Dubrovnik, Croatia

In Dubrovnik we walked atop the walls of the old city which made for an awesome view.

Italy - Revenna, Venice, & Rome

Below are pictures from Italy. i'm not writing about them because our internet connection is slow. I've had to just pick a few pictures, but of course will post more once home.

Ravenna is known for its mosaic art.

Back in Action

After a long break, due in part to Facebook, I will be updating this blog again. Dan and I are getting ready to go on our first vacation - just the two of us - since any of the kids were born. My goal is to post some updates while we are on our trip and then post a bit more once we return. I'm not sure what kind of internet capabilities we'll have, so we'll see how it goes. . Dan's mom and my parents will be tag-teaming to watch the kids while we're away. We leave in a few days and will be gone for a little over two weeks! So crazy! We are taking a Mediterranean cruise and have tacked on a few extra days to see Rome before heading to Venice where we embark. The cruise is the Holy Land tour. We'll be visiting Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt.

Please keep us and our families in your prayers.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes . . .

Abbey has been taking a ballet class for a couple of weeks. My brother called me and told me that at his friend's dance studio they are having a Disney princess ballet class. The little ballerinas can dress up like a princess, and their dance instructor is a different Disney princess each week. So far Abbey has been taught by Belle, Aurora, and Aeriel. She is having a great time and is excited because next week the teacher is Cinderella. During class the girls sing as well as dance. They have a great time!

Here are the girls practicing.

Here is Abbey with princess Aeriel from the Little Mermaid.

Here is Abbey with Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

First Day of Kindergarten

I can't believe I am writing about this because it doesn't seem possible, but Abbey started her first day of kindergarten on August 3. She is attending the local school just down the street from us. One of her friends from church and the neighborhood is in her class and pictured with her below. She also has a few children from her preschool in her class, which has made the transition really easy. Abbey loves school and her teachers. One of her teachers goes to our church. I can tell that Abbey will be learning a lot this year. I have had mixed feeling about her starting school. While I am so excited for her, I know how fast time will fly now that she's in school every day. I'm afraid that I'm going to blink and she'll be graduating from high school. Dan and I want to soak in every minute with the kids that we can. It goes by so quickly.

Here is Abbey tracing her name to sign in.

Abbey and her friend.

Abbey was excited to have cubby #1!

"Bye Mom and Dad! Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Will you be okay though?"

Our little girl is growing up. . .

Juice it up! What could go wrong?

On Monday, we decided to take a walk in the morning before it got too hot. We went over to the nearby shopping center to get juices from Juice It Up. Now you have to understand the great comedy of errors that took place once this decision was made. First, we decided to take our dog, Ben, with us. Now this wouldn't have been so bad if we also hadn't decided to let Abbey ride her bike. She is scared to go down any curbs or driveways by herself. Isaac was safely strapped into his stroller, which means someone had to push him. So, dog, Abbey, and Isaac - that's three full-time tasks with only two adults. Now you're getting the picture. I can only imagine what people driving by must have thought if they actually watched us for any length of time.

It was decided that I would handle Ben, since he continuously wrapped his leash around the stroller when Dan tried to walk him and push Isaac. Ultimately what you would have seen is the dog pulling me down the sidewalk (he's not leash-trained yet) and Dan pushing Isaac while also helping Abbey when needed. We finally got things under control just in time to have to cross the street. On the way there, we opted to cross a ways up from the roundabout - thought it would be safer. Abbey got off of her bike, and I helped her across while also trying to control the dog. Dan pushed Isaac with one arm while holding Abbey's bike with the other. This was done quite gracefully until he reached the center divide and had to lift Isaac's stroller up and over it - all while trying to dodge traffic and also get Abbey's bike across. We would have given up at this point, but we could see Juice It Up. We were almost there.

A few minutes later we reached our destination and selected a table in the courtyard. I went with Abbey to get our juices while Dan watched Isaac and Ben. I brought our juices to the table around the same time a man came into the courtyard with two large dogs. Well, Ben began barking; they began barking. Let's just say I'm glad we didn't cause a scene for the other people trying to have a peaceful morning (sarcasm). If we hadn't caused a scene yet, we were about to do so. . .

I finally got Ben calmed down, and the other dogs were quiet too. I turned around to check on the kids only to find that in the chaos, Abbey had tripped over one of her training wheels. Did I mention she had her juice in her hand? In her effort not to fall down completely, she fell back toward the bench - the bench upon which Dan was sitting. Somehow she managed to propel her juice all down the front of her and all down Dan's right leg, sock, and into his shoe. WE HADN'T HAD OUR JUICES FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE! Interestingly enough, Abbey's juice was called "Strawberry Wave".

I glanced over at the windows in the nearby Starbucks and saw people cracking up. I glanced at Dan to see how this was going to play out. Within 30 seconds I saw his face go from anger to amusement. I started laughing uncontrollably, which made Abbey cry even harder than she was already. I looked over at Isaac, and he was still drinking his juice, completely unaware of what was transpiring. About five minutes later he looked up at us and said, "Uh-oh, you spilled it." Then he went back to drinking.

Ultimately, we got things as cleaned up as we could, finished our juices, convinced Abbey that yes she was going to ride her bike home, and headed home. This time we crossed the street at the roundabout. It was like everyone sensed our need to get home. The traffic parted for us like the Red Sea for Moses. What people must have thought as they looked at Abbey and Dan's juice- stained clothes, and me being walked by my dog!

We finally made it home, and even though it was only 9:30 AM I needed a nap. The picture below is Abbey and Dan after some cleaning up had already taken place. And of course, there is Isaac too, drinking the rest of my juice.

Washtucna, WA

Dan's grandfather and great-grandfather grew up on a wheat farm in Washtucna, Washington. Dan took a day trip in to see the place where they grew up. The kids and I stayed in Ritzville. Don't let the name fool ya.

This windmill marks the land Dan's great-grandfather owned (1200 acres).

This is the ONLY restaurant in town.

Palouse Falls in Eastern Washington