8 Years & Counting

Before heading back to AZ, we took advantage of the world's best babysitters - Nana & Papa Peterson - to sneak out for an early anniversary celebration. 8 years, 4 kids, and a heaping measure of God's grace later, we're going stronger than ever! As we close out 2008, it is with truly thankful hearts for a loving God who, among other blessings, brought us together in the unlikeliest of places (a remote city on the Central Asian steppe) back in 1999. Many of you have been a part of our journey before & since then, and we give God thanks for you, too! We wish His best for you in 2009. Happy New Year!

Happy Times at the Pier

A trip to the pier was a must for us while in Torrance for Christmas. Of course, after the pelican episode (see below), we may start thinking otherwise, but it is REALLY hard not to relax and have fun walking around the pier, especially at sunset. Our girls had a great time there with their cousin Lily snacking on churros and watching the sea lions and pelicans. May 2009 bring many more visits to Torrance and the pier!

2009 Resolutions

We resolve, in 2009, to teach our children the dangers of engaging pelicans on the pier...

Yes, this is the guy who seemed friendly enough for Chloe to want her picture with him. Had I known how unpredictable he could be, I wouldn't have ventured the close-up shot above... The pelicans and people on the pier seemed to be mixing well enough that it seemed fine for Chloe to stand near one for a photo. A very brief moment after snapping the shot below, however, Chloe attracted the attention of most of the folks on the Redondo Beach pier when the pelican decided he'd go on the offensive. Faster than you can shoot a herring in a barrel, he swung around and put his lengthy beak to work with a quick snap at Chloe's tummy. Let me just say that I way underestimated the speed and reach of these goofy looking birds! I think Chloe had her fill of the limelight. Now... what adventures could 2009 hold for us...?

P.S. - Chloe is a professional. Do NOT try this at home!

Merry Christmas 2008!

For the past several years, I've enjoyed trying to get a good shot of our Christmas trees and decorations as a way of documenting these fun family memories. We spent Christmas day (plus some extra time) back in Torrance with Janelle's family, but we still enjoyed setting up a tree to enjoy beforehand at our home in Arizona. So... here is the 2008 shot of the Stoops family Christmas tree.

Christmas Delight

Elise is great at bringing back memories of my own childhood and the incredible sense of anticipation experienced at Christmas time. It was fun to watch her delight at checking under the tree and think about what lay still hidden beneath the colorful paper and shiny bows, especially anything that had her name on it!

Brooke enjoying some Christmas goodies

At 18-months-old, Brooke is at a very fun age -- EVERYTHING is new, exciting, adventurous, and worth exploring, including Christmas treats! Here she is enjoying a cupcake at her Uncle Dave & Auntie Anne's house on Christmas evening.

Ballerina #2

Elise was absolutely stunning in her Christmas ballet performance (see below for a photo of Chloe's). She danced to a French Christmas carol that was as beautiful as the dancing, and she glowed the entire time. She really shines when she gets on the stage, and seems to have a God-given gift for dance.

Ballerina #1

Chloe & Elise had a FABULOUS ballet performance to finish out there first session at the local "Leap of Faith" dance studio. Both of them did a tremendous job, and, as you can see from the photo, Chloe had a wonderful time performing. I'll edit this post later to include a link to a YouTube video of her performance if I can figure out how to do it.

Thanks, Santa!

I wished I'd had a better angle on this shot, but it still captures some of Chloe's excitement as she received her gift (a sleigh bell) from Santa on the Polar Express.

Wide-Eyed Excitement

Our one concern in heading off to our Polar Express adventure was that 17-month-old Brooke would freak out when she saw Santa and spend the rest of the train ride clinging to us as she recovered. We were ecstatic when she instead encountered Santa with the kind of wide-eyed excitement that makes you want to be a kid again!

Polar Express 2008

Quick family photo for hopping aboard the Polar Express in Williams, AZ. We first heard about this from our good friends, the Youtseys, and decided to give it a try now that we're living in AZ. It was 6 hours of driving with 4 little ones in the back seats for a 90-minute train ride, but we still thought it was well worth it! The area was snow-covered when we arrived, which certainly added to the ambience. Upon boarding the train, cookies and hot cocoa are served, followed by a reading of the popular children's book The Polar Express. Shortly after that you arrive at the North Pole, a huge facade of a village done in Christmas lights, where Santa boards to greet each child and give them a gift (a sleigh bell - and a surprisingly nice one at that!). On the return journey to the train depot, everyone is led in singing Christmas carols (on our car, Elise, our little performer, helped lead the singing on most of the songs!). Lodging is available right next to the station. We didn't stay there, but know that it is available should you consider making the trek to Williams for yourself!

Let it Snow

Janelle and the girls have been having fun with Christmas crafts lately. One of the more fun ones for the girls (at least until it came time to painstakingly pull little bits of glue off) were Let-it-Snow (from FamilyFun) snowflake t-shirts. The girls dig them and have been wearing them tons. If they had been long-sleeves and a whole lot heavier, they would have been perfect for our Sunday adventure to Williams, AZ to ride the Grand Canyon Railway's Polar Express. It was 15 degrees there with some snow on the ground. Had we booked tickets for today, we'd either not have been able to go, or been snowed in. The forecast is for 30" of snow. Who knew AZ got so much snow?!

Stay tuned for pics from the Polar Express.

ZooLights 2008

While we are missing the lack of commercialism enjoyed in Central Asia this time of year, and the fire department's Santa visits in Torrance, we're finding much to enjoy this Christmas season here in the Phoenix area. We recently made use of our zoo pass to take in the annual ZooLights celebration at the Phoenix Zoo. While not quite as impressive as we'd hoped, Jenga, the life-size talking giraffe (lower left in the photo), was pretty amazing. They also had a light show with music that was pretty cool, and Chloe, who prides herself on being Daddy's "tiger", was very happy to find some tiger cubs in lights. The Gilbert city hall had their own celebration a few nights ago with live music, lots of festive lights, and a large tree that was lit up (of course, the biggest hit for the girls were the free glow sticks!). Perhaps our favorite so far, though, was the Luminaria held at the lake by the regional library. The entire lake was surrounded by 1,000+ luminaries (small bags with candles inside). Lots of live music to add to the festivities (our favorite was the guy playing "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes). The festivities will continue this weekend with Elise & Chloe dancing in their respective ballet shows. We'll be sure to post an update on that along with a photo. Stay tuned...

"You oughta be in pictures..."

Never mind the fact that Chloe (along with all of her sisters) is going to need major, budget-busting orthodontic work. It's all about the smile, and she's got a great one that emanates from the core of her "life is great!" easy-going attitude.

Showing us how it's done...

For those of you not familiar with the finer points of Cootie ("The original build-your-own-bug game!"), Grace demonstrates her winning dice-rolling technique, a key skill as success ultimately lies in who can roll the number 6 most consistently (6 wins you a leg, and Cooties have a lot of legs). We recommend playing on a glass surface, which makes the die action far livelier than on wood or other non-glass surfaces. This effectively extends the already brain-chilling length of the game.

Fun with Uncle Scott

My brother, Scott, paid us a visit yesterday while in town for a conference. After a great hike around a nearby lake, we headed home for an awesome dinner of chicken enchiladas (thanks, Janelle!). Little did Scott know that he would be called on to wrestle, read the Berenstein Bears, and fight to the finish in a competitive game of Cooties - a challenge for any bachelor! The girls had a blast (as did Mom & Dad). Scott survived, and is now broken in a bit before he hosts our other brother and his crew of girls for Thanksgiving.

Schmoozing

Our neighborhood HOA hosted a block party on Saturday, a great time to get out and meet some of the neighbors now that the weather is cooling off a bit (it's all relative -- we're talking the low 90s). Aside from free hotdogs, Cheetos, and cake, the main highlight for the girls (and little Brooke in particular) was talking a ride around the basketball court in a modified golf cart. It wasn't until after several rides that I finally hopped onboard and realized that the driver was none other than the mayor of Gilbert (fastest growing city in the country). After about a dozen rides, the girls gave him a break so he could a bit of his own schmoozing.

Happy Birthday, Chloe!

Chloe turned 5 last week and enjoyed a fun pizza party with many of her new school friends. Her fun, spunky attitude and easy-going nature are a blessing to all who know her, but especially to us! Happy birthday, Chloe!

Yogur Face Painting

At almost 14 months old now, Brooke has definitely arrived at the "I want to do it myself!" and "I want want big people are eating!" stage. She's definitely got strong opinions about mealtime now, and the dinnertime decibel level has definitely reached a deafening din. But who couldn't love a yogurt-covered face like this?!

Brooke's other major accomplishment is that she is quite adept at climbing up & down stairs. We are seriously delighted to no longer have a gate between our kitchen and family room area (it has just 2-3 stairs). She can zip up the main stairs to the 2nd floor as soon as we get distracted, and does quite well scooting down them under our watchful eyes, but I'm confident the gate on these stairs will remain for the foreseeable future. The tile at the bottom doesn't make for soft, boo-boo-free landings!

God's Creativity - Part III

No trip to Thailand seems complete without seeing one of God's most amazing creatures - elephants! I took advantage of an afternoon off and headed to a nearby elephant farm to see these amazing creatures in action. A 30-minute elephant ride through the rainforest was certainly a highlight! And who knew these beefy guys were so tourist friendly? Packed on the side of the elephant was a handy umbrella so the occasional downpours don't dampen your ride too much.

God's Creativity - Part II

Another example of God's incredible creavity found in Thailand are orchids. They are found in abundance around the country in a variety of types and colors, and many cities, including Chiang Mai, have orchid farms that you can visit. This shot was taken at a combo orchid and butterfly farm, though the butterflies were few & far between. Plenty of gorgeous orchids to enjoy, however.

Ready for some orchid triva? There are 25,000+ types, making it the most common type of plant in the world. Though many are edible and used for cooking in some cultures (e.g. Hawaii), vanilla is the only edible fruit of the orchid family. Hey, you learn something new everyday!

God's Creativity

 

Just returned from a trip to Thailand for work, where I was sharing at a conference for colleagues from around the region. We stayed at a hotel tucked away up in the mountains near Chiang Mai, the grounds of which were quite beautiful with a stream flowing through it and a big pond. The Chiang Mai region is a rain forest, and, sure enough, we had plenty of rain every day! But all that rain makes the region quite scenic, too. I came across this beautiful butterfly (technically, I think it is a moth, but don't ask me to provide a discourse on the difference between the two!) on my first day there. Its wings were bigger than my hands! Getting close to something like this helps you appreciate God's creativity. "For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands" (Psalm 92:4).

The Stoops Men

We were incredibly thankful to have Brad's entire family together for a few days during our visit to VA (the first time since Christmas 2002!). Time was way too short, but we're thankful for family and for the great few days we had together. Pictured L to R are Brad, Mark, Scott and Dad.

Brooke: Busy at the Beach

Brooke didn't quite make it into the photo with her cousins (below), so she gets a solo shot. Whether digging in the sand or crashing into the waves with her dad, she couldn't get enough of the beach! She just turned 1 year old and is now realizing that it is much more fun to walk than to crawl. She continues to be a source of great delight for our entire family.

6 Stoops Girls

Our girls had a blast in Virginia Beach spending time with their cousins, uncles, aunt, and grandparents. This was a shot down at the beach. Our girls (Chloe, Grace, Elise) are wrapped in the white towel flanked by their cousins Finley, Emily and Katie.

To Spain & Back

Just home from a 10-day trip to the Andalusia region of Spain (southern region). Having never been to Spain before, I had no idea what to expect. I knew they are known for olive oil, but I had no idea just how big an industry olives were in this particular region. The olive groves literally spread out as far as the eye could see in every direction. I was also a bit surprised how rugged the landscape was. Quite scenic, and also reminiscent of southern California (minus all those olive trees!). Too bad my olive oil got confiscated enroute back to the U.S. :-(