We're a little behind...

Time has flown since May 3rd when we welcomed baby Gideon into our family:)

Big sister Raquel loves him very much- just needs to get the hang of being gentle:)

Rainy season hasn't quite left us yet, hence the raincoat and boots when playing outside

This is Gideon and Ethan. Ethan is 7 weeks old in this picture and Gideon is 9 days old. Ethan's mom, Heather, and I were in the same class at school all last year and up until she had him in March.

Happy Birthday Raquel!!!!!

Raquel woke us up at 6:00 this morning asking if she was four now. We assured her she was and then she wanted to know if the baby was coming that day. I had always told her that first the baby would be born and then it would be her birthday. Wishful thinking I guess:)

Since she had to wait ALL the way until 3 that afternoon for a little party, we let her open one present in the morning.

Very excited about the Leapster game system from Oupa and Ouma!

She got right to work

Getting ready for her party and showing how old she is now

playing games with friends

Duck duck goose!

putting candles on the turtle cake

It took some convincing for her to eat the cake. After she blew the candles out she just wanted to open her presents, and told us she wouldn't eat anything. Finally after a while of watching everyone else around her eating, she joined in

finally getting to open presents:)

it was a long fun day- now she has finally crashed (all the balloons that we blew up are underneath her blankets so that the fan doesn't blow them away:)

Happy Birthday Raquel! Daddy and Mommy love you very very much!

Raquel turns four tomorrow!

A trip down memory lane...
May 1, 2006

Raquel joined our family

2007 Her first birthday - celebrated with Great-Grandpa McClain who turned 80 the next day.

2008 Picking her nose on her second birthday celebrated at the MTC in Missouri

2009 Ready to eat her two cakes last year as we celebrated her third birthday the week after we arrived in Asia-Pacific

Stay tuned for more birthday fun happening tomorrow (unless her brother decides to crash the party:)

We love you Raquel!

Waiting...
Gideon's Moses basket is all ready for him to make his appearance. (don't worry, we have a stand for the basket- he won't sleep on the floor:) Raquel did tell me that she thought he would be sleeping on the floor in her room. I nipped that rumor in the bud!


Raquel and Pak Paidi, the man who takes care of our lawn, washing our bike together. He comes to our house every Wed. and Rauqel loves following him around and 'helping' him:)

This is Raquel's new favorite outfit. She found these 24-36 month sized tights in her drawer the other day and paired them with the shirt and shoes seen below. We make her wear a skirt over the entire ensemble when she's in public.

Raquel all ready for a birthday party for her friend Arika (they were supposed to either wear pink or purple:)

She made a chicken mask at school:)

Raquel has been getting ready for Gideon's arrival. I had planned on putting all his clothes in the baskets, but when I came in the room, it was already done for me:)

We saw this important information at the dentists office and thought we should pass it along

Dylan preaching in chapel at school

Our good friends Logan and Kendra Teall just arrived here this week with their son Laken. We've enjoyed catching up with them, and being able to show them around town a little bit. (notice my lack of ankles - 9 days left!)

Selamat hari Paskah! Happy Easter!

We had a really nice first Easter in Asia-Pacific.
Lately we've been talking to Raquel about why we celebrate Easter. She likes hearing the story over and over again, and is always asking us about God. It's very interesting to hear her questions, she keeps trying to figure out if anything is bigger than God (like our house:) Today she told us that God really gave her a lot of teeth.

We started out our day at church at 7:30
the power went out in the middle of the service, but that didn't bother anyone:)

Raquel decorated an egg and joined in a hunt for chocolate coins in children's church. She won a prize for her egg pictured below:)


After church, our friends, the Svoboda's came over and we hid eggs for the girls to find. They did a great job:)

Then it was time for lunch. Ham, cheesy potatoes, deviled eggs, salad and mango pie for dessert. Delicious!

Happy Easter everyone-

He is Risen!

Dyeing eggs

On Friday, Raquel's friend Arika came over to play. We attempted to dye eggs with some food coloring that I had brought from the states. I found out that they actually do sell some (almost) white eggs here, so went to the market that morning and hunted some down.

Success!

The colors turned out really nice the first day, but then after I took them out of the refrigerator on Sunday, they started sweating and the color started to come off. They ended up looking more like tye dye eggs, which is still cool:)