Happy 1st Birthday William Luther!

November 24 was William's first birthday.

We praise God so much for the joy that Will brings to our lives.

As I was looking through his newborn photos I thought about how amazing the process of childbirth is. It's no wonder they come out screaming, it's kind of a big deal!

I also thought how little I knew of him when he was born and how fun it has been to get to know him over this last year. Lord willing we will have many, many years ahead to enjoy him.

He has such a fun personality. He is definitely the clown of the family. At this age Emma would giggle cutely at the silly things we did, whereas Will is the one who does silly things to try and get a laugh out of us! More often than not he succeeds.

A Sunday Afternoon

We had a nice lazy afternoon today. Let's have a look at what we did...

Here's my handsome almost one year old boy!

And here's a very silly photo of his mouth - he has very cleverly grown 3 (maybe 4) teeth on top all at once this week, bringing his total to 5 or 6.

He doesn't teeth well AT. ALL. sigh.

(the whole family is very tired . . .)

Emma doing a spin before heading out for a walk

We visited a garage sale or two . . .

It's autumn! see!?

Squirrels have enjoyed the remnants of halloween at quite a few of the houses we walked past

Emma looked at this and said "that's not nice!"

Emma and I wandering home after visiting the coffee shop

(yes I know my legs are skinny. I take after my father. haha)

It was a lovely way to spend an hour and a half with the family. God is kind.

The Red Lion

Three weeks ago Lyle went to Boston and New York with some staff and the interns at CHBC for the week. I was privileged to get out of town with the kids to Pennsylvania to visit some dear friends from long ago! I went to college with Erin in California, then she married an Australian, Rodney, who went to church with my folks while I was at college! It was refreshing for me to be with another mum all day long as well as a nice break from the city. Although I have to confess it did feel almost too rural on occasion. Perhaps DC is making its mark on me! Actually, that’s not half wrong - I remember the day after we returned the word ‘balmy’ came to mind as we walked home from church.

We were in Red Lion, PA. Which is near York (people here still haven’t heard of York, so I learned quickly that “a place 2 hours away in Pennsylvania” was a sufficient description). Emma was very excited to see the Red Lion, so when we told her we had arrived, she looked out the window of the car to see it. Thankfully there is a Red Lion or two in the area, in some front yards and in the town square.

I loved watching her language develop astoundingly while we were with 3 older children all week too. Sadly yesterday I noticed she had reverted back to saying “I want different” instead of “may I have something else to eat?” sigh. She won’t be 2 forever so I strive to enjoy it.

We’re heading back there for Christmas which we are all looking forward to so much. I can highly recommend the Pearce’s as excellent hosts (if ever you’re in the area, hehe)!

The girls being ballerina's

Puddles!!

...and the result of puddles+mud

I LOVE this photo! I'm glad that Emma had Henry and Grace to show her how it's done.

I think Emma's face is sour because we were making her sit and smile instead of playing in the playground . . .

Daddy joined us on Friday afternoon and we left Saturday night.

He brought us back our NY tourist shirts! (William has one too but it's a NYPD shirt)

I can tell he's not a baby anymore from the enjoyment he now experiences on big kid toys!

Thank you Rodney and Erin for loving us so sweetly!!