Dinner @ Smiths with Frohmans, Hosacks & Chandra

The Hosacks (Jon is another good friend of Jason's from high school) happened to be in a wedding in Missouri and stopped in for a couple of nights too @ the Frohmans. When Dave and Kathy Smith (former Dalat staff & good friends) heard a bunch of their former students were in town, they invited us all over to their place for dinner.





Which included a heated match of foosball, which went down to the wire, but unfortunately P. Dave and Jason lost by a point...


Elijah was a super-star. He was his usual happy self with everybody he met. This is him with Kathy Smith.


Chandra Peters


Dave Smith



Who mercilessly taunted Elijah with his substantial nose and we got it on video...



And Payton Smith

Hanging Out with Frohmans

Our first stop in OH was the Frohman's place. Carl and Lilah had their first son, Caleb, four days before Elijah, so they were brave to host - thanks guys!


Here's a shot of Caleb and Elijah hanging out in Caleb's pack-n-play.


...And Jason and Carl doing the new dad thing together...


The ladies were even up for a hike at a local park - can't go wrong doing that in the fall. The guys got to be the preppy pack mules with the baby bjorns.

Skyping with Littletons

Since high school, Carl Frohman, Jon Hosack, John Littleton, and Jason have figured out ways to get together every couple of years. Unfortunately, with the Littletons in Congo, getting them to OH just wasn't going to happen, but we did the next best thing...video skyped them. :) It was a little cruel eating our Subway sandwiches in front of them, but we had a great time catching up.

Elijah on Skyline Drive

This is my favorite picture from Skyline Drive. It seemed to capture our road trip...

Skyline Drive

We made our 1st longer road trip a couple weeks ago to OH to connect w/ friends in Dayton. On the way we decided to drive along the East Coast's famous "Sky Line Drive" which was absolutely on fire w/ fall colors! It's a bit hard to tell from the pix but it was quite a cold day for these equator-living folks...

Elijah Holds Chase!

Well, Halloween was a special day for our fam - not just 'cuz Elijah got to wear a cute outfit but 'cuz he got to hold his newest cousin, Chase. Now who's the newborn?! ;)

Feeding Horses

So one day J& I decided we needed some fresh air & wandered back to the neighborhood behind my parents here in VA...evidently Culpeper's known for their horse raising & racing. In fact, this is where Christopher Reeves had his riding accident. Lest we end on a sad note, a big fat THANKS to J's sis Christy for donating the apples from her yard for our furry friends.
The horse got so excited he gave Elissa something back too...

Elijah Meets More Family on Elissa's Side

Thanks for making the trip up to meet Elijah Uncle Buck, Aunt Karen & Bethany!
It was also great to see Uncle Dick & Aunt Sue - love you all :)

Dad & Lij Sleeping

Gotta love this pix...my 2 boyz snoozing ;)

E & E's Baby Shower

About 3 wks after Elijah was born, Elissa's Mom's school & several friends from church got together in the school gym to have a baby shower - here's some pix!

Lunch with James

So we're playing catchup of all that's happened in the last several wks.....we had the chance to have lunch w/ our good friend James the day before Elissa was induced. We met in NY when Elissa was in grad school.  He gave us a baby blanket for Elijah that has now become our "must have" - thanks James!!

Gavin Meets His New Cousin

Got to love Gavin's reaction at the end of this clip...

Walks in Parks

Elissa and I love the outdoors, so we've enjoyed taking Elijah to a couple of parks while the leaves are changing. Here are some pictures...

Rockland Lake Park: Nyack, NY





Mountain Run Lake Park: Culpeper, VA



Elijah gave Mom a "kiss"


And we tried to feed the ducks (bread, not Elijah despite how it looks in the picture), but they were already stuffed - a lady swooped in and unloaded a whole loaf on them just as we were walking down to the lake, so they pretty much ignored us :)

Yowell Meadow Park: Culpeper, VA

Crissy Heads Back to China

Crissy returned to China on the 4th of Oct. She will be studying Mandarin full-time for a year after which she plans to teach English as a foreign language there. We snapped one last picture of Crissy and Elijah the night before she left. Elijah wore a special onesie for her.

Michael Comes to Visit

Elissa's brother, MIchael flew in from Washington State a day before Elijah was born. It was great to have him here in VA for a week. Elissa sported our new-to-us baby carrier for the first time when she went to the Airport to see him off...