Alaska Mission Trip

An amazing opportunity was given to Ryan and me about 10 weeks ago. We were asked if we wanted to join a team for a mission trip to remote Alaska. We would go to a small village of about 300 individuals, most of whom are Inupiak Natives of Alaska. Something about this trip spoke to both of us, and we immediately jumped at the chance. So, last Friday, July 2, we all boarded a plane bound for Anchorage. Our 7 person team also consisted of our friends, Shane and Adrienne, their 7-year-old son, Jackson, and Shane's parents, John and Molly. We had an amazing journey! I will go on and say that there is absolutely no way this blog entry will do this trip justice. I spent at least an hour everyday journaling about the day's experiences, and it's just not possible for me to rewrite it all here for you. So, I will hit the highlights instead and hope you can understand how blessed we feel to have had this opportunity. Ryan and I would love the chance to talk to each of you about this trip so we can fill you in on more of the details that I simply can't write about on this blog.

We left on Friday for our 7.5 hour Delta flight to Anchorage. We made it with no problems and enjoyed some beautiful scenery on the way there.

We were greeted by Jay, a volunteer with Global Mission Partners ("GMP") which is the group that helped us with the planning of our trip. GMP is based out of Calvary Baptist Church in Anchorage, so Jay drove us there where they fed us a wonderful dinner (prepared by the sweetest gentleman from Chattanooga named Tom) and gave us dormitory-style accommodations for the evening.

The next morning, we were given breakfast and driven to the airport where we boarded Alaska Airlines and headed to Kotzebue. Kotzebue sits on the West coast of Alaska 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It is approximately 1.5 miles long by 1/2 mile wide. We planned on having a short layover before flying on to Ambler, a village about 45 miles north of the Arctic Circle that is inland on the Kobuk River. That is where we planned on staying for the week. On our way to Kotzebue, we had to first stop in Nome for a 20 minute layover. Unfortunately, when we arrived in Nome, we were told the fog in Kotzebue was too bad to land a plane, so they turned us around and we headed back to Anchorage. After landing in Anchorage, we spend awhile rearranging plane flights and collecting our luggage (we had 15 pieces between our personal bags and boxes with supplies and food for the week in it!) before heading back to Calvary Baptist. Luckily, they had room for our unplanned stay so we were given a place to stay again.

On Sunday, we were again in Nome when they started saying we might not make it into Kotzebue. The pilot was going to start heading that way and would see how things looked as we got closer. Can I tell you this made me a little nervous? I was already scared of a horrible plane crash and leaving our two sweet girls behind, but then this pilot says he will "try and see?" Sigh. Anyway, we managed to time the flight just right because we were able to land in Kotzebue without too many bumps. We were greeted by John and Terry, the pastor and his wife of Kotzebue Baptist. John is originally from South Georgia, so we enjoyed hearing a familiar accent! Ryan was able to take a quick knee-deep wade into the Arctic Ocean which was really cool (pun intended).

We had not originally planned on spending much time in Kotzebue, but our change in flight plans necessitated it. Thankfully, there was extra room at the church for us to spend the night. We spent a lot of time that evening talking with them about their experiences in Kotzebue and the bush of Alaska. He told us of the prophet Manillaq; an Alaska native who lived a few hundred years ago. He is highly respected by natives and many health care and social care areas are named for him. He prophesied that someday a big bird would bring the white man and his black book into Alaska to teach natives about the one true God. I had chill bumps thinking about that.

On Monday, we had some time before our flight, so John and Terry drove us around Kotzebue in the church van. We went on top of a nearby hill which gave us a beautiful view of the city; from far away, it looks like a quaint little fishing town. As we drove out a little bit, we saw the Early Detection Radar for missiles coming in from Asia and/or Russia; I couldn't decide if that was comforting or not. In the valley below this Radar though was a herd of caribou. Our first big wildlife siting! There were probably 100 or so that we had a good look at. That was pretty exciting. We continued our drive and passed several others eyeing the group too; I'm sure a few people had a delicious caribou dinner that evening.

Our tour ended and it was time for us to board our planes for Ambler. Because of our flight changes, John, Jackson, Ryan and I took one 8-seater plane while the other 3 were in a different 8-seater plane. Remember my earlier mention of my nervousness of a plane crash? This didn't help. I'm told bush pilots make these trips all the time which was somewhat comforting, but they don't make them all the time with Ryan and me on the plane.  Thankfully though we had a pretty smooth flight, and we all landed safely in Ambler. Finally, we made it! Upon arrival, we discovered our luggage had gone over the weight limit of the plane, so they left some of it in Kotzebue and would send it when they could. Also, our host missionaries, Paul and Glenda, were not in Ambler when we arrived. Paul's mother had passed away a few weeks ago in Louisiana. They were in the process of driving back to Anchorage to get on a flight to Ambler; some car trouble had delayed their trip. However, they had helped us arrange some transportation help from some of the locals which we greatly appreciated. We thought it was so cool that they drive 4-wheelers everywhere. There are no paved roads in the village, so there is no need for cars; the 4-wheelers are way better! Of course, they use snowmobiles (or "snow-goes") in the winter, but we experienced the fun of the 4-wheeler.

We were all taken to the Paul and Glenda's home which is about 20 yards from the church. They had two beautiful dogs, Kodiak and Sitka, to greet us. Kodiak looks like a Siberian Husky while Sitka is almost pure wolf. Sitka had also just had a litter of pups the week before. All that to say, don't go near Sitka right now. We were also surprised when we arrived at the home to find two individuals staying there. Steve and Amy were with a group called Campfire which teaches cold water safety around Alaska. Since the village sits right on the Kobuk river, these are important skills for the kids to learn. There was confusion because they arrived when we were supposed to arrive, so people thought they were the missionaries supposed to stay in the house. We got all the details worked out though because they were both super nice and flexible with plans. They ended up sleeping in the local school at night while our group had some sleeping in Paul and Glenda's home (which they arrived at on Tuesday) and some sleeping in the church. It actually turned out to be a huge blessing to have Campfire there. They offered a free lunch to the kids each day at 12:30; obviously this attracts a lot of kids! As lunch was ending, we would start with our Vacation Bible School activities which all the kids stayed for. When we were finished for the day, Steve and Amy would start back up with their swimming and survival lessons. Since the sun just circled around the sky and never truly set, swimming in the evening and nighttime wasn't a problem at all. It worked perfectly!

Each day we had great activities planned for the kids. Adrienne and Molly took care of these details, and they did a fantastic job. We had singing, skits, puppet shows, story time, crafts, snacks and play time each day. The kids loved it! The songs were praise music which had the kids up and dancing around. The skits were great too. One of the skits was called "The Smallest Man in Alaska." John was covered up and put his arms around Jackson. John was then charged with the task of getting Jackson dressed (putting shorts on his arms and shoes on his hands which is why he looked so small) and ready for the day (putting on a tie, shaving with a pretend razor, brushing hair, brushing teeth and eating cereal). John couldn't see what he was doing and Jackson couldn't use his hands to help, so it led to a big mess. All kids love a big mess! The puppets were used to tell lessons about sharing, loving your neighbor and God's love. For story time, the younger kids stayed in the church to hear Adrienne give Bible stories while Shane and I were outside with the older kids telling them about Joseph and helping them relate to him. Craft time included making faith bracelets, painting rocks by the river, making felt pouches and decorating beautiful crosses. This gave the kids some creative time which was fun to watch. Snack time was always welcome, and play time was just free time to be outside and be kids. We had lots of fun with kickball, bubbles, a pinata, frisbees and footballs. The kids really seemed to have a great time the whole week.  Here are lots of pictures of some of the precious children we met.

We also had a couple of ladies events where we gave out manicures. Several women attended, and we enjoyed getting to know them better. There was also a movie night where we watched National Treasure (a great movie if you haven't seen it), and a game night. We played card and board games inside the church while it was free play outside. Before we left, we also had the opportunity to meet a few of the elders living in the village which I loved. I wish we could have spent more time with them because I love listening to the stories of older people; they have so much experience and wisdom that we can all learn from. We were able to purchase handmade birchwood baskets and picture frames from them too which were so beautiful.

In the evenings while the kids were swimming, we enjoyed dinners with Paul and Glenda. They have been serving in Ambler for three years, and it was wonderful to spend time with them. They are both teachers in the local school. Paul leads the adults in worship in church on Sundays while Glenda leads the children in their home. We wish them all the best as they continue on in their ministries. Even though GMP had sent us to Ambler with so much food, Paul and Glenda were kind to share their caribou with us too. Ryan really enjoyed Paul's homemade caribou jerky. One night we had ravioli with a caribou marinara sauce which we all enjoyed. The best night though was when Glenda made her caribou chili. Wow it was delicious! I think Ryan could have eaten this everyday; he absolutely loved it.

One evening, Paul took Ryan, Jackson and me on his 4-wheeler for a tour into the surrounding hills. We ended up on top of Dome Hill which gave us amazing views of the Kobuk River and Brooks Mountain Range, specifically Jade Mountain. At one point, most of the jade from Alaska came from this mountain, but then the transportation became too difficult so it is no longer a working mine. It was truly humbling to see God's beauty here. What an amazing world He made!

Of course, the main point of this week was to make sure these precious children know that God loves them and we love them. We were thrilled at the end of our trip when a 9-year-old little girl started asking Ryan more questions, and she decided to give her life to Christ. We also found out later that Paul baptized three people in the Kobuk River this past Sunday. Praise God! We really became attached to many of these kids while we were there. We will not forget these children. The Inupiak Natives have such an interesting heritage, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to meet so many individuals on our journey. It is not easy to live in a remote village in Northern Alaska; we ask that you pray for the people that live there, especially their children.

My Favorite Customer

While I was doing laundry this evening after dinner, Lily came into the laundry room and sat at the little table in there. We started playing restaurant. Here's how the conversation went:

L: Cooker? (That's her way of saying chef)
M: Yes?
L: I would like to order dinner.
M: Okay, what would you like to have tonight?
L: Well, I need to see a menu first please.
M: Okay, here you go (pretend to put a menu on the table).
L: Thank you. (Looks over the menu for a few seconds). Okay, I would like a hamburger with pie and ham and cheese and tomatoes and macaroni and your favorite, key lime, on it. Please.
M: Wow, that sounds delicious.
L: Yes. Oh and cooker? I need some grass for my dog. His name is Spike the Bulldog (FYI, that's Samford's mascot), and he needs to eat too. Please bring him some grass.
M: Will do. It will take just a minute to get it cooked and all together. (Pause while I fold socks for a minute; Lily patiently waits). Okay, here you go. One plate of grass for Spike and one hamburger with pie and ham and cheese and tomatoes and key lime on it.
L: You forgot the macaroni!
M: Oh, I am so sorry. I just forgot to say it, but I made sure to put the macaroni on it.
L: That's silly! It wouldn't be good without the macaroni on it!

A few minutes later, she convinced Ryan to come in with her and also be a customer. They sat down, perused the menu for a moment and then we had this conversation:
M: What can I get for you customers?
R: I would like spaghetti and garlic bread.
L: I would like spaghetti with pasta and ravioli.
M: You got it. It'll be up in just a moment. (Pause and then hand them the food. Ryan begins to pretend to eat with his fingers).
L: Cooker, you forgot the forks!
M: Oh you're right! Here you go.
L: Thank you. (They both eat with their pretend forks). Can I have deserk now (deserk is Lily's way of saying dessert)?
M: Sure you can.
L: Okay. Can I have those cookies (points to the cookies on the pantry shelf! She totally got me! Everything else up to this point had been pretend...did she plan that from the beginning?!)?
M: Let me see if we have any already open. (I go to the kitchen and grab the box of fruit snacks). Unfortunately, we do not have any cookies open and we are going to take that box to the beach with us. However, I brought you a selection of fruit snacks.
L: Yea! Let me pick which one I want. I want Tropical (dried pineapple, mango and papaya). Yea, I got Tropical!

She cracks me up!

Mia's Love of Socks

Mia always loves to put on shoes and socks. She will squirm every which way when you are getting her dressed, but as soon as you say it's time to put on shoes and socks, she sits still and holds her feet up for you. She loves to put on the shoes and then walk to someone else, show them off and say "oe!" She's still working on the "sh" sound, but she gets her point across. If you leave your shoes sitting out anywhere within her reach, she will put them on and experiment walking around in them. Mia absolutely cracks us up tonight though when she wanted to put Ryan's socks on. See picture below. It made us laugh because she was only in a diaper because her clothes had been covered in ketchup at dinner, and these socks covered up almost her entire leg. It was so funny to see, but look how happy wearing them made her!

Turner Field Visit

Ryan and his friend, Brian, had a great opportunity last week to take a "behind the scenes" tour at Turner Field. They offer these tours a lot when the Braves are away. Ryan and Brian love going to a Braves' game, so this just seemed like something fun to do one afternoon. It was a beautiful day which made everything even better. Here are a few of the pictures Ryan snapped:

Looking out onto the field from the Press Box.

Getting a look at the Braves' locker room.
Looking up at the Press Box from the Suntrust seats right behind home plate. We would love to have these seats one night for a game!

The big Coke bottle in the outfield. Fireworks shoot out from here whenever the Braves hit a home run or win a game...we see the fireworks a lot!

Ryan standing at the entrance to the field from the dugout. Pretty cool view, huh?

I think Ryan and Brian really enjoyed this tour!

Face Painting

We went to Atlanta Bread Company for dinner last night. While we were waiting on our food, a gentleman walked over to sit at the table next to us. He smiled at Mia who started saying hi and waving; Lily then said hi to him as well. He seemed very nice, and said we should come tomorrow night because Tuesday is Kids Eat Free. He said his kids loved it, and they had a great face painting artist there. Lily looked at me and said "Mommy, I don't want to paint my face. I like the color it is." We tried explaining what face painting actually is, and the man even showed us pictures on his cell of his kids with their faces painted up (they looked really good too), but Lily just couldn't get on board. She even told me again tonight that "I like the color of my face. I don't want to have it painted." She makes me laugh!

Hi and Bye

This morning, Mia and I were reading books together. She picked out "My Big Animal Book" which is filled with pictures of different type animals. As we turned a new page, she would wave really big and say "Hi!" very enthusiastically. We would point out the different animals and some of the noises they make. It makes me laugh that when you ask Mia was a lion says, she very quietly says "rar!" whereas other noises she will say very loudly. As we would finish a page, Mia would wave again and say "Bye!" We repeated this process on every page. Oh, this little one is so precious!

Fun Weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun for us. On Saturday morning, my dad came and picked up Lily. He wants to start spending more one-on-one time with each of his grandkids which we think is great. He took her J Christopher's for breakfast where Lily enjoyed part of a waffle, breakfast potatoes, bacon and orange juice. They also picked up Meme and visited with her some. Lily told us what a great time she had, and we look forward to them spending more time together. While they were out, Ryan took Mia to breakfast and then to run errands. Almost jokingly, Ryan asked Mia where she wanted to go eat; she responded "Chicka." Alright then, off to Chick-fil-a! While the house was nice and quiet, I was able to put together a hash brown casserole and get myself ready in peace. My friend Lisa picked me up and we went to a Sip and See for three friends from Sunday School. We have pretty much stopped having showers for all the babies being born into our class because there are so many! Instead, we have a Sip and See for three or four new babies at a time when they are a few months old. We all get to oooh and aaah over the sweet little ones while stocking up the mom with diapers and wipes and catching up with friends over yummy food. It's a great time! When we left the Sip and See, Lisa and I ran by Omaha Steaks because they were having a HUGE sale. Good meat for cheap prices...awesome!

Soon after I got home, Lily and I left to go to Anna Claire's birthday pool party. She actually turned three on Christmas Day last year, but her mom had the great idea to celebrate her half-birthday. We had a great time. Lily was very hesitant about getting into the pool, so she hung out on the side of the pool and on the stairs. They had lots of big floats, and she would pull one out, rock it back and forth and call it her car. She had a great time "driving and parking" her cars! We both loved AC's princess castle cake that our friend Jill made, and Lily was thrilled when she saw one of the snacks being offered was Princess Gummies. After having a lot of fun for a couple of hours though, we needed to get going. Lily was very excited to look into her goody bag and see a "princess wand" lollipop. I tell you what, it's great that the little things make her so happy!

We tried making sliders for dinner Saturday night on the new griddle that we have (since our big grill is not in use due to deck construction). They turned out really tasty. We also had corn on the cob which I love because it cracks me up to see how excited Mia gets about it. She hadn't been feeling very well but this perked her up. After dinner it was bath time. Lily was very excited about this because I bought some "tub tints" that change the color of the water, but do not stain the kids. We filled the big tub up with blue water for Lily and then put Mia's smaller tub inside of that; we then filled Mia's tub up with red water. They had a great time playing in there together. Lily thinks making the bath water change colors is the coolest trick!

On Sunday morning, we went to church and then to Doc Green's for lunch which was very enjoyable. Both girls seemed just a little off; we think they were pretty tired because they were just whiny and fussy. Both went down for naps before 1:00 instead of waiting until 2:00. Mia woke up about an hour later because she was hungry; she had a little snack and then went back down for about 30 more minutes. When she woke up, we decided to go over to my parents to swim. We had a great time! The pool felt great, and the girls had so much fun. My dad swam with us which they loved too. Mia did great floating around for awhile, but then she had a blast when we let her play on the steps. Lily had fun as we helped hold her up so she could kick and "swim." She loved watching me do somersaults under the water; Mia seemed to be very nervous whenever anyone went underwater. She would point and say "Uh oh!" until they came back up; then she would smile really big. This was a really wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and it made me look forward to our trip to Florida in a few weeks! Around 6, we decided we needed to go because we could hear tummies growling. We drove through Jim and Nicks and enjoyed good BBQ at home. We helped the girls with showers and then put them to bed. Liz came in right as Lily was going to bed, so we enjoyed a relaxing evening watching a show about Disney resorts with her. What a great way to end the weekend!

Love this Video!

Here is a YouTube link to the most precious video of our girls. On Friday morning, on our way down to the Childrens Museum, we were playing a CD and "Jesus Loves Me" came on. Lily started singing along. Luckily, Ryan was able to pull our new video camera out of his pocket, so we could record this. The first few seconds are of him pulling out the camera, but the other two minutes are of the girls. Lily is singing a little quietly at first, but then picks up once she realizes I am videoing her. You can also occasionally hear Mia in the background saying "Jez." How absolutely precious are they?!

To Tell the Truth

Lily and I had a conversation last week about lying and how it is wrong to lie. So for a few days now, it makes me laugh (to myself) when I hear something like "Mommy, when I slipped and fell, it hurt my knee...and that's the TRUTH."

Childrens Museum

Friday morning, the four of us met our friends, the Michie's, at the Childrens Museum. Ryan and Chris have been friends for several years when the worked at Opteum together, and his wife, Hannah, and I became friends through them. Lily and Peyton are only a month apart in age, and they always have such a great time playing together. Last Fall, Chris enlisted in the Reserves and has been at boot camp and training for several months. He came home last week, and we couldn't wait to see them all again. Here are a few pictures from our time down there.

All the girls had fun fishing.

Mia had a great time "driving" the tractor.
One of Lily's favorite activities is always "shopping" in the farmers market.

Mia found the banana slide!

The family having fun!

Father's Day 2010

Today is Father's Day! I reminded Lily a few days ago that today was coming up, and she said "Daddy, Sunday is your Mommy's Day!" Well, not exactly...

We got up this morning and as we were getting ready for church, Lily simply couldn't wait any longer; she wanted to give Ryan the card she had colored for him. She didn't even realize there were presents for him, but once she knew that, we couldn't put it off any longer. Ryan was very pleased to receive a new 16 GB iPod which will hold lots more music than his 4 GB one. He loves music and has such varied tastes, so it's hard for him to narrow down his play lists on the 4 GB one; the new one will make that a lot easier. He also received a protective case for it; we have too many little hands in the house to not have a cover!

We went to church and then to Moes for lunch. After lunch we came home to play for a bit, and then we all four took good naps. We always love a good Sunday afternoon nap. After nap time, we played for a little bit more and then headed to Taco Mac for dinner...yum. When we came home, we let Lily play on the computer for a few minutes before we put Mia to bed; she and I were going to run to Publix after putting Mia down. A few minutes later, Bama came home and the girls were very excited to see her. We had lots of fun playing together. You can see in the pictures below one of their favorite things to do with Ryan...

About 7:30, we got Mia changed and into bed. Then Lily and I ran up to Publix which was actually pretty fun. She talked nonstop! When we came home, we played downstairs in Bama's room for a little bit (playing princess and reading a book) before getting ready for bed.

This was a very good day, and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate Ryan for the fantastic dad that he is. My girls are so fortunate to have such a wonderful dad. He loves them so much, and he is great at showing them that love. We love you!

Pictures from Around the Home

Here are some pictures taken around the house over the last couple of weeks:

Lily showing off her "nastics" skills. She is having so much fun in her Little Gym gymnastics class each week. She couldn't do a somersault when she started but now she tries to do them all over the house. She also enjoys playing gymnastics at home; here she set up three pillows to replicate the three tumbling block at the Gym. I love that she loves these classes so much!

Trying to imitate the expert...
What a sweet girl.

Lily trying to give Mia a kiss. Sometimes they can be so sweet to one another!

Trying to "help" me in the kitchen.

Mia LOVES corn on the cob.

Look at that face!

Mia loves all sorts of sauces and dips. She noticed us dipping our chips into our salsa, so she pitched a fit until Ryan picked her up to let her dip the chips herself!

Sweetheart!

Lily absolutely has the best laugh!

Lily's newest love is playing on Playhouse Disney's website. She has a great time playing educational games with the characters she knows and loves. She has now moved to setting the computer on the little side table next to the couch and scooting her chair up to the table. It's pretty cute to see.

Ryan was suckered into sharing his Cheerios at breakfast one morning.

A Few Stories

A few recent stories:

1. Lily was talking to Bama about going to see Kendall and Josh. When Bama asked Lily where does Uncle Josh work, she replied "The fire station" which is correct. When Bama asked where Aunt Kendall works, Lily responded "At Publix." Where in the world did that come from?! Kendall worked very hard to become an excellent nurse, so I don't know where that came from. My only guess is Lily loves to go shopping at Publix with me, so maybe since it is something she loves, she assumes Kendall works there. We'll have to work on this one a little!

2. While in Birmingham, Kendall came to visit from Tuscaloosa one day. She, Liz, Lily and Mia went to Macy's to look for new furniture. Lily didn't want to go until Kendall told her there is also a bookstore at the mall where Macy's is; Lily was onboard after that. Time flew by while they were shopping and they soon realized they needed to go to get the girls to bed. Liz told Lily it was time to go home and Lily reminded her Kendall said they could go to the bookstore. Liz told her the bookstore had already closed; that line usually works with Lily. While Lily seemed to agree to that, she said "Hmm. I thought she was serious." Kendall immediately looked at Liz and they agreed they should still go to the bookstore!

3. Liz still works part-time at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham. Their VBS was going on last week which is why Lily and Mia stayed the week there; this allowed them to attend the VBS and Liz could work the whole week there. One evening, there was a skit that included a man throwing a pie into the face of a lady which of course made most everyone laugh. I say "most everyone" because that evening, Lily informed Liz that she didn't like that man throwing a pie into that lady's face; it was very mean of him. This story got back to the lady, and she came down to explain to Lily that she was okay, and she knew that joke was going to happen. She asked Lily "didn't you think it was funny?" to which responded "no." Our sweet girl didn't like that someone had a joke pulled on them.

4. Mia is really starting to repeat a lot of words now which is great. We'll be in the car, and in the backseat we'll hear Lily say "Can you (fill in the blank)?" and Mia will try to repeat it; they will do this over and over which is great entertainment for them. Well, Mia is starting to remember a lot of animal sounds that we're teaching her. One of the cutest things she does is repeating the Sandra Boynton book "Moo, Baa, La La La" noises. It's so cute to say "Three singing pigs say..." and Mia responds "La la la!" We have a new video camera so hopefully we'll be able to get that recorded soon. She's so cute!

What a Week!

If you check this blog often, you may have noticed I didn't post anything last week. That's because our kids were in Birmingham all week while Ryan and I were at home in Smyrna! There really wasn't much to post about our week, but here's a quick recap:

Saturday: Girls left at nap time with Bama and slept most of the way to Birmingham. We went to a funeral visitation for a wonderful lady named Beverly Shoun. Beverly and my mom have been best friends for many years, so she was a dear friend of our family. Beverly had been battling breast cancer since 2001. While we are sad because we will miss Beverly, we rejoice that she is now in Heaven and free of pain. When we got home from the visitation, we changed clothes and headed to the Casey's house. It was Kim's birthday, so they had us and the Garys over for a game night. Their two oldest kids (15 and 10) stayed up and played with us while their two youngest (2.5 and not quite one) were asleep. We played Taboo until 1:00 in the morning! It was a blast! Not only did we have a fantastic time with our friends, but we loved that we didn't have to check in with a babysitter. What freedom!

Sunday: We slept in and then started cleaning the house. This was the major goal of the week: clean out all the stuff that we don't need. Today included the medicine cabinet, the deep freeze and the pantry. Mid-afternoon we went to Beverly's funeral service which was a lovely tribute to her. I couldn't keep back my tears as her two daughters spoke. After we returned home, we continued to clean.

Monday: Work and then our weekly meeting for our upcoming mission trip.

Tuesday: We took the day off from work and spent it cleaning the unfinished part of the basement. If you have been to our home, you may know our basement is the same size as our house, but half of it is finished (where Ryan's mom stays each week while she's here) and half if unfinished (a concrete slap with shelving, etc in it). Since we have the dumpster at the house for the deck, we took advantage and filled it up with stuff from the unfinished part of the basement. It took all day but looked so good when it was done! Of course, we now have a huge "donate" pile but we need an organization to come pick it up since there are several pieces of furniture included.

Wednesday: Work and then we had a dinner date to Chops. DELICIOUS!

Thursday: Work and then dinner at the White's house. Chris and Denna prepared a wonderful dinner for us, and we had a great time hanging out together.

Friday: We took the day off from work to work on the finished part of the basement. Ever since Lily was born, if we didn't know what to do with something we would just put it down in this part. You can imagine how much stuff was hanging around. We put up all the kids stuff and organized things for me to sell at a consignment sale next month which I am very excited about. We donated about 100 books to our local library. We got rid of so many empty boxes you wouldn't believe it. Now we just have to figure out what to do with the big pool table that is still in the middle of the room...any takers? This room looks so different now! Liz was amazed when she came back and saw how we had cleaned up her living area. She came up with some great reorganizing for her area too, so it looks really good. She now has a mini-fridge (there was one in the unfinished part that we had no idea was plugged in and working), a dresser and a nightstand in addition to the entertainment center with a TV that was already there. It actually looks like a decent little apartment! Unfortunately, we weren't able to work on the actual bedroom that is in the finished area of the basement. We ran out of time and energy. Plus, we can still close the door and not see that area! We'll get to it eventually though and maybe Liz will have an actual bedroom to use. We also went to Waffle House at about 10:30 at night just because we could.

Saturday: We got up about 9:30 so I could register for next month's consignment sale which I am super excited about. Then we ran a couple of errands, but by noon we were sitting at home relaxing. We had World Cup soccer on, and I was reading magazines. The girls and Liz got home about 5:30, and it was wonderful to see them. We truly enjoyed our child-free week, and we cannot thank our Birmingham family enough for taking the girls; we had forgotten the freedom that comes without having children. With that being said though, we love those little girls to pieces, and we wouldn't trade them in for anything. They are the most wonderful gifts we have ever been given!

Just Thinkin'

Friday night, we went to dinner at Taco Mac. As we were heading towards the car, Lily sat down on the curb which prompted Ryan to ask "What are you doing Lily?" She said "I'm just thinkin'," so he said "What are you thinking about?" She said "God." Ryan responded "What about God are you thinking?" She said "How he made everything like the dirt and flowers and curb." How sweet!

Make My Heart Melt

Lily absolutely melted my heart tonight. After putting Mia to bed and while Ryan was outside working on the deck, Lily and I had lots of fun playing together. Mostly we played hide and seek which she said was her favorite game. Finally, I helped her get ready for bed, we read her story and I asked what she was thankful for. She pointed to me and smiled really big. I said "Me?" and she said "Yes!" I gave her a huge hug, a kiss and said "You just made my day!" She just laughed and said "I'm thankful for you!"

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend; we did! Here's a recap of what we were up to.

On Friday evening, my mom, dad and Meme kept the girls for us, so we could meet some friends for dinner. I told Lily on Friday morning that they were coming that evening; her eyes got really big and she said "Really? Yea!" Mom said they were really good, and they had a great time playing together and entertaining Meme. Ryan and I met our friends at a little Mexican restaurant that we had not tried before, but it has gotten rave reviews for years. It was delicious, and it was a nice evening out with friends.

On Saturday, we all slept in a bit and then went to J Christopher's for brunch. It was delicious! Both girls did great too, eating well and smiling/waving/blowing kisses to all who looked their way. We spent the day playing, relaxing and napping. Soon after nap time, our friend, Nancy, came over to keep the girls. My cousin, Ashleigh, was getting married, and we were excited to go. It was at The Strand Theater in Marietta which was a cool place to have a wedding. They were married onstage while we were all in the audience; they had a dessert reception on the second floor and a dance floor on the fourth floor. You could also walk outside onto the patio above the marquee lights which was pretty cool. There were many family members and friends there who we enjoyed catching up with. Also, Saturday marked my parents 39th wedding anniversary, so it was nice to celebrate a little with them!

On Sunday, Ryan wasn't feeling very well; he had developed a pretty bad cold. I took the girls to church so he could stay home and rest. We met up at Williamson Brothers BBQ afterwards though for lunch; boy, is that delicious food! On our way to meeting him though, I experienced Lily's first episode "Mommy, I need to go potty NOW." She had told me in the car on the way to church she needed to go, and I told her she could go once she got to Sunday School. As we were in the car leaving church, she again said she needed to go. I asked if she had gone at church, and she said no; I think she was embarrassed to need to go. I asked if she could hold it for a few minutes while we went to meet Daddy for lunch. At first she said yes, but then that changed to "I need to potty NOW." I could see her in the backseat trying to cross and uncross her legs, and I just felt badly for her. I called Ryan, and we were able to meet up on the way; he stayed in the car with Mia so I could run Lily into a McDonalds. We made it just in time! After a delicious meal at Williamson Brothers, we headed home for afternoon naps. Once the girls woke up, I took them to Publix for groceries and to let Ryan enjoy some peace and quiet. We had been gone about 45 minutes when a terrible sudden thunderstorm hit. Wonderful man that he is, Ryan got in his car and came to Publix, so he could help me get the kids and groceries into the car without getting soaked. We didn't even know he was coming, we just looked up in the store and there he was! What a fantastic husband and daddy! We enjoyed a peaceful evening, and then while I was working on scrapbooks, Popi came in since he was in town for Jazzfest. It was fun catching up with him.

On Monday, we were supposed to go over to the Hendersons, but unfortunately, they were all under the weather. Instead our family had some fun together.  We went to House of Chan for lunch. This is my favorite Chinese restaurant. Of course, it has yummy food, but I also love it because my mom and I eat there together; it's our special place. We were right there though, and I saw they weren't too crowded, so I took Lily in. She said it was "one of the coolest restaurants" because she liked drinking out of the little white cup that is typically for hot tea, but she enjoyed her water in. She loved the honey pecan chicken and fried rice that we split. Most of all, she loved the fried wonton "chips" they brought out in the beginning. I told her Granna and I like to eat there, and she said "Yea, it's only for girls. We'll come back with Granna and Mia someday." I look forward to that day! The rest of the day was a very lazy day which was nice. Mia ran around playing, and Lily had a great time on my computer on the Playhouse Disney website. It was a nice end to a relaxing weekend.

We also would like to thank those who protect our country and allow us to have a Memorial Day to enjoy our family, friends and country.

New Playground Agreement

On the way home from church and lunch today, we passed a store that sells playgrounds sets that look pretty similar to the one we have at home. Lily noticed them and we had this conversation:
L: Oh Mommy, look at all the playgrounds! Can I get a new playground for our home?
M: No, you have a great playground at home. You don't need a new one.
L: What if ours breaks? Can I get a new one then?
M: Your playground isn't going to break. It's really strong.
L: Well, what if a dinosaur comes to play and breaks it? Then can I get a new one?
M: Okay, if a dinosaur is playing on it and breaks it then yes, you can have a new one.
L: Okay, that's a good deal.

3 Year Old Logic

Ryan and I went to a wedding this evening, so our friend Nancy kept the girls. Nancy used to babysit me, so I know she's great! Lily asked her to help put together a puzzle, so Nancy got everything out, followed Lily's directions on where to sit and what to do. After a few minutes Lily asked to do something else, and Nancy said "we haven't finished the puzzle yet." Lily said "Miss Nancy if I do too many pieces, my tummy hurts." In other words, "I'm done with this puzzle!"

Nastics

Wednesday was Lily's first of Gymnastics, or "nastics" as she calls them. We have a Little Gym in Downtown Smyrna that has always looked like so much fun. I happen to drive by the other day and saw a sign that said "Now Enrolling for Summer Camps and Classes" so I stopped in to have a look. It looks awesome! My niece, Molly, had a birthday party there a few years ago, so I knew it had all sorts of fun, supervised activities for kids, but I have never looked into their classes before. However, at 3, the kids start doing classes without parental involvement. So, each Wednesday through the summer, Lily will go to her gymnastics class; her age group (3-4 year olds) is called "Funny Bugs."

As soon as I told Lily she was going to go to gymnastics, she was resistant. I tried convincing her it would be so much fun, and she already loves to tumble and jump, but she wouldn't get on board. You know she gets nervous with new situations, and she had no idea where I was talking about taking her. I could see why she was nervous. I asked Ryan to take her to the first class because I thought she would be less likely to cling to him than to me. Ryan said when they got there (and they arrived a few minutes early so she could take it in for a bit), she asked to sit in his lap; they sat there and talked about all the fun things to do. But then, right at 10, the teacher came out and said it was time for class to start. Lily slid out of his lap, took the teacher's hand and walked right in. One whole wall is glass so parents can watch, so Ryan stayed for a few minutes to see how she did; she did great! He ran an errand for a few minutes, then came to see that she was still doing great. This first class was mostly about how to safely do things, but they also rolled over balls to do somersaults, and they walked across low uneven bars. She got a stamp on her foot as she was leaving which she thought was great too. When class was over, she walked out and immediately told Ryan, "I love nastics!" She was so excited!

Since The Little Gym is just a few minutes from my office, they came by afterwards so we could get lunch together. Lily ran up to me, gave me a big hug and wanted to tell me all about it. I am so excited that she is so excited! She asked me several times today if she gets to go back to nastics tomorrow; next Wednesday can't get here fast enough. I am planning on taking her next week so I can see her in action. The other reason I am thrilled she loved it is because we signed her up for a couple of the day camps. They are 9-12 a couple of times a week, but she won't start for a couple more weeks. They have a different theme each week (princesses, beach, wild west, outer space, etc), and I think Lily will love it. It looks like this is going to be a fun-filled summer for Lily!

Mia's Check Up

Today was Mia's 18 month check up. I can't believe it! She did pretty well too. She really liked climbing in and out of the chairs while we waited; getting down from a chair is certainly a new task that she is mastering. Dr. White and I were both a little surprised that she weighed in at 24 pounds, 4.5 ounces which is the 50th percentile; we both thought she was a little bigger. I will say that Mia was putting up a little bit of a fight sitting on the scale, and I am wondering if a foot and part of a leg didn't get fully counted. She is also 31.25 inches tall which is the 40th percentile, and her head is in the 60th percentile at 18.5 inches. All of these are consistent with her growth pattern which is great. She passed her autism screening with no concerns. She appears to be hitting all the markers for her age which is great; her speech seems to be back on track after getting the tubes in which is such a relief too. She is saying about a dozen words which is right where she should be, but she understands so much of what is said, and she can follow directions well (when she wants to!). She loves to imitate people which is a good sign at this age. She also had to get the last three of her baby immunizations which was not fun. I will say though that she immediately put her head on my shoulder when I picked her up from the table which is just so sweet. Overall, Dr. White said she is a healthy, beautiful little girl.

Mia is such a precious little girl who we adore. She lights up our world when she gives us hugs, blows us kisses or even just smiles. Her big blue eyes sparkle when she sees us, and she has such a great laugh. She wants to attempt anything she sees Lily doing, and most of the time, she imitates pretty well. She makes us laugh as we watch her happily dance and try to jump up and down. It's sweet that to calm herself down, she presses Glo-Worm's belly to make her sing, then immediately starts sucking her left thumb while holding Glo-Worm's ponytails with both hands. Mia is such an amazing, precious child who we are so blessed to call our daughter. We simply can't get enough of this little one!

Two Lily Stories

For about a week or so now, Lily will ask "Are you happy?" if she senses you are frustrated, tired or anything but happy. I am trying to help her understand these emotions by saying something like "I am frustrated that Mia made such a mess, but otherwise, yes, I am happy." When you say "Yes, I am happy" she will immediately reply "Well then let me see a happy face." You can't help but give a big smile with that!

Finally, after weeks of holding her poop in until she put on a Pull-up at nap time or a diaper at bed time, Lily has gone poopy in the potty again! Knowing that she needed to go, Liz pretty much forced her to go in the potty on Saturday. As soon as she pooped, they turned it into a celebration. I am so glad that she did this because I kept thinking "if she would just go once at home, she'll be okay." This morning, she still put up a fight, but Ryan got her to go on the potty too. That's twice! I think (knock on wood) that we're making progress here!