Spokan

DIA, The Way There

Washington here we come!

Hello everybody. So tomorrow Emilee, Zeke, Anna, and myself are flying to Washington for Ladies' Retreat!!! Yay! I'm so excited. Unfortunately Sister Bear will not be going so I am now a TAP (talk and prayer) group leader. Please pray for me and the ladies in my group. I normally like to be way prepared for this sort of thing but you can only be so prepared in a few days time unless the Lord helps. He has already given me the first two TAP session outlines but I still need Sundays'. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

In other news Emilee, myself and all of our small people went out to the V's for knitting lessons yesterday. It was lots of fun and Sis. V made this great fruit thing. Mmmm it was so good. Abbie got in on the lessons too. She is so cute. The kids both fell asleep on the way home. Oh please pray for Anna she has had a fever for the last couple days. I really want her to be well for our trip.

The last picture you will see when you scroll down is a raccoon I spotted in the neighbor's tree last night. He even posed for me. What a guy.

Chris was sick most of last week. Wednesday night he had horrible chest pain and couldn't sleep so he asked me to read scripture to him. We also prayed, sang and praised the Lord. At one point God just swept through the room and touched Chris’ body. He was finally able to go to sleep not long after that. I kept thinking that it reminded me of a home birth because there was a determination to trust God no matter what. It was such a blessing to me to hear Chris praising God when he was in so much pain. That may sound strange but to me it is a sweet reminder that when no one can help us God can. I actually read Chris some of the Scriptures that were a blessing to me as I was getting ready to have Anna.

Thursday, the kids and I headed to Springs to meet up with my Aunt Jan, Uncle Chris, and Dad so we could all visit my Grandpa. Chris stayed home and took advantage of the peace and quiet. After seeing my Grandpa we all headed over to my cousin Ryan’s to see the new baby. Her name is Ava and she is a little thing. She only weighs 6 and a half pounds. Anna looked so huge. Sam had a lot of fun. He spent most of the time with my Dad who if I remember right is lots of fun when you are small enough to pick up and toss.

Friday the kids and my Mom and I went to the Children’s museum in Layaffette. We got a little lost but stopped at a fire station and got some good directions. The museum was fun and adults are free. So are kids under fifteen months Sam was the only one who had to pay to get in.

Saturday Chris and I went to an estate sale and I bought some China which I am sending away to a replacement center tomorrow for a nice check. I am hoping to hit a few estate sales this summer. So far they are great!

Sunday we headed to the Van’s for brunch and Eater service around 10:00. The food was great and so was the service. After that we headed to my Aunts. It was a lot of fun. Sam and Anna were a big hit. We finally got home a little before 7:00. It was a long day. .
Here are the kids at the V's..

Ester fell on my cousin Colleen's Birthday this year. Here is her cake

Awww.
New family picture.

Great Sunday

On my way home from bible study/knitting class I saw this on one of the major roads. I'm not sure what happened to the other rider.

After Church Sunday our family went with the Smiths to the Armadillo. It was great. Caleb was dressed so cute but refused to pose properly.

After a great lunch we headed to the Smiths for some of Emilee's delicious birthday cake. It was so good. Here is Anna sitting with her little legs hanging through the railing.

Here is Sammy from earlier today. I know it's not a Sunday picture like the others but look how cute he is. His Uncle Adam got him a dump truck w/accessories for his Birthday and he had lots of fun with it all!

Daddy's Girl

Hello Everybody!

Hi guys sorry it has been so long since I last blogged. I'm surprised I have not been contacted by NARR. Well, a lot has happened. My Grandpa was hospitalized again. He contracted staff pneumonia, which is the worst kind you can get, along with influenza in his lungs. I believe he is still alive because of the many people praying for him. Most of my family got together in Colorado Springs a couple weeks ago to visit him. Since that time he has improved dramatically. He is out of the hospital and back in a nursing home.

Sam and Anna have been busy. Sam is doing more all the time. His latest feats include going potty on his little potty occasionally and writing on the wall and his sister with a black magic marker. Just incase this ever happens to anyone else, rubbing alcohol for the walls and hairspray for skin works wonders. I am so glad I have the internet. Apparently Sam is in good company. I found a lot of good sources for magic marker removal. Sam has also learned how to unlock the front door deadbolt included. He can also open the front gate. Life as we knew it is over. Anyone out there who has a baby who can't walk, run or reach doorknobs...enjoy it while you can!!!

Anna is amazing. Last week I put her on her stomach and checked my e-mail. When I turned back around a couple minutes later Anna was sitting up. I thought I might be going crazy and just thought I had laid her on her stomach but she did it again the next morning. She is also eating French fries and crawling very slowly. She is getting big fast.

I have my car back!!!! After two and a half months of being stuck at home I finally have my car back. I am so glad! I was going a bit stir crazy. I'm making up for lost time; I have already gone to visit Emilee twice since I got it back. The pictures are from our visit yesterday. It was great. I played basketball with the boys (which is not easy in a skirt), we all went on a walk, the Em and I had cooking lessons, and tried to knit. We are not so good at the knitting thing but the biscuits and gravy turned out great!So there is the latest, sorry I kept you all in suspense for so long.
I think Sammy likes Abbie.

Aren't they so cute?
The boys tipped over the dog house and were rolling around.

A Baby Shower and a Baby

I have four cousins. Everybody except me had been slacking in the kid department. Ryan and his wife have been married almost six years and Lander and his wife have been married for almost four.Yet I with my measly almost three years have the children. Not just one but two. But, all of the sudden Ryan and Lander both hopped aboard the Great Grandchild wagon and had babies coming in March. Wendy, Ryan's wife had her baby shower earlier this month. It was very nice. As you can see from the pictures below she has lots of clothes for baby Ava. Resha, Lander's wife just had baby Ethan on last Wednesday the 21st. Isn't he cute? I can't wait to meet him.










Aunt Jan, Cousin Wendy (and baby Ava), Cousin Laura, Grandma, Aunt Linda, Anna, Me










Lots of stuff!

Ethan

Sam's 2nd Birthday

Sam had his party on Saturday the 3rd, a couple days before the real thing. He loved it. All of the Smith kids were here and his very good buddy Uncle Adam. Sam was a very happy camper! He really liked the cake and ice cream too. The only thing he didn't seem to like was the singing. When we all sang Happy Birthday to him he seemed a little unsure about it all. He just looked at us all like we were crazy. He got a lot of toys and a super cute outfit and some much needed sippy cups. It was a lot of fun.

For Tammi

Girl party

Well the girl party was great! We hardly slept. We ate and drank lots of sugar. We played games. We had so much fun! We didn’t watch any girl movies and we didn’t ride in the convertible because my Mom didn’t want me to put the top down in winter. I found out it is tempting to be disobedient even when you are an adult. But, I was good. Laura came over Saturday and that was a lot of fun. She brought over her scrapbook and got some help from the master (Emilee). The kids did really well. There were no serious injuries and they mostly kept to themselves in the basement. It went so smooth. I couldn’t believe we had eight kids and two babies. Sam had a blast. He didn’t nap all weekend. But he slept for almost sixteen hours on Sunday night.