Auntie Time

We had such a fun treat of having both Aunt Bud and Aunt Jessi come out and visit us for about a week last month.  Tyler was traveling for TWR and so Aunt Bud flew out to help keep me and the kids company as well as help me with anything and everything while here (getting lots of things done these days with my large baby belly is getting more and more difficult).    When Aunt Jessi heard that Natalie was going to be here she decided to make a last minute trip down from Ohio for a fun girls week.  Natalie was great at helping take care of all 3 kids that were here and making sure both Jessi and I were well cared for, since we are both nearing the end of our pregnancies.  

We had a great time, mostly just relaxing around the house and enjoying the company together.  The kids got along great with their little cousin Micah.  Gwen and Micah would play well together but we got many laughs at the looks Gwen would give Micah when they had to share toys.  They were each keeping a good eye on each other and were at moments unsure about each other.

It was fun to see them interact since they are fairly close in age.   It was a good practice for Gwen as she will have two little brothers to share toys with soon.

Our days were filled with good food, sunshine, parks, ice cream and occasional afternoon naps for everyone.   It's always great to be able to catch-up in person with family.  We miss living so close to family so anytime we get to have together is wonderful and well enjoyed.

Cousin Time

What a great start we have had to our spring.  This year we have had the joy of having lots of visitors come to our house over the last month and a half.

I think our most anticipated visitors however were my older sister (Amie) and her family.   Amie and her family have been serving in full-time ministry overseas, in Africa, for the last 3 years and so we were very anxious to get to finally see them all again in person.   We got to enjoy a week together and had a fun time just watching the kids play and catching-up on life over the last three years.   Thanks to modern technology such as the internet, and Skype we have been able to keep up a little while they have been away so catching-up on life over the last three years in a week was somewhat manageable, though we wish we could have had more time.

We had a great time with them here, and with six kids running around the house and three years of playtime to catch-up on I forgot to take many pictures, but sometime memories are best made not behind the lens of a camera.

Here are the few pictures we did get to remember our time together.   They happen to all be mostly of the kids, but they were the most entertaining during the day and our activities seemed to revolve around playtime and kid activities anyway, with a few work projects for the men to accomplish (thanks to my brother-in-law for his willingness to help with tree pruning and some gate building for our fence).

 Superheros took over our trampoline all week 

 Lots of arts and craft time

Leaning to make coffee, South Sudan style 

Enjoying their "kids" coffee (mostly milk with a little South Sudan coffee) 

A train ride at the park  

Ice Cream night at our local Ice Cream shop - Thanks Grandma for the special treat! 

The two youngest in the group playing trains 

Construction work at the kids Museum (Gwen watching and waiting for the day she will be allowed to handle a saw)  

Cousins, 3 months apart, great friends, and sad to say good-bye

We had such a great time together and I wish that we lived closer so all the cousins could have more time together.  It was an encouraging week to hear how the Lord is using my sister and her family so richly in the area God has called them to serve.   We can't wait for our next time to be together, whenever that may be.  

April 10 on 10

We have been quite busy the last month with lots of company and fun visitors so I hope to be able to blog soon about some of out special visitors.  For now I have another post for a "10 on 10" photo day. I took a picture every hour (almost every hour) for ten hours on April 10th.  This is what our day looked like...

7:00 am 

Let the dog out and found our deck covered in yellow pine tree pollen.  This time of year the pollen is really bad.  Though the weather is nice we have to find indoor activities so we don't end up bringing all this yellow pollen inside the house. 

8:30 am 

Playtime after breakfast.  Gwen's favorite dress-up outfit at the time is Neal's policeman costume.  Though she really only like the hat and handcuffs. 

9:30 am

Silly picture taking by Neal...there was lots of laughter over the silly looking photos he could make

10:00 am

A last minute trip to see daddy at work and find an indoor play area for the kids to burn off energy.  (I love how Neal is rocking out to the music in the car)

10:45 am 

Playing at the indoor play area in the mall.  The perfect place for little Gwen who could climb on anything and everything that she wanted (bonus is no yellow pollen all over her hands and clothes to clean up after playing. Indoor play areas are so wonderful at times, though crowded)

11:30 am 

Meeting Daddy and some of the TWR video team for a team lunch after playtime...still one of my favorite places to get a burger 

1:00 pm

Back home, and headed for nap/rest time.  

2:00 pm 

A snack and some quite reading time for me, the reading didn't last long as I ended up falling asleep.  We all had a good afternoon nap.

4:00 pm 

Afternoon tea party

6:30 pm

Ending the evening with our weekly family movie night.  I can't wait to see 4 kids on Daddy's lap soon, I do't know how they will all fit.  Feeling blessed beyond measure by the wonderful family the Lord has given us...

Birthday Celebrations

Last month we celebrated Neal's 5th birthday!    Five years ago Neal joined our family and made Tyler and I parents for the first time.  What a joy and blessing he has been to our family over the past 5 years.

We celebrated on his actual birthday at home with some fun little spiderman cupcakes and gifts from us and the Grandparents.

Then a week later we all got to celebrate again with some of Neal's friends with a small birthday party.   Neal chose the theme of Transformers for his party this year and we all had a fun time playing and celebrating together.  

Neal also chose to have his party at the TWR lodge, which is where we first lived when we moved her while we looked for a house.  It was fun to decorate the lodge and celebrate somewhere different then our house.   One of the great things at this age is there was no organized games or activities needed.  The kids had so much fun playing with the balloons at the party, coloring and building with legos that all the parents were able to visit and relax while the kids played together.  (we were all having so much fun I forgot to take many pictures.)

Neal is growing up so quickly and there is a lot about his personality that Tyler and I recognize in ourselves.  It is fun to hear his imagination grow and to listen to his stories and watch him play with his sister and friends.   Neal loves to play with anything that can be a robot, transformer or that he can have a battle with.   He always wants Gwendolyn to be right beside him playing along.  He loves to read books and really likes to have us read him chapter books with him before bed at night.  A few of his favorite books that we have read so far are "Charlotte's Web" and "The Mouse and the Motorcycle".  He loves to listen to Adventures in Odyssey and is always up for almost any activity that can be done with Mom, Dad or Gwen.

Neal 2010

Neal 2015

He has changed and grown a lot in the last 5 years and will be starting school the end of this summer. The phrase, "the days are long but the years are short" seems so true, especially with little ones around.

From Four to Six

Well things have been changing quickly around our house.  Our big news is this...

Yep, we are doubling our kid count and expecting TWINS (2 boys to be exact)!   We were surprised with the news of this pregnancy being twins but are beyond excited for these two new additions to our family.   There has been lots of morning sickness but that is finally going away and now it's just battling feeling tired all the time.  I can't tell at this point that there are two babies in there moving around, except that I'm showing way more then I was with one and I actually feel like I can feel my stomach growing.  The other night my stomach so tight and it felt like my skin was just being stretched, a weird and uncomfortable feeling that I never had with our first two.

Between keeping up with the two kids and trying to keep our house in order there isn't much that really gets done quickly around here these days.  Tyler is great at helping out and we have simply decided we don't mind living with a little chaos and mess.  It's only gonna get crazier around here with 4 kids age 5 and under (3 who will be under the age of 2) right?

Anyway, this is what has been keeping us so busy the past few months.    Lots of changes taking place for our family in the months to come.  The 2 new boys are due to arrive sometime in June and then shortly after their arrival Neal will be starting kindergarten so life will look quite different here this summer.  Plus Gwendolyn and I are gonna have to stick together since we will be out numbered with all the boys in the house.

We are praising the Lord for his abundant blessings and the gifts of these new kids and we look forward to embracing whatever lies ahead for us as we transition from a family of 4 to a family of 6.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!   2015 is already underway and once again it is hard to believe another year has come and gone.

It's been awhile since we last updated this blog and that is just 'cause life seems to be busy, as always. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas here in NC.  We enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving with some close friends from church and then had a quite and wonderful Christmas celebration with just the four of us here at home.

It is different being apart from family during the holidays but we have enjoyed the opportunity to create our own traditions and enjoy the family time as we quietly celebrate the holidays here at home. We love that we have the chance to Skype with all our family over Christmas and share in the joy of the Holidays a little together.

There is so much that we did the last few months that's it hard to write it all down so I'll mostly let pictures share about our time.  

Right before Thanksgiving we got to see Gigi and Grandfather who came down to TN for a few days, along with lots of our TN family...we loved our time together.  

Gwendolyn was so fun to see this Christmas and Neal was eager to help her open any and all of her gifts, she didn't mind.  

A few holiday traditions we have started here are a Christmas puzzle the week leading up to Christmas, new jammies to wear Christmas eve and sleeping under the tree and watching a Christmas movie. 

Merry Christmas and Happy new year!  We hope your holidays were filled with lots of great memories, friends and family.  (This was the Christmas of superhero shirts for our family, Neal was thrilled to be able to pick out a superhero shirt for both Tyler and I as his gift to us)