Easter and Aaron's Family

We do not believe in the Easter Bunny :) However, bunny rabbits are one of Esther's new favorite animals (along with turtles...) and she enjoyed this Esther-size version and making the "sniff" sound!

The church held their traditional Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Esther really didn't understand what she was supposed to do, but she had fun! Although once she figured out what was in those shiney wrappers, we had to confinscate her collection :)

She loves to run around outside and has recently taken to trying to sneak out the door when Aaron comes home from work.

We took a picnic lunch to the park and then walked around and saw the ducks again. We were also entertained by a squirrel during our meal :)

We met up with Aaron's parents at the mall (which was just reopened after being flooded a couple years ago) and looked around. There were so many people there and stores - I felt like a country tourist! Here, Aaron's mom is showing Esther the fish in an aquarium (part of a restraunt).

Cracker Barrel rocking chairs -

I've been trying to get a good family picture - Aaron's mom took several for us, but getting two children to cooperate isn't working out...This is probably one of the best of Esther.

Another try -

I had the same problem getting a nice picture of the girls in their Easter dresses. (A lady from church gave them matching ones at Anna's shower.) They looked a lot cuter in person :)

Minus the headband! Esther is liking her baby sister more all the time.

Easter morning, the adult chior did a "cantata" and did a great job.

Some of Aaron's family came down for the service, then we went to eat at the state park. Esther was scared when we tried to take a picture with this human bunny!

There's a great view of the lake from this catwalk - but I realized later that it wasn't in any of the pictures I took...

Trying again -

Esther helped us pick up sticks in the backyard. Our potatos, lettuce, radishes, and onions are doing well, but the other garden things haven't gotten established yet - I think because it's dry here.

We went back to the state park another time. After living in town for six months, I appreciate the peace and quietness!

Esther enjoyed the swing, but she wasn't sure about the slide.

She enjoyed the stream though and put her hand in the water.

Anna has such a big smile - but I didn't manage to capture it on camera either!

She's getting nice and fat!

We went with some of Aaron's family to an artsy sort of restraunt for his grandmother's 81st birthday.

Us with Grandma -

Virtual Tour

Hello from Dunkin' Donuts! We've decided to save time and money and just use the internet uptown...

And welcome to our home! This is the living room where you would come in the front door - we normally use the side door ourselves. Those aren't actually our tools - a "handyman" from the man we're renting from came and fixed a few little things around the house. We also had it sprayed for insects this week .

You can tell a baby lives here! We haven't done a lot of decorating, partly because we haven't unpacked everything, and partly because with a baby around, the less stuff the better!

This is the kitchen. Aaron's parents are letting us borrow a fridge and microwave stand. The wallpaper is sort of pastel pinks and blues, so it's a blessing that I have a lot of blue towels anyway!

The other side of the kitchen -

The table (the "window" opens into the Living Room) and Esther's favorite shelf -

The kitchen leads to the laundry room/mudroom and the side door. I'm really enjoying having the laundry area close to the kitchen and the rest of the house!

The other side of the laundry room - it was fun stacking those shelves. At least we know we'll have plenty of jam, salsa, and pickles to eat :)

Down from the Living room/Kitchen is a hall leading to the bedrooms (3), closets, and bathroom.

Esther's room -

The bathroom -

Another picture of Esther's room - I didn't take any of our room or of the office/storage room...So anyway, we're enjoying it and we look forward to seeing you here in person!

Here's a recent picture of Esther - She's been sleeping through the night (wonderful!), and she has 5, going on 6 teeth. She can't walk yet, but I think she could if she tried :) In spite of the fact that her schedule is rather crazy here, she's doing well and is out growing her clothes.
She also has started enjoying looking at books (instead of eating them!) and likes to have us read them to her - over and over and over! Another one of her "new" things is playing with cell phones. It's the only "toy" that she really fusses when we take away from her...
Last Sunday she was playing with my Bible (don't worry, I was watching to make sure she was careful) and I thought it would make a cute picture.
Aaron pruned the trees in our yard. He's also started more of a regular work schedule now and goes to the office to study and has started to make more visits.
Aaron's been talking about buying a trimmer since before we were married and he finally had a good reason too! (the reason being we have a yard to trim....) We took a picture to commemorate this exciting event :)

As for the new baby, we have an appointment scheduled for next week and we've decided on our top boy/girl name and some backups.

I'm enjoying being home more - maybe I'll actually be a better homemaker if I'm home! The church people have been very good to us and we're keeping busy - Hope you all are having a great fall!

Camp and More....

Hello everyone! We got another camera and finally found time to share some of the last month with you.

The main event was camp! Aaron was the director, so between preparation and the actual week, it kept us pretty busy.

Some of these pictures are out of order, but above is Esther at camp giving Daddy a big smile :)

Miriam and Julie graciously came along as much-needed counselors - this is Miriam in the dining hall, which was below the chapel.

Esther playing carpet ball at camp - but I had to take her out pretty quickly because she kept wanting to eat the bug-and-germ-covered balls.

This is Esther at my parents enjoying the toy shelf! She's becoming more mobile everyday and keeps us busy keeping an eye on her. She's also learned to wave :) and is getting her top two teeth.

I love this picture! Esther with a happened-to-match teddy bear from her O. grandparents. Oh, and that's not a scrape on her forehead - she just woke up from sleeping face down.

This is all the way back from 4th of July (or around there) - Esther is trying out a slice of cucumber - she's getting better at eating, although I'm not sure who's really the one learning how this works...her or me!

Baby, mother, grandmother, and greatgrandmother - four generations of daughters!

Morning devotions at the waterfront at camp - Aaron did a great job as the director! There were 83 kids who attended and over 20 made a profession of salvation - including three from our church that we'd been praying for! It was in central MN, the weather was great, and I think everyone had a good time.

This was a new addition called "Gaga Ball" - I never did figure out exactly how to play it....You can see the chapel in the background.

A couple people from our church came along and one of them helped out with the fishing. I guess they caught tons of panfish - I think that's what they were - but threw them back.

Aaron and I taught the 3-6th grade campers. The theme was "Heros of the Faith" from Hebrews 11, so he did Abraham, Isaac/Jacob, Moses, and Jesus Christ. I helped out with some of the songs, teaching verses, and a missionary story. Aaron did the Bible lessons and songs and a lot of review. Hopefully they all learned a lot because we went through a lot of information!

Due to rain the first day, our games got a little messed up and we ended up doing skits/charades on the last night. It worked out really well actually - this is Miriam's cabin acting out the Christmas story. Miriam said she's been in a lot of programs and done a lot of roles, but this was her first time being Joseph!

Every night there was a campfire service and different pastors spoke - this is Aaron on the last night.

We stopped at Arby's (Aaron's favorite....) on the way home - it seemed strangely quiet and peaceful without any campers around :)

Guess what was waiting for us the next morning?! The cucumbers that were small when we left were big enough that waiting 'till Monday wasn't an option.

Aaron helped me and we ended up with 16 quarts...good thing too...I've been eating more pickles than usual these days :)

Speaking of the baby-to-come, I had my first prenatal today and thankfully, everything seems to be fine and normal.

I had let Esther be in her stroller unstrapped for just a moment as I was checking something and turned around and found her standing up! I guess that's why they say to keep them strapped in!

The garden - we didn't do a very good job weeding this summer, but things seem to be growing and we've been eating stir-frys and salads and freezing beans, so we're thankful to the Lord for the continual miracle of seeds growing into food!

I'll close with some big news - we're moving to TN! The end of this month - middle part of the state - Aaron has been asked to pastor a church down there - town of about 15,000 or so - we haven't found a house yet, but we're looking - so, it'll be a big change, and we'll miss MN a lot, but I'm sure the Lord has new things planned for us! And I'll try to post on the blog more often!