back in june...

...we added an "Uncle Sean" to our little Corbin family.






But then, we had to say goodbye to Aunt Kelly and Uncle Sean.


Until last weekend!!
Their happy return was celebrated with a feast of Moussaka...

a friday evening of cheese cake, whipped cream and warm Irish coffee,
A sunny but cold Saturday was spent in a warm(er) tent, with bread bowls of stew, hot apple cider, and delightful Irish music.


my favorite of the bands, Scythian, actually impressed us more with their gypsy and Jewish flavored fiddling than the true Irish stuff.

We had to say good-bye again, but Christmas isn't too far away.

Introducing...

...Maya's baby brother or sister.
Due to arrive April 7th, 2008.
Yes, that's the head on the right. And all the way to left, you can kind of see little legs!

I've been posting, they've just been hidden for a couple of months...
So, if you'd like to read more, go here. There all there now!

theoretically...

...I'm not so into these visitor counting things. It's not why I blog. It's been years since I even looked at a visitor counter.
But this one just looks so cool.
You can see the whole world!


Create your own visitor map!

Maybe, just maybe...we'll see a blue dot somewhere besides West Michigan.
So far, I think it's just me on the map :)

don't expect consistency here.

I guess I'm either entirely absent or an out-of-control-blogger.

But I've just not really been able to form coherent thoughts for a while.

At least not about anything I can openly 'converse' about here.

It seems that I'm always overwhelmed by how blessed I am...how eerily perfect my life continues to be...
...and then how full of complexity, disappointment, heaviness and sadness the world is...how painfully permanent and far-reaching the ripples of brokenness reach.

Worry is becoming a new virtue for me. I don't think it's always been such a natural gift, but lately I've been embracing it. Staying up at night trying to compose letters to people I love...people within my circle of worry, waking from bizarre dreams where I'm trying to solve the problems around me..trying to explain my action and inaction to different people...trying to bring reconciliation.

I'm considering the possibility that maybe worry isn't the answer here. It just seems to be a new and developing talent in my life.

our new house

This was our first day as new home-owners. Maya showed her approval by taking her longest walk ever...all the way across the house (before this day, she was pretty content with 5 or 6 steps). It isn't so empty any more (or so terribly sterile looking), but...she still loves to run around in it.
I'll post more updated pictures soon. It's starting to look a little more like 'us.'

five years after our own August wedding...

...we took our daughter on a very long car ride and celebrated the marriage of our friends Dave and Lauren in Springfield, Ohio.
It was a beautiful wedding. Full of hope, truth, love, honesty. And surrounded with intricate and bright stained glass windows, delicious food enjoyed at an art museum reception complete with some of our dearest friends.

Maya was pleased by the great power she seemed to hold over her new friends. Not one of them could refuse her constant pointing to be taken in a new direction, to see one more picture...especially when she tilted her head to one side, begged with her big blue eyes and wrinkled up nose, and her sweet little voice said 'peas'.



No one could refuse, but especially not our beloved Mandy.