Sound Effects

Noelle started doing this out of the blue a couple of weeks ago. We're not sure where she learned it or why she does it, but it continues to surface in random moments throughout most days.

Bible Story Time

Each evening, we read a Bible story with Noelle. Tonight she picked the story about John the Baptist. Lately, reading with Noelle has become less reading and more answering her questions. It's not uncommon for her to ask several questions for each page. So tonight, here are the questions she asked about her Bible story:

"Why were they in the water?"

"Did they not have swim suits?"

"Did their clothes get wet?"

"Were there fishies in the water?"

"Did Jesus hold the fishies?"

Truth Be Told

Noelle: Can I wear my princess pajamas tonight?

Sarah: No, not tonight sweetie.

Chris: They are dirty.

Noelle: But my mama lets me wear dirty things.

Busted!!! I guess I need to make sure that at least Noelle always has clean laundry so we don't have to dig through her dirty clothes for a pair of PJs!

Our Little Geologist

"Daddy, I found a really neat rock. It's not poop. It's just a neat rock."

Sarah, being an Earth Science major, is so proud that Noelle can distinguish between a rock and a coprolite.

A Taste of Camp

I got to be a counselor for pre-teen camp this week. I had an awesome time hanging out with a few hundred 4th - 6th graders, but I was definitely ready to come home and see Sarah and Noelle.

During the week, the camp pastor frequently asked for volunteers from the crowd to help him with an illustration. On Tuesday afternoon he said he needed 2 volunteers and hundreds of hands quickly shot up. He then explained that this time he was going to use 2 counselors and that the Holy Spirit had already laid two names on his heart. (In this case, "Holy Spirit" is code for "camp director" who is from my church.) Of course, I was the first name he called down. So, I got on stage, was asked about what foods I liked to eat, and about how much I loved the campers. I professed my love for the pre-teeners and was then asked if I would eat anything to show how much I loved them. Obviously, my only choice was, "yes, of course I would." The pastor then set some dead crickets on the table in front of me and asked a camper from my church to come on stage to pick out which one I would eat. She picked the biggest one, and then in front of 300+ campers and counselors I ate a dead cricket.

Noelle's Ladybug Birthday

Princess Baba and Noelle

A Bidet for her B-Day

Today is Noelle's 3rd birthday! She had a swim party in our backyard and had a great time with friends and family. We'll definitely have more pictures to come, but here's a quick look at some of the day's activities.

Playin' with Gram & Baba!

While we were at the wedding in Michigan, Noelle got to spend some quality time with Gram & Baba. They went to the park, swam, played dress up, and did a lot of cooking!

Detroit Wedding

Last weekend Sarah and I flew to Detroit for Sarah's brother's wedding. We had a wonderful time with David, Katie, and both families.

Here we are at the rehearsal dinner with Sarah's Aunt Annie, Uncle Perry and their family. It had been about 15 years since Sarah had seen them.
The day of the wedding:


Katie with the moms:


Sarah's dad with his sister:
The wedding party at the reception:

David's groomsmen had bells that they rang to get people to kiss:

Our chaperones for the evening--Sarah's Uncle Pat, Aunt Kathleen, Mom & Dad:
7 of us rode in Sarah's parents' minivan. Unfortunately, on the way home from the reception we got stuck in major traffic. All the guys were in the backseat together from 10:30pm to 1:00am...and we only went 3 miles.
The day after the wedding, Sarah's family went to the Henry Ford Museum before we flew home. Here's Sarah dressed up like a hot dog.

Here we're working in an assembly line building Model-T cars:
This is the chair that Lincoln was shot in....kinda weird to be posing for a picture in front of it:
This is the bus that Rosa Parks sat on during the Civil Rights Movement: