A Little Serenade

Nanay & Tatay

In our family, you call your great-grandparents Nanay & Tatay. Last Thursday, Eloise had a great time with her Nanay and Tatay. They are very strong and very healthy, although they are not currently part of Seattle Gymnastics Academy.

Baby Talk

We heard Eloise talking just after putting her to bed so we snuck a video of her through the crack of the door.

Quick Pic Review of February 2009

February 28th (or about 18 weeks)


Eloise is starting to grab anything she can reach.


Hudson Vanker, who is best friends with Ligaya, turned three! To read why this is amazing click here.


Eloise road a dog for the first time.


Scott and Heidi, friends from Firwood, came down to meet Eloise.


Daddy made videos for Ligaya and Eloise to watch while he was away on a junior high retreat.


I led the 8th graders on a rite of passage to become a man of God. Inherently this requires face paint and swords.


I was the 8th grader's fearless leader.


Our church hired a new junior high pastor so now I will take on the supportive behind-the-scenes role I was hired to do. God used me this year to impact these students for which I am so grateful. Read more here.


A christian man in Bellevue, WA wants to better unite the churches together so he brought all the youth pastors together for a retreat in Montana at the Yellowstone Club. Everyone there had minimum 5 years experience and as much as 15 years at their church as the youth pastor, which is not the norm, but very encouraging to learn from these guys.


The mountain was a private resort so we skied powder all day.


Eloise will stare at us for minutes on end, even upside down.

Quick Pic Review of January 2009

January 12th (or about 12 weeks)


Mama and happy Eloise at a family photo shoot in Seattle.


Lola (or Grandma Durias) began helping us with Eloise each week. It's a joy to have her share her life with our daughter.


Santa's helper (David Bordner in red) spoke at our high school winter camp. He is a youth pastor in Slovenia and challenged everyone with his teaching. Click here for more. He is a dear friend and a missionary from our church.


We couldn't get enough of our high school volunteer staff that we had them over to our place the night after we got back from camp.


One of the junior highers got so excited about a new game on a wednesday night that he hugged me, which in turn pushed the mic into my mouth and chipped my tooth. All in a days work :)


Eloise surprised cousin Pia for lunch.


The junior highers reached a goal for our group, which resulted in me dressing like a chicken and making a fool of myself with our intern/farmer Nick Ippolito.


Friends from church met together at the Vankers to celebrate life.

Eloise In The Morning

This is what we wake up to. Eloise "calls" for us, and once we come in, she's happy as can be. Smiley, chatty and upside down. It's the best! :)

Daddy and Daughter Playing Together

8th Graders

Phil was at 8th Grade Retreat this past weekend. While he was away, he made videos for Eloise and I to watch. Eloise LOVED these videos. When she watched the videos, she would just smile and giggle. This is the second time she watched this particular video, but I just wanted to capture it on video.

Big Chair

Merry Christmas!

I can't get enough of this picture...