My parents visit on the Harley

My parents have been talking about taking their Harley with my aunt and uncle to MI to visit. It finally happened a couple of weeks ago. They had nice weather (no rain) and a safe trip.
Do they look suspicious to you?!?! I think our neighbors wondered what was going on :)
Grandpa with Briella and Ellie at the park.
Grandma and Briella with her new baby.

Briella turns 1

Her new baby. This is a small 'travel' one, she also has to bigger ones that she likes to hold at the same time . . . it is so cute to see her hug them :)
12 months old!!
My ametuer decorating skills put to the test.
Digging into her cake, "OOOOHHH" (her new favorite word)!
Time for clean up :)

It is hard to beleive our baby is one. We were told a thousand times it goes fast, but we are still shocked that a whole year has passed. We try to enjoy the small and big moments with her. She is a great eater and hasn't had a bottle in days--I love life without formula, but now I am using my knives quickly as a cut up everything!

AZ Wedding

This is Briella on the plane, loving all the new things to touch . . . and lick if mom and dad weren't watching closely!! yuck--I'm surprised she didn't get sick after all the strange and gross things she tasted!
The best part of the plane ride was her sleeping on Stephan's lap, then I could get up and use the potty way too often! Once I got up with the seat belt light on and as I sat in the bathroom I heard the stewardess remind everyone to remain seated for everyone's safety. I wanted to explain that my bladder is being smashed by my pregnant uterus and maybe for the remainder of the trip passengers would rather I stand up and walk through the aisle putting them in 'danger' than wetting myself and smelling that for a couple of hours!
Briella's new favorite cousin, Emma (Ryan and Angie's). Emma brought her little puppy in a purse for the babies to play with, how cute. Briella loved the puppy and Emma. We are inside at the reception place in the AC as we wait to be called for our turn to sweat outside while taking family pictures. AZ was HOT!
Dan and Johanna

Most of the other pictures are a little blurry, so we will be relying on others to help my fill a scrapbook page! The wedding was beautiful. Every wedding has something go not so smooth, Daniel, my pyro brother couldn't get the unity candle lit. We sang 3 full verses while they tired to get rid of wax and light it, finally the minister helped them and it worked! The reception food was awesome! In fact I woke up at 4 am hungry and then had a dream that I went back through the buffet line :) We had a fun time catching up with family, Stephan met some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time.

Delayed

I'm feeling bad about not writing for over 2 weeks. I've been busy watching the Olympics and thinking about our upcoming trip to Phoenix for my brother's wedding. Lame reasons . . . oh and I've been so tired that I've been napping almost daily, too!
So Daniel is getting married on Saturday. I'm excited to see the family and hang out for a few days . . . I'm not excited that the forecast in Phoenix says "Sizzling Hot." I'm a little concerned about flying with Briella, but I'm sure it will be easier than flying with 3 kids (sorry Mindy!). Daniel and Johanna are excited to be married, especially after a summer apart :) I'm sure it will be a beautiful wedding. I'll post pictures when we return and I catch up on laundry!!
I am currently 13 weeks along and feeling pretty good, usually. It is hard to imagine having two kids, but Briella will be a lot older and able to do more on her own when the baby comes, so that will be great.
Anyway. No pics, no big news, hope you are all doing well and ready to head back to school! It is odd that a schedule that ruled my life until last year has almost no impact on our lives right now . . . how things change :)

11 months and practicing

Briella has recently taken an interest in books. Well, she used to love chewing on them, but has slowly learned that this is not the purpose of books. Now she actually pages through them and will sit and listen to a book and look at the pictures. She does enjoy hitting the pages, especially the board books. I think she is practicing her reading skills so that when she is a big sister she can read to the baby . . . yes, some time around March 4 we are expecting a baby!! I'm feeling well and we are looking forward to another child.
Briella hit 11 months this week! We can hardly beleive we are nearing the one year mark . . . She loves to walk along things and hold your hands to walk, but isn't ready to be on her own yet.

As I continue reading through the Bible, I am enjoying the Psalms very much. They are very personal writings and very practical. When I taught we would read a Psalm or a Proverb for lunch devotions and I always found that kids could learn something from each one. I am excited to be over half way through the year and still on track to finish in December.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

We went on our first camping trip with Briella in Sleeping Bear Dunes. We went with friends from church and enjoyed beautiful weather. The dunes are about 3 hours north, along Lake Michigan.
Here we are on top of the dune--the wind is blowing sand, so Briella is looking the other way :)
A beautiful view of a lake that we enjoyed . . .
meanwhile, Briella was enjoying a nap in the van.
She is a little unsure about the cool water and sinking sand under her feet . . . she did crawl in it later and then dipped her mouth in for a taste before we noticed her plan!
Hanging out on the blanket was more fun than the water. You can kind of see her top teeth in this picture.

The latest news

Here is a picture of our little garden. We can actually see some 'fruit' from our labors, there are bean buds and little tomatoes! We are looking forward to eating the beans, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and hopefully watermelon in the next couple of months!

Briella is 10 months old! She was kind of whiny when we took these and kept wanting one of us to hold her, so we didn't get the best pictures.