It's always hard to say good bye when the kids all leave.

Christmas 2017

For Christmas, David, Kati, and Elle came down for one night and we opened presents on the morning of Christmas Eve. We missed being with the Schroders, but got to have a fun Face Time conversation with them.

My Christmas cactus was pretty spectacular this year. A favorite gift was the bird nest ornament that Huxley picked out for me. We gave Elle a "Schoene" bin with markers and a kitty cat note book to draw in. We took a few walks to the park and enjoyed the warm weather.

Good bye to 2017. Hello 2018.

New Year's Eve 2017 - ushering in 2018.

The years go by and blogs become idle. The children grow and become people that we can have conversations with and learn from. What a joy that is.
This past Thanksgiving, Andrea, Gabe's Mom, invited us all to share Thanksgiving at her house in Denver. Kath and Gabe and the children drove down from Idaho. David, Kati and Elle flew out on Tuesday. Stephen and I arrived Wednesday. Denver was warm and mostly sunny. The kids got to go the the aquarium before we got there. Thursday, of course, was focused on the meal. Max and Katie and their boys joined us too. I had bought a book about sharks for Huxley and we must have read it ten times. I gave the girls copies of the book We are all Wonders.

Friday we all met a photographer just outside of town at a wooded park and she took pictures of the group. Huxley was 4.5 on Christmas Eve, he let us know. Elle will be two February 1. Brierley will be two April 18. What a joy it is to see David and Kati, Katherine and Gabe so happy and with their beautiful children. Stephen and I know how blessed we are.

My visit with Brierley and family

Huxley, the big brother

Huxley's school had a spring program. The students at Big Wood School sang songs for their parents.

The two year olds were quite entertaining

Brierley slept through the performance

Brierley at home

When Gabe found out they were having a daughter, he said, "That requires a whole new skill set."

On a Saturday morning walk with  Rewk, Kat,  Georgia Bea, Huxley, Katherine and Brierley

Huxley and Georgia Bea looking for the horses

We are trying to decide if Brierley looks like Huxley.

Here's Huxley when he was just a few weeks older than Brierley. He was definitely bigger by a whole pound at birth.

Sarah Brierley Schroder born April 18, 2016

Brierley - the fourth generation with that name -
Great-great grandfather - Bernard Brierley
Grandfather- Stephen Brierley
Mother - Katherine Brierley
and now Sarah Brierley
But in this generation, she will be called Brierley

Katherine's delivery was an amazing 47 minutes

The happy family 

Welcome to the world little B

A visit with Elle, Kati and David on April 21

I drove to Neptune Beach for the day to visit with Elle,Kati and David

This is the best

Beautiful Elle

A visit with Poppy and Sweet P

Elle's room waiting for her arrival

Kati had Elle's room almost ready - just a few pictures to hang

Sweet baby girl Elle

Elle Alison

Beautiful little Elle

Welcome Elle Alison - February 1, 2016

David is a proud Daddy.

Elle arrived two weeks early, but as David said "Kati did great!"

A beautiful family

Stephen and I arrived about an hour after Elle was born. But as we were driving up from Maitland to Neptune Beach, David was texting us and sent pictures right away. 

Getting to be Grander

It has been too long since I last posted anything to this blog. Huxley is now two and a half, he has a new cousin - Elle Alison Schoene, and he has a baby sister on the way. So, soon Stephen and I will be the proud grand parents of three little ones.

Huxley, Katherine and Gabe came to visit in September. Huxley and Katherine came again in January to attend the baby shower celebration given for David and Kati.
Here are some pictures of those visits.

We celebrated Christmas in January once our kids were home. 

Kati's baby due in February and Katherine's due in April. 

Picture taken in January.

Buzzy and Alison came to the party at Maureen and Don's to celebrate the baby.

We had a "Sprinkle" for Katherine at our house the next day.
Both Katherine and her friend Graham were pregnant - Graham due in March.. 

Huxley's Baptism June 28, 2015

Gabe asked his long time friend Hardy Bodenhemier to be Huxley's Godfather and Katherine asked her long time friend Chrissy Auger to be Huxley's Godmother. They both traveled to Idaho to be a part of the service.

The baptism took place at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ketcham. 

Hardy's wife Ellen and friend Brian Sullivan came for the Baptism too. 

On the Friday before the Baptism, the Supreme Court of the US ruled that marriage equality for all is the law of the land. The sermon at St. Thomas's Church that day delivered by Reverend Mullins, a visiting minister, was perfect for this group. His message was that all of the changes taking place in the world are Jesus at work expanding love in the world. Later that week, the Episcopal Church nationwide announced that they would conduct gay marriages as religious services in their churches. There was much cause for celebration.

I wrote a special blessing or statement about the role that Hardy and Chrissy will play in Huxley's life:

On the occasion of the Baptism of Huxley Stephen Schroder 

June 28, 2015

Offered by Huxley’s grandmother, Patricia Schoene

Baptism has a long history dating to Biblical times. It is a ritual cleansing, some believe to rid a people of pagan beliefs, some believe to rid us of original sin and the forces of evil. But it is also an initiation into a particular activity or role. 

Gabe and Katherine have asked Hardy and Chrissy to be the Godfather and Godmother for Huxley Stephen Schroder because Hardy has been Gabe’s friend since they were boys and Chrissy has been Katherine’s friend since they were girls. Traditionally, Godparents are to support and participate in the spiritual upbringing of the child. And in the truest sense of those words, that is what Gabe and Katherine are asking of their friends. 

Today this ceremony is an initiation into a new role for Hardy and Chrissy. And for Huxley, it is an initiation into the joy and wonder of life (something that he is well on his way to knowing already).  Both Gabe and Katherine chose their dearest and oldest friends to participate in this celebration and to make this commitment because they have experienced so many of the joys of their own lives with them. They trust these friends to share in the challenges and rewards of raising this boy to love life and to love all of human kind, to love his neighbor as himself.  As a part of Huxley’s extended family, Hardy and Chrissy will teach Huxley to embrace the wonder of learning, to know the satisfaction and exhilaration of doing everything from riding a bike, to skiing down a mountain, to reading a book or writing a story, to sharing both laughter and tears with a friend, to offering comfort and solace to someone in need. Gabe and Katherine trust that their friends will help them teach Huxley to know the ecstasy of loving every one as a part of his family, and embracing every day as an opportunity to be the best day ever. This is the spirit of this event, this is the spirit of love.   Alleluia   Amen

Huxley Stephen Schroder