Good Dog

We are all sad to say that Maximillian, our beloved beagle of almost 12 years, passed away early in the morning of April 1st.  He had seemed to age a lot recently, but it came as a big surprise, and we don't know what the cause was. We miss him very much. Here are a few pictures of our favorite puppy dog. Please feel free to share your own memories of Max in the comments.

Elizabeth's Concert to be Webcast

We wanted to let you all know about an upcoming concert where Elizabeth will be performing the world premiere of a piece written by her sister, Kathryn Smith Derksen.  The concert will be streamed live through the PLU Music Department, so you all can watch it live this coming Saturday, March 16, 2013, 8:00 pm (Seattle time):  http://www.plu.edu/soac/events/webcast/home.php  

The concert opens with Elizabeth playing solo guitar, with Kathryn's piece on at about 8:10.  This will be followed by guitar duets by Elizabeth and Stephen Howland, an intermission and then a jazz combo group featuring Stephen Howland (guitar) and guest jazz performers Courtney Fortune (vocals) and Nate Omdal (bass).

These are Kathryn's notes about the piece:  "Odyssée Tchadienne: Rues de la Prière, Chadian Odyssey : Streets of Prayer, is a reflection on the variety of music I heard in my several years living in Chad.  The southern region of this isolated country is balanced between the Muslim - Arabic speaking cultures, and the Christian communities speaking French and local languages.  Over time, music has become a mélange of sounds, a co-mingling of alien and local.  Colonial church music was squeezed into pentatonic position, with blocks of chords moving in parallel fourths.  Single-line melismatic passages from North Africa call the faithful to prayer, but are also heard in market music.  I was haunted by these two sounds: dissonant pentatonic harmonies and decorated single-line melodies that never mixed, especially when juxtaposed with the absence of our western scale and temperament.  In this piece I have tried to re-create a walk through the town.  We first hear an Azan, a simple call to prayer at a nearby mosque, followed by more complex calls that repeat throughout the piece.  The musical stroll travels to the church, where I borrowed the tunes Tien ma main and Quel Bonheur.   Marketplace stereos play middle-eastern music of the oud, and the dance sounds of a Lebanese orchestra.  The walk continues past a guitar jam-session, and a youth music rehearsal, including the vernacular song Jesu I bo.  The final section is reminiscent of a marimba band, followed by the evening call to prayer."

Sarah Smiling & Talking

Sarah Smiling from Paul Brown on Vimeo.

Snow Camp

We made it up to our church Snow Camp this year.  We feel somewhat adventuresome for having made the trip with a 2-month-old.  Both Sarah and Lotty did quite well traveling, and we even managed to get some sleep with all of us in the same room!

Lotty learning to walk in slippery snow.

Lotty exploring.

Lotty enjoyed the snow, even if it was pretty icy.  After this picture, Lotty and Paul
went for a long walk holding hands.

Sarah liked watching the fire at snow camp.  She also likes being in Oma's arms.

Sarah has a very cute smile that just keeps getting bigger! 

December Video Compilation

2012 December from Paul Brown on Vimeo.

Pictures of Sarah

Sarah in her Santa hat, 15-Dec-2012 

Lotty Reading to Sarah, 12-Dec-2012

Sarah's tough guy look, 12-Dec-2012

Sarah on one of the baby quilts we got for Lotty, 5-Jan-2013

Sarah almost smiling, 5-Jan-2013

Sarah and Lotty hanging out in Sarah's room, 5-Jan-2013

Sarah on her play mat (those are giraffe feet), 11-Jan-2013

Welcome to Sarah Kathryn!

We welcome Sarah Kathryn, who was born December 7th at 1:34 AM after a quick delivery.  The labor was so short that the nurse didn't get there until Sarah's head was already out and the doctor didn't arrive until she was already born.  It was a little chaotic there at the end.

Sarah was happy to spend some time cuddling her Daddy not long after she was born, but she protested being examined and weighed.

Auntie Kathryn, who had to run to get the nurses, got to hold Sarah before going home.

Sarah warmed up next to mama before her first bath.

Here is our beautiful, little Christmas present...  

who might be practicing to be a Grinch!