Touch the air softly

A Funny Trick

2008-10-14T07:00:00.001-07:00

Last night I was giving Matthew, our youngest, a bath while his 3-year old brother waited for his turn. Elijah was disrobed and playing in his room when he came into the bathroom.

"Dad, my bear is wet."

"Really? How did he get wet?"

"I peed on him."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I peed on my bed. And I pooped on my bed. It was a funny trick. Let me show you!"

He wasn't kidding.

Birthday Marathon

2008-08-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

The boys both had birthdays recently. Elijah (July 16th) had his celebration at Zoo Montana. He and a bunch of his friends pet a goat, played on the the playground, and enjoyed a nice sugar buzz. A good day, all in all.

Matthew (August 17th) had his celebration this past Saturday. It was a bit more laid back. Just a bunch of water toys and some friends in our back yard. As you can see, he especially enjoyed the cake.

The Great Outdoors

2008-08-18T13:33:00.001-07:00

I know. Been awhile. This should get us back on track.

Eli went on his first fishing trip this summer. Here is his first fish. Whopper.

Matthew getting in on the act

We also went camping with Shane and his girls again this year. here are some pics:

Matthew trying on his brother's hat

Eli was the traiblazer. He hiked almost three miles before I had to carry him.

Taking a lunch break.

Releasing the animals into the wild

2008-02-26T07:25:00.000-08:00

It's been ridiculously warm here the past couple of weeks. With the exception of a little covering of snow on Sunday, the temperature has averaged 50 degrees during the day. So the boys have been spending a little time outdoors:

Eli is the one on the right

Our little Lawn Gnome

Picasso in training

Conquering the Throne

2008-02-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

"I dub thee Sir Elijah, Knight of the Diaper Free Realm, Keeper of the Porcelain Chalice, and Protector of all that is dry."

That's right- Elijah is officially potty trained! He did a great job, and last night we went to Target to get his reward. He picked out a bag full of rubber snakes (Mom was pulling for cutsie frogs), and has been carrying them around ever since. We're happy to be through this rite of passage!

Why is embarassment so much fun?

2008-02-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

So our house went rollerskating last night. You remember, that junior high social event where you strapped four wheels to your feet, rolled around in circles, and yelled at each other over really loud music?

There was a twist, however. We all drew names, and then we each were alotted $5 to spend at the local thrift store on whomever we drew. So we all got to dress up one of our community members in the Thrift-Store outfit of our choice. The wreckage is revealed below.

The boys in the picture were a random addition- they thought we looked "like clowns" and hung out with us the whole night.

I took this picture of us WHILE we were skating.

Elijah tried on a bit of everyone's costume before we left. Screwball.

The Fruits of Christmas

2008-01-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

A bunch of family members went in on a toy train set for Elijah this Christmas, so I wanted to post a picture of him with it, proving that he really does play with it a lot. Here's also a picture of Eli driving his new tractor...on the couch.

Matthew's milestone

2008-01-15T07:28:00.000-08:00

So Matthew had his first experience with solid food-well, semi-solid food- last night. We gave him some rice cereal to see how he'd take to it. He wasn't so sure, but I think it'll grow on him.

The first of many wonderful, tasty things to come- like squash, lima beans, brussel sprouts...

Staring contest. Matthew won.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-02T08:21:00.001-08:00

Most of you know that we spent this Christmas on the road. We travelled to Moose Lake, MN, Pardeeville, WI, and then back to St. Paul, MN. It was truly good to reunite with family and allow the boys a chance to meet their people.

I've posted a bunch of pictures below, including a few from Christmas here at home with Grandpa Emerling. These pictures are a hodge podge of all of our stops:

A Star is born

2007-12-17T14:25:00.001-08:00

This Sunday Elijah was in our church's annual Christmas play, performed by all of the kids in the church. He played the important role of Sheep, along with all of the other two year-olds. Eli took it upon himself play the more specific role of "lost sheep," and happily trotted around the stage and out into the crowd during the performance. I guess I didn't think of the fact that my kid might one day be "that kid," you know- the one who doesn't follow the script and has his own agenda.

I couldn't have been prouder. :)

Eli the sheep

(one little girl thought she was a cow and mmoooed during the whole performance)

Notice my son staring at all of the little conformists sitting on the stage

The Sunday School lady "helping" Eli back to his spot....hehe.

Catching up

2007-12-12T13:37:00.000-08:00

I was out of town on business last week, so I took Monday off of work to be with the family. Eli, Debbie and I spent the afternoon decorating Christmas cookies.

This is a random photo of Matthew tucked into his car seat...I just didn't want him to feel left out.

Christmas Tradition

2007-12-03T07:38:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday our house trekked up to the mountains for our annual Christmas tree cutting. The mountains were laden with a fresh fallen snow, and the scenery was fantastic. Elijah had a great time playing in the snow and helping to decorate once we got home. All in all, a day well spent.

Here's our tree before we ripped it from it's earthly sanctuary. Aren't Christmas traditions wonderful? :)

Eli had a blast in the snow.

Matthew wasn't so sure about the cold at first, but he settled in.

Mom and Eli decorating the tree.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T15:32:00.001-08:00

The family had a great Thanksgiving this year! We started the day off by taking some meals to elderly folks in our neighborhood who couldn't get out of their house for the holiday. The afternoon was spent at my father's. Debbie cooked up a PHENOMENAL meal for us and a couple of guests. All in all, a very relaxing, restful day. Here are some photos for you:

Debbie and the boys reclining after a good meal

The Thanksgiving crew: Debbie, Dad (trying to sport his Bills sweatshirt), Eli, Matthew, and our friends Ed and Nathan. Yours truly was taking the picture...

Elijah and Dad reclining after a long meal

The holidays seem to put Matthew in a good mood.

Weekend getaway

2007-11-19T07:44:00.000-08:00

We spent some much needed "family time" together this weekend. I was helping a friend work on his parents' new home in the Stillwater Valley on Saturday, and Debbie and I have a friend who has a cabin up that way. So we spent Saturday evening and Sunday tucked into a cozy cabin hideaway in the mountains. We forgot the camera (sorry, no pictures), but had a great 24 hours relaxing together.

Matt, if you're reading this, thanks a bunch for your hospitality!

Just the family and 175 high schoolers

2007-11-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend the family made its annual pilgrimage to Great Falls, MT. Every year the Montana District of Key Club (a high school service organization) asks me to do a presentation at their state-wide conference. It's turned into a good weekend away for our family, just relaxing together and enjoying the hotel pool. Plus, a lot of the kids that we went to Florida with this summer were also there this weekend, so Eli got to see some of his old pals. He naturally made himself right at home with all 175 high school kids. Matthew was a big hit to. :) Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Debbie and Matthew getting quality time

Dad and Eli mastering the the art of "self-photography"

Eli mastering the art of flirting to get food

Matthew with a Key Clubber, pre-puke

Matthew with a Key Clubber, post-puke

Eli hanging out with tons of high school kids (can you find him?)

My beautiful, picturesque, lady-like wife and I

Fall Festivities

2007-11-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

The family has had a fun week enjoying the cool Montana fall season. Last weekend we went out to a local farm to take a hay ride, pick out some pumpkins and wander through a corn maze. Then of course there was "dress your kids up in stupid costumes day"...A.K.A. Halloween. Here are some pictures:

Debbie and Eli enjoying the hay ride...Matthew is the lump under Debbie's sweater.

Pickin' out punkins

Carvin' the Punkins

Eli tellin' Ma how to draw a face on the Punkin

Eli was a plane for Halloween. Debbie and I made the costume. It actually turned out pretty good, and Eli got a kick out of it

Matthew was a dinosaur. Those who have been around may remember the Dinosaur ensemble from Eli's first Halloween

Two of our little housemates looked pretty cute too

Odds and Ends

2007-10-29T15:02:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a few photos of some things our family has been up to lately:

Eli is totally, 100% plane crazy. He loves, I mean loves, airplanes. A friend of mine is an airline mechanic and is working at a private hangar on several airplanes. Debbie and I were able to take Eli out there not too long ago, and he had a blast!

Debbie's mother, sister, and nephew (Connor) came out to visit for a few days in the beginning of October. We had a blast with them and were super grateful that they took the time out of their busy lives to come all the way to Montana. Here are a couple of pictures of them and the kiddos.

Last July we went to Storyhill Fest (a folk music festival in the mountains near Bozeman, MT. About 10 friends joined us...here is a pic of some of the crew that came- we took a small day hike to Grotto Falls, and had a splendid afternoon relaxing in the Montana wilderness.

Kind of a random post, but gives ya'all an idea of some the things we've been up to...we'll post again soon!

Woodstock revisited, or just plain odd?

2007-10-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that last January Debbie, Eli and I moved into an 8 bedroom house with a bunch of other folks. We call it "intentional community," you may just call it weird.

So I thought I'd take just a moment to try and explain at least a little bit about why we made this decision. I cannot explain it all in a short amount of space, and I'll expand more on this subject in my upcoming second blog, which will have more journal type entries. But I figured you all deserved at least some explanation of this weird little phenomenon.

Debbie and I profess Christianity, along with 70% of the American population. And as Christians, as you might guess, we have spent a little time trying to understand what this guy Jesus was talking about and teaching in his short time on earth nearly 2,000 years ago. The scary thing is, as we moved in and around the Church (note the capital "C", meaning God's church, not a particular denomination or affiliation), we saw that maybe all of us who profess Christianity have gotten quite a ways away from the things that Jesus plainly taught. Unity for example (40,000 protestant denominations and counting). Growth through relationship is another example- We kind of believe that the way God causes us to grow is primarily through each other; other people are used by God to sharpen us. This is contrary to our private, individualistic lives we lead here in America. Third, Jesus was pretty adamant about caring for other people, even going so far as to place them before our own needs and desires, if you can believe that.

So we said to ourselves, if we are going to take our beliefs seriously within the context of our current culture, how might it look? How could we best learn to practice what Jesus taught? And so 5 years ago we began a discussion with some close friends about how we might learn these things through the vehicle of community. The fruition of those discussions was our little fellowship that formed in January. We are learning a great deal, as you might guess, and growing in ways we didn't expect.

We are discovering that community is a good way to learn how to be transparent, practice grace, and serve others. It is not the only way, but it is a way. And the community is slowly changing and evolving into its intended identity. I will keep you posted on the general happenings of our community on this blog, but there will probably will be more detailed thoughts and reflections in my soon-coming second blog.(In fact, here is the updated link)

So we're not a cult, and we're not high. Don't worry family, everything is as normal as can be. ;)

Way too long, but so goes life...

2007-10-29T14:29:00.001-07:00

Well, life has progressed an I've neglected this here little blog. I have some valid excuses (i.e.- the birth of a child, company visiting, the end of fly fishing season, etc.) but I can't help but feel as if I've let you all down. :)

Anyway, I am kick starting this blog again with three, yep, three posts all at once. This first one is about the most important event to happen to our family in the past two years- the birth of our second son, Matthew Macrae. Matty was born five weeks early, and even though he was 6lbs 10oz he had to stay in the hospital for 10 days in order to develop his lungs. It was a long week and a half for our family, but nearly three months later Matthew is doing well and gaining lots of weight. Here are some pictures of the little guy:

This was taken about 2 minutes after Matthew was born. We didn't really get to hold him because the nurses and doc were a little nervous.

This is Matthew in the Neonatal ICU unit. He had to have oxygen and about 103 wires attached to him at all times. We didn't actually get to hold him for several days.

Big brother visiting little brother. The picture is dark because we didn't want to use our flash and wake up the little guy.

This is the two boys at home two months later. As you can see, both are doing great!

Florida is Hot- part 2

2007-07-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

After spending two short weeks in the retirement capital of the world, we made it home safe and sound. Elijah did a great job and enjoyed spending his birthday at Disney World. Overall the kids we were chaperoning were fun to be around.

Next week we're headed to Bozeman for a music festival with several of our friends. This will be the first time that Eli will be away from BOTH mom and dad overnight. Debbie is a little nervous (like a good mom should be), but it'll be good for everyone.

Here are some more pictures from Florida:

The heat had some strange effects on Debbie:

Me, Eli, and the Grasshopper. I squished him after this picture was taken...

Those of you who have been to Disney World know about Tom Sawyer's island. It's this little island in the middle of Disney World that you have to take a raft to. Well, the family was checking out this little island when a big storm hit. It poured for about forty five minutes, and the only cover we could find was Tom's Sawyer's treehouse- this little 5x8 fort with a rickety rowboat for a roof. Here we are hanging out all by ourselves in Tom Sawyer's treehouse

Eli found Pooh's playground, got naked and got wet.

Eore, Eli, and Debbie (Debbie, by the way, was completely giddy and starstuck by the characters we saw)

Florida is hot- part 1

2007-07-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

We made it to Florida with our 35 high school kids! Things are going great, and our little family is having quite a vacation. To kick it off we spent two days in Key West, which were spent snorkling, visiting alligators, and shopping. We have spent the last two days at Disney World, first at Epcot and then at Animal Kingdom. This is Debbie's first trip to the Mouse's Lair...you would think that being seven months pregnant would slow her down, but she is the one making us go faster! Oh yeah, Eli is having a good time too. :)

Here are some pictures of the first part of our trip:

The family enjoying the sun on the boat

Eli trying his hand at snorkeling

Eli is sitting on a urinal in Hemingway's backyard...yep, a urinal. You see, Hemingway had a house in the Keys where he wrote most of his stuff, and he also had 47 cats. So to water these 47 cats Hemingway took a urinal from his favorite bar and used it in his back yard as a watering trough. Cool.

My incredibly strong son wrestling a gator

Eli has made lots of friends on the bus, including the girl he's flirting with in this pic

This is a family photo, doctored courtesy of the technology toys at Epcot Center

I'll post more pictures when we get home. Till next time...

A weekend in the hills

2007-06-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to spend the weekend in the mountains, near a place called Mystic Lake. Our friend Shane and his two girls joined us. It was a great way to spend some quality time with some close friends. For those of you who don't live in Montana- you're missing out. :)

We're headed to Florida next week to chaperone a high school trip to Disney World, which means that Eli will spend his birthday with Mickey and Donald. Not a bad deal for a two-year old. I'll try to post once more before then. Here are a few pictures:

This was the camping crew- Eli, Dad, Mom, Tucker, Erika, Shaena, and Shane

This water table was an early birthday gift from Eli's aunt, uncle, and cousins. He loves it, mostly because he gets to get wet.

Eli spent his camping time in the hammock. Tough life.

Minnesota '07

2007-06-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Debbie and Eli made it home from Minnesota on Sunday afternoon. They had a great trip, and got to catch up with family and friends. It's nice having them home, though (Tucker really missed them).

As for me, I spent most of my temporary bachelorhood in the mountains, trapsing around and catch innocent little fish. It was a good time had by all (except for the fish, that is).

Here are some pictures of Debbie and Eli's trip:

Eli and his cousins pretending to be meercats at the Minnesota zoo

Eli...well...just being Eli

Debbie and Eli on the Carousel at Como Park

Eli and the Pygmie Goat got to know each other well

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

2007-06-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Well, Debbie and Eli have been gone now for nearly a week. They're in Minnesota visiting family, and that makes me a bachelor for 12 days. I've been passing the time by working and hanging out in the mountains with Tucker (the dog). All reports from Minnesota are that Debbie and the Munchkin are having a great time with their cousins and the crew.

I've put some more photos up for ya all, since that's probably the real reason you're here.

Eli in his special Dad camouflage

Aunt Ilene and Uncle Burl were passing through, so we had lunch together and took a picture

Elijah and his friend/housemate David eating lunch outside

Too much feminine exposure, if you ask me

Debbie was really excited about something...

This is Tucker the Dog, in old style

Go West, young family!

2007-06-06T09:35:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

This is the first post on the Emerlings' blog- an attempt to keep friends and family updated on the happenings of our lives. I'll try to post new pictures and such at least weekly, but no gaurantees. :)

So...Debbie's 30th birthday was two weeks ago (don't tell her I told you). To celebrate, Eli and planned a weekend trip to Virginia City, MT. It's an old gold mining town that they have kept old for posterity's sake. It was great family time, and Elijah rode on his first train. He can hear a the trains' whistle from our home, so he is pretty into trains right now. Anyway, here are some pictures from the trip:

Debbie and Elijah found a furry friend

Elijah took his first train ride

Throwing rocks is a favorite past time for little boys and dads alike

Welcome to Montana

Getting an early start...

We'll post more soon!!