Welcome to our World

My wonderful family walking We finally got a good dumping of snow here last Thursday! Our grass needed this wonderful white stuff very badly. Kaelah had already outgrown her 24 mo. snowsuit, so we unburied the 3T items we purchased on clearance for next winter. Obviously still too big, but she was able to stay nice & warm that way. Kaelah's first time sledding. Yes, she had been tubing at Christmastime, but for sure the first sledding. While we were sledding a city snow plow came by & knocked over much of the fence between the sub-development & the road behind us. The shear force of wet snow traveling quickly -- what a mess. Yesterday Dan & Kaelah made Kaelah's first ever snow man in the front yard. And Grandma Karyl picked out the wonderful accessories for our nameless man. Kaelah preferred the snowballs to making the snowman. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise considering how much she loves balls! Each time she touched the snow she would gasp an...

We are so lucky. Meigo and her wonderful friend Aspen have their birthdays just a few days apart. Barb brought over an instant party with everything you need for a good time. After seeing what the dogs were going to have (fancy dog food) we gave Kaelah a cookie so she wouldn't turn green with envy. lol. The expression on Kaelah's face says so much! Meigo was more than willing to pose in her party hat. Aspen was not. (: Aspen was, however, more than happy to have Kaelah help her catch party bubbles. This one's a keeper for sure. Thank you, Barb!!!

Today we got to celebrate a birthday! Here is a picture of the wonderful cake a loving father (aka Daniel or Danny or Dan or Daddy) made. Double layer lemon with 2 layers of lemon pudding & whipped topping made from scratch. Delicious! 5 years ago today a cute little puppy was born. We got to bring her home when she was 8 weeks old -- the day before we moved into our apartment after relocating for Danny's work. She was the 2nd of 6 puppies & the mother had been so worried about the first puppy that the owner had to literally save Meigo's life b/c she wasn't breathing. We had to go through a pretty intense interview to buy her & were warned repeatedly that out of all 6 puppies, she was the one who wanted attention from humans the most. We, being young, thought nothing of that warning. Oh, how wise we feel now! lol. Yes, that is a slice of birthday cake for the dog! She & Kaelah both ate the cake in the same order: whipped topping, filling, then the ...

I have wanted to cry this week. I just can't get over how much and how fast Kaelah is growing lately. She is getting along on her scooter Chris gave us really well & has even tried out the tricycle we bought at a garage sale a coulple times. Our daily walks are longer & longer and Kaelah has begun chasing the cute dogs around the dog park. (She really likes Beagles.) When she wants picked up she feels so heavy and I wonder if people think I'm hauling around a 3-year-old she's so tall. Her play is becoming much more creative and almost every day she strings another phrase together. This afternoon she talked to herslef in her crib during her entire nap time. *Oh please, don't grow out of your naps yet!* Tonight she helped me peel the Clementines after playing with the dog in the back yard all by herself. Of course I had a glass door & both kitchen windows open & I constantly interrupted my cooking or Danny's baking to look out the window. Al...

We've been so busy shopping lately we haven't taken many pictures... ...so here's some from last Sunday when we met friends at the park. Why the shopping? Well, it so happens Kaelah is outgrowing her 24 mo/2T clothes, size 6 shoes, Dan wore out all his work clothes (including shoes) and I literally wore holes in my jeans & my shoes were definitely dead. Thank goodness for tax refunds! Check out Kaelah's outfit from Naartjie & Baby Gap. On clearance too. Love it! Kaelah is talking in phrases and sentences now. I'm continually surprised for a new word, animal sound, or answer to a question when I didn't really expect her to understand. She's certainly getting ready to turn 2 this summer. Let the time outs begin.

As Danny and Kaelah nap this Sunday afternoon, I'm reading out of the book of Genesis, specifically about Abraham & Sarah. I think my parents gave me a wonderful name & I marvel at how difficult it must have been for my namesake to live as she did. As I read about Abraham's trial to offer up his son Isaac, I marvel at the strength of both of these men (seeing as how Isaac was probably in his 30s & thereby submitted his will to his father's) and how much of a similitude this story brings to us (even geographically)! Although I do not feel to be in the midst of a great trial, I have many friends going through not-so-easy times right now & I thought I would share a couple quotes: Quote #1: "The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably over...