The Birthday Boy

My baby is one. That happened WAY too fast!

Oh goodness how I love this sweet boy. He blesses us fresh every single day with his quick smile and loving personality. He loves to snuggle with mommy, play up with his daddy (I recently found them watching Top Gear together), keeps quite entertained by his big sister, and is a ferocious crawler (he can get some speed, that boy!).

We had a little birthday party for him with the cousins. We played games, listened to lively bluegrass and had an all around rousing good time.


I made a cake, with fear and trembling since I had yet to have one actually turn out. Poor Mariah's one year old cake could have doubled as a rubber bouncy toy. But this one actually worked! I was relieved and so thankful.

But I guess Micah isn't a cake person. His first real taste of sugar and he basically just ignored it choosing to flirt with the camera instead.

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" ~Micah 6:8

Christmas highlights

Here are a few of our favorite moments over the Christmas season, captured on "film".

And that's that

So here we are, at the end of my Minnesota trip. Our last week was packed full of seeing friends and family and enjoying every little bit of Minnesota that we could. Here are a few random shots of it all...

Like father, like son!
I was amused to see that my nephew Thomas has grown so much like my brother. They both have the same ability to intensely concentrate on things, love being the center of attention, are highly intelligent, and like to let you know by using big words and concepts! Ha ha! And they are both crazy fun! And check out their Christmas tree!!...

We also had the blessing of seeing the Fraser family one afternoon. Love this family so much. They are a huge encouragement and an amazing example of Christ-likeness. I really admire them.

And their girls are gems! Mariah enjoyed dressing up with them (or rather, being dressed up!) Wig and all!

We were also blessed by a lovely evening over for supper with my cousins. Their kiddos are close in age to ours and enjoyed playing together. Mariah and Judah are tolerating a rather vigorous hug from Elinor.

And finally, saying goodbye at the airport! :(

Boy, do I ever miss them! I thank God for such wonderful parents and grandparents for my children. Sooooo blessed!!

And here we go...back on the airplane, flying home. I kind of felt like Micah looks at this point too..."HELP!"

Traveling home was WAY harder than the trip over. For one thing, the bassinet that I had tried so hard to reserve didn't work out in the end and we never had an empty seat next to us, unlike on the way over. So it was a bit more work and slightly stressful since I had to hold a wiggly little boy the whole way,. Thankfully the kind gentleman next to me managed to save my tray of food from flying into the air from one of Micah's swift kicks. In the end, we made it and are now home safe and sound. Whew!

And the eating begins!

While in Minnesota, Micah had his first try at food!

4th of July

We had a great day out on the 4th. Since it isn't celebrated here, of course, nobody else was celebrating so it was sort of strange to me. No fireworks, parades, or picnics. But we made a day out of it anyway and took a family drive to see some sights.

We took a walk across the new Peace Bridge in Derry and enjoyed this nice new piece of architecture. There it is behind me...

And we took a snack stop with a view...

And I couldn't resist some photos of this little sweetie...

So that was our day, quiet but lovely.
Happy Independence Day!

Speaking of family...

...my parents came to visit us! It was so SOOOoo wonderful to have them here. I just can't thank God enough for giving me these two amazing people as parents! I am so very blessed.

While they were here, we took a trip up through Scotland which is where the above picture was taken. It was a trip of a lifetime for most of us. David's parents came as well and we were able to visit the places where my mother-in-law grew up. We all enjoyed the trip very much (more about that trip later).

Mariah was really happy to see my parents as well. Since she hadn't seen them for 8 months, we were wondering how she would take to them, but as soon as they got off the airplane, she ran to my dad and hugged him and wouldn't let go for ages! It was great and by the look on my dad's face, it was doing him a lot of good too.

A lot of people think that Mariah looks like my mom and I think they are right.

The time really flew by when they were here because it was packed so full. In the two weeks that they were here we had Micah's baby dedication, they helped us move house, we toured Scotland, and then they helped us get settled into our new house when we got back. Plus lots of cuddling time with the grandkids, of course.

Micah's dedication Sunday

Getting to know their newest grandson!

Some lovin' from Grandma

Running through the rain, rescuing our laundry from off the clothesline! Aren't they great!

Thanks for coming over, Mom and Dad! We sure hated to say goodbye!

We love you!

Nothing like family!

There really is nothing better than a visit from a couple of sweet nieces and a wonderful sister! I was so HUGELY blessed to have my sister Mindy, her baby Analise, and my niece Annika come over for nearly two weeks this spring. I am only just now getting around to posting some pictures of their sweet faces...

Mariah loves Analise!

Thank you so much for blessing us with your visit! We miss you!

Micah's Birth Story

Micah's birth story is finished at last. Enjoy!
(The text on the video is a bit tough to read...sorry about that!)

He's here!!

On March 13th at 12:12am, Micah David made his way into this world and into our eager arms. We were overjoyed to meet our son and thankful to the Lord for such a wonderful water birth. (more story and photos to follow) Here is a photo taken just a few hours after he was born...such a serious look!

Weight: 9.4 lbs.
Length: 19.3 in.
Head: 14.5 in.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
~Psalm 127:3