Denial

Just as I am currently denying that today is Penelope's first birthday, I will deny that I haven't posted a blog in over two months. If you will kindly buy into this convention with me, everyone will be happier. O. K.

The last eight weeks have been jam-packed: family visits; many local adventures with our little clan; SPRING in full glory; the painting/continued decorating of several rooms in my house; pulling up of oodles of carpet to find our old hardwoods; growing babies; reading lessons; cutting of new teeth; growing out of a first "real" bicycle; trying so hard to learn to walk; being accepted to MSU for grad school (Jake, not me); and lots and lots of bike riding.

In the interest of brevity for all you loyal (and surprised... "wow--she's still alive!") readers, I will post pictures with captions only.

These two precious ladies visited:


Nana was thrilled to get to spend some time with her girlies, and the elder one, in particular, was thrilled to have her Nanable around. There were lots of baby walks in the stroller, and even a date night or two for Mommy and Daddy, for which we were very grateful.

Ain't Sayrah at an Ethiopian coffee shop. During her visit wonderful, wonderful sister-catch-up-time ensued, as well as all sorts of auntie silliness. Man, are we glad she's home and can talk to us on the phone! And we're also glad she brought Mommy the new favorite earrings that she's been wearing at least 5 times per week that were bought at an African market, and that she was around to take pictures like this:
Beautiful, golden locks went from this:

To this:
We purchased the long-awaited bike trailer, which has given us hours and DAYS of recreational thrills,

going places like this...

to do things like this...

and playing so hard, this happens.

Oh, yes, she has been doing this if we look the other way... and trying even when we don't.

And now that it is finally creeping up into the 80's, Joys have been been seen doing beach-like activities pretty regularly.So, now that you remember what we all look like, I'll fill in the gaps. Jake was accepted to MSU to begin the Master of Arts program in Public Relations starting at the end of August. He will be one busy man, but we're all very proud of him, and know he'll do a great job. He's also devoting much of his energy to growing out his hair.

Annabella's reading lessons are going well! Teaching her is one of the most fun and rewarding things I've ever done... even when her attention span is that of, well... her age. It's been a great adventure, and it's so fun to see her writing her letters and sounding things out with such pride.

Penny Joy is our constant delight. She loves to entertain, say fun new words and make animal noises (my personal favorite!). She also has a new-found interest, no, passion for shoes. Daily she goes to find her shoes, attempt to put them on, and when she fails, she'll bring them to me with a whine on her face, asking for help. When they are put on for her, she is always very satisfied.

I have been gearing up for a new position as the Special Events Coordinator for our local chapter of MOPS, which excites me greatly. My first steering team meeting is tomorrow, and I can't wait! I've also been serving in our children's ministries at church quite regularly, in addition to picking out new curtains and paint, furniture and wood stain. Ooooh, so much fun!

Now that we're all caught up, you can expect birthday photos/sentiments to be posted in the next few days... even though I'm not yet willing to admit that there's actually a birthday to document. Not yet. ;)