Headed North

We're on the road again, minus the two most energetic members of our family. Sawyer and Lee Anna are spending the weekend with Grandpa and GG while Sarah Claire takes her first trip to the mountains. She did great riding in her car seat all day today. For most of the trip, she looked more like the picture below than the one above, which was just fine with us. I hope she travels this well when we make our transatlantic flight in a few months!

Our Weekend in Pictures

The words will have to come later, since we're embarking on yet another journey in the morning and I am far from done packing, but here are a few pictures from our little trip last weekend. Enjoy!

A Big Day

Hello Friends and Family and Adoring Fans! Sarah Claire here. I told my mom that it's high time she let me start blogging, seeing as how I'm a whole month old now. I may be the youngest member of this family, but I still have things to say!

I've had a busy first month. There's a lot to do out here in the world, and when you sleep 18 hours a day, you don't have a lot of time to do it!

We've been on some fun outings. I've been to the park, to the beach (or near it at least), to see the Fourth of July fireworks (Sawyer & Lee Anna tell me they were nice--I wouldn't know because I slept through the whole thing), to church, to the mall, and to this place Mom loves called Walmart. She says we need to enjoy it now because pretty soon we'll be living in the land of no Walmart again.

I love riding in my stroller, and my brother and sister love to help push. If the number of kisses they give me is any indication of how they feel, then I am one loved little girl. Sometimes my brother even tells my mom, "Mom, I love that baby sooooo much."

I also told my mom that big one-month-olds do not take baths on the bathroom counter, so starting yesterday she let me take a bath in the big kid tub. I really like baths, although as you can see they sometimes make me a bit sleepy (which makes them like just about everything else!). However, for the record, I do not like having water dripped in my eyes from a wet washcloth. Special thanks to my big brother Sawyer for helping me discover how much I do not like this.
Here I am on my one-month birthday with my friend Mr. Monkey. Mom says she's going to take a picture of me every month with Mr. Monkey so we can see how much I'm growing. Aren't we cute? I met Mr. Monkey on my very first day of life. We go way back.
And, last but not least, I would like to say Happy Anniversary to my mom and dad today. Mom says she and dad have been married nine years, whatever a year is. I'm sure glad they found each other; otherwise you wouldn't be here looking at all these pictures of me!

I'm going on my first real trip this weekend. Check back soon to read about my big adventure!

The Things We'll Do For Free Food

Our favorite fast food chicken restaurant has had some fun promotions lately, and we, not being ones to pass up a chance to get a free meal, have had fun taking advantage of them.

First, a few weeks ago, they held a Princess Party, at which anyone who came to dinner dressed as a princess would receive a free meal. Luckily, Lee Anna had just been given this beautiful Cinderella dress as a birthday present (complete with shoes and crown), so she was all set. Since we were busy that night, Aunt Claire and Zach volunteered to take the kids to the party. As you can see, Aunt Claire got in on the dress-up fun, too.

Aren't they beautiful?
And the party was more than just free chicken. They also had a

bounce house for the kids, nail painting for the princesses... and horse carriage rides! It was a fun night for the princes and the princesses!

Then, today they had yet another irresistible offer of free chicken. This time the free meals went to anyone dressed as a cow. Sawyer already had this adorable raincoat--a gift from Mimi when we arrived back in the land where it rains more than five days a year. We had to get a little more creative with Lee Anna's outfit, but I think it turned out cute. Didn't Aunt Claire do a great job with the ears?Here they are mooing their little hearts out. No, the grown-ups didn't join in on the fun this time, although we did join in on the chicken eating.

Now if only we could convince them to take their chicken operation overseas...

Breakfast Just Isn't as Fun Without You, Dad

Daddyless Days

Daddy's going to be gone on a little trip for the next 12 days, and we are already missing him dearly. He's taking care of necessary paperwork for us to move back overseas in the fall, and we're grateful for that, but things just aren't the same around here without him.

Today the kids' cousins Autumn and Alyssa (and their parents!) came over to play one more time before they head back to Texas. Sawyer and Lee Anna are really going to miss having those two to play with.

Here are the cousins on the Fourth...

You might notice that the newest cousin is missing from the picture. We actually did try to include her for a minute, but we sadly discovered that three-year-old Alyssa is not quite ready to hold three-week-old Sarah Claire. Don't worry, though. Sarah Claire is okay. :)

Five-year-old Lee Anna did a little better holding the baby (i.e. didn't drop her on the ground!), although Sarah Claire still looks a little unsure about the whole situation.

Here are a few pictures from today's visit. Uncle Paul and Aunt Stacy even got in on the fun!

And that was all after I took our little three-week-old princess to the doctor for a check-up. She now weighs 9 pounds, 1 ounce, and is 22 inches long. The doctor said she looks great. We knew she looked good to us, but it's nice to hear the doctor say it, too.
We miss you, Daddy!