New Friends

Caden has two new friends: Myriam & Peluche. Myriam is the daughter of Corine (one of Caden's teachers from the nursery). We were invited to their house a few days ago for lunch and had a wonderful time with the Saldana family. Myriam immediately took to Caden and they looked like the best of friends after only 5 minutes. So, today Caden got to return to the Saldana home and spend the day with Corine and Myriam while Brett and I went skiing (Merry Christmas to us!). It was so nice to spend some time together and never worry about how Caden was doing. We knew that he was having a great time. And I think these pictures prove it!

And yes, the rabbit's name is Peluche....or Fluffy.

200 Cheerios & Bananas

When Brett's parents were here, they brought Caden a special gift from the States....CHEERIOS! Now, I'm sure you're thinking, what? no cheerios in France?! Oh, there are Cheerios - but only the honey-nut flavor. These plain toasted oat cereal pieces have become like gold and we are slowly going through them. Caden decided to dump his small bag on the floor and shove as many in his mouth as possible until Mommy caught him.
Caden is making steps towards being a big boy. He loves to eat things that Mommy and Daddy are eating. Often, he refuses to eat cut up fruit pieces insiting he eat them just like us. The only problem is that he has a hard time knowing how much food he can put in his mouth before it's too full. We're working on it...

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The 200 in the title is to announce that this is our 200th post! Can you believe it? We began on March 9th 2005 with the announcement of being pregnant. Thank you for joining us on our journey thus far. ..and we look forward to 200 more with you!

Marilyn Fowler

Over the past several weeks, we have been receiving frequent emails from our friend Al Fowler whose wife, Marilyn, was battling cancer. Today we received an email with a message that is always hard to receive: Marilyn has gone to be with the Lord.

When we lived in Searcy, we attended Covenant Fellowship, a small community church that meets at the local rec center. Al and Marilyn were one of the families that helped start Covenant, and through the years the Lord has used them to impact many, many lives. During our 5 years at Covenant we got to know the Fowlers quite well, and they had a tremendous impact on our lives. During the first few years of our marriage, they provided for us an amazing example of how to use our marriage to glorify God. You will not find a more open, caring, wise, generous, or God-fearing couple, and they were always looking for ways to help others come to know God better.

We will remember Marilyn for ALWAYS having a smile and kind words of encouragement for us. She spent alot of time behind the desk at the Heritage, and you could always count on her to make you feel loved and cared about whenever you walked through those front doors or strolled by on your way to the cafeteria. We are thankful that we had the opportunity to know her, and we rejoice in knowing that she lived her life for the Lord. We will miss her, but we know that she is exactly where she spent her life trying to get to, and we take comfort in that.

Holy Father we thank you for the life of Marilyn Fowler, and we pray that you would receive her with the fullness of your love, your mercy, and your grace...

Joyeux Noël

Christmas in Albertville, France

2006
So, here's the story behind our little Christmas tree. First I have to say that I love my little Christmas tree. Last year we didn't have a Christmas tree...we had decided when we moved from Memphis to Montgomery that we would leave behind our dear fake tree in pursuit of a real one when the time came. Well, the time came and went without a tree...we had a newborn and money was tight. I assumed I would spend another Christmas without a tree. I was wrong. My thoughtful husband yanked one out of the ground one afternoon while he was hiking in the mountains. He was quite proud of himself. We put the tree (roots included) into a mop bucket and attempted to secure it with dish towels. Still wobbly. We then tied a birthday ribbon from the trunk to a hook on the wall. This worked wonderfully for about two weeks. Thankfully, we were home when the tree began to "tilt". We have since leaned it more toward the window for extra support. My Mom sent us the snowflakes and we bought the other ornaments and lights here in town. The one random ornament towards the top has to be our favorite...it says "Mon beau sapin, roi des forets" (my beautiful fir tree, king of the forests). Oh, and don't worry...Brett plans to replant the tree before we leave. Long live mon beau sapin!
Santa Claus came to visit Caden while he was taking his morning nap. He enjoyed opening his gifts (ok, so most of these were regifts from his birthday...but he didn't remember). We had to hide each toy after he opened it so he would be willing to open the next one. Little does he know that Santa was able to put lots of Christmas gifts for him on our container...Christmas will come again in January (maybe February) for this family when we're in Togo.

Merry Christmas!

We love you all!

Countless Faces of Caden

Yes...there are more, but these are the most common.

(Not to mention our favorite!)

Soon Enough, Little Man, Soon Enough...

Check Out This Kid's Chompers!

If you place any value at all on actually having fingers, then do not put them anywhere near Caden's 12 teeth.

Don't let the smile fool you; he will leave you with nubs!

An Afternoon At The Emersons

Emerson_Afternoon
Video sent by emersonstogo

We know many of you are wondering what Caden is doing these days. Here's a short video of some of the cute things we are blessed to enjoy almost everyday. We priase God for our happy little boy!

We're Gonna Need a Good Long Distance Plan...

One of Caden's favorite toys is our old cellphone from when we lived in the States. Since he was about 6-7 months old, he has been holding it up to his ear and gabbing away into it. He's now graduated to other phones and other skills like pushing the buttons to dial a number. His cousin Nate is not even 3 years old yet, and he knows his own phone number and can pick up a phone and call it, so maybe it runs in the family or something. Never let a call go to voicemail, because you never know when Caden may be wanting to talk to you... At a hotel we stayed at in Switzerland; we're pretty sure he called the front desk at least 5 times...This is just a toy phone. We like it when he uses this one because there is no chance of incurring huge long-distance charges...
And of course, like all good 21st century missionary kids, Caden loves to Skype!!!

It's A Good Day

December has arrived...and the Christmas clothing has come out as well (Thank you Gamma).

Fun fact for the day:
Today Caden is one year, one month, and one week old.