The Talens' Tales

We have known that Joash likes music for a long time. At least we thought he did...  This is how Joash was walking around yesterday while Wilbert was playing the guitar. Whenever Wilbert comes home, Joash wants him to play the guitar. He walks over to the corner where the guitars are stored and touches them and pulls on the handles of the cases. He is also very good and turning the amp on and off. His love of music runs pretty deep. It will be fun to see where it takes him

Ally Green has traveled the world as a flight attendant, but the death of her father call her back home and she thinks she might stay. On the other side of the world a young woman in India, armed with a mysterious sketch book, is looking for the truth about her life and where she came from. Both of these women must confront their past in order to live in the present and face the future. Beyond Molasses Creek by Nicole Seitz takes these two seemingly far apart stories and weaves them beautifully together. While it seems a bit of stretch sometimes both of these women are ultimately looking for the same thing. They want to be freed from their past. They want to find something to believe in and they need to find a friend to lean on through it all. I really enjoyed reading this book.  While the story seemed a bit farfetched at times for me, it was wonderfully written. I think there are many woman like Ally Green out there who are trying to hide from their past by keeping busy. In th...

 M(om): Can you believe it Joash? You are 15 months old! Where did the time go? J(oash): I know Mom. Hey, why didn't you interview me last month? M: Well, we were in Michigan and it was Christmas day and by the time I remembered and had a chance to get around to it, we were not that far away from today. So, I thought I would just do it all in one. So, what is new with you? J: Well, the biggest thing is I am walking. I really like getting around by myself and being able to carry things with me. M: You are getting very good at walking. What are your favorite things to play with? J: Well, I still really like my books. I am so glad you started to sell Usborne books! I like listening to all of the new stories. I also like my ball, tractors, barn and the animals. One of my favorite things to do is to put things inside of the fence by my barn. I like to put as many animals in as possible. I also like the Weeble house that I got for Christmas. I also love splashing in the tub! ...

There are times in life when we are seemingly thrown together with a group of people that we do not know or have anything in common with. Whether it be a small group at church, colleges at work or a committee at school, it can be amazing what a random group of people can accomplish. And often, within that group of people, it becomes clear that they really do have things in common and need each other to make a difference in this world. A seemingly random group of people find themselves together in The Search Committee  by Tim Owens. This group has been put in charge of the task of finding a new minister to lead their church congregation. By spending many Sunday’s together traveling to different churches to meet and listen to different ministers, the members of this committee learn a lot about each other. And through some challenge circumstances, they come to rely on each other. I enjoyed reading The Search Committee because it was a book at felt at home in it. I could see myself...

As Joash is getting bigger, it is fun to see the things he is picking up on. He is starting to do a few things to "help" me out. Laundry day is a good example. He helps put the dirty clothes in the basket. When the clothes are ready to be folded, he likes to take them out of the basket and hand them to me. Unfortunately, I can't quite fold has fast as he can empty the basket, so that can be a little crazy. He also likes to put folded socks back in the basket to go upstairs and be put away. Another thing he likes to do is help me put away dishes. If he is walking around on the floor, I will give him a plastic container that goes in "his" cupboard. If I am holding him, he likes to drop cooking utensils in the draw they go in. It is fun to have a helper and I hope that he becomes and even better helper in the future.

There is no real theme to this post, other than that these pictures were all taken on the same day and it give you a little glimpse into Joash's world. Joash is starting to walk with quite a bit of confidence. He likes to walk around with his fists in the air which is quite cute.  I think he now walks more than crawls, especially when he has a long distance to cover. Joash got a nice soft stuffed bunny from his Oom Jander at Christmas time and he really likes to snuggle with it. We made a tent the other day out of blankets and chairs and Joash loved to crawl back and forth under the blanket. He even walked through it which took quite a bit of skill. "Thanks for making this great blanket tent for me, Mom! I love it!"

Joash tried out walking on his hands the other day. He thought it was really fun and walked all over the house with the help of Dad. He was quite fast. It will be interesting to see if he will be able to do this on his own some day.

Joash got his first pair of coveralls for Christmas, so we have put them to good use by visiting Dad in the barn a few times. Joash does not quite know what to make of the barn and all the animals. He likes them from a distance, but when they get too close, he is not a fan. A cow was trying to lick him last time and he really didn't like that. I would guess that by this time next year, he won't want to ever leave the barn.

One other thing we did as a family while we were in Michigan was visit The Critter Barn . We thought it would be fun, since Joash is starting to like animals. They were also holding a live Nativity, so we thought that would be cool too. The first animal we visited was Joash's favorite, cats. He loves cats. We have some nice ones are our farm and in the summer he would crawl after them. All of the cats at The Critter Barn we super nice and Joash loved petting them all.  The we saw the rabbits and chickens. Joash didn't really know what to think about these and the rest of the animals for that matter. But the volunteers were great! The girl in the picture below was always bringing the softest or the calmest animals over Joash. The live Nativity was very nice. Joash like to touch the sheep. We also got to see the donkeys, turkeys, goats, horses, peacocks and whole bunch of other animals. Joash was just taking in all as he usually does, and was happy until a goose nipped his fin...

Once we got to Michigan, we had a great time. Joash had lots of fun playing with everyone. Here are some of the things he did: Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma, playing with new toys and new people, reading books with Grandma, playing catch with Dad and the Uncles and practicing walking. Of course, since it was Christmas, that meant a lot of presents! We had a great time with the whole family.  Joash really enjoyed his first Christmas in Michigan!

We had quite a time with our travels during this holiday season. Here is a not so quick run down. To Michigan - Day 1 : We left Charlottetown and arrived in Halifax and learned our connecting flight to Toronto was delayed. Finally the plane comes it (it came from London). Before we even get off the plane, they announced three names, including ours, who were to go to counter right away. We knew that we had missed our connection to Grand Rapids, especially since we would have needed to go through customs. Once we got the counter, the agent handed us a folder and told us that we had reservations at a certain hotel and we had meal vouchers for dinner and breakfast. So we couldn't complain really. We went to the baggage claim to get our bags, which didn't come. Wilbert asked the baggage attendant and he said our bags would be up in the customs area since they were supposed to go to the US. So we headed back upstairs and explained our story to the security guard...

We have had a very busy holiday season. I will be posting more about it through the next week. But for now, I just wanted to say that we hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!