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.

Random Acts of Messiness

If you know the Emerson Family at all, you would probably think that Caden getting messy at the table would be Brett's fault, not Princess April's. BUT YOU'D BE WRONG!!! April is the one who lets Caden engage in these Random Acts of Messiness. I don't mind them, as long as I don't have to clean them up. If that's the case, Caden's daddy likes it as neat and clean as possible. Wierd, huh???

Seriously, how do you even get a glob of mashed potatoes that huge on your FOREHEAD?!?!?!

This actually seems like fun. Have you ever just put your hands in a squishy food and gotten messy? If not, stop reading and go do it right now...

Call me old-fashioned, but I've gotten quite accustomed to NOT having pasta sauce lathered all over my face. This is a very interesting spoon, however...

Somebody Get This Kid a Jungle Gym!

No place is safe anymore, we've got a walker AND a climber...

Walking Like A Pro

Walking Like A Pro
Video sent by emersonstogo

It's been too long since we posted a video of Caden. We thought everyone should see how his walking was coming. Enjoy!!!

Grêle aux vainqueurs!!! Allez Bleu!!!

Today is the big game! Caden is all decked out (thanks to his Gamma and Papa) and ready to cheer for the maize and blue as they roll all over that other team from that other state close to Michigan!!! We will be watching the game live on the internet here in France. Thank you high-speed internet and ABC/ESPN!!!
Hail to the Victors!!! Go Blue!!! Win this one for Bo!!!

Little Bear

Caden seems to think that Christmas is in November...or at least he did today. We received a package from Nanna & Gran'Pa today (thank you, thank you, thank you) that contained this little bear - it was vaccumed sealed and resembled roadkill before we rescued it and fluffed it back up. Caden immediately grabbed the bear and hugged it with the biggest smile on his face. We thought you would all enjoy seeing a little of his sweet personality in these pictures. Currently, his name is "little bear" because he looks like a little Mattie (our big...ok, huge bear) and we've already begun teaching Caden: big bear and little bear.

And don't worry, mom didn't forget us...we got spiced tea mix to make our holiday season seem a little more like home this year. ;)

Caden's Two Sisters

No, we're not having twin girls. The couple across the hall has two little girls, Sophie and Naomi, who have fallen in love with our little boy. Sophie likes him so much that she asked her mom if she could trade her little sister for him! He enjoys the attention, and it's been a good insight into what his life will be like in 15 years when he has legions of teenage girls chasing after him. The 3 of them are very sweet together, and we will all miss them alot when we leave Albertville in January. Here are some pics of them watching movies and playing together. We think a little girl would be nice for the next little Emerson...

Time to Bundle Up!!!

Who doesn't love the winter? Any good Emerson knows that fall and winter offer the best weather of all the seasons...We should have been missionaries to Norway. It's nice there...Anyways, here's Caden all bundled up before a walk around town. This kid is just beautiful! He gets it from his mother...Winter and mountains go well together...In this pic below you can get a great view of Cade's teeth. He has 4 molars now for a total of ten pearly whites!

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Caden Darrel Emerson

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When this little boy came into our lives on October 25th, 2005, our hearts grew. Today, our hearts are even bigger as our love for Caden grows every day.

Caden, you have been the biggest blessing to our family and we praise God for giving us the opportunity to be your parents. We love you, little guy!

* Chronological pictures of Caden with Mattie will now appear only one to two times a year.

Caden's "First" Halloween

Caden's real first Halloween was spent sleeping while mommy and daddy posed him for pictures. We didn't have a costume for him because we didn't think he would be here until November. Lucky for him, Gamma whipped up a cute bib for him to wear in place of a costume.

One year later, we have the cutest dragon you've ever seen. ;) Caden enjoyed trick-or-treating with all the kids here at the Centre and mommy and daddy continue to enjoy the treats from the evening.

Caden Experiences "La Dolce Vita"

We have been huge fans of Italy since our HUF and HUG days way back when, and Caden has now fallen in love with belle Italia as well. Brett's parents came to visit us in France, and we took 5 of their 12 days here to enjoy Florence and Rome.

Caden's first birthday was this past Wednesday, October 25th, and what better place to spend the big day than Florence?!?! Brett carted Caden all the way up Giotto's bell tower so the little guy could get a better view of Brunelleschi's dome. He stared at the architectural masterpiece for quite awhile, although he may have just been excited to be up so high in the sky :) As if the buildings, churches, and museums of Florence weren't enough, Caden also had his first taste of gelato! Like millions of others before him, he is hooked. He would have eaten all of the fragola in Florence if we had let him! For our trip into Florence, we drove our car into Scandicci and parked it for the day. We took bus 27 to the Santa Maria Novella stazione, and this was Caden's first bus ride ever. He enjoyed watching the traffic, holding onto the bright red bars, and flirting with all of the cute little old Italian ladies who were constantly tossing "Ciao, bambino bello!" in his direction... Rome was a little overwhleming for Caden; just too much to see and do! He really enjoyed riding in the open air double-decker your bus, and he even sat in his own seat (buckled in of course) like a big 1 year old boy. Rome is mostly old rocks, and Caden had a good time seeing a few!