אֵיתָן (ee-thuhn) solid, enduring (1 Ki 4:31, Ps 89) & טליה (tal-yuh) dew of heaven (God's kindness)
Thursday 28 December 2006
First Christmas
We've just celebrated our First Christmas with Ethan and it's been a time of appreciating and enjoying the warmth of Family and friends over an amazing spread of festive food! Unfortunately the excitement of new faces proved a little overwhelming for Ethan and he needed some space to process it all.
The highlight of the Season for us was the opportunity to meet with God at the Christmas Eve service at church. It was a simple time of reflecting and giving thanks for the many blessings God has showered on us in this past year and renewing the wonder of the greatest gift of all -- His own Son, Jesus. Somehow having our own baby has made this Christmas particularly meaningful for us. As I look at Ethan while singing the Christmas carols, it's almost as though I'm being transported back to that First Christmas and am filled with a fresh sense of perspective and wonder at God's amazing Gift to us. May we learn to live each day as a people who have been touched by the awesome Mystery of the God who stepped into the skin of a tiny Baby to be Immanuel -- God with us!
Tuesday 26 December 2006
Away From My Son
I am now at the airport waiting to check in for an 8 day trip away without Renata and Ethan. This is the first time I am travelling leaving wife and son at home. A myriad of indescribable emotions are inside me. It's one thing to miss your spouse, which i have done on several working trips before. It's another thing entirely to leave your son. Of course God knows what I'm feeling. After all it's Christmas. Jesus left Heaven and entrusted himself to first-time parents in a humble family. May you have a blessed Christmas, not forgetting that while we enjoy friends and family, God made this possible because He gave up His son.
Monday 25 December 2006
Poop Accident
Twas the week before Christmas and we were feeding Ethan in the car while out doing Christmas shopping, when we heard the familiar sound of a big poop...but we never imagined just HOW big- until Renata started feeling something wet and warm in her lap! Thank God Ivan was around because it started spilling onto the seat as well! We had to do a quick rescue operation before heading home to shower, change, clean the car and head out again. Life certainly hasnt been boring since Ethan's joined us!
Sunday 24 December 2006
Monday 18 December 2006
Chatty n Chubby
Sunday 17 December 2006
Family Worship at Woodlands EFC
Daddy preached from the story of the visit of the Magi in Matthew 2:1-12, Finding Hope in Surprising Places. Our church website now includes full length videos of our sermons - cool stuff!
Friday 15 December 2006
Ethan's New Friend
This week Ethan visited Samantha and Aunty Janice. They are Mummy's and Uncle Roy's church friends and Sam was born just 2 weeks before Ethan -- so they are almost the same age! It was nice to chat and realise how much they both have in common. They even have similar strollers & car seats! Too bad they were too sleepy to play but we are sure they will have many opportunities to make up for that.
Ikea Fun Park
Things were going wonderfully well but the day was far from over yet. We enjoyed many of the children's rooms and Ethan exercised and swung around with these hanging curtains. This was perfect timing cos a few weeks ago, Ethan's shoes were quite new and he was just getting used to it all. It was so fun we were even thinking about where we could hang these swinging curtains in our home!
Things just got and better when we found the slide! I ran over and lifted Ethan to the top. The very first time he looked down at the slide and looked at me apprehensively. A gentle push and as Ethan slid down, his expression changed to pure ecstatic joy. He screamed with laughter, got to the bottom and strained towards the slide to go again. The video really captures this well. It shows him going down twice, but we must have done the slides close to 20 times. The icing on the cake was that it was air-conditioned so Daddy didn't have to sweat at all!
Thursday 14 December 2006
Vivo City
Heather was happy to see Ethan too and wanted to sit next to him at lunch time. Here she is posing with her cousin while holding onto her precious balloon.
Wednesday 13 December 2006
Ethan's Bath Time
Another video of Ethan's bath, but this time he's much bigger and talking more. Weighing in at over 5.5 kg and 2.5 months old, here's our little tiger!
Monday 11 December 2006
Early in the Morning
Ethan's morning bath is a routine he looks forward to now. Normally, Daddy gives him his bath but today Mummy is holding him up. It feels a bit different, but Ethan is still loving it! After the bath, we have our Quiet Time. Dad's been reading Romans to Ethan and teaching him to pray. Mum has already started reading the Psalms, so we're generating the quite the OT and NT scholar. Hebrew and Greek alphabets will be starting soon!
Wednesday 6 December 2006
Grandma's Come Over to Play
Visiting Grand-Aunties
Last week Ethan's Grand Aunties Diana & Monica came visiting from as far away as South Africa and Perth and we had a nice family reunion over sushi at Goo Ma's place.
Mummy made Chawan-mushi (steamed egg) to accompany the healthy sushi and here is the recipe if you would like to try it too! It serves about 4-6 depending on the size of your Chawan cups.
Chawan Mushi
3 eggs
2 3/4 cups of Dashi (bonito fish stock)
6 prawns
3 Shiitake mushrooms
1/4 Unagi (broiled eel)
Preboil the prawns after marinating them in a little sake wine and salt. Grill/toast the mushrooms before slicing them. This brings out their fragrance more fully. Slice the unagi lengthwise.
Beat the eggs and mix with the Dashi, sake (1 tsp), mirin (sweet sake) (1 tsp), salt (1 tsp), soya sauce (a dash). Divide the egg mixture into the Chawan cups and add in the prawns, mushroom & Unagi. Place the cups into a steamer and steam at low heat for about 20 minutes or so. The trick in making Chawan-mushi is to make sure you control the heat well so that the egg is cooked evenly and comes out with a smooth and custard-like texture. (Using too much heat will result in bubbles and uneven texture.) -- It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it!
Enjoy your Chawan Mushi!
Sunday 3 December 2006
Sunday Schedule
Friday 1 December 2006
First Rainbow
Today Ethan saw his first rainbow, and what an amazing rainbow it was! God made this beautiful one after a sudden downpour. We took these photos outside our dining room window. The rainbow was so bright, it looked like you could slide down it! God sure has wonderful promises in store for you Ethan...