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.

30th Birthday Party

Stephan turns 30 next week, so we had a little birthday party. I asked people to bring a "30 Thing" --something in the shape of a 30, we had lots of great items: 30 peppermints and 30pins making a 30, fresh flowers, cake, jello, an airplane invented on his birthday, gauze/bandaid wrapped 30 (from a future Dr.), wooden plaque, 30 suckers, and others . . . It was a fun time with family and friends.

Our family with the 30 cake and 30 sign I made. (Notice the size of Briella's drool spot, lovely)

Stephan's sister and family (baby Acacia) with the "30 sucks" pot of suckers

My sister's family (including little Ellie) with Stephan's favorite jello in the shape of a 30, altough it started sliding and it looks almost like a 90 :)

Some of the "30 Things" (sorry it is sideways and I don't know how to change it)

Kitchen Pictures

Before

Working on the kitchen in November . . . Some of these drawers were missing when we moved in, but Stephan's parents, my dad, and Dan (Stephan's brother in law) helped build and install new ones.

After

Stephan and I painted all the cupboards, trim, and walls (with some help from his sister Kimberly and his mom). We love our 'new' kitchen! I don't know if you can open the picture, but if you want to see our cool burnishing, try to open it and zoon in on the wall between the window and microwave . . .

Update on Nieces, etc.

Wow, I am getting slower at this. First, congratulations to my sister Jen's family on the birth of a healthy baby girl, Ellie Grace was born on June 6!! Congratulations to Stephan's sister Luanna and family on the birth of a healthy girl yesterady, Acacia Marie! So including Briella and my sister Mindy's daugther that is 4 girls and 1 boy in one year! Briella will have lots of cousins to play with!
We think Briella is teething and that is why she spends an hour or more talking in bed and is happy to see us come in her room to lay her back down. Rather than sucking on her pipe, she puts it in sideways and chews on it, A LOT. She moves all over the place and 'walks' along the couch, she tries to reach everything and amazes me with how far those hands can get! We had her 9 month pictures taken and should be able to pick them up and send them out soon.
In other news, I am finally playing soccer again! I was able to sub for an indoor team with some friends from church and then they decided to put together a co-ed outdoor team. Our first game was last week . . . I am not able to run for 70 minutes, we are supposed to have girl subs next week, we played one girl down and lost 3-1. It was still a ton of fun and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.
Last week Stephan took his service week and taught 4th grade VBS in the mornings and worked at Love Inc in the afternoons. The week went fast and he had a lot of fun, the kids always love him. He is busy at least one night every week with deacon meetings or visits and enjoys softball on Wednesdays. (Thankfully my soccer games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we can watch Briella while the other one plays)