Greece, Summer 2013

This fun family...

Got to go to Greece for a work conference. 

In our down time, we had lots of fun doing this:

    

And after the swimming, we looked like this:

and this...

Noah liked this much better (than the pool)...

 And this was Elijah and Noah's first time in the Mediterranean Sea...

And we also got to do this

(we love friends)...

And it was sad when we had to go our separate ways and do this...

 (We have been friends with this family since before Stephen and I were married and before any of us had children... We've been to 7 countries together and now we have 6 kids between us...) 

 We also got to have fun doing this... 

(With other special friends who I have known since college and also now have 6 kids between us!) 

(trying to get 4 kids to jump at one time: impossible!)

We did this and could see jelly fish out the ferry window...

Girls just wanna have fun... doing this!

Greek Yogurt... oh la la!

I got to do lots of this, and I loved it...

Then we went into Athens and got to see some of this...

(market street)

And this... 

(The Acropolis from Mars Hill)

And have fun with friends...

Amazed at all God has blessed us with... 

friends who are like family, amazing sights and experiences, and fun story to top off the 2013 summer! I am THANKFUL! 

Same little girl, same little games!

My little girlie... while we lived in Sudan...

My big girlie, living in France...

Summer Highlights!

Ok, so I'm needing some grace. Life with 3 little ones is a bit full and a lot on my plate. I LOVE IT... I love most every second, (notice I said MOST) every second. Elijah is an amazing baby... great eater (now), great sleeper, mostly pretty chill baby... THANK YOU JESUS!!! But, will summer in full swing, it's been hard to sit down at a computer to write or post pics even. So, here are some highlights of our summer:

In July, Stephen's mom (Grandma) came to visit for two weeks...

Cookouts!

Eiffel Tower visit

Sadie's Second Birthday Party (not on her birthday)

Brother/Sister love

We even got her to Disneyland Paris!

These are the "beaches of Paris"... along the Seine River. Sand and all! 

 Some sweet friends who are like big sisters to Sadie Mac took her to see Monsters University... this is the "after the movie shot"

 Elijah took his first dip in the pool around 2 months!

 Then...

NanNan (Amanda's mom) came to visit!!! 

We took her to a new favorite castle that's only 30 min. from our house.

Took her on a Seine River Boat Cruise...

Took her to the Eiffel Tower

(because when people come to visit you, that's just what you do. 

And I will say, it still amazes me every time I go!)

 

 Batman and Wonder Woman came for a visit!

and, they made plans

Back to Disney... 

Sadie's birthday party with friends!

Eli with cuddles from NanNan at 3 months

Sadie's "real" birthday... she had 4 parties this year.

Will.Never.Do.That.Again.

Noah learned to shave

and LOTS and LOTS of this on hot summer days. 

(We had a good amount this year, for Paris!) I loved it!

Happy Summer 2013...

I'll do my best to post more... when I have time. But seriously, with 3 little ones, 

it's harder than I thought to post! 

Life With 3...

Well, blogging has all of a sudden been put on a "only when I have time" list and there is rarely time with 3 little ones under 5 running around our house. So, I'll catch you up on life since Elijah came...

Right after he was born a very sweet friend of mine made me a delicious Moroccan meal and came with two of her children to share it with me. She is precious and just wanted to help. It was chicken, boiled eggs, a pasta sort of thing and a creamy lentil sauce. Sounds weird, but it's so good. It's called Rrfisa/Tteud... (or something like that)!

Here is a pic...

 Here is my sweet friend enjoying the meal together...

When Elijah was 2 weeks weeks old, we found out he had lost a considerable amount of weight. He was nursing, but he wasn't eating. We thought he was going to have to be put in the hospital, but our doctor put him on a "force feed" kinda diet and I had to pump so we could see exactly how much he was eating. I have an AMAZING FRIEND who lives in a bordering country and she BLESSED MY SOCKS OFF by coming to help for a week. God sent her at the perfect time too. She helped me with late night feedings so I could sleep, she cooked, clean, played with the big kids, and just loved me well as a friend. And, thanks to prayers and help from her, Eli gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks!!! I was/am so blessed by the friends around us and am so amazingly thankful to them all. Being so far from "family" has been hard, but the Lord has given me family over here to help in so many ways... Here is my sweet friend "Janet" whom I love dearly! 

Life with 3 has also brought...  

A TON OF LAUNDRY! 

Here is my cutie in the laundry basket. 

After I hung it up... he slept and I played with big brother and sister outside! 

 Oh the Laundry!!!

Here are two of my little loves. Sadie Mac LOVES little brother!

(Elijah at 6 weeks... more chunky than...)

(Elijah at 3 weeks...)

Loving his big brother... and his big brother loving him back! 

The Many Faces of Eli...

The past six weeks have been an absolute blur. I can't believe little guy is SIX WEEKS. It's been a bit of a roller coaster, but we're thankful that He's doing great now and here are some of his faces along the journey... 

"Bashful"

 "Grumpy"

 "Sneezy"

 "Sleepy"

 "Happy"... giving me the pound-it. 

 And my personal favorite: 

"Cutie"

We love him and he's a great addition to our family!