By the way, we did actually go to Hawaii

Above: Akaka Falls Below: Syd at the luau

Brynley, the mermaid

Awesome beach

Just had all the pictures on Zach's Mac, not on the desktop. He switched them over for me this week, so I can tell you about the vacation we took six months ago. It was fun, and as usual, too short - which is always the case with vacations. We went to the big island again. Brynley's favorite part was seeing lava pour into the ocean at night. Sydney pretty much loved the sand and ocean and the occasional friendly sea turtle. Zach and I loved not being in Bolivar for a while and feeling like we could chill out a bit.

the top picture is the girls under a banyan tree. this one is of Waipio Valley, where a lot of taro is grown. It is a breathtaking sight.

The girls and I at the luau.

Brynley and Syd playing while the adults took turns snorkeling.

Yes, there a now wild turkeys in Hawaii. We were a bit confused as to why there were wild turkeys wandering the golf course behind our condo, but my dad let us know that the Wild Turkey Federation had just begun bringing wild turkeys to Hawaii.

Fall pictures....

were a BIG LET DOWN!! WE had soooo much rain - so between days when I was subbing and days when it was raining we had about 2 days to choose from to take pictures. Then, we get to the park, take a few warm-ups and as the sun was hitting the right spot...BAM...dead battery. How did we not check that before we left? Please enjoy the few not quite salvagable pictures we took.

Halloween 2009

This year the girls both decided they wanted to be Disney princesses. Big surprise, I know. After choosing and changing her mind nearly 10 times, Brynley was set on being Cinderella and Sydney chose to be her favorite, Sleeping Beauty. My mom sewed these both in about 36 hours on a whirlwind visit to their house. I helped a bit; maybe I can help more next year (if I am feeling crazy enough to do this again). Here are some pictures of the evening. The pumpkin was Zach’s masterpiece. He carved a fancy Cinderella against his better judgment, but it looks cool.

Our favorite dog

With Zach needing to work so much during August, the girls and I went to my parents house 3 of the 5 weekends this month. After we leave they miss grandma & papa and ask to go back, but the one getting the most requests from them is this guy:

His name is Chewbaca (my parents got him already named), but we call him Chewy or Choo-Choo. His is the most patient and gentle dog, Sydney has tested him out several times and he has never even snapped at her. He may be ugly, but he's a good dog.

A Momentus Occasion

Today we had a milestone day...Brynley lost her first tooth! She actually pulled it herself (not in bravery, she just couldn't stop fiddling with it). It was a blessing that little tooth came out the way it did, because Brynley had been very worried about how the tooth would eventually be taken out of her mouth. It popped out on the way home from a short run to Wal Mart. Check out her new, jack-o-lantern grin:

We're getting pretty late into summer, but when I had the chance to go visit my parent's farm again last weekend the opportunity to take some summer pictures of the girls was open. Clearly, I'm not a professional photographer, but around Bolivar there aren't a terribly large amount of prof. photographers that are very good and the ones that are good require a dowry-size payment for one or two photos. So, I'll keep snapping the photos myself and see if they gradually improve as time goes on. There aren't many of Sydney, as she would much rather chase the dogs or dig in the dirt than sit still for a picture. We'll get more of her later when daddy is available to help out.

First Day of School

Here are some pictures of Brynley on her first day of preschool. She was very excited and I don't think she would've minded if I dropped her off at the door and drove off without walking her into the building. Sydney has yet to miss her while she's gone, mostly because Brynley is at school while Syd is napping. Things seem to be going well and I'm thankful that she remains excited about school.

Gearing up for vacation

Not even four short months ago I was scurrying around, trying to find a way that my family could afford (both money and time) to take a vacation to Hawaii with Zach's parents. We were blessed to find incredibly cheap tickets (we flew to New Mexico last November for roughly the same cost...the tickets we purchased for Hawaii are also round trip...amazing!) and I have been packing for the last 2 days in order to take as little as possible and to avoid paying extra for checking luggage.
I preface with that to say what was once incredible anticipation for travel has become dread as I focus on the fact that Zach and I will be on a plane for roughly 10 hours with both our kids. Wow. 10 hours. 10 hours with no meals and no snacks (which I had to find a way to pack with the carry-ons). Please pray for us and our kids (more specifically Sydney...she doesn't like to sit still).
So I probably sound like a total butt for complaining about my wonderful vacation to Hawaii; however, I'm not whining about the time in Hawaii, simply the time spent getting there and back. So, see, totally justified in the whining (just joking).
I hope to post pictures of our trip while there so my family can check up on us, but bear with me as I hate technology and may not want to spend time with my husband's laptop when I could be spending time with, well, my husband.
We leave on Friday morning at 6 am...ALOHA!!!

Picture tag

So, my sister has picture tagged me. The rules I had to follow were these:

1. Go to where you store your digital photo folders & open the 4th folder.

2. Go to the 4th picture and post it.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag an additional 4 people.

Well, my fourth folder was pictures I had scanned in when I was working on birthday invitations for my Grandma House's 80th birthday. I did not use this picture, but I still like it. The folks in the picture are my mom's parents. My grandparents (like most newlyweds) were quite poor when they were married and my papa was not able to give my grandma a "real" wedding ring (grandma did not give papa a ring either...in fact, they had eloped without family blessing, so no one was helping them out in that area). I believe this picture was taken on their anniversary (35th, maybe?) and it is of my grandparents showing off their newly gifted wedding rings.

I tag: Rhianna, Rachael, Shelly, & the Brosius'

Ah, The Late Christmas Card

If you are reading this post you might have happened upon our blog by chance but more than likely you were directed here by a tardy Christmas card. So, if you're wondering why someone would even bother mailing their Christmas cards as late as January 6th, it is because we still love you, even after Christmas.
You may wonder what we've been doing that has kept us too busy to mail cards to beloved friends and family. And the answer is "too much to even list!" As a belated Christmas gift, I'll give you the short version.
We began 2008 wondering if our electricity and heat would withstand yet another ice storm. I would wonder what happened to those good, old-fashioned winters when we just got snow. To date, neither one of my children have really seen or played in a decent snow of 4 inches or more. Maybe we'll need to head to Minnesota for Christmas soon.
In March, over the University's spring break, Zach was fortunate to be able to travel to El Salvador as part of a mission team trained to drill clean water wells. The trip was truly a blessing to him, and he was able to brush-up on Spanish with the workers in country.
In July, we headed to Branson, to spend some really great time with the Waters family. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate Uncle Carl's birthday and reflect on what a blessing he's been to the family. Brynley and Sydney just about wore out Uncle Carl, Auntie Pam and Uncle Scott! It was during this visit that we became van people. Yes, I own a van.
Fall was a whirlwind of preparation for the beginning of school. Zach, still the Director of Student Activities, and I, still the Resident Director for the school's apartments, were a blur during two weeks in August. Zach is still enjoying various aspects of his job and loves getting to connect with many of his student leaders.
November provided us with an opportunity to visit New Mexico. We flew to Albuquerque to visit with Larry and Renee a bit and to be curbside fans of the Bears at the (frigid) New Mexico State Soccer tournament. We were excited to watch Larry and his team become state champions once again. This is Larry's seventh state title! Over Thanksgiving we were able to travel to my parents new home for a visit and help them work on both of their homes. It was a good visit...a bit sad because the only childhood home I have known is no longer my parents residence, but also exciting because they have really been wanting to move and they have bought a great house.
December was a flurry of shopping and Christmas concerts and Christmas parties. We enrolled Brynley in preschool in November and her school had a Christmas concert, which was a first for her. It was interesting, to say the least. During the preschool portion, Brynley changed her clothes around, changed bells with another student, and changed from the top row to the bottom row...thankfully, others were more distracting! Christmas was with my parents this year, so we loaded down our van and headed north. Both my sisters and their families were able to come home as well, so it was a full house, but worth it. Both my sisters are expecting babies in 2009, so we are excited. Zach got a bow for Christmas and is excited to practice, Brynley can now bathe in Barbie's, Sydney is the dress up queen, and I am ready to sew.
In between these major events Brynley has taken up violin. By this I mean she's had a few lessons, but she really loves what she is learning and she has a great teacher. The violin we bought looks about the size of a vacation souvenier, but it's just the right size for her. Brynley is in love with preschool, which meets two days a week, and wishes it were everyday. She loves anything proper, fancy, and covered in tulle. Her career choices at this point vary between ballerina, photographer, princess, doctor, and, zoo worker. Sydney, in stark contrast to Brynley, is a bit of a pipsqueak and stronger than you'd imagine. Sydney has yet to meet something she could not climb, her most recent adventure was the scaling of the desk up to the built-in shelf in their bedroom. Her baby bed is no longer a worthy opponent, so we've taken the front railing off in hopes of teaching her to stay in a "big girl bed." Sydney is really beginning to develop her speech and has her own cute way of saying things. Fik a hair= Fix my hair or fix your hair, I hob it = I hold it, I kerd = I'm scared. It's all pretty cute now, all but NO.
We've had a tiring, but exciting and enjoyable year and are looking forward to what our future may hold. Zach has been sitting in on one course per semester for a while now and is praying about his desire to go back to school. We'd love to see him able to do so for fall 2009, but will follow what the Lord would have us do. He is very blessed to be able to spend his spring break '09 digging clean water wells again, this time in Honduras. I would love to find a job teaching social studies next fall, in either a high school or a middle school. Brynley may or may not enter kindergarten this fall...it just depends.
We hope that your year was more relaxed and more enjoyable and that 2009 will hold blessings and adventures that surpass your expectations.