Greetings to All

Hello! I'm sitting in the lobby of the Redditch hotel in England, paying a pound (2$) for ten minutes of internet, and it occurred to me that with a few minutes I could probably tell the maximum number of people that I'm having a fantastic time and miss you all! The students are having a great time, enjoying the opportunity to climb the castle in Rochester, wander the streets of Canterbury, tour the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, peek at honey colored colleges in Oxford, and stand amazed through the Merry Wives of Windsor performed in the Globe Theater in London. All in all, it's been fantastic. The weather was warm and balmy the first three days and has now turned to authentic "British" clouds and rain, which for some reason always lends more charm to the English countryside. I miss you all so very much and can't wait to post my photos. Much love, Marilee!

Rock a Baby

Probably the two most important arrivals at the Malott household in 2008 have been Gavin James and Dustin's Rock Band game for the XBox 360. Both have brought joy; both have brought a lot of noise. Luckily, the two seem to suit one another! Whether he's chilling out and watching the bright colors stream across the screen or taking a more active role, this baby likes Rock Band.

Update on Marilee

As many of you know, Marilee had to go in for emergency surgery on her gall bladder yesterday. After 12 hours at the hospital I am happy to say that she made it through and is recovering at home. She is exhausted and in a lot of pain, but she no longer has a gall stone the size of a golf ball. Thank you for all the calls, flowers, notes, prayer and extra help you have given. We will hopefully update you all soon.

Two Babies

For two years, Jackie Jones was our only baby. He taught us a lot about taking care of something or someone. Like John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, Jack prepared us for Gavin. We learned what it meant to have someone depending on us, someone who needed us to put his needs above our own wants. We were home at a certain time so he could eat or play or poop. We realized that all the hassle was worth it when he snuggled up and gave us that goofy look that tells us that he loves us more than anything else in the world, except maybe his blue and green footballs. Jack was the perfect preparation for a baby who would enter the world screaming, refuse to eat, go through three different types of formula before we could find one that works, and sleep no more than an hour at a time. Just like Jack, Gavin was and is a lot of hassle, and there's times when I know my resources are depleted beyond anything experienced to date. But it's still all worth it when that little guy smiles up at me, or looks across the room at his dad and starts laughing.

There's just one hitch in this little bible story, our John the Baptist thinks he's the Messiah. There's no stepping aside graciously. No claims of unworthiness to tie the sandal of the Chosen One. Instead, Jack seems to think the only good thing to come out of Gavin's arrival is the proliferation of rattle toys. To demonstrate Jack's boldness, let me tell you that the other day Gavin was wearing these cute little socks that have rattles sewn to the ends. He'd been kicking rather vigorously in his swing, and the sock on one of his feet was dangling a bit. Jack very nonchalantly walked by, gently sniffed the sock, and when he walked away, Gavin had one bare foot! The little rattle sock had to be rescued.

When I returned home from school the other day, Dustin had the following evidence of poor Jackie's refusal to accept a secondary position: Jack had climbed onto Gavin's little sleeping bed and fallen asleep. Now, who can look at such a face and convince him that he's not our baby, too?

Keeping Cool in California

Several of our friends and family have contacted us recently to inquire about the proximity of the Sierra Madre fire. We're safe and sound, though the fire did extensive damage to the hillside above our community of Sierra Madre (the town in which Jesse works and we previously lived). It was a jarring experience to exit the mall last Saturday to the scorching temperatures of the top of the parking structure, only to look over the valley at leaping flames of crimson and pink beginning to consume the hills. Due to the extensive smoke, Bethany church and school were closed down on Monday and part of Tuesday. The city of Sierra Madre used the church's ministry center to provide showers for some of the evacuees. Luckily, the fire is now almost contained and (as far as I know) no structures were damaged.

The temperature in recent days has been maxing out over 100 degrees here in the San Gabriel Valley - a fact that our dog Jack doesn't appreciate as the smoke and heat have seriously curtailed his play time. To help him cope, we thought we'd take a little trip to Kmart and buy him a plastic kiddypool, thinking that as a labrador he'd like to soak in it. Oh, no. This dog thinks it's time to splash. Especially in our direction. At least Gavin enjoyed sitting in the pool for a bit. Enjoy!

More Pics of Gavin and Family

I've uploaded more photos of our little family! Go to http://www.gavinarrives.shutterfly.com/ and use the password "peanut". The new album is "Gavin is Growing." Enjoy!

Don't Get off the Train

While my parents were here a couple weeks ago, I learned an important life lesson: When you're on the right train, don't get off. My mom flew into the Burbank airport on a Thursday, while my dad took the train up from San Diego (where he'd been working for a few weeks) on Friday. We decided to give Gavin his first taste of public transportation, taking the Gold Line down to Union Station to meet my dad. So Gavin (in his stroller), Jesse, my mom and I loaded on to the train at the Sierra Madre stop. We arrived, entered the train (which had been sitting at the stop for some time), and sat down. Unfortunately, the section we were seated in was facing backwards, and my mom gets quite motion sick. Looking down the train car, we could see that seats further on were facing forward, but the aisle was blocked by someone else with a large stroller. At the next stop, we determined to move down the car and sit where my mom would be more comfortable. I suggested that Jesse, who was pushing the stroller, exit at the door near us and reenter the traincar further along. Jess and Gavin moved outside and my mom and I began walking down the traincar's aisle. At that moment, a mechanical voice said "The Doors Are Closing" - and they did. With Jesse and Gavin outside. And then the train pulled away. With Jesse and Gavin outside! I'm sure my face was quite a picture. I called Jesse on his cell phone and we just burst out laughing. Mom and I exited the train at the next stop and waited for the next train to bring my husband and son along. The ten minutes we sat waiting at the Lake Avenue stop, on a little concrete island in the middle of the 210 freeway brought home the life lesson: when you're on the right train, don't get off. It's a bit like Red Riding Hood - don't be distracted from the path, no matter how pretty the flowers or, in this case, how tempting the seats appear. Stick to what you have. No matter what!