Joyful

Hannah lives up to her middle name JOY.

Here’s the  story behind her middle name JOY.

My Mother’s name is Maryjoy,

my Grandfather’s name is Joy
and my sister’s name is Dana Joy.

Consequently,  there is a alot of Joy in the family:)

It was Mike’s idea to give Hannah the middle name Joy. I was really thrilled that he wanted to use the family name. I also he was inspired since she really is a JOYFUL baby!

We are proud to name Hannah after all these wonderful people in my family and look forward to continuing seeing how she lives up to her name.

From the beginning, when she was barely weeks old and smiled her big gummy smile…

to now when she sees a strangers in the grocery store aisles Hannah brings joy to alot of people – not just Mike and I on a daily basis.

So cute!

A year of new experiences! 2009

We wrote out this letter to summarize the year. It’s been a crazy and wonderful one!

2009 – A year of new experiences

This year was a year of new experiences! And we feel very fortunate. Here are some of our 2009 milestones.

New Continent! We moved from Oslo Norway to Moscow Idaho (when Brooke was 7 months pregnant, btw). Even though we were moving back to America after only 14 months, it felt like culture shock to return. Norway fit us so well and we will always cherish our memories there.

New jobs!  Mike started working at the University of Idaho, ending his long journey as a student, and happy to be giving tests rather than taking them! Brooke loves being a full-time mother and enjoys teaching PE badminton for 3 hrs/week at the university. She enjoys instructing this new age-group of students and Mike enjoys the time he gets with Hannah in the middle of his day.

New Baby! Hannah Joy Lowry was born April 3^rd, 2009. She is the newest love of our lives! Hannah is an explorer. Since birth  Hannah has always wanted to move and face forward  to find new things to look at (or put in her mouth!) She loves looking at trees and being outside. She has two teeth that she loves showing to people when she smiles. Hannah lives up to her middle name Joy. She is a very happy baby and we love that she has joined us in our adventures!

New town! Moscow, Idaho is in the middle of the Palouse, a unique landscape of rolling farming hills. With a population of 24,000 and a two hour drive to the closest big city, we were a bit nervous about living in such a small town, but we have been pleasantly surprised at every turn! We love that we can bike across town in just 20 minutes and that the university ensures there is always something interesting happening. Fun fact: The Palouse produces 95% of the nation’s lentils and peas.

New home! In June we moved in and immediately felt so comfortably “at home”. It feels new inside yet it was built in 1944. We love our yard with fruit trees in the back and our neighborhood is great. We also enjoy being able to walk to Main Street from our house. A definite novelty in America!

New life! All in all this year has been quite a ride! We are glad to say we are very happy with the changes. We thank our family and friends in Norway, Seattle, and now Moscow for helping us get here!

May the Lord  bless  you  during  this  Christmas Season  and  throughout  2010!

Love, The  Lowrys (Brooke, Mike and Hannah).

Things I am Thankful for

Brooke’s 2009 Thanksgiving List

• Wonderful Memories of my life, travels, people I have met and family.
• My friends and Family
• Hannah as my daughter
• Mike as my husband
• The stars, the earth
• Beautiful Landscapes, trees, rivers, mountains, oceans and sunsets.
• Clean air to breath
• Quiet time
• The ability to ride a bike (my favorite way to travel!)
• Reading and learning

“a few things i am thankful for” or “things i like”

Brooke decided we should celebrate thanksgiving by writing a list of the things we are thankful for.  Her idea is that we would keep track of each year’s list. So she handed me a piece of paper and challenged me to fill it up as fast as possible.

I took her challenge to heart and wrote non-stop, letting my mind flow from one idea to the next. And although it might not be apparent, every idea is connected to the previous (BTW, I was playing music for a Hannah when Brooke handed me the paper).  After I filled the page I realized that I hadn’t written a list of things I am thankful for so much as a list of things I like. I thought about the distinction for a while and concluded that, yes, there is a difference, but on this day and at this time everything I like, I am also thankful for.

music

Hannah

the name Hannah

Hannah’s open smiles

Hannah’s laugh

Hannah’s cute pouts

Hannah in the morning

Hannah on Tuesdays

Foreign aid works

I just saw Melinda Gates on Charley Rose. She showed this video (with a great Sigur Ros song).

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28794.html

 

Our beautiful earth

http://www.earthlab.com/signupprofile/

I have a real feeling of concern for our environment. I always have, even before the recent publicity about the Poles melting (if that doens’t get our attention I don’t know what will!). I don’t know who could not be concerned about what we are doing to our earth. We have been given this earth and just like anything people are given, it is nice gesture if you don’t trash the gift.  I wonder whether in years to come we will be asked by our Grandchildren in the same way we ask our Grandparents what they were thinking when civil rights for women and black people in North America where so overlooked. I wonder how they could not have known that was wrong and if they did, do nothing about it when atrocities were happening around them. For many the answer they gave and we will probably give when we are questioned is ” that was just the way it was.” But I’m people started to wise up. I’m glad the main movement of people started to do something about it and I think the world is better because of their change in thinking. I think that is what we need to do no about the environment. We have to change our thinking and re-evaluate what is appropriate and/or right.

I really like breathing fresh air and enjoying nature and if I can do my part to not trash it, I’d like to know how. So, I took took this survey to see my Carbon Footprint and I learned a few things that gave me more resolve to do better.

Here’s the link:      http://www.earthlab.com/signupprofile/

I took the survey and it made me more committed to get a compost going (inspired by my Father, proud owner of 4 composts when we were growing up!) and keeping biking as much as possible even though sometimes its more convenient to drive. Mike bikes to work so we mainly just use one car (isn’t it nutty that in the USA it is hard for 2 people to not have and use 2 cars? That’s another issue for another day:)

My score was 308 with the national average at 357.  It estimates I have a carbon output of 11.7 tons every year compared to the average of 15.5 tons per year.  I hope to be doing even better at this time next year when we have things in our new home running the way we want them to be.  I’d love to get into using solar panels, not using diapers that take 400 years to decompose! (I’m slowly getting up the courage to use reusable diapers, even though I’ve heard they are really not that bad and, for heaven’s sake if my Mom could do it with 6 kids, I can try to do my part with 1!).  I’m also trying not to use any bleach in my home (ever since my friend from Germany said in Germany bleach is not allowed because of the environment…and we use it daily in North America!)  Hmmm.  It’s good to have friends and family that get us thinking a little more about what I use in my day to day living.

I liked the way Mike said it once, “even if people don’t believe in climate change,  there are plenty of other reasons not to live wasteful, sloppy, and imprudent. Personally, I’d rather not live in a dump if I don’t have to”.

Here’s a short utube video  that I saw on a friend’s blog about how great our earth is