Vacation

Shawn, Evelyn, Josephine and I were blessed to have gone to Arizona on vacation. We were gone from May 1st through the 9th. We stayed with Shawn's cousin Kathy and her husband Chris. It was a wonderful vacation, fun for everyone I'd say. Kathy and Chris did a wonderful job of letting us feel at home and stepping back into their life as if we hadn't been missing. Evelyn got a kick out of looking for the wild horses on every car ride out of town. We even saw them a few times. Joey loved perfecting her crawling skills, Shawn enjoyed hitting the golf course after a 3 year hiatus and I got to enjoy a bath all by myself, with no one in the house. Ah, peace and quite. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Joey and Aunt Kathy
Chris and Evie celebrating early birthdays.

The girls at the zoo. See the tortoise behind them?

Shawn and I at the Hoover Dam

Proof of the Hoover Dam

This was the first warm pool Joey has ever been in. She loved it as much as her older sister did!

Evelyn's favorite past times, reading and being a cowgirl.

We were able to visit Route 66 on our way to Las Vegas.

The gang at the Grand Canyon.

Joey enjoying the planes and ground crew.

A Paradigm Shift

Today is the day our world changed. You would think that day would have been when Joey was born, but today affects every square inch of our living space. The child can no longer be contained. She has started to CRAWL. Shawn accidentally got this first event on video. Grab some popcorn, sit back and watch the fun begin.

Karate

These are pictures from Evelyn's first karate lesson. From the look in her eyes we might have hit the jackpot here. She gets 2 private lessons before joining other children in classes. We just have to remind her not to punch her parents when they haven't asked for it. I mean really asked for it...verbally.

Here is a video of Evie's lesson. It is fun to watch.

Matching Outfits

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Chris sent the girls matching outfits. Evie was so excited! I decided to do a little photo shoot. Here are some of the pictures.

Here is a video of Joey swinging. It is VERY cute, but be prepared if you get motion sick.

February is Gone Already?

I can't even believe February is gone. We were blessed to have our friends Rebekah and Graig Kubista come and stay with us. We had a great time. I hope they did too. Here are some pictures that they don't know are on the website.

While Shawn was working on his paper we went and explored Lexington. Here is Graig, Evelyn, Rebekah and Joey at Thoroughbred Park.

We also managed to make it out to Highbridge, our big tourist spot near Wilmore. It was warm, but windy at the overhang.

Rebekah and I got to do some window shopping. You should have seen what we tried on. It was a blast!

Here are some other random pictures.

Evie participating in her favorite past time.

Valentine's Week

This past week Evelyn got her cast off. Yeah! She ended up with a sore on the top of her foot and an open sore about the size of a Sacajawea Gold Dollar on her heal. This might have been some of the cause of the stink that was coming from the cast. She is on her way to healing both of those and loving taking baths again.

Joey and Evie and I were going through Evelyn's clothes and I was able to catch the two f them in Evie's new mirror. I thought this was precious and wanted to share.

Evelyn insisted that Joey be put in this little red wagon. It was cute, but Joey's diapered bottom got wedged in. She wasn't sure after awhile if she liked it or not.

Here is a picture of the girls on Valentine's Day. We got a V-day Dairy Queen cake from Grammie and Grampie Mickschl. Right after the picture, Joey stuck her foot in the cake. That was the tastiest baby foot I've ever eaten.

Here is a short video of Joey opening her gift from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Chris. She'll be a pro by the time her birthday rolls around. She seemed to have the hang of it today.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Our day was spent folding laundry, meeting with friends and hanging out with other friends. Not very romantic for Shawn and myself, but we're saving that for the couple's retreat we are going on through the Seminary next weekend. We wish everyone lots of love and happiness this coming year and remember it doesn't have to be celebrated on Valentine's Day.

Life Goes On

Life keeps marching along. Here is a few pictures from the other week.

Evelyn put this "cape" on Joey and pronounced them Super Sisters. Joey was the "Super Sidekick and Evelyn was the "Super Sister".

This is a funny picture of Joey and her bath toys. She loves to take baths!

Here is Joey and I with our giant Valentine's Day Card.

It was the biggest we had ever seen. Shawn and Evie show off the inside.

Ice Storm

Crazy, Crazy, Crazy. This was the state of affairs that my family is in now that they have spent nearly 7 days in our house. Shawn had not left since Sunday 01/25 and Evie and Joey since 01/24. This storm shut down the schools and made driving dangerous at times. It was the ice that made things difficult. It brought down lots of tree limbs and uprooted trees. Took down power and telephone lines and blocked roads. The toughest part about driving this week for me was missing the tree limbs in the road. Luckily, we did not lose power and were blessed to have our friends stay with us a few days. It was fun to have a captive audience and to learn more about them. Kinda like a zoo, and a zoo it was at times. When I was walking around today I ran into utility workers from North Caroline here to fix the power. I said hello and thanked the gentleman for his service. Here are some pictures from after the storm, before the next one the state is a buzz about.