Piggies: Before and After

Here are Katie's cute
pigtails Sunday morning.

Here they are Sunday
evening, after two naps
and a three-hour
wrestling match with
Mama at church.
(Luke was working, so
I was on my own.)

Hey, at least she's still
smiling, right?

Lots of News!

Well, I've been seriously absent from the blogging world for about a month now, but I do have quite a bit to show for it! Here's what's been going on around here:


We are expanding our family! We're expecting Baby #3 on October 23rd. (Hooray! . . . Yikes!)


I'm 3 1/2 months along and feeling really good, now that the nausea is gone. :)

Abby turned 4 years-old! Our little "Sweet Pea" is so grown-up and had a great birthday. She's still way into Calico Critters, so that was her party theme again this year!

An extra special part of Abby's birthday was having Luke's mom and sister, Nora and Lara, in town for it. They stayed with Abby and Katie while Luke and I went to St. Louis to find a home . . . what lifesavers! It sounds like they had some fun adventures together while we were gone.

While in St. Louis, we bought this house! We're excited about it, but nervous, of course, to be first-time homeowners. This is an older home (built in 1941), but it's roomy and charming. We're excited about the big yard, the cute attic bedrooms for the girls, and the pretty wood floors. It seems like a fun neighborhood with lots of kids. Things are destined to be a little crazy for these next few months, until we're settled, but I think we're up for the adventure.

On our way back from St. Louis, we had a layover in Salt Lake. I stayed for two days and got to attend my mom's 60th birthday party! All eight of us siblings made it, which was really fun. (Too bad Luke and my brother-in-law Spencer had to miss it.) The party was planned for a nice restaurant but had to be moved to . . . Intermountain Medical Center! My dad broke his hip about a month ago (no, not the "old person slips and breaks his hip" syndrome--he was mountain biking!). He is recovering from his second surgery on it, so we held the party in the waiting room of the OB/GYN department, where my brother-in-law Dan works. You can see my dad, ever the good sport, joining the party from his hospital gurney. It actually turned out great . . . and very memorable! I was in SLC for less than 48 hours, so I didn't see many people, but it was awesome to hang out with my family!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter! I hope you did too. We enjoyed egg hunts and a visit from the Easter Bunny, and we tried to focus on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and all that He has done for each of us. Maybe some of our teaching about His resurrection has sunk in with Abby, because today she asked, "Can I take my lovies (blankies) with me when I die? 'Cause I don't want to just sleep on a plain pillow!"

Here are Abby and Katie in their matching Easter dresses . . . two cuties, if I do say so myself! I wish I had gotten a traditional outdoor, full-length posed Easter shot of them, but a) it was freezing cold outside, and b) by the time they were dressed, I had to rush off early to church and accompany the choir. So it just didn't happen.(Maybe we'll re-create it later when spring finally arrives!)

Katie, Abby, and Daddy after our Easter-morning egg hunt. (I don't know who had more fun, "Master Egg Hider Luke" or the girls!)



Katie munching on goldfish crackers from her eggs. All week she has been sneaking into Abby's room, finding her Easter basket, and pulling out all sorts of yummy loot! Her favorite find is Hershey's Kisses WITH the wrappers on. Abby hasn't minded too much, since she still has some Halloween candy left. :)

Abby was excited about her Sleeping Beauty doll from the Easter Bunny!

March Update

March has been quite a fun, busy month. The lack of blog posts accurately reflects the amount of "down time" I've had. But I am so grateful for visitors! It has meant so much to have family and friends come see us in our new life here in Spokane.

After my parents left, my friend Dipti Parekh came to see us for a couple of days--all the way from Toronto, Canada! When I was eight, my family moved to Toronto for two years for my dad's radiology fellowship. Dipti and I were in the same third-grade class and became friends. That was 24 years ago, and we have been pen pals ever since! We have seen each other about five times over the years, and she was one of my bridesmaids. Other than that, we've just stayed friends through letters, calls, and e-mails. She is a wonderful person and has been one of my very most loyal friends throughout my life. It was SO fun to see her and to introduce her to Abby and Katie! Here is a picture of Dipti with Abby at the park. We had camera problems (i.e. our camera fell in the pond while we were feeding the ducks!) while she was here, so I'm hoping to get more pictures (copies) of her visit later.

The following week, my sisters Martha and Jennie, with Martha's daughter, Marian, came to visit! It was awesome to see them and to show them around Spokane. Marian is one week older than Katie, and those two were hilarious together! We spent most of our time laughing at their antics and at Abby's "supervision" of them. Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

Martha, Jennie, Marian, and Katie at Riverfront Park downtown.

Katie and Marian giving kisses.

Marian and Katie at the children's museum.

Martha, Jennie, and me by the Spokane River.

The official tour guides: Abby, Carrie, Luke, and Katie.

Visitors!

It was SO fun to have my parents, Richard and Lori, visit us last week! We had a great time together.





Here we are (shivering and windblown!) in front of the Spokane Temple, which is about 25 minutes away from us in a beautiful, wooded setting.

We also got to celebrate Luke's birthday together. (The big 29 . . . that guy keeps trying to catch up to me!)




Here is Grannie at the mall play area with Abby and Katie, at the end of a fun shopping spree. My mom got to stay three days longer than my dad, so we had time to hang out together while Luke was at work. We took some fun outings, including brunch at the charming Rockwood Bakery, Wednesday music class, a quick tour of Abby's preschool, dinner at the Spaghetti Factory, and of course---McDonald's playland!