With a Side of Catchup Please. . .

In no particular order, here are the last several months of our lives. Did I mention that these are in NO particular order? . . . . In our new house--that we LOVE!--digging for dino fossils in the science kit Grandma Kiki gave Isaac for his 8th birthday.The second day in our new house we didn't have any electricity. There was some confusion with the company and getting it hooked up. Sure, we could have moaned or groaned. . but did we? Oh no! It became an awesome camping adventure in the living room, complete with pizza for dinner and about four blankets each. I was proud of our positive attitude!

Our first breakfast in the new house!!!

Isaac's Baptism brought Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds out from Washington so we decided to have a three way birthday party for the kids since Grandma and Grandpa never get to be around on their birthdays. Three sets of candles and lots of ice cream. Hooray!

I'm not sure what exciting event this particular breakfast was marking, but I'm sure it was awesome.

I set up the tent in the backyard (ahem. . by myself) and we had a little campout. It was fun, until Emma went in at 2am. I never can sleep when camping with the kids. I'm always on watch. Not a comfy night--but a great adventure! :)

CHRISTMAS!!!

Aunt Melodi and Caroline were down and she got Lucy and Emma American Girl dolls! And Grandma Lulu got matching outfits. The first day they were very popular. They have sort of faded out a bit, but I think they will make a comeback. We love the American Girl books!

Emma and Miss Dean, her preschool teacher at CyberEd. It was terribly difficult for me to drop the girls off. At first, Miss Dean seemed a little grumpy, but then I realized she just had her own way. Emma really flourished at CyberEd and learned so much. Emma, you are so bright!!

Lucy with her teacher. She didn't have such a great experience at CyberEd. Her teachers weren't nearly as attentive. We were happy when a spot opened up at Vass Lakeview Childcare. Miss Hardy and Miss Francis love Lucy and Emma like they are their own. So many hugs and kisses and so much love. We feel lucky to have them cared for so well.

Going. . going. . gone!

After much (sort of gross) wiggling, the tooth finally came out! Isaac swallowed it during the night. Then, the next morning, he courageously pulled out its neighbor.

Welcome HOME

After six months of living with Grandma Lulu--most of that time without Dad--we finally got our own house!! We were so excited and so were you! Every day, for the first two weeks you would say, on the way home from school: "We are going to our new house! I am SO happy!!" It was great. It is just the right size, has a fenced in backyard, fun neighbors, and is walkable to the park. We are very lucky.

Our first breakfast in our new kitchen!!

Our second day in the house, we lost power. There was some mix-up with the power company and when they were disconnecting and connecting. It was a cold night! But, we made it an adventure and had a campout in the living room with pizza for dinner, two layers of pajamas, and lots of blankets!

Lucy at Five!

The Big Five Year Old!!

Your birthday was overshadowed a bit by the whole family being pretty sick, so we will have a proper celebration later. But, we did have a triple birthday celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds since they never get to be around for your birthdays. They were in town for Isaac's birthday party.
We love you so much Lucy!! You have such a bright imagination and are full of love for everyone. You love coloring, dancing, pretending to read (and you are starting to really read now!), write letters to people, and hug and kiss your Mom and Dad. You are the best cuddler!! You have had a great first five years!!!

You are 8. . . and sooooo Great!

You are 8 . . . and soooo Great!!

What a happy guy!!! (You did not look like this the day before :) )
You had quite a memorable Baptism weekend! You have been really excited for your Baptism day, planning the service and handing out invitations to friends at school. At first you were a little nervous to do this, but you decided to it anyway. Way to go! But, the Friday before your Baptism you started feeling pretty crummy. You came home from school early and just slept--which is very unlike you. You threw up once Friday night. We wondered if we should go ahead and postpone your baptism, but thought we would wait until the morning to see if you felt better. We had family in town and everything planned so if we could make it work we wanted to.
You felt a bit better Saturday morning and we decided to move forward. But, the little bump of energy after a good night's sleep didn't last long. You started to feel terrible and were really upset. You were crying and sad and said you just wanted to go home. It was a difficult decision, everyone was already there, waiting for the service to begin. But, it wasn't a day for them, it was a day for you. And we felt strongly that it should be a peaceful, happy experience for you and we weren't going to push you into sitting through a baptism service feeling sad and miserable. So, I took you home and took a nice long nap. Back at the church, they still had your baptismal service, and I hear it was wonderful! You had a great friend from school, Ryan Foster, come and later his mom told me that he really enjoyed the service, and quiety sat through the whole thing. Even though you weren't there, you were still being a missionary!
By Sunday, you were ready to go! You still weren't 100%, and the girls were starting to feel crummy now, so you stayed home from church and came after for the baptism. Melodi and Caroline had to leave to catch a plane so our schedule was pretty tight. I knew when I saw you bounding down the hall in your white suit with a big grin on your face that we'd made the right decision in waiting. You felt excited and happy and were able to enjoy a wonderful (though shortened) Baptismal service. It was fantastic.
You have your own Sunday suit now and your own set of scriptures. We have been much more diligent lately reading as a family and you have your own now to read in! I am hoping you will have a desire soon to read the entire Book of Mormon on your own. First, you get to finish the 4th Harry Potter book--you've been waiting two years to read it! Today, after coming home from school, you changed into pajamas and announced the beginning of your "Harry Potter Read-A-Thon." It is such a treat to see you engrossed in a book.
We love you so much Isaac and are so proud of your righteous decision to be baptized. It is the beginning of an important path of lots of choices, some of which might be difficult. But, we trust in the Lord and will do our very best to help you every step of the way.

Birthday Boy!

French Toast(with candles) and sausage was your birthday breakfast of choice. . .

Later, when Grandma and Grandpa were in town for your Baptism, we had a triple birthday celebration for you, Lucy, and Emma, since your birthdays are all so close and Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds never get to be here.