KOLI - 1

I will now commence my summer series of "Kids On Long Island," highlighting places to take children while spending your summer on Long Island.

First place of note:

Long Beach Town Park. This beach is technically for Smithtown residents only, so don't ask how I got in. I just happened. :) It seemed like a regular beach at first - lifeguard, kids, pebbly, with the addition of a snack shack. A dream come true for little kiddos - if their nanny has cash on her. Whoops!

What sets this beach apart, however, is . . . The Sand Dune.

After about an hour of peaceful play, the kids discovered the looming dunes down the beach and had to climb them.

After a bit, the littlest and I had to join them.

I'm glad I did, the view from the top was gorgeous! The boys all appreciated the beauty with me, and I appreciated how worn out they were getting by running up and down the thing so many times.

They were pretty proud of their athletic abilities.

After exploring for another hour or so, it was time to head home. They loved talking about the dunes all day and retelling stories of how dangled dangerously from the edge, almost falling, unable to get up . . . It's fun to see life through the excited eyes of a child.

erin elizabeth

It is SO GREAT to have friends. Especially friends who visit you all the way in New York! I didn't realize how much I missed spending time with people who know me deeper than these few months in Long Island. Every time someone comes, I think what a blessing it is to have them - I know it's not an easy trip to get all the way up here!

Erin came last week!

(one from the archives)

I don't really know where to start with this girl. Technically, I guess you could say our Senior Capstone trip to Washington D.C., when a group of us in the back of the bus decided Charlotte might be a nice place to settle. Our friendship was cemented by walking to Contemporary Christian Belief every MWF and sharing the textbooks. Since then, the girl has been with me from a very difficult first year of teaching to sending me tearfully off to Africa. We traveled - to Dataw, Boston, NYC, and Arizona. I have about a million embarrassing photos of the two of us.

And our most recent shared milestones were to stand in each other's weddings. Erin's husband Ben couldn't come this weekend so I had her all to myself. :) We missed the other two that lived our Charlotte adventures with us, but they were in our hearts - the one traveling in an Airstream through the western US and the one teaching unruly MK's in Kenya. :)

We did some vacationy stuff while Erin was here. We headed out East to see the picturesque North Fork and "Lavender by the Bay." They sneakily charged $25 to take pictures so my dreams of capturing the blooms with a proper camera were banished . . . so I snuck a few with my phone . . .

Extreme Makeover Home Edition was in Setauket last week to throw up a home. We caught the tail-end of the action, after it had been unveiled to the family. It is quite the undertaking and I am even more impressed with the show now! It really does happen! To real people!

We decided to kayak and borrowed 2 kayaks from the family I work for. When we got down to their dock, there was Matt, freed from a meeting, bobbing around in his yellow kayak! The three of us paddled out to a beach and enjoyed being almost the only people out. Lovely.

Of course the only picture we took was this sad, early morning one on the platform before she bravely took public transportation to the airport and I went back to real life work.

Thanks for coming, friend!

a very little big deal

Welcome, little Ayla! Our friends Tim and Lori had their baby girl this week! Despite cooking for two extra weeks, she weighed in at a petite and perfect 7 lb 14 oz.

It was my first time to visit a baby in the hospital! She is teeny and darling and mom and dad are doing great!

She is proud to be born in the USA.

Lori and Tim were watching the game in their hospital room and when Donovan scored, Tim yelled so loud that Lori worried he would freak out the rest of the floor.

And, as far as the every day . . . Matt's been watching a lot of World Cup and I've slipped into summer mode with my little charges.

kite flying

rock collecting

marine exploration

stuff like that

And another baby visit. Sweetness.

bedinghaus in the house

It is the summer of visitors!

Our first guests . . . Rob and Kate (+ 1)! They don't appreciate the Rob and Kate + 8 joke, but there is a little baby B in there!

Kate and I lived on the same wing in college and we have enjoyed some fun times over the years! I was so blessed by their road-tripping through Manhattan during rush hour to come spend a couple days with us. It is such a gift to talk with friends that know you and your history.

I was very remiss in photographing our fun times . . . didn't bring the camera along for our walk to the beach or group-effort grilling. We had to grab these pics while they were on their way out and while other friends were on their way in to watch the NBA championship last night. I grumped about being in sweats and finding a place to take pictures that didn't have something gross in the background - boxes or weird stuff in our house I don't approve of . . . but it's the PEOPLE that are important, you know.

My friend Lori was over with her husband to watch the game. She was due a week ago but their little girl is happy staying put . . . I made them take a picture together. :)

Not to be outdone . . .

Obviously there is nothing in there but dinner.

I would like to say that it is nice - and a relief - when your friend's husband gets along with your husband. These guys watched soccer together and manned the grill while Kate and I jabbered away about their nursery colors and hung stuff on my walls.

They've gone on to visit Kate's family in Pennsylvania but it was a wonderful gift to spend time with them. They left these behind as a reminder of their visit:

If you're not planning to visit us this summer, you should.

And have a good weekend.

Amish Country

My extended family lives in Lancaster County. My mom's parents both grew up there and all of my great uncles and great aunts and most of their children and grandchildren live in the area. I hadn't been for 10 years so when my mom said she, Elyse, and my grandma were going to be visiting Lancaster, Matt and I drove out there for the weekend.

We saw the church in Intercourse, PA, that my great-grandfather pastored and later his son, my Great-Uncle Fred.

They had fans in the pews. This one is sportin the last supper.

These windows had been added since my last visit:

In tribute to my great-grandfather and my great-uncle.

Next to the church is the parish where my grandpa was born, and his brother, but the third brother was born in a hospital. Of all the new-fangled ideas . . .

And we had to stop by the one-room schoolhouse where Grandpa went to school.

We had breakfast with that side of the family and my grandpa's brothers told stories about the war and Dallas Seminary and sang a few bars of their high school song and made fun of Matt's Polish heritage. Welcome to the family.

After touring the tourist trap that is Kitchen Kettle and tasting 800 different types of jams, longing after handmade furniture, butcher block tables, and quaint birdhouses . . . we went to my grandma's brother's house. When we got there, Uncle Jay was picking cherries.

What a view.

I didn't get any pictures of the Amish because that's just rude, but what a different way of life! Everything seemed harmonious in New Holland, cars gave way to buggies, neighborhoods gave way to farms. Everywhere we went were pristine front lawns and so many aluminum stars on the sides of houses and barns. I want one! Clotheslines hung with black overalls and plain dresses. Signs advertising fresh eggs and produce. It was like stepping back in time.

Oh, and there was a certain soccer game that was watched. Go USA!

dog days

This weekend we stayed with the kids while their parents were gone. Moosey was a good sport.

Toy:
Pillow:
Chair:
Horsey:

And his status changed from the One and Only Love to one of Three Dogs and Four Kids.

It was a hard transition.

But he met a bulldog across the street.

They are Best Friends Forever, obviously.

We all thought his trials were over when I took him home on Monday. We explored the new yard together.

But apparently something in the yard does not agree with Moose and when I came home on Tuesday, he looked like he'd been punched in the face. We took an emergency trip to the vet.

Moose got a shot and I cried. He's on Benadryl twice a day but he's still inflamed. The vet is wonderful and calls often so we will eventually figure out what this is all about. My family's dog is allergic to GRASS and a million other things but he's living a healthy and productive (sleeps a lot) life.

Anyway, that's Moosey for ya.

God is Always Awesome

It has been a trying week, filled with repairing a washing machine and a car, an emergency trip to the vet, early mornings and late nights. One morning I just woke up praying for grace and patience to see the day through. That was the day I finally got to talk to my friend Allyson, almost a month after she had delivered their new baby boy. Our conversation was so seasoned with God's amazing provisions that I asked her if I could share their story.

I met Todd and Allyson the summer of 2007 when I was checking out Kenya and deciding what would be a good fit for me and Africa. They were fresh off the boat at orientation, anxious to get to RVA and start their ministry as dorm parents. I so enjoyed their company, their sense of humor, our mutual friends back in the midwest, and was in awe of their ability to move overseas with ONLY the legal baggage limit! It was through them and others like them that I felt God calling me to pursue a ministry with AIM and RVA - God using regular people to His Glory. This is a picture of us back then that I feel I must share . . . because we all look ridiculous.

Hiking in conservative African villages is no small accomplishment.

Fast forward a year - and several informative emails - later, and I'm pulling up to RVA to be greeted by a very pregnant Allyson, expecting their first baby girl, Ava. That summer they let me watch tv with them every night and taught me to survive and thrive in Kijabe. It just got better from there, doing Caring Community together, training for the half and full marathon with Todd, and putting up my family in their house over Christmas. They were by far the most interested - and encouraging - in my relationship with Matt and the ones I woke up at 7am the morning after we got engaged, waving my ring in front of Allyson's shocked and tired face. They also drove from Ohio to South Carolina to be present at our rehearsal dinner and wedding . . .

So you get the picture: great friends, dear people. We were ecstatic when we found out they were expecting a little boy due in May. A few days after Tyler Joseph was born on May 4th, he was diagnosed with hepatic hemangioendothelioma. As Allyson talked to me about what life has been like for their family since then, again and again she pointed out God's hand at work. Now they see why God brought them out of Kenya when all they wanted was to stay there - Tyler's condition would have been much impossible to diagnose and treat. To think that a year ago, in the midst of their sorrow, God knew that what was causing them pain would later bring them such healing. Little things - the doctor said that if Allyson hadn't retained as much fluid, the umbilical cord being wrapped around Ty's neck would've been a serious issue. What if she hadn't been dipping (and eating) pretzels for a wedding the week before? Because he was bruised from the quick delivery, Ty was closely monitored for jaundice and under heat lamps, which helped the doctors recognize his symptoms and look for a diagnosis. They had switched insurance providers just before Tyler's birth, not knowing the scope of the bills they would've faced otherwise. The list goes on - care packages at the perfect times, gifts from friends and strangers that completely covered their financial loss from Todd not working. Even after raising support to go to Kenya, Allyson said they were floored by God's provision for their family. Not just financially, but things that spoke to her heart personally.

At one point I commented, "That's amazing." To which she replied, "God is always amazing. I'm just so privileged to be able to see it."

Tyler is doing so much better - his enlarged liver has shrunk 4 cm over the past month. We praise God for his work and continue to ask for complete healing.

So. Even though I don't always act like I know God is Awesome, he still is. Always. All the time.