Clifford

My mom came to visit last weekend and we took Molly and went shopping. Brian took Nora and went to the Cedar Rapids Library to see Clifford. Nora is not shy and was excited to be able to hug him..over and over..and over and over.
We are working with Nora on taking showers and that morning my mom put Nora in the shower with her. When Brian took Nora to the library they asked what everyone had done that day. Most kids said they played or went to the park. Nora yells out, "I took a shower with my grandma!" Brian got a good laugh out of it.
It was a big day for her because she later got to go to Toys R Us and get a Dora umbrella. She MUST take the umbrella with her at all times, just in case it happens to rain. When I look back in the car she is usually under the umbrella.

Better Late than never....

Molly got dedicated at our church (Grace Community Church) the end of November. I have been meaning to blog this for awhile. If you have read my other post's you realize that we are a pretty busy family. So here is a picture of Molly on the day she got dedicated and then below it is a letter that we wrote to her that day. We had a lunch at our house for our families and we read the letter during that time.



Dear Molly, November 23, 2008

We feel blessed that God has brought you into our family. It is exciting for us to see you start to develop your own personality. Your bright eyes and smile show us how much you love us.

Our prayer is for God to help us understand how we can nurture you. Though we as parents strive to meet all your needs, only God can truly understand and meet all your needs. As your parents our goal is to teach you about Jesus and pray that you come to know him and follow him. In addition, your church, family and friends will be there to support us and you in your walk with Jesus.

We know that the decision to be baptized will someday be yours, and we pray you’re your dedication today is one of the first steps in you learning to know Christ.

As you grow we pray that we can show you the unconditional love that God has shown us. We will continue to pray for you through every stage of life. We are excited to see the plan that God has set out for you!

Love,

Mom and Dad

What kids say..

I had to blog this because I thought it was too funny.

Nora is right now walking around the house with her dolls and her "friends". (She has these imaginary friends that she calls "friends" and they go everywhere with her.) She is talking to them and telling them what to do. So she is getting everyone ready to go, and she says "Are you ready to go on a trip friends?" "We are going to playhouse Disney dot com." "We will see more Happy Monster Band". Then she puts them all in the stroller and they start going around the house.

It is hard to separate the real world and the virtual world sometimes.....

Nora and Molly

Favorite pictures of Nora from Dec. 08




Favorite pictures of Molly from Dec. 08

Where have we been???

(Below is a bunch of pictures from the past month)

It is crazy how fast December and January can slip by with all the holiday stuff. I looked and it has been since Dec. 20th that I last posted a blog!! Here is a list of what has gone on since then...

1. We had a wonderful Christmas, we spent the morning here, the afternoon in Des Moines, and then traveled to Indiana.

2. During our week in Indiana Brian and I left the girls with my parents and went to Florida to see the Outback bowl. We had wonderful weather!

3. We got back to Iowa January 3rd, and I started my winter quarter for my master's class the 5th.

4. I had a baby shower for Annette Yoder on the 10th. We had fun catching up with friends.

5. The temperature didn't get above zero for four days. (The 13th it was -20). We have not had a day above freezing since December 20th (so says the weather man...)

6. On December 13th I had LASIK eye surgery.

7. On December 14th I could see 20/20 with out any glasses or contacts!!!! I am now doing really well and love being able to see clearly all the time.

8. December 15th Gretchen and Audra came to stay with us for the weekend. We went thrift store shopping and stayed indoors since the temperatures still stayed below zero.

9. Sunday December 18th Brian's parents took care of the girls for a much needed date night. We went to see Marley and Me and went to eat dinner. We needed a night to just have some time to take to catch up with each other!

10. Today...it is Martin Luther King day so Brian has off work. We have just been enjoying each other and the girls.

As you can see we have been BUSY...but having fun. We are so thankful for such wonderful family and friends that we got spend Christmas with. In the past month I have seen God working in so many different ways and feel blessed by him as we start this New Year. I am thankful for all the ways God protected us as we traveled over the holidays and with my surgery.
The rest of our month doesn't seem quite so crazy so hopefully I can keep up better.

On a side note the weather here is still rather cold...BUT they say that it is supposed to be 36 by the end of the week!!!! If I was still living in Virginia I would think that would be cold, but here it is a heat wave...I need to get out the spring jacket!!

We love to shovel

We had a stow/ice storm that hit on Thursday into Friday. It was disappointing because I was going to have the DGL leaders from MOPS over for dinner on Thursday and we had to cancel. The fun thing was that Katie came over Thursday afternoon and stayed all night with us. I had called her to make sure that she wasn't going to be "out in the storm" on Thursday. Brian was making fun of me because I was all worried about her...oh well it is the mom in me. Then Friday we shoveled...and both Brian and I now have sore backs. Friday night Jesse and Amanda came to stay with us from Colorado on the way to Goshen. They brought their dog Oliver, Nora had fun with him. We checked the weather to make sure they didn't have bad weather for driving, it was supposed to be clear. Then it snowed here all day Saturday. So Saturday afternoon we shoveled again. As of Saturday evening it is -5 (yes that is a minus before the five) without windchill. The wind is awful and with the windchill it is -30...we love Iowa winters!!! I am looking forward to Florida (9 days, but I am not counting...:)

Sisters

""Whatever we write on the hearts of our children is not erased by
time.""

Author: unknown

Nora loves her little sister, and she tries to help me take care of her. I loved these pictures because Nora is holding Molly's hand. Nora was then telling her a secret. They are so much fun, and I cherish all the time I have with them.