In All Things

Monday, March 7, 2011

Sledding!!

We failed to take sledding pictures all winter when there was tons of snow. This sledding trip wasn't as fun, but the kids were glad to get in a few more rides before spring!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

In January, we piled into the car and headed to Texas. Upon arrival we were thrilled to see Bibi and Papa, Uncle Mike, Aunt Heather, and Ilaria, and UM, AJ and their boys Parker and Jonathon. Above are all the cousins along with Aunt Heather and Bibi and Papa during our visit to Fort Worth's cow town.

We went through really great maze (Anna, Michael and I won and I have to say I never would have made it if I hadn't been with them!) Afterwards, Mikey and Katie visited this jail.

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We got to see the long horns on procession. The go down this rode twice a day

Giddy up!

While we were together, we celebrated a late Christmas.....

Here's all the cousins on our trip to the zoo! We had great weather,and it was a beautiful day to see the animals.

This was the first time our kids met their cousin Ilaria. Anna loved helping out with her and giving her lots of love!

We visited the American Girl Doll Gallery and Bistro in Dallas. Wow! You can buy every American girl doll imaginable, have your doll's hair styled, and eat at the bistro. The girls thought it was pretty neat.

At the bistro, the dolls get a high chair and were served little dishes as well.

After we got back from Texas, Scott traveled a lot farther away. Here is one of his shots.

He was gone for 2 weeks and we missed him a lot! Lots of friends helped out and we got through it with God's help. While Scott was gone, I asked the kids where they wanted to go out to eat for being good while Dad was away. Anna loves buffets, so we decided on the Golden Corral. But then, since Daddy was coming home on Valentine's Day, Anna decided that instead of going to her favorite place she wanted to take him to a restaurant she knows he likes. The kid's concocted a whole scenario to surprise him. Very sweet!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Anna's Birthday

Anna turning 9 this week in Iowa. She is an energetic, artistic, lovely girl. We love you, Anna!

Anna decorated this horse cake for her 9th birthday.

Turning 8 and celebrating with the Pittman family in Illinois.

7 years old! This was with her friends in Central Asia. There were a lot more that came that day!

This was another party for turning 7, this one with her English speaking friends.

And another..... this one with her Grandparents who were also living in Central Asia. She especially loved that you can see that her hands are decorated with henna in this picture.

With Grammy Spence.

Unfortunately, we lost the pictures in Central Asia for her 6th birthday, though we do have video of her party with local friends. That was a COLD winter and were unable to leave our town for any additional celebrations that year!

Here's the princess turning 5, also in Central Asia. She's holding silk flowers that were a gift from local friends.

This is also at her 5th birthday party. The few local girls we invited said, "Isn't she going to dress up?" She didn't look quite fancy enough and the princess dress (which actually would have satisfied her friends perfectly, hadn't arrived in the mail from Grandma yet!)

Turning 4 in Minneapolis, we were there for a couple of weeks visiting friends with baby Katie.

Here we are in Illinois with Grammy after our trip to MN, another beautiful cake!

3 years old in Central Asia, and we were able to celebrate with Papa and Grammy Spence.

Here are the kids we invited for Anna's third birthday, our neighbors. I think I served them hot dogs and french fries! Mikey is the baby sitting in the older girl's lap.

The top picture is Anna's first birthday and the bottom one is turning 2 in Thailand. We went there for a conference and vacation with Anna and baby Michael.

One years old! We had just arrived a few weeks earlier to our first home in Central Asia.

Monday, January 3, 2011

40th Anniversary Surprise Party!!

Here's Scott's parents walking into what they thought was a baby shower for their daughter.... nope, it was a celebration of their 40 years of marriage! Thankfully, they were truly surprised.

Here is the beautiful and delicious cake we all enjoyed!

Scott and his brother

Christmas in IL

Before leaving for IL, we had a family Christmas celebration. Thankfully, the weather was good for travel and we hit the road for Southern Illinois. We had a great week with the Pittman clan, culminating in a 40th anniversary surprise party for Scott's Mom and Dad. It was a great party and a great surprise!