Visting Spok-Vegas

Last weekend Caleb and I went to Spokane to visit with Titus, Elizabeth, Joe and Judah. We had a great time. Actually, Hannah, Peter, and I drove over on Wed so we could have some extra time with the cousins. As you might have guessed, this was one of Caleb's "great" ideas. And in a moment of insanity I agreed. Luckily for all of us, this actually did turn out to be a great idea. After making 3 stops during the first hour of the trip, we managed to drive the next 3 hours without a stop. It was nice for Hannah and Peter to get use to their beds and have some extra time to spend with the cousins. Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures. But here are 2 cute ones of the kids on the kid bench that Titus made.

Here's Abigail, Joe, Hannah, and Judah...and Peter on the high chair.

Here they are again in their jammies. How cute that Hannah and Abigail have the matching PJ's!

And in order to keep with tradition, after the kiddos went to bed we stayed up into the wee hours of the night playing games and having fun. This is why my post is coming so late. It has taken me 2 days to recover from our vacation to Spokane. :) I guess that is the mark of a fun filled vacation.

Another Video

Here's one of Hannah's favorite words. Can you figure out what it is? Also notice her new hair cut. Caleb just cut it last night. (Sorry about the poor quality of the video. I guess our camera must be low on batteries.)



The song she was singing in the previous post was, "Go Tell It On The Mountain." Kudos to Mary Beth and the Beneshes. Since Mary Beth guessed right twice, she gets the grand prize - a free place to stay on her next visit to Seattle. Congrats! Hope you can cash in on that soon.

On the Move

On Dec 26 Peter started to move. I guess technically he was moving before then via rolls and pivots, but now he can move forward and go to a specific place. It's not an official crawl, but more of an army crawl...a pretty good army crawl I might add. The other day I left him in the living room playing with some toys, and the next thing I knew he was in the kitchen smiling at me. It's really nice now the he can sit up and move because he can entertain himself more easily: if he wants something, he gets it.

Here are some cute pictures of the kiddos

Peter loves to "crawl" over the bottom parts of our end tables and coffee table - and Hannah loves to join him.

Here's Hannah in the sweater I made her. She finally wears it without breaking into tears. Praise the Lord!

Can you find Peter?

I got Hannah some tights so she can wear dresses to church. She really likes the tights...I'm not sure why.

Here's Caleb with the kiddos.

Peter and his classic smile.

Hannah loves to hold Peter. He'll be sitting playing with a toy, and she'll come up and sit behind him. It's pretty cute.

The other day Hannah found this bag and started jumping around in it. She thought it was the most fun thing ever! Some of the things she finds amusing are so weird. I guess, at least she has some creativity...

Pig tails

And here's a pictures of the loaf of bread Caleb made. Not really a picture of cute kids, but it was super yummy!

Reading

I hated reading growing up. Why read when you listen to music, sing, or play sports? And if you have to do school work, do the math or science because they are the most fun...obviously! But just recently I've started to enjoy reading more. When I finally get the two kiddos down for naps, I want to sit and enjoy the silence. But how boring just to sit there...so reading seemed like the right fit. Don't get me wrong, I still love to sing, listen to music, and be active, but all of those create noise rather than reduce it. There is something about being a parent that makes one value silence all the more. Silence really is golden.

Anyhow, here are some books I've been reading:
- The Mark of the Lion Series. Rachel introduced me to these books and I really like them. They are written by Francine Rivers, a great author. She also wrote Redeeming Love, which I like better, but the Mark of the Lions Series is really good too.

- The Ladies No 1 Detective Agency Series. This a great light-hearted series.

- Stuart Brannon Western Series. OK, so technically I haven't been "reading" the series, but listening to it in the car. It's a great series for road trips because each book is about 5 hours long (that's about how long it takes to get from Seattle to Spokane and from Seattle to La Grande). They are easy to follow, quick to get into the action, and the characters are likable. The author is Stephen Bly. Caleb and I finished that series a while ago and started the Code of the West Series, also by Stephen Bly. This series is also enjoyable, but not as good at the Brannon Series.

So, I'm the third and final book in the Mark of the Lion Series, so if you have any good recommendations of books I should start next, let me know!