Yuki!

Last year my mom and dad had an exchange student from Japan who was the daughter of an exchange student that they had nearly thirty years ago! We had a special year together with Yuki. Joe and I had just found out that we were expecting Elizabeth when Yuki first came and she went home on December 26...four days before Elizabeth was born! So Yuki had to come back to visit so she could meet Elizabeth (probably to see a few other family members as well ;)

Here is Yuki, Elizabeth and me. Lizzie is serenading us with the harmonica--through the corner of her mouth. :)


Everyone on the teeter-totter.


Swinging (everyone is gnawing on pineapple cores).


We all enjoy doing origami,but the directions tend to be a bit baffling to us. Yuki reads them with ease and is such a great teacher. We made jumping frogs, boats, trees...


Yuki's masterpiece! The cube used six origami papers and the holder used three! We had such a special time with Yuki and look forward to more visits in the future.

The puppies are growing!

Bonnie Joy with a puppy


Any mother of a toddler knows what this is like...


Adorable.


Thomas James


Abigail Marie

Echo's of Eden...

My cup is very full. How thankful I am for the special moments that God gives me that are pungent with eternity...

Gazing into my husband's eyes and having a great conversation.

Being amazed at Elizabeth's understanding of how things work--and nursing her! ;)
Watching Thomas tell a joke--with his big eyes sparkling.

Having Abigail slip her hand in mine, just because.

Enjoying Jonathan's animation over--everything: lego's, reading, violin, origami, games, drawing...

What a delight to journey through life with these special people!!!


(I've been working on Easter dresses. Cute. Cute. Cute!)

Reality

How thankful I am for the sharpness of reality--yummy meals and dirty dishes, parks and scraped knees, learning and struggling. Our joys are so coupled with hardship. Sometimes when I tightly grasp my reality, my spirit cringes from the sharpness. Tonight Joe and I were going to bed and I was feeling so drained and soon he was sleeping and then...Lizzie woke up. I think she has been getting tummy aches at night because she doesn't settle down unless I walk her.

I am sitting, snuggling Elizabeth, while enjoying the beauty and peacefulness of the evening. These are moments that I don't enjoy during the day. Elizabeth's features are so precious. Her gentle breathing and twinkle eyes are so enchanting. I am thankful that God has given me this time of nurturing my baby.

I went to a funeral today with all four children, by myself. They did amazingly well. I was tense the whole time because there was only one open pew that I could sit in and an old man, whom I didn't know, was sitting on the outside. He graciously let us sit next to him and I found myself trapped in a church pew. Elizabeth didn't shriek and the other children sat around me and listened very well. I ended up leaving before the reception because Thomas started crying (and crying).

Thomas gets more delightful everyday to talk with. I never know what he will say next. When I was pushing him on the swing he said "Push me high, Mommy, I want to touch the roof of the clouds." Yesterday I went to the orthodontist for a quick visit and all the children were lined up watching me in the chair. When the Dr. came in Thomas told him that he got a "Dragon for his birthday, what were the teeth clips that they put around mommy, we were going to the zoo when we were finished and why does the dentist chair move?" He is REALLY into telling jokes right now (Why did the crocodile cross the road? To eat a marshmallow!??) So, he doesn't quite understand what makes a joke funny, but we always laugh so he loves to tell them.

Abigial has been going to her speech therapy sessions. At first there was resistance (I think Grammie's puppies sounded funner than "going to class"). But now she is enjoying her teacher and is really blossoming. I have found that I like to "do" things a lot with Abigail, pick flowers, clean, cook, have tea parties. Lately she has been wanting to just chat with me, which has been so sweet. Abbie is very focused, detailed and deliberate. She is the best sister, always aware of the others and (usually!) considerate of their needs.

Jonathan often makes me dizzy with his constant activity. He is always moving something and is so interested in his own world that I struggle to bring him back into ours. He loves to explore and act. We like to go on walks and act out different stories (one of our favorite's is to go to a little bridge by our house and act out the Three Billy Goats Gruff.) If I can't find him I only need to look by the Lego's or the K'nex. God has given him amazing building skills. Everything he makes is always symmetrical and interesting.

These are special, consuming parts of my reality. I want to grasp it tightly, even when it delights--even when it hurts.

Disneyland IV

Here are a few more highlights of our day:
Tommy finally got to meet Mickey. Only when we were actually in the room with him, Thomas was a bit...apprehensive. He was not interested in getting close, not even for a picture. He has been very happy with his Mickey Mouse shirt and hat, and is more in love with Mickey than ever. I think the knowledge that Mickey was so large was a bit much for him to take in during the 30 seconds he was given to process such important information.

Abbie loves letters and words. She will often write random words down, just because it's so special. She was so thrilled to have Mickey Mouse write in her book.


Abbie climbed this rope in the tree house with little effort. All these other children formed a line so they could climb it also. When she slid down they tried and quickly went on to other things. Not all people have the same climbing abilities. :)


Another highlight was the parade! It was sooo fun to watch all the Disney characters parade past us with amazing stunts, costumes and music. Thomas was so happy and even blew a few kisses. :)


Here is a fun group picture where we got to be with my cousin Daniel and his friend Olivia.

After dark we were going to watch the fireworks,but we ended up having our arms full of very tired children. So, we headed back to our hotel room where we had a huge jacuzzi tub (6'x4'!) where we all got into our swim suits and turned on the jets and enjoyed laughing, relaxing, and reminiscing together. We got out of the tub and watched the fireworks from our window and then sat down to Smores (we made them in the microwave :).


Since we've gotten home Thomas has been asking when we can go back to our Disneyland house. Here is Elizabeth enjoying every last detail. ;)

Disneyland III Where your dreams come true!

We finished our morning off with delightful wanderings and finally...lunch. :) We had brought snacks and a yummy lunch with us for all those hungry, park travelling tummies. :) We then had some children who had reached the bottom of the barrel and we took them back for a nice nap to re-charge all the batteries. :)

When we got back we went straight to the Jedi Training, where young boys in attendance are trained how to fight with a light saber. For real. Guess what??? Jonathan was chosen!!! He stood up on the stage with his brown cape and light saber learning the moves of the masters. All of a sudden, the floor raised and there was Darth Vader himself--with two storm troopers and his red-faced accomplice.


Jonathan had his moves so strong and fast that the storm troopers surrounded him and had their guns drawn. Jonathan was able to keep them back.


Here is one of the workers who passed out the light sabers and kept around 30 armed children in rapt attention.

After the "training academy" was over Jonathan received a certificate stating that he passed his training as a young Jedi.

We left the Jedi Training Academy with a boy who no longer walked on the ground. He walked on air.

We were all so excited. Then all of a sudden we noticed the sword in the stone. The boys were so happy and they were trying to pull it out when Merlin walks up behind them! He was getting ready for a show and asked us to exit the area. We did and quickly lined up to watch the presentation.

Well, who does Merlin chose to pull the sword out of the stone??? Joe!

But no matter how hard Joe pulled, the sword would not budge. So Merlin picked a little girl, who promptly began to cry and then he picked...our Jonathan!!! I was so excited watching Jonathan rush up to pull the sword out of the stone...

He did pulled it out with little effort. Do you see Joe in the background? Merlin had him stand like that, arms flexed, through the entire presentation. :)

Here is our family in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. You can see Jonathan's special awards and a very happy family. ;)

Disneyland II

The first ride we went on was the Story Book cruise. It was fascinating to learn that Walt Disney himself had helped to plant and place the many different objects. There was even a bonsai that was over 200 years old! (It was over 150 years when Disney planted it!) After we went on the Story Book cruise we decided that the older children would go on a ride with daddy. Here is a picture of Abbie--notice the 35" criteria behind her? Notice also how much taller she is than that mark? Notice also that smile! :) Unfortunately, the ride was shut down just before it was our guys turn..so they took a spin on the Tea cups!Do you know how fast a brother and a sister can get one of these to spin???

When we began our journey again, Thomas needed to visit the "Prince's room." So Abbie, Elizabeth and I went into the princess area of the park as the boys took care of business. When they were coming back to meet us, whom should they meet???....
PETER PAN!!! They asked him for his autograph and he promptly ran away from them. When the boys finally caught up with him Joe asked Peter what it was like to fly, to which Peter replied, "Exactly like in your dreams, only 100 times better!" Wow.

Our children loved collecting autographs all day. I think that was one of Abbie's highlights. Any character you could ask for their autograph. We got Peter Pan, Lady Eloise, Mary Poppins, Bert, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse. We did not ask Cruella Deville for her autograph-- though we did see her!

This is where the girls had disappeared to as the boys were off chasing Peter Pan. There was an area that princesses taught you a simple dance and told delightful stories.

A May Pole that the children held ribbons and danced around together. Very sweet and very special.