Talking Toddler

Hannah has been talking and talking more and more everyday. She is really funny. She loves to copy us and tell us what is going on. She thinks we understand her... but we often don't. Enjoy this sampling of Hannah in action. She was quite the talker after dinner tonight!

MOMMY TIME!

Most people think of mommy time as a time with mommy and baby, but I was SO glad to have MY mommy time with MY MOMMY! She arrived in Iowa just the day after the Loverns left and we were SUPER EXCITED for her to come! Grace had been talking and singing about it for days! :) I am not sure what she was most looking forward to, but I think it was the fact that Nanna would read and read and read to her!

We loved taking her to church and giving her the grand tour. We also introduced her to many people including Pastor Mike. She loved seeing the place and meeting everyone... now she can visualize where we are... we are NOT in the middle of a corn field! :) There IS civilization around.

One of the most memorable things we did was go to the Zoo. We purchased a Zoo membership that allows us to take 2 guests with us each time.... we knew with all of our expected company that this would be a nice feature to get. I really enjoyed seeing my girls with their daddy and Nanna. I also was amazed by my loom lens... it was the first time I really used it...... I AM IN LOVE!

Enjoying a competitive game of Candy Land!

Silly girls!

Company, company, company!!!

I didn't know this, but the newest hot vacation site is now Iowa! Who would have guessed that?! But with the arrival of the Lightners the tourist industry has skyrocketed here in Iowa!

We have certainly had our fun with our company so I will take a few posts to tell you about it!

The Loverns arrived in Iowa on April 10 for a weeks stay.... they are our friends from PA. Brett was in our wedding. They have a little boy, Judah (a few days from turning 2). Brett has a 3 month sabbatical from his job as a worship pastor and is taking it for vacation, refreshment and training. He was coming this way for a conference in Kansas City. Jamie and Judah stayed here while he was at the three day conference. Fun Times!

We did lots of things with them while they were here.... check it out! (It will make you want to come to Iowa too!

We had a great time with them, and it was great to see how these too goofy college guys have really turned out to be WONDERFUL dads! Who would have guessed that? (Well, I knew Danny had great potential!!!)

Time flies by

So sorry that it has been forever since I have updated my blog....time flies by and I haven't wanted to take the time to sit and write. I promise that I will soon. We have had company for the last three weeks... there has been MUCH to blog about, but not much time to! :) We have loved having the Loverns, my mom, and Kelsey so much! It has felt more like home here with friends and family that we love visiting! YEAH! We will be SO SAD to see Kelsey go... we don't know of when we will have company again..... So... when are YOU coming?

Posing Princess

It has taken a LONG time, but my little girl FINALLY likes to be in front of the camera! She will smile on cue and loves to pose.... boy, have we come a long way. I remember the early days when she would just lay on the bed and I would take pictures of her -- barely moving a all. Then we went through the stage where we had to prop her up to sit.... that was short-lived because as soon as she started to sit she was moving everywhere! She loved to look at everything except the camera.

This journey HAS developed good pictures, but now we don't have the frustration of getting a good shot every time... she can now pose like a model which makes her mother happy (not the model part but the fact that she will look and smile now). If we could just get Hannah to cooperate now....

Easter Pictures

Happy Easter, Everyone! We have had a great day here in Iowa... Wish we could have celebrated with all of you, but we enjoyed the time with our new church family! Worshipping our Risen Savior has a way of unifying the body!

The girls had these beautiful Easter dresses given to them by the Durants for their birthdays....

Thank you, Todd, Tracie, Brittany, Kelsey, and Abby!

Walnut Woods

We got another day today with Daddy ALL DAY.... so we decided to go for a little hike. After much research (yes, that's Danny for you!), Danny decided to take us to a state park called Walnut Woods. It was a 30 minute drive from here, but it was a lot of fun. We didn't want anything too strenuous because Danny would be carrying Hannah in the backpack and Grace would be walking. We weren't sure how she was going to do.

We packed up the backpack with snacks and drinks and loaded into the van (it is still weird to say that!). There were NO CLOUDS in the sky... it was beautiful. After a perfect ride there including Hannah taking a small morning nap in the van as planned and prayed for, we arrived at the park and started on the trail. We saw the Raccoon River, lots of birds -- including a woodpecker, squirrels, and many deer tracks. Grace liked to collect rocks, feathers, mud, and of course, walnuts.

She did a great job on the hike....especially since we weren't in a hurry and she could just climb and explore. We all got a little muddy - except for Hannah -- but it was worth it. That's what washers are for, right?

Hannah's favorite part was snack time... she loved to walk around and eat and eat and eat.

It was a lot of fun.... we'll be doing that again!