Celebrating Big Accomplishments

Wait, who graduated?

There we go! The real Dr. Sauder.

While Jonathan technically already has his doctorate and received his diploma in December, the formal ceremony at USC only happens once a year in May. So last week he took a day off work from his real job to participate in the hooding ceremony which was, thankfully, inside an air conditioned auditorium. It was an extremely warm day, over 100 degrees, I believe, so it was hot enough just taking pictures outside--in the shade!--in all that getup!

Eddie's Grammy came all the way from IL to carry his diaper bag all over campus.

Oh, and to make sure Jonathan's collar was tucked in right!

And to celebrate the big accomplishment, that too, I guess!

I'd never been to a PhD hooding ceremony before. It was waaaaay more entertaining than your typical graduation. The "candidates" walked across the stage where they were met by their thesis advisor who did the hooding. Literally the student sort of squatted so the professor could try to maneuver the hood over their funky square graduation hat (what are those called anyway? oh yeah, a mortarboard). Sometimes they ended up with it caught about halfway over or maybe gagging the poor graduate. It was supposed to be this somber moment but actually had the audience cracking up half the time. Then they were handed their diploma by the dean, got their picture taken, and walked off stage.

There he is,

(posing with the dean and his advisor in the bottom left corner)

and the projector screen has his name, his professor's name, 

and the title of his dissertation.

And that was another source of entertainment--reading the titles of everyone's dissertation. Some sounded interesting, some might have sounded interesting if I'd have had any idea what they were talking about!

Family photo under the arch!

So proud of Jonathan, and all the hard work and long hours he's put in for our family!

Speaking of working hard for our family, we got a tour of JPL again, this time with Mom Sauder and Rachel while they were in town, and also Grammy. And Eddie got to tag along too and see where Dad works! I think he was impressed.

Getting an explanation of how something works.

Even Eddie is an engaged audience!

And he looks pretty comfy there, too!

He sure did get comfortable having a doting Grammy and Aunt around all week. Now he's missing them something fierce! And I'm sure the feeling is mutual!

Checking out Dad's office.

Grammy enjoyed the tour too!

Especially since she used to work there years ago!

Here she is standing by the sign that marks the spot where her boss's office was.

And finally, this post would not be complete without mentioning some of Eddie's latest accomplishments! So it's not earning his doctorate (yet!), but they are still noteworthy!

 

Eating his toes.

 Holding a toy in such a way that he can satisfactorily chew on it!

And downing some big-boy food! 

(I love how his expression is exactly the same in those last two photos!)

Big milestones being reached over here at the Sauder house!

Photo Chronicle

Happy Mother's Day!
He's so excited!

Still chewing away, drooling non-stop, no sign of the little white nubs yet.

I'm doing it!! I'm standing!!

One sleepy super baby.

I just cannot resist these sleeping pictures!

Home improvement project: kitchen wall hanging.

A peacockhen showed up at family dinner last week,

causing quite a stir. She had no fear!

Jacaranda trees this time of year. I love 'em. Kinda want one!

A visit to good ole Manhattan Beach!

Mesmerized by the waves.

Gazing out to sea!

My fav' of the day! So glad he loves the beach as much as we do!

Passover 2014

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Passover for the first time. I highly recommend it! The Seder, or traditional dinner, engages all the senses in remembering the events of the Exodus. You sit down to the meal, hungry--like a slave, and the first bites are of bitter herbs recalling what bondage tasted like to the Israelites in Egypt. The candles flicker as you hear the story of the fateful night when God moved on behalf of His people, and finally Pharoah says, "Go!"

The Seder Plate

Starting at the egg and moving clockwise, we have: an egg, representing new life; a lamb bone, representing the animal sacrifice for the blood that went on the doorposts; a sweet concoction called haroset, meant to look like the mixture of mud and straw the Israelites used to make bricks for their Egyptian masters; horseradish, our "bitter herb", a harsh taste of the bitterness of slavery; and a sprig of parsley, the second bitter herb, which is dipped in the dish of salt water (in the middle), representing the tears of those enslaved.

Traditionally, the youngest asks four questions, starting with, "Why is this night different than all other nights?" And the Father answers with the retelling of the story. I can't wait till Eddie's old enough to participate!

Reading the Exodus story.

There is so much imagery and symbolism. And we added in the piece of Christ celebrating Passover at the Last Supper. To think that He recited those words, answered those same four questions, and sang those Psalms the night before He became our Passover Lamb, His blood rescuing us from death, obtaining our freedom.

"I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God..."

 from Exodus 6

 

After all the traditional dipping and reciting and sips of wine, finally, we enjoyed a delicious meal, rejoicing in God's amazing power having set us free!

Next year in Jerusalem!

Tia Tania Comes for Easter

Behold the bright and risen Son! More beauty than the world has known!

I'm face to face with Love Himself, His perfect spotless righteousness.

Oh, a thousand years, a thousand tongues are not enough to sing His praise!

Boldly I approach Your throne. Blameless now I'm running home.

By Your blood I come, welcomed as Your own, into the arms of Majesty!

The Art of Celebration

Rend Collective

I love Easter.

I think every year when the time comes to remember the immeasurably horrific and beautiful events of that week two thousand years ago, it reaches deeper inside me. It moves me in a new way, a more profound way. 

What was special this year? A few things. At our Good Friday service at church, I sat beside one of my favorite people--sweet Tania. 

Let me insert here that the time God had me in Magdalena, I walked with some amazing people through some unbelievable circumstances--some extremely difficult and some unspeakably wonderful. Anyway, that kind of thing marks you, changes you. And it knits you forever with those people. And I miss them so much sometimes it physically hurts.

All that to say, when one of them comes to visit... Ahh! Sweet times! I loved standing in the hallway, way too late at night, chatting over all kinds of things (why is it those conversations never happen during daylight hours while sitting on comfortable furniture!). I loved being in the same room with her gorgeously contagious smile again. 

And this guy? He was totally smitten. He loved just chilling with Tia Tania.

And she didn't seem to mind holding him. All the time.

Totally spoiled! I love it!

We did some fun stuff--like thrifting, singing, walking along the beach, buying half price Easter candy, but mostly we just hung out with Eddie. 

Squinting in the sunshine while we ate frozen yogurt.

And then there's the Easter outfit. 

I mean, seriously? Could he be any cuter than this!

I hope you had an Easter just as wonderful as we did, celebrating the Savior early Sunday morning from the mountain as the warm sun rays spread over the city. Wish I would've snapped a photo, but it wouldn't have done it justice anyway...

Four Months and Engineering Fun

Guess who is 4 months old!

Let's see. What else is new? Hmmm...

A few weeks back I got to tour JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where Jonathan works). It was incredibly cool. I saw things that will be rocketed into space. For real. And Jonathan works on those kinds of things every day--designing, playing with, and figuring out stuff that will--no joke--blast off into orbit or to other planets or millions of miles away to "deep space". We got to see the control rooms where they communicate with those far off satellites, probes, rovers, etc. 

Jonathan's office.

Outside the door is a huge playground shop full of all kinds of cool engineering tools and work benches and prototypes and crazy stuff like that. 

Here's one of the huge bays where they actually construct the big stuff (like the mars rover).

They have all these cranes and pulleys to simulate zero gravity.

So, next time you come visit, make sure you request a tour! Definitely worth seeing! And you can't beat the private tour with your own expert tour guide! 

Speaking of nerdy engineers,

Jonathan has a new toy. 

The neighbors were having a garage sale...

What a find, right? 

(yeah, I'm not sure exactly what it's for either, but I get that it's cool!)

One more, just for fun!

That hat, right? Too cute!

My little buddy and I have all kinds of fun! We've gone to story hour a few times at the local library. We like to go on walks, like yesterday we went with a friend and her little cutie pie and pushed our strollers around the Rose Bowl and while the kidlets slept we enjoyed some exercise, fresh air, mountain views, and great conversation. Eddie and I play a lot. Okay, I play with his toys and he giggles and laughs. We do patty-cake, peek-a-boo, this-little-piggy, tickles, singing, reading books...all kinds! 

Jonathan and I have been having fun too! The other day we left Eddie with the surrogate grandparents and went to a few academic talks at Cal-Tech. Fascinating stuff--the first was about body language and was incredibly interesting ranging from the universal facial expressions to signs we're lying or telling the truth and how to hold yourself in such a way that increases confidence, or how about how crazy it is that if our body language doesn't match what we're saying, our brains believe the body language first. The second talk was about the future of human spaceflight. Whoa! Did you know NASA has plans to send a robot out to literally bag an asteroid and bring it back to orbit around the moon so we can send people out to study it? Crazy, huh? Three astronauts led the discussion, two shuttle fliers and even a guy who was on Apollo 9. 

We do other less academic dates, too, in case you were worried. We've tried out a place called The Pie Hole, which was pretty good! And in our hunt for a Local Yoke replacement, we've discovered a cute little place within walking distance that serves coffee and pastries where we hope to become regulars!

Meanwhile, it's been super hot all week! Here comes summer! Woohoo! It's a little warmer up here than it was at the beach. 

Okay, I'll stop boring you now with my random stuff, but hopefully I've given you a picture of our lovely little "normal" life of the past few weeks. And anyway, I'd better go, someone's awake and calling for attention!

Visiting the Family

Eddie knows how to fly! What a kid, huh? I tell ya what, this one's destined for greatness!

See? 

Ha, and you thought I meant fly, like with wings.

No, silly, in an airplane!

He didn't sleep the whole time. Just most of it!

Typical Eddie, he was so interested in all the goings on at the airport.

He really did so well traveling to Illinois! We took a red eye hoping he'd sleep, which he did! I actually did too--a little. Unfortunately, the only sleep I got on the flight was during the meal. Yes, meal. Did I mention we were upgraded to first class? Our mileage status at work; dozens of long overnight flights to the southern hemisphere will do that for you. Anyway, it was marvelous! Lots of room, boarding first, and food. Except I missed the meal. Jonathan enjoyed it though! And then proceeded to fall asleep for the rest of the flight. He even slept through Eddie waking up, crying, and me handing him a complaining baby while I got out the necessary equipment to shush him. That's right, he "woke up" enough to take Eddie from me, but not enough to remember any of it!

After a delay in Chicago (which actually worked out fine since I got a nap and Eddie slept most of the layover!) we made it to central Illinois and the whirlwind of a weekend began!

This is pretty much how the weekend went.

One popular little celebrity!

All the attention tired him out! The first night he slept 9 hours straight, and he continued to sleep through the night all weekend! I didn't mind! How do I get him to do that now? Hmmm.

There were a lot of first encounters for little Eddie!

Uncle Caleb

Aunt Liv

 Soon-to-be-Aunt Amelia

Uncle Jesse

Great-grandpa Rusty and Great-grandma Joyce

Another highlight of the weekend was getting together with some cousins of mine who also have little boys the same age as Eddie (all within a few weeks of each other!). They had a ball jabbering, kicking, cooing, and us moms had fun comparing notes while the dads did the same, over coffee and brunch. All this while gorgeous white flakes floated down outside the window. I thought it was so picturesque! All the Illinoisans were (and are) sick of the snow!

The boys! We hope they'll be great friends through the years,

and make as many great memories as we did!

Quality time with the grandparents!

I think this might be my favorite snapshot of the weekend!

Or maybe this one! He turned 3 months old while we were there!

And, the reason we were visiting, to see Aunt Rachel get baptized!

What a special weekend! So glad we could be there!

I love this. Pretty sure there's a picture just like this one where I'm the baby.

And, no worries,

I didn't miss out on the meal on the way home!