The Kitchen

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Partly because it is the main room in our house :) and partly because it seems that someone is always hungry. Today we made cookie dough for our Bible study tomorrow night (we'll bake the cookies tomorrow). We made Oatmeal Raisin and Snicker-doodle cookie dough. Shelby was a good helper. Sometimes it means there will be more to clean up when she is helping me - ok, all the time! - but it is fun and she is learning. Such a sweetheart!

Worth the drive

Shelby and I (Sharon) left Saturday and drove to Dallas to celebrate Emily's 9th birthday and spend the week with the Bonus family. We got back yesterday evening (Friday the 10th). The drive there was about 8.5 hours and the drive back was 10.5 hours. But the week sandwiched in between was wonderful!!! We went swimming twice, had a fun birthday party, read some books, went shopping, ate out, went to Zumba & a DTS/ST ladies night (Kim & I), relaxed, stayed up late...so much fun!!!

Thank you ~ Adam & Kim, Emily, Nathan, and Abby for a wonderful week! Shelby had a blast with you all! What a special time it was. We look forward to doing it again, and hopefully Josh can come next time.

To make them laugh...

I found out how to make Mommy and Daddy laugh...I just call Daddy "Josh"!!

And she says is very clearly! The past three days she has been saying Josh instead of Daddy and we have been having a good laugh at that. So we know that I, Sharon, need to start calling Josh Daddy. :) Hopefully Shelby will catch on.

We went to Kerrville, TX for my birthday and it was a quick trip. We stay at the Inn of the Hills and Shelby liked the couch in the lobby.

She just wanted to stay sitting there. The restaurant folks could see out into the lobby and they were laughing at how cute Shelby was being, just "relaxing" on the couch.

Shelby has been doing a great job leaving her sunglasses on her face so we had to get this picture. We got a little dressed up and went out for dinner. One of the best parts of the trip was that there is a Culver's in Kerrville, so we had a couple of treats over the two days we were there. :) YUM!

Thank you for a great "weekend" Josh!! I love you so much!!!

Playing

We got back from our walk this morning and Shelby had a great time just playing in and with her stroller.

Her lip seems to be getting better. She still isn't eating very much - she only wants fruits and "treat"-type foods, so we are working on that. I guess it was just over one month ago that I posted Shelby eating real food all day. She does well with breakfast, whether it is cold cereal or oatmeal or waffles or french toast. The rest of the day is the problem. We love her anyway! :)

Absolutely Amazing!

I just finished nursing Shelby and laid her down for bed. I shed a few tears while nursing her at the thought of how absolutely AMAZING our GOD is! Tonight Shelby fell (at church, of course...seems she always gets hurt at church) while she was walking around with her sippy cup in her mouth. She fell right onto the cup and ripped her top lip away from her front teeth. There was a lot of blood at first so we left right away. She now has a big, fat lip. She wouldn't cooperate to get her picture taken, so here is what we could get.

Our mouths heal so quickly! God made our bodies in such an amazing way! As Chuck Swindoll says, "Words are stupid." I can't put my thoughts into words very well. But it comes down to this: We praise you Lord for who you are. Thank You for loving us. YOU ARE AWESOME, GOD!

And now we pray that Shelby will be able to sleep through the night so that her lip can heal.

Our life lately

We are enjoying life here in Sanderson, although it is plenty warm! We are looking forward to the Fall and Winter seasons. Here are some recent pictures.

Shelby has enough hair to get in three ponytails! :)

We (mostly Josh) made cinnamon rolls and a loaf of cinnamon bread. So delicious!!!

Shelby loves technology! Her favorite thing to do is "type" on the computer, use the mouse and play with Daddy's iPod Touch all at the same time. It makes using the computer difficult, since whenever we are on it she wants to be as well.

Shelby is enjoying feeding herself which is great! But is makes for a messy girl.

Shelby is so stinkin' cute! Here are some of the things we have been enjoying lately. I'll try to explain them well.

She will walk over to the lotion bottle, pick it up and "pour" lotion out, throw the bottle down, and rub her hands together.

When I am holding her and go to kiss Josh, when we separate she will put her hand on my shoulder and Josh's shoulder and push us together to kiss again.

When Josh is in the bathroom with the door closed she will walk over to the door, knock, then lean her head against the door and talk to him.

She is walking all over the place and talking all the time. Whenever she sees a phone she picks it up and has a conversation. She now seems to be comfortable with actually having someone on the other end of the line and she will chat for quite a while!

When I am finished sweeping she picks up the small broom and starts sweeping, then looks at me like "See Mommy, I can do it too!"

She is good at sorting laundry ~ really just throwing all the dirty clothes from the laundry basket onto the floor. And she likes to put the clothes from the washer to the dryer.

And in just a matter of a few weeks she has gone from using furniture to walk, to getting around without holding on to anything. It is so much fun to watch her grow!

They are engaged!

Congratulations to Uncle I and (soon-to-be) Aunt T!!! We are so excited that Isaac and Trisha are engaged! We met Trisha at the Hamilton Family Reunion this past June in Nebraska. She is a wonderful lady and we already love her. The ring looks beautiful and the wedding plans are being made.

Congratulations!!!