Fun in the crib

Lately I have felt so extra thankful for these babies in my life. I think I've been thankful every day of the last 7 1/2 months but some days it hits me so strong and I just can't believe what I'm holding in my arms. Every day isn't bliss because life is life and there are plenty of bumps in the road. But most days my heart is so thankful I think it will burst. These babies have brought so much joy to our home. We know they were carefully guided to our home and we are eternally grateful. I can't believe we've had them for over 7 months, but I'm happy that I can look back on the time and know that I have given it my all and have soaked up this time having two babies to snuggle. It is one of the best feelings in the world to have two babies in my arms. 

Dave was home with the babies and had put them down for nap. Usually they go down really well but this time he heard Anna crying and went to check on her. No wonder she was crying! She was pinned down! We laughed so hard at this picture. Audrey is all snuggled up with her arm around Anna…and Anna isn't in a comfy position to sleep! 

 I had to get a snapshot of their hands like this on the sheet. For months now, when we put them down, they rub their hands all over the sheet as they are settling into their sleeping position. It's an extra soft sheet and I think they both really like the feel of it. Sleepy girls after church today.

 They have so much fun in their jump-ups. The other day they were playing together in their jump-ups and were so focused on each other. Sometimes I don't want to do anything besides sit and watch them interact with each other.

 This is how I found the babies after a nap. They are like this so often now. They "wrestle" and coo and talk to each other.

 This is how piano practice looks when I'm sitting at the piano helping someone and I've got the babies on my lap. They love playing the piano. It just makes me smile to see two little heads together banging away at the piano.

 The other day the babies were on the floor in the kitchen while I was doing dishes. I'm so used to this sight with one baby but I really had to laugh as I looked down and saw two babies playing with kitchen items on the floor. It's so much fun to have two! My babies never liked real toys but loved measuring cups and everything in the kitchen.

 Some days I have trouble leaving their room. They are just at such a fun stage and are soooo interactive and LOVE attention. As I leave their room, I always have two sets of eyes watching me all the way to the door…with the biggest grins on their faces. How do you leave that?

They were getting as close to the rail as possible to get close to us. Sadie was with me and we were having a fun time making them laugh and laugh.

Dave's Guatemala Trip

Dave had the neat opportunity to go to Guatemala with a group of local dentists to help them with their dental care. We were sad to see him leave for so long but so glad he could help so many children in need. We hope we all get a chance to go with him one of these years! Ashlyn is saving her pennies to go with him next year!

 We made a few quick blankets for Dave to take down. He tried to get a picture with all of the kids that he gave our blankets to. She has gauze in her mouth since she just had some teeth extracted. Dave extracted a total of 192 teeth on mostly children.

 This was their sterilization setup. Dave was warned that he would have to lower his standards just a  bit. The people were so incredibly kind and anxious to help. And most of all, very, very thankful.

 For a couple days they worked at a school in a Mayan village. Dave needed to go to the bathroom and this is what he found!

 Such darling little girls!

This was one of the highlights of the trip. Dave and the group took a ton of food to this single mother of 12 (two recently passed away). He couldn't believe their living conditions with no running water, and many other tough things. They were so thankful and appreciative of the food. They had never had a box of cornflakes in all their life and were pretty excited to get a box.

7 months!

 Audrey and Anna

 Audrey riding the rocking horse with Ash.

 I've waited a long time to park here at the library! I had to take a picture! :)

 Anna chewing on a bell pepper.

 Audrey, Sadie and Nate enjoying the beautiful weather outside!

 Dave brought Nate a machete home from Guatemala for Nate. He LOVES it! Can you tell?

 Nate using his machete to cut his bagel at our school day with our home school group. He really wanted to try it and I didn't really want him to but I decided to let him and he was pretty excited about it. It really made me laugh. Don't think he could pull that off at public school!

 Sadie and Anna eating lunch together. Anna is chewing on a carrot.

Beautiful white dresses

My good friend, Brooke, offered to make these beautiful white dresses for Anna and Audrey. I love them! I love the hand embroidery. They were a labor of love and we will keep these special dresses forever! 

 Audrey

 Audrey

 Audrey and Anna

It's near impossible to get them both smiling in a picture!

 Audrey and Anna

 Anna

Audrey and Anna

6 months old

Hard to believe they are 6 months old. Although, it seems like we've had them a lot longer than 6 months!

 Can't get enough of their sleeping positions. One thing is certain…no matter how they fall asleep, they are always touching in some way. It's adorable.

 Fuzzy picture but adorable smiles. Boy, do they bring a lot of happiness to our home!

 I think it was the day they got shots and they were feeling a bit lethargic. I snuggled them close to me and I just couldn't move - for at least an hour - because I didn't dare interrupt that precious time.

 Blanche is the best!! Seriously - what 95 year old woman takes a bearded dragon right out of Nate's arms to "take a look at that thing". She is an animal lover, so she and Nate get along well. She came for Ashlyn and Nate's piano recital. I love her personality and attitude about life. If I live to be 95, I'm going to try and be just like Blanche.

 Grandpa and…can't tell. The babies got a lot of love last weekend!!!

 I love this picture of 4 of my favorite people!!! Thanks so much for coming, Shannon and Chad!!!!

 Ashlyn and Sadie looked so sweet in their white dresses. They had matching pearl bracelets with Anna and Audrey that they can use as a keepsake from our day.

 Grandma and Anna

 It was such a treat to have Jeremy and Michiko come for the weekend!! We LOVED spending time with them and wish it lasted longer! They have 4 boys, so it was pretty fun to see them with girls. I thought Anna and Audrey looked like they fit right in with them! :) The babies seemed especially snuggly with Jeremy - and that was so fun to watch! It's hard to believe it's been over 9 years since our San Francisco days of dental school! We love you guys!

 Chad and Anna having some snuggle time.

 Sorry for Nate's pose. He is such a boy. No worries about him being surrounded by sisters and not learning to be a man. Grandpa, Sadie and Nate after a 3 hour hike up the hill for a picnic and then on to look for fossils. Dad's sporting my gun in case they found a rattler. No such luck. And for the record, we haven't had one rattlesnake around our house. Dave and his brother found one at the top of the hill, but I don't count that.

 We went to our first day of school (where we attend once a week) with older babies. They were easier when they were 2 months old and slept most of the time! I managed to get them both asleep and put them on the couch for a little nap! Too bad the nap didn't last very long.

 So sleepy after a feeding.

 They are mobile! They aren't crawling but they can get around between rolling and scooting. I was amazed one day when I left for a minute and came back to the room and saw them a good 10 feet from where I left them. Here we go!!!!!

Audrey has a tooth coming in - which is pretty early compared to Ash, Sadie and Nate who all got teeth at 10 months!

A Heavenly Day

Saturday, August 23 was a special day for our family. I realize that many friends who read this blog are not of my same faith, so I want to explain why this day was so special to our family. 

Our family was sealed together for time here on earth as well as eternity. I like the scripture from the Bible that explains about being sealed. 

Jesus Christ gave power to His disciples to seal families together forever when He said, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

 When a husband and wife are sealed together as a couple, their children born to them are automatically sealed. With adopted children, there is a special ceremony where the baby (babies) can be sealed to the family. In the temple, we dress in white to symbolize purity. As a result of the sealing ceremony, a parent/child relationship is legally binding in heaven as well as on earth.

 We had a wonderful group of friends and family who joined us. I'm sad Mom isn't in this picture because she was grabbing something for me. Sorry, Mom! We only had a quick chance to grab a picture of the group before everyone scattered! This pictures makes me smile…it is full of some of the people I love most dearly. We missed those who couldn't come! It was overwhelming to walk into a room and see all of these people…all there for us! Some traveled far and wide to come be with us and we so appreciated it!

 It was an interesting trip to have lots of visitors but no cousins for the kids to play with! On my end, it just meant tons of adult helpers to help with all we had going on all weekend! Our family with my parents, Chad, Alicia and Shannon!

 Our family with Dave's parents. We were so glad they could come!

Dave, Anna and Susan