Church with Mimi and Papa

We got to dress up and go to church last weekend with Mimi and Papa. Our usual church is super casual, so it was really fun to get all dressed up and take Sayed to a beautiful church (where we got married), as well as show June off in her cute little dress that I have been saving for some such occasion.

Ok, so I only managed to take pictures at home before we left, but at least we got some!

And here is our current family plus one:

Ruidoso with Mahncke Parker's

Three lovely days with our dear Mahncke Park friends in Ruidoso- what an experience! Four of our fun family friends came with us to Ruidoso this past weekend, and we had so much fun! Six babies, ten adults, and two babysitters- quite a weekend!

Katie, Julia, Laura, Courtney, and I had such fun with all the babies playing together

We, of course bought matching pajamas for all the little ones and had to get a great picture

Leni Hargesheimer, Landry Crowell, and June (all three within three weeks of each other in age)

We had a girls day out while the boys were at the casino and the fantastic babysitters stayed with the babies

And just spent some time in the pretty Ruidoso mountains

A wonderful weekend with our dear friends and all their little girls. Cant wait until we see them again for Fiesta in San Antonio in April!

Random goodness

I just decided to upload my pictures from the last month and found a few really good ones that i could not pass up. (I take lots of my pics on my phone- oops)

Dan feeding June in the morning

Attempt at taking a Christmas card picture with the animal children

June's general bewildered look at holidays- this one being thanksgiving.

First time to watch the Polar Express with Cousin Vincent, who has seen it 17,456 times.

Bewilderment at Christmas...

Ahhh..... Toys....

Exploration at a young age

Hmm, I wonder what is up there?.....

I think I will go and see....

What are these things?

Maybe I should taste them?

You don't see me, right? This is all mine.

Sayed, pronounced Sigh-Ed

Sayed is here and doing wonderful! He is SOO sweet and very innocent and polite and subservient. We are so glad to have him and he has lots of wonderful information to tell us about his country, of which he is very proud and loves!

He said that is very silly and that we can totally post photos of him and I am now friends with he and his brother on facebook! He calls June his little sister and gives her lots of cute awkward hugs. His sweet father died five months ago and he is such a tender soul, saying how much he loved him.

I dropped him off for his first day of school today and had to explain how all the boys shower together- he was nervous because he says he is so skinny! (adorable!) But, we think he will be great after he gets the hang of everything. Lots of new things to introduce and explain, delicately :)

Sayed from Afghanistan

We are getting a foreign exchange student! We totally did not expect it, but the Afghan government just released the top 10 students selected by the US government last July and they needed to find homes for them- pronto! (actually, they called us at 9pm sunday night and said they needed an answer by 8am the next morning or he would not be able to get his VISA). They were supposed to come in September, but there was a holdup with their government. War, you know...

Sayed will be the first Afghan student in Texas with this US-sponsored government program and we are the lucky ones to receive him! The government selects students from different countries that they feel will be future leaders, so we are getting a good one! He is 15 and his mother is a Dari language teacher and his father- an engineer. His sister studies journalism in college in Kabul and his brother- law. He also has another brother who is in high school. He will arrive Monday and be with us until the beginning of June.

I know that we will be learning many many things and hope that we can impart much American, Christ-centered knowledge as well. So, stay tuned for some good Afghani information.

....We are not allowed to post pictures of him online, due to protection from a war-torn country, etc. So, here is a random Google Afghani family, so you can get an idea. Email me if you would like to see the real one :)

And in case you were wondering who "they" were that called us in the middle of the night, asking us to embark on this super important American mission, it was unfortunately, not the CIA, but the little old foreign exchange student board, that we got involved with a few months ago. Not quite as important, but close! Pretty soon, they might be calling us for some intelligence opportunities since we will know all about Afghanistan and all.... ;)

Daddy

Dan loves his little Gizmo (which is what he calls her). And she definitely loves him SO much too. But, she has already figured out what she does not like about him: his mouth kisses and his excessive picture taking! She tends to make this face and refuses to smile:

But, then, of course, she is cajoled out of her annoyance just like daddy does with mommy and is all smiles. She just can't resist her daddy!

Chickens- finally!!!

For Christmas, Dan said he would build me a hen house. I have been begging for chickens for three years and he finally consented AND said he would make the house! So, he has been busy at work in the garage the last three weeks (look at his cute little safety goggles!), and it is much more than I expected! It is pretty much a real house, just smaller. Of course, he is very motivated by the fact that he is using the product he sells, Hardie Plank Siding to make it....

This picture is before the siding (just the frame), but he has already added siding. And he is painting it red with white trim and a tin roof- oh wonderful!!!

So, today, I ordered our little chicks. (I can barely contain my excitement) I am allowed to get three, but I ordered four in case one dies in shipment :( (I am kindof hoping it is the silver lakenvelder because she is supposed to be the least friendly- but I wish death on no fowl!) Anyway, here is what the little chickies that we ordered will look like:

Barred Rock Chick

Ameracauna Chick

Buff Brahma Chick

Silver Lakenvelder Chick

Of course, the hens will not be as cute as the chicks- just like puppies. But we will love them and raise them and eat their eggs (the ameracaunas have blue eggs!!) And, they will love us, of course! They are arriving on June's birthday- Happy Birthday, June!!! For those of you who don't know, that is February 23rd, so set your little timers for that date. Can you tell I am excited?!?!? (the hens are below in the same order as above...)

last week

Lots going on around here lately. Good times, sad times, and lots in between.

Since Christmas, it's been very cold, so we have been having daily fires. Dan went and bought himself an axe and has been chopping us some wood (don't tell him most of it came pre-chopped!)

Then, my sweet great-aunt, Mary Ellen (89) died. And a day later, my good friend, Rachel's dad died. We had Rachel's family and another friend, Jenny staying with us for the weekend. And both funerals on monday. I am sure you remember Selah and Asher, Rachel's kids, from when they stayed with us before. Well, they were back to play with June!

We had a fun weekend, despite all the sadness, and had some wagon rides in June's new wagon (which has been a huge hit!), as well as walks with our neighbor, Zuda, and her dad and the dogs!

So, Monday, I went to Dallas for Aunt Mary Ellen's funeral, and Dan was going to go to Rachel's dad's funeral. But instead, he was called upon to take care of all the munchkins. Around 11am, he sent me a text with this picture saying "Help me!"

And then he left June in her pajamas all day....

But.... he did a great job with all the little kiddos- hopefully a little insight into the future! And here they are the day after everyone left and all returned to normal.

Where am I, you may ask, in all this? Behind the camera! But I'm here :)