Perks

There are a lot of upsides to living with so many grown-ups. There are lots of people to play with Ellie and Clar. We take turns making dinner and grocery shopping, so the burden of feeding everyone is shared. Also, my brother Frankie works at Edible Arrangements and occasionally brings home extras!

Making Alumni Proud

Here's some some fun with dominoes from Rochester Institute of Technology, posted here especially for Luke.

Finally, Some Pictures!

I had to order a new camera cord, but I finally have the pictures from my camera on my computer. So here are some pictures to tell the story of our trip from Albuquerque to Massachusetts.
Thanks to the Newnams, Enfields, Overbeeks, Baileys, and Thompsons for taking care of Ellie and Clar while I packed and cleaned!
We celebrated Ellie's birthday (and Uncle Randy's, too!) at the farm in South Dakota. Ellie enjoyed her princess cake and took advantage of the sugar rush to pose for a picture or two.Clar fell in love with Wendy and Cosmo while Ellie talked my aunt, uncle, and cousins into playing dollhouse with her around the clock in Illinois.
We spent a whole week at the home of my mom's sister and brother-in-law in Michigan. Ellie took rides in three different boats, swam out to the raft with a life vest on, and baked us many sand breakfasts. Clar learned to splash, and now there's no turning back! The boy loves the water.




After our week at the lake, we drove a short way to Battle Creek, Michigan, to celebrate the wedding of my brother Frankie to his bride Kori. Ellie performed her flower girl duties well, and even allowed the ring bearer to help her toss petals on the floor. She was really in her element at the reception, where she danced the afternoon away. Being a flower girl is exhausting!


Here's Clar enjoying relief from humidity in front of the fan with Grandpa C:
Ellie owned the dance floor:

Ellie and Frankie, the groom:
Ellie dancing with
Ellie and Clar survived the trip and are finding new ways to communicate and play together all the time. Ellie, always imitating the grownups, offered Clar her knuckle to bite on to soothe his aching gums.
We arrived in Wakefield, MA, all in one piece on June 23rd. We thank God for granting us safe and uneventful travel, and for providing so many family members to drive with us and welcome us into their homes along the way.

We're Here!

I'm sitting at the computer in my parents' kitchen in the Boston area of Massachusetts! (They moved last summer, so I'm still not really sure exactly where I am). It's a drizzly day, just right for trying out cars and trains on the living room floor. Which is what Ellie did for most of the morning. Clar was singing and cooing all morning, partly at Penny the Dog, who he thinks is awesome, and partly because he didn't have to go back into his carseat today.

My camera batteries are dead, but there will be pictures up here soon. Then you can read about our trip after South Dakota. Some highlights were: celebrating Ellie's birthday and playing with kittens at the farm in South Dakota, a week at the lake in Michigan, the wedding of my brother Frankie to my new sister Kori on Sunday, and two long days of driving with my mom to arrive here in Boston.

For now, the kids (and everyone else!) are napping and I have some unpacking to do. Thank you for your prayers for our safety as we traveled. We're thankful to be here and so excited to be out of the car!

South Dakota

I keep forgetting to take pictures, so I don't have any proof, but we're in South Dakota!

We arrived in the Black Hills area Saturday night and spent Sunday with Grandpa L's side of the family. Monday we drove across the state to the farm, where we're celebrating Ellie's birthday with Grandma L's side of the family. Ellie, Clar, and their cousin Riley saw cows and tractors up close and enjoyed stepping in great big tractor tracks in the mud. Now the girls are taking a bath and the boy is asleep.

Tomorrow we'll get back in the car and drive further East.

Colorado Springs

We made it to CO Springs yesterday just after 4 pm. The kids did great in the car. We stopped for a picnic lunch and to stretch our legs, and stopped a few other times for various reasons. They played and slept and sang along to "The Sound of Music" during the drive. Well, Ellie didn't sleep until about 8 miles from our exit here in the Springs, but she had a great attitude in spite of going without a nap.

Tomorrow morning we'll get on the road again!

Quote of the Day

Our church has small groups, organized roughly by geography. We got together yesterday after church to spend time with one another and pray before we leave on our big trip and two other families move out of state. Our neighbors across the street , who are in our group, were right behind us on the drive home. As we got out of our car, Ellie said,

"Mommy, our whole Covenant Group lives on Choke Cherry Pie!"