some time on the coasters (I don't do heights), we decided to see what kinds of rides Charlie might like before we headed to the waterpark.  Charlie had already mastered the carousel at the park, so we felt sure he'd have some fun on the kiddy rides at Silverwood.  We couldn't be more wrong! 

Flying elephants?  No!  Butterlfyer?  No!  Froghopper, Red Baron? NO NO NO!  Hmmm.  So much for family day at the park.  Finally, we put our foot down.  Our feet, I guess.  Antique cars.  Surely Charlie would like that.  All you do is sit in an antique car, ride around a track at 2 miles an hour for about 5 minutes and get out.  Charlie knows all about riding in the car and this time:  no carseat!  When we got to our car, it was like trying to put a cat in a bathtub.  He screamed, fought, pushed, pulled.  And then he sat down, and SNAP, he was a happy kid.  What?!  I kid you not, the transformation was instant.  He was smiling, talking about the color of our car, the car ahead of us and how we were "drivin."  Whew!  Fun at last.

Well, after that experience, we began to seriously doubt our upcoming trip to Florida this fall, which includes a visit to Legoland.  Would every ride be a battle?  Should we even try to push him?  He's only two after all. 

Later in the summer we received a tip to visit Riverside park downtown to see a real live, close up Fire truck.  As we could have guessed, Charlie wasn't actually too interested in sitting up in the cab like the other kids, but he accepted a sticker and waved at Smoky the Bear.  What we didn't guess, was that actually the whole park was alive with booths, games, food... and rides.  Kid's day.  We wandered around, eating up our hour on the meter.  When we got to the rides, Keith asked, doubtfully, if Charlie wanted to ride the Airplane ride.  "Yeah."  We asked him if he was sure. "Yeah."  We must have asked him half a dozen times, pointing out that Mama couldn't ride with him and that it might be fast and a little high.  "Yeah."  Ok we thought, he'll get on and then we'll get to witness a melt down for the duration of the ride.  Spending far too much money, Keith bought enough tickets for three rides.  "We'll just see what happens.  But we've gotta try it."

And what happened was, we were the Proudest Parents of a Toddler that day.  With astounding calm, Charlie was placed in a plane, by himself and left there.  And once the ride started, he smiled, laughed, forgot to pull the lever to go up, but who cares?  He was having FUN!  And, so were we.  We were elated.  Sounds so silly to think so.  I mean, for goodness sake, if we're this proud over a carnival ride, what happens when he graduates from high school?  And Charlie went on to use up all the tickets.  "Driving" a train and riding the bumper boats.  Our son.  A ride rider.  So proud.

And so, some of you may be asking, why can't Mama set a good example and start riding the roller coasters?  My response to that is, "Don't make this about me.  This is about the kids."

I Found the Camera

Well, okay, Keith told me where it was. But, that means I have lots of pictures to show you as well as lots of new ones we've taken since I last posted.  I should warn you that you'll see some untidyness.  What can I say?  People live in this place.

 These two are of the "master bedroom."  That just means its where Keith and I sleep.  No bathroom attached.

And here's Charlie's room, a shot at the other window.  Check out the cool cars on his wall.  A gift from Keith's past.  Thanks Mom-in-Law!

Here's the living room.  I have since put up valances, or "curtain toppers" as I've dubbed them, to soften up all that brightness.  Like the brightness, just needed some color.  And we now have white slip covers on those chairs and I have big plans, people, big plans to get pretty pillows on them, say next fall some time...

And finally a shot from the living through the kitchen into the dining room.  Follow the cabinet line on the right and you'll notice a lovely fade up from light to dark in color.  That's a real nice feature.  (Thank you for smiling, Brian Regan fans.)  You can't tell, but the piece with the microwave on it is Charlie's old changing table.  My idea.

And here's a peek into the dining room.  Its quite cozy with our NEW used table from Craigslist.  We heart it very much, but it adds some bulk so recently we've pushed it under that window on the left.  Makes it much easier for Charlie to run straight from the dining room into the living and throw himself on the slipcovered, pillowless chair.  Whew.  Glad we got that one figured out.

And then a lovely shot of the backyard.  This one was taken fairly early on in summer and those two ornamental cherry trees were just gorgeous.  Of course, Charlie calls them "mental cherries" but at least he knows he's not supposed to eat them.

Here's a look of what I see right outside my kitchen window.  The picture below is a little more clear.  Sometime in June this huge rose bush put forth the prettiest yellow flowers.  They didn't last long but they made washing dishes much more fun.  We are very fortunate to live next door to an avid gardener.  There isn't a day she isn't outside tending something.  And the results are lovely. 

I thought I had better pictures of the basement, but I don't!  And right now isn't the best time to snap a shot.  Boxes, toys, stripped beds.  I've been trying to purge this week as well a sort through what we have and don't have for baby girl.  Due in about 4 months.  Gulp.

Tune in next time for a story about the afternoon we spent as "Proudest Parents of a Two-Yearold."  And no, unfortunately, it does not have to do with potty training.

I. CAN. NOT. FIND. THE. CAMERA.

Arg. And that camera has so many pictures of our new place that I took specifically to show you all. At any rate, we have a few from Keith's iphone camera that made it to the computer, so I can show you those for the time being. The quality is, well, what you'd expect from an iphone, but I wanted to leave you with some proof that we are in a different house! And doing well. Above is our front lawn. Below is Charlie kickin' it with some lunch, in our dining room which you can't see at all. Behind him you can sort of glimpse our backyard.

Here's the length of our kitchen. In the background is the living room.

These two shots are of our downstairs "finished" basement. It encompasses our guest room, office, and sewing room as well as plenty of floor space for Charlie to play. And the last pic is Charlie's messy room. I wish I could say its much more organized than that now, but it rarely is.

All these pictures were taken before we'd really gotten settled. And we're settling still. Maybe soon I'll show you better pictures and more. But for now, this is it!

Excuses, excuses...

I will give you none! I have perfectly legitimate reasons for not posting recently. Morning sickness for one. Oh, wait! Forget I said that because "No excuses!" So. To show you we are all just fine and Charlie is as cute as ever (maybe cuter), I will appease you for now with some of his most recent remarks.

As I made lunch, Charlie came into the kitchen and said "Look! You found lunch!"

As we got out of the car, it started to rain. Charlie said "Its rainin' again. God turned on the rain!"

Charlie doesn't miss much. At the playground, every once in a while he will overhear a mom calling to her child. She might say something like "Come on David." Helpful Charlie often chimes in "Come on David! Come on David!" The mom usually smiles. I'm not sure how David feels about it.

Strangers at the park beware. If you so much as smile at Charlie, he will start pontificating. He will lecture you in his semi-gibberish language about fans, generators, the slide, ladder, whatever. Its best to smile again, and walk slowly away. He won't stop until you do.

We are currently working on getting Charlie to ask for things nicely/politely instead of outright demanding them. It's not sticking so far. Last week at the grocery store, the change slid out of the cash register. As I picked it up, Charlie loudly and clearly said "Give me some money!"

Lately, when we get into the car, it can be rather warm if not hot. Before I say a word, Charlie pipes in with "Its not hot. Its warm." Which I can only take to mean that its hot.

When Charlie likes a particular food item, he'll say, while eating it, "I'm so hungry, hungry for yogurt" Or, "I'm so thirsty, thirsty for juice."

We often remind Charlie that Mama has a baby in her belly. The other day I ate something and Charlie asked me where it went. I told him it went in my belly. He said "The baby's eating it!"

He is a little confused about the baby in the belly. He really thinks he has one in his belly too. I hope this clears up when I start to show more.

I guess with early verbal skills come the early questions. Charlie wants to know how everything works. While we drive along, or walk along, or just sit around, Charlie will find something, anything, even if he already knows what it is and ask "Mama what's that?" My answer is promptly followed by "What do's wiff it?"

For instance: "Mama, what's that?"

"Those are trees."

"What do's wiff it?"

And then there are often the reptitive questions:

"Where's my hammer?"

"Downstairs."

"Where's my hammer?"

"Downstairs."

"Where's my hammer?"

"Downstairs."

"Where's my hammer?"

"Charlie, Mama said DOWNSTAIRS."

"Where's my hammer?"

(Me cluing in) "Shall I get it for you?"

"Yeah."

Ahoy there!

Yes we in Moscow are still alive and chuggin' along. We've been busily packing, cleaning, and finishing up school (yay Keith is done!). At this moment, every room in the house has at least one packed box. Actually, we've worked a little too hard, and are now coasting along waiting to pack more. Because, as Keith pointed out, if we pack anymore, we won't be able to live here!

Charlie's been a peach. He really has been pretty patient as I've been running to and fro, scrubbing this, boxing that and just generally appearing very unorganized.

For those of you reading who might not be aware, we're moving to Spokane next Saturday. New house, new friends, new church, new job, new town. Oh my. Even a new state! God's provision in giving Keith a job, providing us with renters for our house here and planting us in a new rented home up there has been abundantly evident and we are grateful.

Well, I hope that's caught you up. I'll leave you with a story about Charlie, because really, that's why you read this blog anyway, right?

The other night, after finishing up dinner with my aunt and uncle, we all sat chatting around the table while Charlie played in the other room. At one point, he tripped and fell. From the beginning we could clearly see this was no big deal and encouraged Charlie to "be tough." He lay, fake crying and said "Mama picks you up!"

"You want me to pick you up?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok, I'll hold you if you come here."

So, he gets up, comes over to my chair, lays down on the floor in the same position, and asks me to "picks you up." What could I do? I picked him up amidst tears of laughter!

A Little Trip

A couple of weeks ago, Charlie and I took a little trip over the mountains to visit my family, while Keith stayed home and hunkered down with his studies. (One month to go!) We had a great, relaxing, fun time. The timing was perfect for us as it was spring break for some of my nieces and nephews. Oma (my mom) ended up babysitting four of those rugrats, and so Charlie had some quality time with his cousins. One thing I discovered about Oma is that rules have changed since I was a kid in the house. An option for lunch was chocolate sandwhiches. Yum!

Here's Charlie with cousin Johnny. Surprisingly, Charlie wasn't too fond of his chocolate sandwhich, but peanut butter cookies made up the rest of lunch, so it all worked out.

Chillin' with Uncle Dawit. The way to a toddler's heart? Let him play with your cell phone.

This picture with the bad lighting is of my niece Emma. She's nine and plays a mean game of Monopoly. My brother Dawit had to take over for me. The competition was just too intense! (And Charlie's messy diaper might have had something to do with it...)

The next day, we had a playdate at my brother's house, where three of the same cousins live. Charlie had a great time with their amazing train set!

We took a couple of trips to Opa's farm. Charlie gets very excited about trackers and cows. He kept saying "Hi cows. How are you well?"

Once we spotted Opa, it was all over for me. Charlie wanted to be wherever Opa was and even coerced him into playing in the fabulously big mud puddles on the farm. Charlie also go to sit in one of those amazing trackers he admires so much.

Unfortunately, trackers make loud noises once you turn them on and the charm was a little lost for Charlie after that. Oh well! Maybe when you're bigger, Char Char, you'll have fun riding, and not just sitting, in that good ol' John Deere.

Thanks Oma and Opa for a great visit!