Welcoming another 'niece'!

The day that I flew to Seattle to visit Aria and family, another new 'niece' was born!  She isn't a niece by blood, but by heart, and it is wonderful to snuggle her and stare at her and kiss her until she starts scowling...I am very thankful for a friend who is willing to share her babies with me! :)

Welcome,    Adel    Anastasia!

 

Welcome, Aria Noelle Minota!

My brother and his wife, Jared and Krystle, welcomed their first child in August -- Aria Noelle arrived safe and sound on August 30th and we were all elated!  They live way out in Washington state, so the kids and I made a long-anticipated trip out there to meet Aria and spend precious time with all three of them.  It is hard to condense all of the emotion and memories and love into one blog post, but here are my favorite pictures from the trip...

Cousin love

 

 

 Pretty sleeping baby

 

  

Morning snuggle time with me while her mommy got some extra sleep...this was a wonderful privilege and precious together-time!

 

 

 Snuggling with Mommy and Daddy

 

 

 Bath time!

 

  She loves to "talk" with her mommy, and then...

 ...she smiles -- yes, real ones!!!

A trip up into the Cascade Mountains...

Aria's first picture with Mt. Rainier (just to our left of Jared's head, in the background).

 

 

 

  

Mount Rainier (haloed by the cloud)

 

The girl cousins took a morning nap together!

 

 Cousins and their blankies...

Trying to capture in my mind and heart all of the perfection of this trip...

 

The beginning of summer break

I can't believe it has been three weeks since I have posted...but ever since school let out, we have been going a million miles an hour, it seems!  I think our schedule is finally starting to slow down, at least enough for us to enjoy some summer fun here and there.  Here are a few highlights of our first week of summer break...
The summer started with a bang as we welcomed our friends' precious new baby (more about him later!)...

The next morning, we headed to Florida...first stop, Matthew's.  If any of you remember the horrors of trying to get Abigail in the pool last year...she's a different girl this year!  She went right into Matthew's pool and was swimming like a champ in no time flat.  (Hear my huge sigh of relief!) We also enjoyed some time feeding the ducks in his neighborhood pond.

The next morning we headed out to Caleb's...our time with him included swimming, David's first trip to the driving range to try out his birthday clubs, and a visit to Caleb's church.

The next morning, we stopped for me to get a haircut from Kristen...here's a before-and-after.  (This isn't the greatest 'after' picture -- it's sort of an 'up-your-nose' shot by David -- but it gives you an idea of the dramatic difference.) I LOVE it!

...on the way home, we braved lots of nasty traffic...

 ...and we made it home, although a bit bedraggled and battleweary, in time to sing "Happy birthday" to Bruce (who had been gone on a business trip while we were gone)! A belated blog-happy-birthday to my dear husband!

Welcome home, Mindy!

Yesterday we were able to bring Mindy home.  So far she is proving to be everything we hoped for in a kitten -- she is very friendly, she loves the kids and seeks them out for attention, she is smart and playful, and it was a very nice bonus that she slept peacefully all night long and didn't keep me awake!

She made it clear right away that she will let us know when she has something to complain about...she complained very loudly the whole way home because she didn't like being cooped up in the carrier...



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

She is pretty brave about exploring.  I was relieved that she loved the special home David had spent so much time preparing for her...his face was aglow when she discovered it!

She likes to explore "up, down, and all around" in typical kitten form.

She has very good taste...she discovered the knitting basket, sniffed all of the yarn, and decided to taste Abigail's wool.  In a day or two, she will start learning that "pssssst!" means she needs to find a different activity!

I had forgotten about kitten-proofing the house...anything that dangles is considered fair game for grabbing and biting!

She loves to play with the feathers on a wand that the kids picked out for her.

And this is what Mindy looks like when Molly comes to stare at her...so far they just face off and hiss from afar, but we hope that they'll be good friends soon!

This morning Mindy is happily exploring and helping Bruce with his work, purring charmingly as she sprawls on his papers and walks on his keyboard.

Isn't she cute?!  Who can possibly resist a kitten?!