The Schmidgalls

Each year, our church staff does a short get-away to refresh and reconnect.  We call it “Play and Pray”.  We probably do more playin’ than prayin’ but both are awesome!  When you have two kids, there isn’t much time for reflection but we still had a great time!  We took some time as a family, taking walks.

This little girl is not related to me at all.

Okay, okay…she is otherwise a spitting image of her daddy.  But, in certain moments, there is no denying she is mine.

“No mom! Stop! No. take. my. picture!”  (For those of you that know Ella, you can hear her saying it just like that.)  Sigh…

And, also like her mama, she can turn in a moment.  Cheese!

She came up with this little sassy pose all on her own!

Despite that minor moment (okay, and maybe a few others), we had a very fun and peaceful time.  God has been saying a lot to us lately.  We just wanted to soak it all in.

We have spent time at Rehobeth together a few times over the years.  Here is looking back at beach time with the Battersons!  We have taken our picture at the same spot!

2007 - Baby Ella!

2003 -Yep, that is Josiah in the stroller!  Joel and I were still dating!

For Father’s Day we took a little mini trip to the beach with Joel’s sister’s family.  It was HEAVEN! We ate donuts from Fractured Prune, walked the boardwalk, and played at the beach.

Ezekiel’s first time at the beach!

He was a trooper but beach is not exactly fun for a three month old.  He could barely open his eyes it was so bright!  He did enjoy snuggles from Auntie Lora though!

Ella’s favorite game was running from the waves with Daddy!  Since we have been home she says, “Mama, remember the waves?  Remember the BIG water?”

Plus, we always LOVE time with our amazing niece and nephews.  These kids are seriously the greatest.  Not only are they just fun, great kids…they take such amazing care and interest in our babies.  If it were possible for me to love them any more, it happens every time they are with our kids.

(Side note:  One of my favorite moments from the trip was when I took my very imaginative seven year old nephew, Josiah, to the store and we were chatting it up.  He said, “Zeke is so funny.  He is like an action figure!”)

My nephew Parker is one of the most creative kids I know.  He led the team in building two of the most impressive sand castles - well, kingdoms actually!

Ella was not exactly helpful.  She was on the demolition crew.

(Ahem, some might say this handsome dude beat his daddy at a foot race…on Father’s Day.  Ouch!  We called it a tie but the video tape shows another story…shhh!)

In case you are not convinced how good looking my kids are…

Happy Father’s Day!

Ezekiel is three months old today! It made me thankful that I am able to be home with my babies, enjoying all the little moments with them.  When Ella was this age, I was back to work for Congress.  I loved my job but have not regretted coming home to these tikes.  I was probably a bit more sane back then, having some hours to myself…but I am still thankful!

Handsome man!

Oooohh!  I could kiss him!

So, we got pulled over yesterday.  We were running to the grocery store and Home Depot when we saw the lights on an un-marked SUV.  As we scrambled for registration, two plain-clothes officers surrounded our car.  They explained that they had seen us come out of our house and had some questions.  They were staking out the house across the street for someone wanted on MURDER CHARGES!   (Gulp) Come again?  They showed us his picture and asked us to call them if we saw him.  “Um, sure officer.”  That isn’t scary at all!  And to think Joel has been gone the last week!

By the time we made it home, our street was COVERED in agents in bullet proof vests.  They were all high-fiving and slapping each other on the back.  So, okay, they got him.  Good job guys!  Glad to know we don’t have to go on the lookout.

Just another day on Capitol Hill.

Don’t forget we live about ten blocks from our nation’s Capitol - the most powerful place in America!  Certainly not the safest!  Good little reminder to kick up the prayers for safety.  Ha!  Truth be told, I don’t really feel scared around here.  I didn’t even set the alarm while Joel was gone.  Maybe I should have a little more caution.

Lest we be worried that Ella be scared of these guys…

“Hi Mister Policemen!”

We recently took Ellie to see her first movie!  We even let her bring a friend, Violet!

We were feeling excited and ambitious about the plan…but when we sat down with two little girls and a newborn, we started to get nervous!  Thankfully, everyone did great!

3-D glasses!

“That was fun!”

Joel is livin’ it Road Rules style this week.  He is leading an RV missions trip to Louisiana.  I am sure the team is doing very important things, serving people…but all I can get Joel to tell me is all the amazing places they are eating along the way!

I have the two kiddies and am trying to keep them busy all week.

We have been playing at home and being silly.

We discovered a new pool near our house! Ahhh, bliss!

Zeke was chillaxin and relaxin’!

We had lots of fun with friends!

Cheeeeeeese!

We somehow managed a sleepover with friends.

Even Zeke got a playdate!

We had to beat the heat with a different pool day with friends!

Go-Go, the crazy man

Taylor, the mama

Bo, the brawn

and Drew, the trucker

The ladies doing the dirty work!

Geesh, make the little one work, huh?

Grandma Schmidgall came for over for lots of reading time.  Auntie Amy came to town to be with us for a bit.  She did lots of duty at the park.  (That’s DUTY, not dooty. Ha!)

We even went to visit a friend - good ole Chuck E. Cheese!  How much longer do we have until the kids realize they need coins to operate the games?

Just a couple more days until Daddy is home!  I am running out of ideas!

We are loving summer! I realized recently that it has been a full year since I left my job with Congress.  Our days are filled with learning, singing, playdates, and fun.  (Okay, I lie.  There is also lots of cleaning, diaper changing, grocery shopping, nursing, and discipline.  But the other stuff sounds better!)

Joel played in the National Corn-hole tournament.  If you are not familiar with corn-hole, I call it “bean bag for big kids.”  Our church hosted the fundraiser to raise money to build another orphanage in Uganda later this summer.  They played right in front of the Capitol.  Joel and his partner, his cousin Dave, took second place! First place went to our big bros, Mark and Robb.  Family sweep!  (Shhhhhh!)

Most years we spend Memorial Day out at Joel’s brother’s place.  Basically, we just eat and hang out.  The kids make up shows, play on the trampoline, and sucker us out of money with a massage business.  I don’t really have many pics because, well, we just hang out.  The fellas play corn-hole for about 16 hours straight.  (They complain about their aches and pains afterward for about 16 DAYS!)  We are super-family-time-kinda-folk.

Here is one pic I have of Zeke napping on the deck.  I wanted to record his size in his little basket.

My friend Paige returned home from the mission field in Thailand and came for her annual visit!  This time she brought her “dude” (as my mom would say) so we could grill him…uh, I mean, get to know him.  We took him to see a few DC sites.

Paige and the dude (Sean)

Two of my favorite people!  Paige and good ole’ Abe! We were remembering how we went to watch the sunrise Easter service at this same spot during her first time visiting me…nine years ago!

We had a wonderful dinner with some great friends last week.  Jovanni, Hilary, Laura, and I went to Westmont together and made the nutty journey to DC at the same time - scarring bonding us for life, I think.  Our families connect through prayer, commitment, support.  Fun to see us all with rascals!

And finally, our trip to the Zoo last week with the moms group from church.  Funny that we call it the moms’ group since the kids are overtaking us!  We attempting a routine shot of the kids - always hilarious.  Peek-a-book Bo!

This one cracks me up because Ella flashed this random smile between a fit, Bo had just proudly stolen Zeke’s pacifier, and Owen and Violet are characteristically on the run!

Much more summer fun to come! Joel is doing missions Road Rules style this week.  He is leading a team in RVs down to Louisiana for some projects.  He didn’t take a camera (I know, how are we married?) so hopefully the team can hook me up with some pics.

Wow. I have a thankful heart.  Ten years ago today I embarked on an adventure of a lifetime.  Little did I know I would also meet a friend of a lifetime.  The summer after my junior year of college, I had the amazing experience to study international business and marketing overseas.  With a few other Economics majors from my college, we partnered with some other students from Christian colleges to tour Scandinavia, Russia, and Europe for three months as part of the International Business Institute (IBI).  I probably learned more in those weeks than in the rest of my time in school.  I certainly had more fun than I ever could have imagined!!!

I was able to travel with one of my very best friends from Westmont, Heather.  I knew we would be friends for life and was so excited to share the experience with her.  But I didn’t have any idea that God had a plan to give me another friend for life too!

So, ten years ago today, in Stockholm, Sweden, I met Christina - a dark hair girl from Maryland that said a few words kind of funny!  (Hey, she saw I was blond and from California and was convinced I was a snot!)  To be truthful, it would be a few weeks before I realized she would be a close friend.  And only time would reveal that God had a true plan for our friendship and that she would become like a sister to me.

This week, I took a walk down memory lane.  I can’t believe it has been TEN YEARS!

Here is where our friendship was forged!  A few weeks into the trip, we settled in the Netherlands to do our most concentrated period of study.  Somehow Christina and I took seats next to each other (note our heads on the right).  We would chat and giggle…but, actually, we also listened and concentrated and studied!  We were both pretty serious about doing well.  (By the way, we called the row in front of us “the sleep list” because they would keep track of everyone who fell asleep during lectures.  I was proud to never make that list!)

The first day in this classroom the professors told us we could leave at anytime to use the restroom…good news since most of us had just acquired a stomach parasite in Russia!  We were relieved when they brought us a doctor to check us…until we found out he was actually a HORSE doctor.

The guys took advantage of the potty liberties.  They started a prank called “plating” where they would do their “business” in other student’s bathrooms, leave it sitting (note: European bathrooms don’t have water sitting in them…hence a “plate”), then close all the windows and door and leave the smell to await you!  Ugggg!

After class, we would drag our comforters out onto the grass to “study”.  We appointed one guy to be our recreation director and he would organize all sorts of games.

We only had one suitcase of clothes for the entire summer and we had to do laundry in our hotel bathrooms often.  The girls started trading outfits for a little variety!  Here we are on the Charles Bridge in Prague…old friends by this point.

I can’t believe I am about to publically admit this in a place my daughter could eventually read it…but this picture was taken just before…we hitch-hiked!  We had a free day in Austria and were on our way to a lake in the mountains and realized just how far we had to walk!  A nice man with a cigar in a jaguar was happy to give us a lift.

This picture is just a taste of the fun we had.  We were trying to trade our currency before leaving France and the machine went a little haywire.

As I said, it was the trip of a lifetime.  We visited 11 countries!  We toured businesses, governments, historic sights.  But, I never could have guessed his plan for this friendship.  Though we were from opposites sides of the nation, today Christina and I own homes around the corner from one another.  Along with our spouses, we work in ministry together.  Our first babies are three months apart and our second babies just two months.  We have prayed each other through all the big moments like dating, career choices, family triumphs and tragedies, moves, marriages, babies.  And we get to walk through all the little things too!  My husband sure is glad he has someone else to catch the tears as well!

So today I am thanking God for ten years!  I love you Christina Marie!  Thank you for encouraging me, supporting me, and confronting me.  Thank you for being auntie to my babies and a best friend to me.  I am more thankful with every new memory!

Ella is so good with her baby brother!  She loves him so much!  Whenever he cries, she is the first to soothe him.  “It’s okay, little buddy, mommy’s coming.”  She also says, “It’s okay.  We’re almost there!”  Apparently I say that lot in the car!  She uses it at home and anywhere.

The sentence I repeat the most is, “Ella, don’t lay on your brother.”  She just loves him so much, she tries to lay on him to hug him or get as close as possible!  Yesterday Joel and I started cracking up when he found himself saying “Eloise, don’t SIT on your brother!” as she was lowering her tush into his bouncy seat…while he was in it!

I pray often that my kids will be close their entire lives.  I try to use words to encourage them in that every day.  “Ellie, don’t pull his legs.  You always have to protect your brother.”  OR “Honey, Zeke will be your best friend forever.  It is so kind of you to show him your toys!”

Thank you Lord that these two have each other!