A Visit With Uncle Shane

Shane was able to come down for a weekend and enjoy Saturday and Sunday with our family last weekend. We had a lot of fun with him and the weather was beautiful on Saturday, so we took him to a few of our favorite spots. Here he is with the boys at Lucia Falls.

Here they are hiking one of the trails near Moulton Falls.

Here is Ascha doing her new trick - making a kissing sound. Since this photo was taken, she's developed a great ability to suck in her cheeks until she looks like a fish while trying for the sound. The funniest part is when we ask her for kisses. She still goes in with the wide open mouth for baby kisses, but when she gets close, she ends up blowing raspberries as she tries to figure out how to put the closed-mouth sound with the open mouth she's associated with kisses. She also had her 9 month appointment the other day (although she's 10 months old as of today) and was in the 30th percentile for height and the 90th for weight. She's definitely our child...following in the footsteps of her long lean brothers.

And here's a rare picture of "the mommy." It's an odd thing for me to be on the receiving end of a picture, but since it happened, I figured I'd document it. :-)

Happy Easter!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

The Mousetrap Car, Slurpy the Snail, and Easter Egg Fun

Last week was spring break, so Jeremy and the boys worked on creating a car propelled by a mousetrap. They got a great introduction to physics and Jeremy got to relive his childhood a little bit.

Ascha is getting close to walking. She's an expert behind her little walk-behind hippo and she's been balancing for periods of time before sinking slowly down into a sitting position. I keep reminding her she isn't allowed to walk until she's 1. We'll see how well she listens to Mommy's rules. She also just got her fourth tooth. I'm very thankful and hopeful that it will usher in an era of renewed nighttime sleep. 

Look how cute she is for spring in this lovely vintage-looking outfit, courtesy of her Grammy.

And how sweet she looks in her Sunday best alongside her handsome big brothers:

Introducing Slurpy the snail - our new pet. He is expected to stay with our family for three days. Daddy has been gone upriver, and as soon as he's been introduced, Slurpy will be "released back into the wild" (a.k.a. put outside where Taylor found him). It's been a lot of fun to learn about snail habits and habitat, and although the boys think they'd like to keep Slurpy long-term, Mommy has decided she doesn't like the smell.

Today was the day to dye eggs.

Gotta be goofy:

Ascha actually napped through the egg-dying process, but she was incredibly excited to see the colorful results when she woke up.

Happy Almost Easter! Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season! We are SO thankful for our life in and through HIM!