Beautiful Beach Girl

Life in Las Vegas

Hunt had a business trip to Las Vegas last week. We were separated for a whole week (which is the longest I can recall in 7.5 years of marriage). I sent the camera with Hunt to make pictures, but he said there wasn't really anything photo worthy in Vegas. Hmmm? I guess it's good he's not captivated by the sins of Sin City. Seriously, he says he got bored because there was nothing to do. Because he had a conference, he wasn't able to make any side trips to the Grand Canyon or scenic spots. When he called me from the airport, I reminded him to snap at least one quick pic.

The really precious thing was seeing Archie run down the stairs after bedtime and jump into his arms when he heard Hunt's voice. Grace squealed the next morning when she woke up to find Daddy at breakfast. I think Daddy also got big brownie points for the model airplane he brought Archie and the Vegas Princess bag he got Grace.

A bit demanding? Funny vocab stories

Grace is getting a little demanding at Mamoo and Papa's house. Tonight, she told Mamoo (Grandma DeJ) "More juice...QUICK."

I do appreciate her concern for authority. While visiting overnight at a friend's recently, we told Archie he was only allowed to come downstairs if he became very afraid. Grace must have taken the message to heart. We overheard her tell Archie that she had an accident and ask him if she could go downstairs. He granted her permission :)

Grace is progressing in the use of more complex sentence structures. When Archie told us he didn't want to do something a few days ago, she called out from the other room, "I don't want to EITHER."

Archie's use of the words "excuse me" is also amusing me these days. The other day, he ran up to me in McDonald's Playland and told me, "Excuse me, I can't find my friend." Guess that's the right way to get my attention. It just sounds so funny with that sentence. Happy to report we located "friend in the orange shirt" a few minutes later in another slide and they went back to playing.

2 CUTE 2B2

She's precious! She's adorable! We love her, and she's two. If you ask her, she usually tells you she's three, but she is, in fact, two.

She is a talker. She picks up on vocabulary almost instantly. She and Archie can switch from babble to English now! It's pretty funny to hear some of the things they talk about. Today, he told her to be careful with her toy pet, Fat Rat, and keep up with it. "OK," she replied. She likes learning. She mastered the colors awhile ago and is working on her uppercase letters and counting. We'll do one morning of Mother's Day Out each week and one day of Bible study for social skills.

She's pretty much fearless. We go to the hotel pool nearly everyday, and she's not afraid to put her head under. The only things she's scared of are leaves floating on the surface and pretty much anything with four legs. I think I wish she would develop a little healthy fear (or caution)...

She's also fully potty trained other than the occasional accident. It's really nice to finally be diaper free! She likes to do things the grown up way, and got her toenails painted pink for the first time on her birthday. She also demands big kid toothpaste. I keep the amount less than pea sized because she doesn't quite have the spitting down...

Happy Birthday, little Princess!

Six Years Plus Five Kids

The last time my college pals, Rebecca, Angela, and Hannah and I were all together one of us wasn't even married. We said goodbye to Hannah in '05 then started scattering around three different continents and four different countries. Although several of us have individually had opportunities to see each other over the last six years, this was the first time we all four shared together. It was so great for everybody to reunite (minus one husband).

Girls and kids. Archie's the oldest and baby Conner wins the youngest prize.With Hannah headed back home overseas and another reunion looking like it will be at least two more years away, we have a bet going on. Next time we're guessing we'll have NINE kids between us (one more for everybody).

Just the girls.
We loved having the reunion on a farm. Hope to post some pics of farm life soon.

One Year

Yesterday marked one year since we left China. It really doesn't seem like it could be possible but it was. I marked the anniversary by creating a photo memory book of our three years in China on Snapfish. I'll celebrate/remember our one year on our blog by posting pics of the kids then and now.

Plane ride home:


Grace's pre-2nd birthday party with Memaw and Papa:

Archie and his new guitar:

Family Portraits