Merry (early) Christmas

I couldn't believe I got 5 good pics of the three kiddos together.
If I were going to send out Christmas cards this year, I bet one of these would make it on there!
But since I can't make any promises in the Christmas card department (if they make it out, it's generally closer to Valentine's Day), I'll just wish you a Merry Christmas right here and let you enjoy the picture now!

Andrew at the Beach

Andrew tried valiantly to skip rocks into the ocean, though he wasn't terribly successful at it. Fortunately, it's just as fun to just heave big ones in as far as you can!




















Andrew was much more interested in shooting his new foam bow and arrows that Aunt T and Uncle Jerry had given him. It has been great unsupervised practice for him for when he uses the real bow and arrow we gave him.




























He's just way too grown up!














(And he has his father's penchant for collecting rocks). :)

Jacob at the Beach

Jacob loved the beach! From throwing rocks to climbing boulders to enjoying his own giant sandbox, there was nothing not to love!




















Have I ever mentioned that Jacob is tactile kid? If he can touch and feel it, he can learn it and really feel like he's experienced it. Case in point: the beach.



















This, by the way, is not a new sight for us. If there is dirt or sand, Jacob is laying down in it. Completely. If only we could all learn to throw ourselves so completely into what God gave us to enjoy...

Note to self

Do not try to plan an active, new outing for a two-year-old during nap time. It will backfire, and you might regret it.




































But also enjoy the fact that at this point in her life, a little sleep is all that's necessary to solve a world of heartache.
(It got better. Don't worry).

Anna at the Beach

Camping trip excursion

After camping Friday night, we wanted to hike somewhere new on Saturday. We hadn't been out to Cook Inlet State Park in years, and the kids had never been, so we decided to head there. While it wasn't much of a hike, we had a great time, and the kids loved the beach experience. I'll whittle down 400-some pictures for future posts...

Andrew's Birthday!

This is the van that was loaded up to go...














...camping, for this boy's 7th birthday!!!



















Andrew chose to go camping for his birthday, rather than have a party with friends. We tried out the campground just down the road from my parents' house, and it worked out fabulously! (I'm a sucker for a hot shower, you know).
Everyone from my side of the family was there, with the exception of my dad who was working across the Inlet for the summer. We even had fellow over-nighters!
There was plenty of picnicking to be had by all.
















And biking for the boys. Bikes + helmets + gravel hill = hours of entertainment! (For all of us, really)!
















Of course, there were presents to be opened (nothing like adding to the pile of gear to be packed for a weekend camping). He was delighted with all of his gifts...and is still using all of them!
















And the fun of tenting! Every year we say "Next year, we need to get a pop-up camper." Well, this year we decided to spend our money on an adoption. Maybe in two years!

Henry's Birthday

This past year, we had a delightful Christian family move to town, and they quickly became part of our church family.
Over the course of the year, their son Henry had some issues he was working through (he and his siblings had all been in foster care for their entire lives up until being adopted by our new friends two years ago). While he was at a home for boys in Anch getting some help, the family had to move back out of state. So, the church family became his only family for a while...and we were thrilled that they let him come "home" for the weekend of his birthday!
We had a big party for him at Chad and Kindra's, and I think he was surprised by most of it!

























(Since then, Henry has gone back home with his family and is doing really well. He also accepted Christ as His Savior right before he moved, and we were all blessed to see fruit from the seeds that had been planted)!

Anna in the Sand

All dressed up for the dirt pile...that's our girl.











































































(In case anyone is wondering, I'm still burning through my July pictures)!

Anna's Arm Appointment

We had a very full day going to town today for Anna's orthopaedist appointment.
But Anna did wonderfully!

Here, she's enjoying a few minutes with a bare arm right before going in for more x-rays. I was surprised to see a bit of yellow-green bruise still on her elbow. I can only imagine what it must have looked like a week ago.





















The bad news is that it is definitely fractured. The Dr. was great with both Anna and the boys, whom Rebecca brought back to the room to see how a cast is put on. He kindly obliged me and showed the x-rays to the boys, who were duly fascinated.




















Anna was a trooper for the whole appointment. She cried when we first got back to the room, as they needed to lay her down to measure her height. But the nurse was wonderful, and Anna warmed up to her right away and calmed down. She was really cooperative for x-rays. When we had to lay her arm out palm up, she cried out in pain, so I knew without the x-rays that it was indeed still fractured! But she sat really still for getting the cast put on...we were all impressed with how well she did-thanks for the prayers!
(Is she not the cutest thing?!)






















Here, we're just waiting for the cast to dry before heading out. When they asked her what her favorite color was, she pointed to her pink shirt, so pink she got! The dr. was questioning what I wanted to do for her cast...that we could do another splint/soft cast to take off for bathing if we wanted to, depending on how active she is. I just shook my head and started to say "She has two older brothers..." I didn't even need to finish my sentence and he was nodding my agreement with a hard cast! The good news is that the cast only has to be on for three weeks, not the six we were expecting. Thank you, Lord! Three weeks is much more manageable!


















After having lunch with Rebecca (thank you so much for coming to wait with the boys!), we ran errands...some of which were stopping at 2nd-hand stores to get some shirts and a coat from which to chop off the right sleeve. I think we're set. One broken bone down, hopefully none to go!

Cool with her cast

Just a few shots of Anna over the past few days...

We were instructed to continue to ice her arm a few times a day, and the boys are loving the extra movie-watching going on around here. Jacob was totally into the movie. Anna was just happy to have recently found her long-lost sunglasses!




















A few days after Anna broke her arm, my mom brought her several books about hospital visits and such. One is The Boo-Boo Book, which is wonderful! It cracked me up to see Anna laying her own casted arm on the picture in the book, totally unprompted by anyone!