11:41 a.m.

Februray 8th, 2007. First-born son of Elizabeth and Benjamin Spotts. 7 lbs. Bald, and blue-eyed. Shane Daniel Spotts is his name. Hyderabad, India.

Surprises. What a surprise this baby is! Watching you touch, you feel, you smile and laugh, and all for the first time. Is there anything more miraclous than witnessing these fresh, untainted, innocent discoveries? We know not what life is like...otherwise.

I will Never Forget your newborn days. I cannot even put it into words.....I will not try.You've changed our lives. Your love for others, your smiles and squeals at perfect strangers, your outstreched arms to the buffalo, cow and stray dog. Your complete adoration of daddy.

Chubby-fingers rolling-thighs buddah-belly baby boy. You climb all over my legs as we snack on apples, the necture running down your chin and you happier beause of it. You play bravely, independantly; you glance back checking in on Who is watching. People comment "He's happy. He's just so happy." You make Us happy.

Happy Birthday Shane Daniel.

home again home again jiggity jig

The fam is back from Thailand where the last 10 days was spent on both business and pleasure. Our company's annual meetings were held there so to Chiang Mai we went. My first, Ben's second and of course, Shane's first as well. This was our hotel.... ...and the hotel staff having a hard time saying goodbye to Shane, Libby enjoying the necture of the gods, or Thai iced tea,

Ben and Shane at a curb-side outdoor eatery "with character" which is said, by Ben, to have The Best Pad Thai known in all of history.

I have never in my entire life (no kidding) been to a place that teems with tourist quite like this before. A little unnerving at times, but overall Chiang Mai is a good place for meetings and more. And the perks such as Thai iced tea? Well you already know how I feel about that.

Welcome home, 2008

Happy New Year!

I can barely hear myself think. The sounds of singing and chanting from a neighbor's first puja or worship ceremony of the year, echos in our humble home. This picture was taken moments before the idol was taken into the house for this evenings ceremony. Ben joined hundreds of worshipers ushering in 2008 with tribute to their god. I watch from a distance to keep an eye on our sleeping beauty.

....well since you brought it up...













And this? Well we're not sure either. Shane's newest face. Two days ago it appeared. In the middle of playing, eating, crawling, chatting or reading, this pout will and can appear. Perhaps he missed his chance under the mistletoe this Christmas.













The contrast of life here is quite similar to the content of this piece. One moment I'm contemplating with you the idols that stand before our home of which Ben gathers with others to observe. And the next moment I'm asking you to join in the hilarity of our baby boy. And it's impossible to completely switch from one topic to the next, from serious to funny, without traces of the other in each story or experience.

One big contrast of lives and styles and talk and faith and belief and food and worship and dress. Welcome to all of this and welcome home 2008. Please bring more guests. We really want to meet you.

A Very Merry International Christmas

First there was the white elephant gift exchange, a first for many, on Christmas Eve. Another holiday with Nisha and husband Manas, Sumeet, Rudy, and Maggie. We can't believe Shane slept through all the laughter.Then there was Christmas Day luncheon with Maggie as head chef. Good eats from a girl who graduated from Ben's alma mater, George Fox.
It's been said that Shane's extra-special uncles Rudy (pictured) and Sumeet are toughies on the outside but softies on the inside. A new friend.

Merry Christmas

Celebrating Christmas in India means a normal day to the every-day people we daily encounter. But for those of us either from the West or with a faith that teaches the birth of a Majestic Savior through the humble smallness of a child, the 25th is That special day.

And so for us the Spotts, we find ways to celebrate outside our home country, but very much inside a country dear to us. Although time with Shane's grandparents, uncles and aunts will always be missed, Ben and I will include their lives to our children through story telling and memories. We will also teach our family, including ourselves, the beauty of doing life with others who really aren't that different from us after all.

Missing yes but feeling blessed beyond measure to spend another Christmas in India.

A few pictures of the majestic 5-feet-tall plastic Christmas tree.

His crawling days

This is a short video of Shane crawling. Four days after returning to India from a two month visit in the USA, he decided it was time to crawl. Shane loves to play "catch me." This is a glimpse into the day of the life at the Spotts household... with mommy in tow.

More memories from good ol' USA

The annual gathering of the 11-numbered gang from college. With so many pictures yet to share, I'll choose a few and at random, share in time. Here are several more special memories.

Taking a break being a baby. Sometimes.

I'm sharing with you a clip of Shane at 8 months, ready but not yet able to crawl. He's taking a break being a baby. He is quiet yet attentive. Today at his 9 month milestone, he's ready and able to crawl. Take me with you little boy.
Ready or ready, here you come!

Back in India

Yes, we're back in India after 2 wonderful months in the USA. As Libby wrote on her blog, the trip was relatively smooth and now we're recovering from jet lag. Some people have asked how we're readjusting to India. On the positive side, we're thrilled to be back with friends and colleauges, happy to taste familiar foods again, eager to jump back into our work here, loving the cool (80s) sunny weather, and enjoying the hustle and bustle of our city. On the downside, our ankles have been gnawed by mosquitoes, we've begun the losing battle against ants invading our food, and must limit our flushing of the toilet due to limited water.

But before we jump into life here in India, I want to reflect, pause to cement many great memories of our time in the USA into our memory, and be thankful.

There were little things: hot showers, maple bars, Fall leaves turning color, shopping at REI, and more.

Also, we were thrilled to talk to a couple of thousand (literally) people about our work and life in India. These meetings ranged from dinner with families to talks to about 250 people at a time.

Amidst about 100 meetings over the two months, we did find a little time to play. One of the things that "fills us up" is time outdoors in the middle of Creation. Particular highlights for me (in no particular order): sailing on the Columbia River with friends, two days of fishing with my dad and a friend, and flying kites for 4 solid hours at the Oregon coast. There were many lovely steaks, salads, and burgers that also made me happy. And time with family.

Lastly, Shane had many firsts that were a blast to watch. Petting a cat, touching grass, seeing leaves blowing across the ground, sitting up on his own, watching American football on TV, learning to do the "army crawl", and more.

May we never dance too fast through life to miss -- or forget -- beautiful moments when our mind and spirits say, "Yes! This is how is was meant to be!"

East to West coasts

We just returned from a great trip to Atlanta. We visited Libby's brother and family as well as a partner organization's headquarters. (Um, yes this is Ben writing; I stole the password from Libby.)

We've also enjoyed a few beautiful, sunny days at the Oregon Coast and now are here in Portland for 2.5 weeks that will be full of meetings with friends.

Shane continues to be a trooper and has done well on all plane flights, has great sleep patterns, and is healthy and growing. His fifth tooth is arriving as you read this!

More later...

Off to the beach

Soon I will be posting pictures from the last two weeks, two weeks where doing exactly that was almost impossible. I know, I know being in the USA, the land of plenty ought to make all things possible. But it isn't so, especially in our constant travels and staying in homes and places where getting on the computer or downloading pictures isn't always possible. Thank you for baring with me.

I was in Texas with "my girls" for one week, and before that in New Mexico sharing life with Ben's relatives. It's been a good time. We're half-way through our time in the USA. One more month to go.. we head back to India on Halloween Day. Today in a matter of hours, we head to the coast with Ben's folks for some get-away time. Mostly so the grandparents can have total 100% time with Shaners.. who continues to sleep like a bear in hibernation, eat like a starving child, and smile like the whole world is his and he knows it. And it is.

Pictures to come soon that involve a certain brilliant baby boy.

Firsts for Shane (and Us)

Below are a few pics of some "firsts" for our family. We spent a wonderful few days with relatives in New Mexico. Now Ben is back in Portland and Libby is enjoying a reunion in Texas (along with Shane)! So far, so good in our travels. We're grateful.

First time with beautiful, New Mexico flowers.

First time with Aunt Linda!

First graham cracker!

First band-aid (mommy was cutting his nails when the "boo-boo" happened).

Shane's first experience with two good friends -- Justine and Suzi.

More pictures. And then some more...

Hiking in Southern Oregon. We LOVE Oregon!

Some family time away

We went away with Libby's side, the Crawfords, for some family time. Let the pictures do the talking. These are the adoring Grandparent. Obviously :)

Back from Colorado

We just returned from Colorado where we met and counseled with our sending organization/employer, then headed over to Fort Collins where Shane's Uncle Nate and Aunt Kevin met him for the first time. We ate incredible food from the Kitchen of Nate---the Jamie Oliver of Colorado. We dined on most excellent cuisine from Nate.

Uncle Nate and Shane really hit it off, as you can see, and Aunt Kevin couldn't get enough kisses outta the little guy. We did a very "Fort Collins thing" by biking and I rode a Cruiser, the new "in" of bikes, so I'm told. No, I didn't ride with Shane in his sling. This was just for the picture.

A real quick 48 hours

Within our first 48 hours there wasn't much to do but get over jet lag and lay low. We did have some fun nonetheless...

Ben and Shane in my folks front yard the very day we arrived. Look at the soft green grass baby!
Shane meets friend Noelle for the first time... the kiddos are only a few weeks apart. What cuties!The Lattins and the Spotts with their growing families.Rachel helped me shop for jeans, and delivered a healthy baby girl no more than 24 hours ago--no meds... go Rach!

Fun on the run

Within 48 hours of landing in Portland, we headed to central Oregon for a reunion with some of Ben's childhood friends. Despite jet lagging a little, the Labor Day weekend event was fun and even relaxing. Shane was warm in his fleece outfit from grandma Kim and then relaxed on a blanket. I caught up with good friends.