4 Months and Cereal

Time sure flies when you're having fun. Gavin just makes me warm and happy. He's still sleeping great and has found his voice. Today he was squealing and hollering in delight for half an hour.

Finally got a grin on camera!

We tried rice cereal today. The first two bites were okay... and the next two bites weren't so okay.

 The doctor said he looks perfect and is 55% for weight, 64% for height and 74% for head circ. Guess he needs a big noggin' to carry all those smarts around!

That's Brian!

Second in on the right, front row. Does a heart good to see him! Ironic that there had to be a natural disaster so we could see pictures of him and his mission, since we didn't get to see hardly any before! ;)

This is at the Manila MTC where the Area President was talking to the 71 Tacloban Missionaries. He's been reassigned to the Manila Philippines mission and hoping he gets to go back to Tacloban before he comes home.

Picture is from the LDS Newsroom here.

Miracles

I don't adequately know how to write how I'm feeling, so I guess I'll just tell what happened.

Thursday night my mom texted us saying there was a typhoon headed for my brother and cousin who are both on missions in the Philippines. We didn't think too much of it because there were always storms and stuff going on and they were just fine.

Friday afternoon I checked the news to see what was going on with the typhoon and realized it was a HUGE storm, the biggest one on record... and it hit Tacloban, the city where Brian was serving, inside and out. (Thankfully Manila hardly saw the storm so my cousin was just fine.)We felt that he was safe, but there's always that thought in the back of your mind that maybe he's not. The Church news said they'd found most of the missionaries safe except for some in the Tacloban mission. That scared  me since it was Brian's mission.

Saturday morning mom texted again to tell us the Area Presidency had called telling her that Brian was safe and unhurt. That was a huge relief to have confirmation that he was okay. But we still didn't know where he was, if he had food, water or shelter. Then on Sunday night we got a short email from him saying he was just fine and he was being moved to Manila for a time. That was another huge relief, but we still didn't know very much.

I kept looking at the news, I probably shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it! I saw horrible pictures and stories and felt sick thinking Brian might be enduring some of those things. I felt almost spoiled as I vacuumed, blow dried my hair, went to sleep in my nice warm bed... I didn't know if Brian had those things.

Then just last night he called home! He is in the Manila MTC, after a ferry ride and a 14 hour bus ride. He wasn't in Tacloban when the storm hit, but in his apartment 500km away being shielded by a small mountain. And he slept, he SLEPT! through the whole thing, waking up every few hours to keep the kitchen from flooding.

I cannot describe the feeling of gratitude and the absolute magnificent power of God I feel, that EVERY SINGLE missionary is safe and accounted for.

Girl's Weekend

A few weeks ago we all headed up to Idaho to stay at my Grandparent's cabin for the weekend. We took the kids since we figured they would have fun playing together and in the snow. So really, I guess it ended up being a weekend off for all the hubbies!

The three of us rode up with my sister so we had a van full of kiddos! We did pretty good I think, and only had to stop twice on the long drive.

We had a great time, lots of chatting, not sleeping, rocking babies and making ribbon Christmas trees.

It was fun seeing my Aunt Suz and Grandma Adair that we don't get to see very often.

And of course, the kids did have a blast in the snow!

Halloween

Now that George has been properly introduced... enter "The Man in the Yellow Hat!" We just couldn't resist with this idea for Halloween. She carried George with her while out collecting candy and Gavin was George for taking pictures and being our little monkey at home.

 We had our annual family Halloween party at my parent's house and the kids had a ball! Bobbing for donuts, yummy food and carving pumpkins!

Lauren trying to get Gavin to smile at the camera!

We had a cowboy, Batman, a monster, Baby Owl, monkey and The Man in the Yellow Hat.

 

I wasn't feeling very ambitious this year with pumpkins, so we painted them. Lauren thought it was pretty cool so I'll call that a success!

Meet George

Introducing Curious George, 22 inches long, 1 pound. George is our third child, quite literally, as he comes with us just about everywhere our other two kids come. He eats at the table, gets tucked in, buckled in, regular pictures taken of him, put down for naps, bathed, kissed, hugged and is very well loved.

George entered our family this past Christmas. It was love at first sight for Lauren, and she hasn't left him behind since. He is the perfect friend; he is the best cuddler, baseball, soccer ball, pillow, arm rest, conversationalist and listener.

George has given his all for Lauren as he has a hole in his head, under his ears and on his bum. His shirt is worn from multiple washings after yogurt facials and jumping in the mud. He is known by many nick-names, such as Joe, Joje, and Georgie.

Snuggles in the morning always include George.

Gavin is my baby, Jocelyn is Aunt Heidi's baby and George is Lauren's baby.

George even came to the hospital when Gavin was born, because after all... he is a part of the family. :)