The Vollers Turn 4

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY, VOLLERS!

Yes, on the 22nd of May, we are happy to say, we have been in wedded bliss for 4 whole years! (did that sound Dr. Suess-ish?) HA! It's funny to think of what a really short time that is in the grand journey that is marriage, but we figure it's best to count every one with festive, banging, steel drums.

2003


In the spirit of my cousins, Sunny, Holly and Nikki, I am going to do a "What I Love" entry about the Voller Marriage. It seems appropriate to pick the.... drum roll, please...

TOP 4 REASONS THE VOLLER MARRIAGE IS THE BOMB.

2004


1. Communication. Yes, I know, all us couples "communicate." Where's my keys? Will you buy me this cereal next grocery stop? What did I do wrong this time? :) But I'm grateful for the fact that Steve and I have great TALKS! Our first date at Bistro Bella Vita, we touched on religion, God, and politics all in an hour dinner conversation and it hasn't stopped yet. Steve still looks at me sometimes and says, "I've been thinking about Goethe-ian Science." Or I grab him and say, "I was thinking about Obama vs. McCain or Hillary vs. McCain." This is my favorite thing about us.

2005


2. Laughter. Steve and I bicker just like everyone else. Lately, it seems like it's more often than before as stessful situaitons take their toll. But in the end I don't laugh as hard with anyone as I do with Steve. Sometimes his humor makes me shake my head in disapproval (him passing gas extra loud because Celia likes to copy the sound he makes -- ummm.. yeah.) But in the end, I think he's funny.

2006


3. Belief. I don't think I could have managed marriage with anyone that wasn't as passionate about their beliefs as I am. (it helps that they are the SAME beliefs :) ) We love learning about food and the farm and the science of our bodies. We are very into the environment and the effects of our choices on Celia's children. We are very passionate about attachment parenting. We are great believers of the outdoors and it's ability to heal, give peace, and excite any day. I love this about Steve.

2007


4. In Your Face Honesty. Sometimes, this doesn't go as planned. My temper sometimes gets a leg up from the brain part of me that WOULD have said, "Umm.. think a minute, this is silly." But all in all, our ability to tell each other ALL -- and I mean ALL -- has given us not only such an open relationship, but it is so freeing to know that we can totally be ourselves and tell each other anything, and the next morning, we're still married, and we still think the other is pretty cool. (sometimes it takes J about that, 24 hours, to cool off)

2008



This year we celebrated our anniversary going on the Leelanau Wine Trail here in Michigan. For the NON-Michiganders, hold up your left hand and the top of your pinky would be Leelanau. And it is GEORGEOUS people! Again, Michigan is a hidden gem. Here is a photo montage of our GREAT FUN!

And Celia did GREAT! 2 days with Grandma Char turned out to be just fine (although she took NO MILK but a few drinks the whole time -- she'd take water from the glass, but no milk -- smarty! Grandma Char stocked her up on lots of food and extra yogurt)And on Sunday we were both up at 6am and excited to get home to our girl we missed SO MUCH!

The View from our room at the Vineyard Inn!



Michigan is SOOO pretty! This is the view from Leelanau Cellars, our first stop.



And get this! The people on our wine tour -- from 14 Mile RD IN ROCKFORD! We just met these people, had no idea who our tour mates were when we booked this! Then, we get to the first winery and the wine pourer, Kathy, used to be a teacher at the VERY school that one of our tour mates is a custodian at here in Rockford! AND THEN, in walks someone I recognize! Low and behold it is a Dr. VanOtteren that I use to work with in Critical Care here in Grand Rapids!! Uncanny! Dr. Glenn even bought us an anniversary gift!


Here we are at Willow Vineyards! It's for SALE PEOPLE! Anyone have 2.2 Million the Vollers could borrow!?


This used to be a chicken coop! Shady Lane Cellars transformed it into a tasting station! Pretty posh place for a chicken.



And Look How Beauiful the vineyards are! You don't have to drink wine to just sit back and enjoy such lovliness!




All in all we visited 7 wineries! We could have visited 7 new ones the next day but had to get home! AHHH!! Next time! :)

Words and Signs and Funnys

Yes, we admit it. We've been so self absorbed in our house situation we have been incomplete in reporting all the goodness around. A good lesson.

Upon reading past blogs to see what we have told you all out there in our cyber family, we realized that we did not tell you so MUCH!

A biggy! Celia's first word! It all started when we were both ill about a month ago when Celia was almost 9 months. We were in Blockbuster and a young teen couple were in the same isle. The girl was quite interested in Celia and Celia stared back at her. Now Celia's been waving for quite some time, but all of a sudden she waved and then said, "Eye." What did you say? Did she say, hi, I wondered? I was sure I was mistaken.

Next stop, groceries. Celia, normally shy and reserved, started the trip out with a band by telling everyone "Eye" with a wave in the store! It was sooo funny!! Now, she's so proficient she actually says "Hi" with the "H" sound, and sometimes adds, "Hi dada!" (Like she did in the middle of the night when Steve went in to comfort her and put her back down.) Here's my attempt at a video: They never perform on cue do they? :)



Also, I have been signing to Celia since she was very little. Just easy words. At 8 months she started to do the "milk" sign whenever she wanted to breastfeed! It was so exciting to us!! So we started adding more words. Still, she just signed "milk." Ah well, we figured. This week, all of a sudden, it's like a light went on for her. I tell her "I love you" all the time in sign language and the other morning in bed she clasped her hands in front of her heart and swayed back and forth like I do when I say it and gave a high pitch "ahhhh." Here's my attempt at a video which didn't really catch it. Oh, and no there was no attempt to make myself presentable at 7am in this video:




She also started doing the "more" sign while eating. It's more like clapping, but same thing, right!? AND awhile back I figured a sign for her to show me she was done eating and I've been doing it after each meal once she slows down, and just yesterday, there it was!! "All Done." (a swipe of her hand above and across her tray) Speaking of food, this kid is so funny! She eats EVERYTHING!! Her favorites are humus (???!!!), cottage cheese and kiwi! She ate ethiopian food the other night!

Anyway, we are having SO much fun these days! We are out in the garden everyday, she's big enough to get in the backpack now for walks, she's graduated from crawling to pulling herself up on things. This is funny. I wondered why she wasn't interested in this earlier. Well, upon watching her, I realized she's too short to pull herself up to what normal babies would: the couch, the coffee table etc... So once we figured that out, she started to pull herself up to the bottom step and the stereo on the floor of her room! Yep, height challenges she will clearly face forever as a Voller. :)

Steve and I are going away for our 4th anniversary this weekend. We are going on the wine tours of Leelanau Peninsula here in Michigan and staying in an Inn on Suttons Bay! We are so excited and so in need of some time away. We are both (especially mom) nervous about leaving Celia for 2 days. We will miss her soooo much! I know, it's crazy, but it's true. Lastly, the garden is going well! Our peas and potatoes and going up like rockets and our spinach and spring greens are TRYING to make it. Some pesky bug keeps eating them in their infancy! This is the first year our beets and carrots aren't making an appereance.... hmmmm... We got rhubarb plants from our neighbor and Great Grandpa Roth and Grandpa Larry came over to help us expand our garden by 3 times!! Now it's remove all the clumps fast enough time to get in the corn and beans and cucs this week! love to you all. We know we have been distant, but we are finally in the clear with much stress and self involvement. what a relief.

ahhhh, Spring!

Our March-May - PHOTO STYLE!

We had a warm spell early April and Celia was teething. Easy. Blanket outside with frozen blueberries makes both ladies happy!





Grandma Char came over late April and we mulched the flowerbeds while Celia played in her fun tent.



Last week Celia had her first swing experience -- loved it! -- with friend, Sevi Cullum. Only 7 weeks apart you can see how tiny Celia is (in the 10th percentile says the Dr.) Are you at all surprised?



We met Uncle Andy and cousin Riley for a brisk late March walk as well.



Then for Easter in March, I got to play with cousin, Breanna



Have Grandma Judy read to me:



Get lovin' from Grandma Carol:



And of course, be with us, the 'rents and the pup outdoors.