Monday, August 19, 2013

10 Months

To say it has been a busy month would be quite an understatement.  We've had tons of fun keeping up with a busy schedule and a BUSY boy.
Our happy 10 month old.
Bet you can't guess where he gets his busyness from?
Daddy is attempting to keep him still in the rocking chair.
Can you tell he prefers climbing much more than rocking?
His sister "wuving on him" and trying to help him be still to take a picture with her. 
By the way, his sister is also in to dressing herself these days...esp selecting what shoes she will wear...not always appropriate for the occasion...but hey, if you can do something independently around here, we like it.

Speaking of independence, he is on the move and soooo close to walking.


 Showing off his skills at cousin C's birthday party.



He still LOVES to eat and he also likes to test everything out to make sure he is not missing out on anything tasty.
Here is a shot of him trying a bite of sand.
We all like playing in the water during the summer, but this boy really LOVES the water.




 Trip to the spray park with some of our buddies.



  Our BIG trip to Arizona
The 5 of us in Dilkon, AZ.  Make note of Mt. Dilkon in the background.
We traveled with this sweet group of people from our church to do a VBS for a church on the Navajo Reservation.  Our group ranged from 9 months to 80 yrs old.  There were some challenges along the way but the Lord took care of us and we feel so blessed to have been able to be a part of this ministry.
Our last day of VBS


McB and some of his "new friends"


SLiM had a blast getting to do some of the "big kid" stuff.






Our kiddos had a blast and even provided some entertainment for the team in the afternoons.
McB trying his hand at UNO



 Mountain Climbing


SLiM and Daddy getting ready to go mountain climbing.  SLiM has consistently told us that this was her favorite part of the trip.
Getting ready to climb Mt. Dilkon.

At the top!
  It was more steep than we initially thought on our way up.  Micah was quickly tied to daddy with the rope you see connected to his water bottle. 
Here is how Mommy and IP decided to climb down.  He thought it was a great idea and laughed the entire way down...he had no idea how much danger he was in;)  The loose lava rock was a bit of a problem when you could not really watch your step due to a baby carrier blocking your view.

Just as we reached the bottom of the mountain, one of the Navajo girls we had met found us and told us about a community fitness event taking place...immediately.  The Navajo "Just Move It" 5K or 3K run/walk.  We did the 3K kids-run-while-parents-walk/limp;) This made for a great opportunity for us to interact with the community.  We all slept well that night...well almost, IP started running a fever. 

On your mark, get set, GO!

We made a few sight seeing stops on our way home.

Grand Falls
Grand Falls is a "chocolate" water fall that only flows during Monsoon Season.  We were told that the drop of the fall from top to bottom is larger than Niagara falls, but it is spread out in several drops.

 The Grand Canyon

McB and SLiM loving their 1st bus ride.

Our sweet friends in NM hosted us for a night on our way home.
Carlsbad Caverns

McB learned about stalagmites and stalactites but he prefers to call the stalagmites "rock monsters".  This was his favorite part of the trip.  Sarah quietly and frequently informed us that she was hunting for tigers.  She was convinced there were tigers hiding in the cave.  

Check out McB's face of amazement.  He has not stopped talking about being "inside a mountain."  Sarah was keeping an eye out for tigers while the rest of us posed for a pic.
Glow sticks in the caverns were a hit.

The kids did great in the car.  They each had a gift bag that our church mission board put together for them to help the trip go smoothly. They were able to open a small present (little toys, stickers, candy, band-aides, painters tape, magnets, coloring books, gak, memory cards, glow sticks and more) from their bags every few hrs throughout the trip.  McB cried when we drove in to our driveway saying, "I want to go back to Arizona."   He has asked several times since then if we could go on a long trip again.  I'd say that the efforts of our mission board (esp Mrs. Dawna and Mrs. Elizabeth) were a success.

 It was a great trip but we were glad to be HOME.  I think we are still trying to catch up on sleep.  By the way, IP had 3 new teeth break through during the trip and Daddy got to practice his ear manipulation skills to get rid of ear aches for both the boys.  Micah's ear manipulation took place at about 3am and the only place we could go where his screaming would not awaken anyone was over to the sanctuary building...that was a little odd;)


Monday, July 8, 2013

9 Months!

Wow! This has been a busy month.  We are currently unpacking from celebrating the 4th and packing at the same time to head out to Arizona for a week.  IP has been a trooper with our adventures so far but I think we will all be stretched a bit with our drive across a few states in the heat of the summer.  Hopefully we'll have a fun report next month;) Please keep us in prayer as we travel with a team to do VBS and spend time sharing the Gospel with the Navajo people in Arizona.
Our happy 9 month old little boy.
getting in to everything


Look out big bro and sis.
Camp Eagle
Camp Eagle with Granny

Happy 4th of July!
This little girl LOVED the fireworks.

Riding Concho and Chance

4 Wheelin fun
Boat Ride
Daddy teaching McB how to fish. Check out that serious face.

Playing in the salty Bay/River

Bath Time

Fun time with the cousins!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

8 Months

8 Months and on the move!  He went from barely sitting to crawling and pulling to stand about a week after my last post.  He usually crashes after pulling to stand but he keeps at it.  IP loves his big sis and big bro and tries his best to keep up with them.  He is pretty excited about the new skill of clapping that his big bro taught him while sitting in their car seats today.  All three of these little blessings are a ton of fun to be around.  It's been a busy month but we've had a blast!

IP's 1st time at "the jumping place" 
Teams of Tomorrow "TOT" program

Celebrating/not cooking dinner at CiCi's after a fun day with the fam.


Fun Times with Grampa and Gramma




Mud Puddle Fun


Napping while big bro and big sis play in the water




Our 1st Family of 5 Camping Trip

We found that camping with all 5 of us is lots of fun and LOTS of work...but worth it....well, IP may not agree with that statement just yet.  It was HOT!  He was happy when he was able to sit in his car seat in the ac as we made a trip to the camp store and the Garner dance.  McB and SLiM LOVED dancing.  We did not get many pics b/c, like I said, camping was work.

Catching up on a few zzzzzzzzzzz's that he missed the night before.






Getting ready for Camp Eagle with our youth group.
  
IP and SLiM tagged along on our hike to Circle Bluff at the HEB Foundation Camp.  Mommy and Daddy got a good workout.

Circle Bluff

Swimming at Blue Hole after our hike.




Happy Kids at Echo Valley

Mischievous McB
Silly SLiM
Independent IP
Giddy-Up and McB helping Daddy paddle

Loving his Daddy