Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We did! We have so very much to be thankful for. God is so good!

Here are some pics from the last couple weeks.



Lanie's first Thanksgiving


Happy Hudson


Elated Elli


Beaming Ben


Myck decided to ride his bike to a friend's concert--20 miles away! He rode from our house to Central High School, stopping in at Grandma's on the way. She was surprised!


Beautiful girl


She's getting SO big!


All dressed up for a morning out


Pointing at a silly sibling


Mom's solution to the thumb-sucking. Easier to stop it now than later! Actually, she isn't upset by the socks at all. She just chews on the socks.


Getting a tour of the back yard with Myck


Loves her biggest brother

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

8 Weeks Old

Lanie is 8 weeks old, she is up to 13 lbs. and is starting to smile enough to catch her with the camera! She is charming us all. She is once again giving us a full night's sleep..about 11:00-6:00. Yay!

In other news...Taylor finished making a quilt for her bed. Her Grammie taught her what to do and she now knows how to run a sewing machine much better than me (Cari). The quilting tradition is being passed down from Great-grandma, to Grammie, to my girls. ( I had some sewing days when I was younger, but I seem to have run out of time for it.)

I finally broke down and gave Hudson a little boy hair cut. His curls were so cute, but when I started to give him a trim, I decided it was time to go shorter. I am not very good at it, but it'll do for now. He looks so much older, I think, and much more like Ben!




Lanie with Grammie



...with Ben



...with Taylor




Smiles...



smiles...



and more smiles!



Princess Elli


Taylor's finished quilt. Yeah!



Hudson loses some weight



We've had five finger sucking children. I thought Lanie was going to be finger-free, but just last night, and this morning, she found her thumb. Shoot.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Mexico!

We are back from an adventurous trip to Rocky Point, Mexico! We were given the privelege to stay in a beautiful beach house by some very generous patients of Darrell's. It was an amazing gift to our family We experienced trials and joys and were blessed through it all.

The trials: two days of sandstorms, three days without electricity in the house, one day without running water, and one stingray hit on Darrell's toe. One thing is true about trials, they make you very thankful for things you normally take for granted. We were all very grateful when by midweek, these trials were over, and we had health, power and water again. God is so good!

The blessings: More than we can list, but here are a few...playing in the sand and waves, seeing so much of God's beautiful creation, the luxury of a beautiful beachside home on a private beach, great time with our family and our friends Bryan, Amanda and Andrew, kayaks and paddleboats, fireworks, braids, walks on the beach, gorgeous sunsets, good food, a washing machine, dishwasher and coffee maker :), and learning how God uses trials in our lives to bring us closer to Him. Thank you God!

THE BEACH HOUSE


MYCK


TAYLOR


FRIEND AMANDA, AND BETHANY (AND THE DOGS)


GRANT, FRIEND ANDREW, AND BEN


ELLI AND HUDSON


LANIE

"I'm not sure about this Dad"...


She likes it!


Elli, Bethany and Ben hang out with Lanie on the bed.


Hudson digs himself into a hole. Well, he had some help. Lots of digging was done to make a huge hole with a wall to protect it from the waves.

BRAIDS!



The girls like to have their hair braided when we are in Mexico. Altogether the four girls (Taylor, Bethany, Elli and Amanda) got 150 braids. Bethany had 52 on her head alone! The braid lady's fingers were flying, but it took about 4 1/2 hours. If I (Cari) attempted this, it would take me all day to do one head, and it would look terrible.


One of the fun things to do in Mexico is fireworks. Here are the pyros with their stash, Grant, friend Bryan, Darrell, and friend Andrew.


Near the end of a week without shaving, Darrell decided to try something different. It's kinda cute, but he won't keep it for long. :)

CRITTERS!
Two of the less desirable critters we saw, a snake and a stingray. Although Darrell was hit by a stingray (probably not this one--there were many!) no one was hurt by the snake.

One of the fun creatures we saw. Taylor caught this cool shot of a starfish climbing to higher ground.
We also saw huge pelicans, playful dolphins--very close to the shore at times!, lots of little fish that would jump when startled, clams and many many different kinds of shells. The sea is truly teaming with life!


Sunsets at the beach are so beautiful and relaxing, especially at low tide. And with this sunset I will end our Mexico entry.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

10-17-07

We've been busy getting ready for our annual trip to Rocky Point, Mexico. So I don't have time to write a lot. (I've already spent too much time posting the pictures!) But I had to post an update for the Grandmas, and anyone else who likes to check our site. Lanie turned five weeks yesterday. Enjoy the latest pics of the last week and a half...


Sleepy angel


Bathtime



Proud Dad!



Waiting for an important call



Gotta love those pants! (Thanks Semmlers!)



Sister secrets



Hangin' out


Couch potato


Tired out


Swingin' pretty
Thursday night house church girls (and one baby boy)
A few of the Thursday night house church guys.