easy like saturday morning

oh the joy that comes from....

playing with plastic numbers...

eating lunch outside...

and playing in leaves...





simple is sweet.

the many faces of silas jack

sad

mad

pensive

surprised

happy

did you know that pouring skills directly correlate with reading skills?

neither did i. learning things like this is just one of the many many many joys that comes from living with my parents while our house is being built. thanks mom.

things like that, and binary math. thanks dad.

i'm so proud of my tulsa runner!

{almost finished!}


{cathey and tim at the finish line after the run}

good job tim and cathey on completing the 15k tulsa run!!! well done!



{the tulsa run is one of our favorite things about a tulsa fall...this year silas and i cheered tim and cathey {one of tim's sisters} on at the finish line...and it was a beautiful day.}

buy fair trade

trade as one's mission is to "use sustainable business to break cycles of poverty and dependency in the developing world"....this video is a great two minute education on what its all about.

lets take care of each other!

its the great pumpkin...silas

i have looked forward to taking silas to the pumpkin patch for as long as i can remember...so today we took our inaugural trip of the season {more trips and more pictures to come, of course}. big pumpkins, little pumpkins, mud, baby goats and ducks and pigs to pet, mud, hay bales to climb on, popcorn, mud, caramels, a camel to ride {yes, a camel}...and sunshine!









in other exciting life news, tim has started his job as the manager of fitness together!!! we are so thrilled for this opportunity, where tim's natural strengths and passions in life connect directly to the job he'll be doing each day!

also, ground has been broken to build our house! depending on the weather, we could be in by mid-january!

happy first day of "school" sweet boy!!!

{first first day of school pic}
{wow}
{"school" aka a few hours each week at our church in his mother's day out class}

hello again.

its been so long!

in a very serious attempt to transition well from moscow to tulsa {still very much in transition and it is sweet and good}, blogging didn't even make it to the back burner but got pushed off the back of the stove. but i do enjoy this online public journal, keeping up with friends around the world {and downstairs, mom and dad!} so i wanted to pick up where i left off in a sense, here.

life is good.

last i blogged, dear granny, lucille wiley had gone home to be with the Lord. we celebrate her life daily, miss her and love her so much. she is whole and without any aches and pains now!

i struggle to even know what to type to fill in the blogging hole from the last two months...i'm still catching up on pics on picasa, so check that out too.

i'll give the short version of the last two months here...and the longer version with details {lots of details...i love the details!} maybe over coffee or tea? or on the phone/skype while we both drink coffee or tea?

we left moscow on june 21, 2009. drove out of our neighborhood at 3am. it was dark, except for all the neon. i really miss it there. we got to the airport at 4am, all set to export our pup {50 pound pup, who is such a trooper!}, export the historical icon we bought, and get all 9 suitcases, 1 silas jack {complete with stroller, gear, snacks, diapers, surprise bag of new small toys to introduce as need on the flight...}, and 2 of us to the united states of america. we hit some bumps, some road blocks, some really long lines, were yelled at, shown amazing grace, shown favor, thought at the last minute tim wouldn't be flying with us that day...we had one calm child who peacefully sat drinking his milk through it all {used to by now more adventure than most 2 year olds dream of seeing before their second birthday}, and one peaceful pup who laid by our luggage {used to by now i think more adventure than a dog would ever expect in a lifetime}, and lots of grace. so many more details, but we made it. with silas {minus the stroller, that maybe we loved a little too much, crushed by the airline}, and the dog, and all our suitcases, less money, a couple more wrinkles each and innumerable more experiences and understandings. God is good.

and since then, we have gotten to:

- spend time with family
- spend time with friends
- eat at some restaurants we were looking forward to {i.e. - tin star fish tacos!}
- get reacquainted with life in the US {still very much an ongoing process}
- got to vacation with my family in colorado for a week
- got to go to a debriefing and renewal retreat for missionaries who are coming back to the states after living abroad. it was priceless, perspective and life changing.

...and more than i can list here...

we've been walking forward in an exciting job opportunity for tim...more details to come as that works out.

and as mentioned above {alluding to my mom and dad reading this from downstairs} we are blessed to me living with my parents for a little while, as we get our feet on the ground. thank you guys!

in the midst of a lot that goes on in a transition like this, we are trying to be intentional about resting, too. keeping our eyes on the point of all this. so that translates to...

- lots of time in the sandbox and at the splash park with silas!
- dates!!!
- trying to be very present in the moments...

we miss moscow, no doubt. but we are so happy to be here, too. the freedom to speak in paradox is really important right now - two seemingly opposite things can be true at once.

more soon.

love,
ally

ida lucille wiley

april 3, 1918 - june 16, 2009

...wife...mother...daughter...friend...sister...aunt...granny...great granny...great great granny...

she is home now.

I stand upon the ocean shore.
As a ship at my side opens her sail
to the morning breeze and begins to glide
across the water blue.

She is a beautiful sight.
I stand and watch her as she glides
with grace and strength into the clouds
on the horizon.

Just where the sky and the ocean meet
and come to mingle with one another.
When I hear someone cry out,
"She is gone." and I must turn and say to them,
"Yes, but gone only from sight."

For within the mind and heart she can always
be found.
For life is eternal,
Love is immortal,
and death is only a horizon,
and a horizon is nothing save the limits of our sight.

{author unknown}