Headin' Home

We have (tentatively) planned our trip back home to Washington. It seems weird to do so after we just - merely three months ago - drove over 2000 miles to get back here. This has truly seemed like our home again, and I, Laura, will admit to not looking forward to the move and upheaval at all. I love all the friends and neighbors we have here, and will miss them very much. I wish we could have all our friends AND our family together!

But for your curiosity, interest, or just whatever, here is a link to our planned route. We originally thought to knock off eight national parks, but have parred it down to five. We'll check off Southern California and get the northern CA parks (Redwoods, Lassen Pines) and Crater Lake in another trip.

More to follow,
Laura

When the cat's away . . .

. . . the mice will play. And play Mocha did. Background: Josh and I went on our first date together since Sophia was born. Now I know we've left her with family, but this was a true, leave-her-with-a-babysitter night! Two of my former students arrived promptly at 6:15 and after I showed them around, Sophia went to bed very quickly, and we left before 7:00! That was the idea; Sophia sleeps the whole time, and the babysitters have a real easy night. We got home just after 10:00, everything was quiet and neat. Then, they told us what Mocha did! They were in the back of the house in the sun room, when they heard noise. They were afraid someone was in the house, but they went and looked in the kitchen and Mocha had her paws up on the counter eating the pizza!!! She was SO bad!!!! I reassured the girls that Mocha had never done anything like that before, it's perfectly normal to leave food on the counter. Well, I thought the cutestest thing was they told me they kept taking Mocha outside every five minutes in case she was going to throw up (she didn't). I think they really didn't want to clean that up! (They both have dogs of their own, so they know all about that.) But seriously, Josh and I could tell at a glance that Mocha's stomach was huge, her ribcage was sticking out, and that she had absolutely pigged out.

So far, she's still been fine; a little more energetic this morning after a very nice, long P-O-O-P.

And so, despite Mocha's adventures, I'd say it was a successful evening and I'm looking forward to the next time we go out!

Uh-oh, Daddy has the camera!

Ok, so these are as recent as recent can be. I'm still planning to post pictures of our vacation, and Sophia's birthday (of course!) but Josh took these a couple of days ago, and they were really cute, so I thought I'd throw up a few (really!) quickly. The only commentary is that you can see I haven't finished unpacking - the sun room holds the last of the things needing to be organized (really, it's not that much, especially compared to what has been done), and Sophia enjoys playing in it. I put in several of the close-ups because it shows all of her many, varied expressions! Oh, and the cute, little, pink dress is new from Grandma Glessner, and the cute, little, pink table is a birthday present from Grandma Arndt. Enjoy.

Mom and Dad's Alaskan Cruise

Last month, Mom and Dad got to enjoy their 40th anniversary gift from their children: an Alaskan Cruise! They invited mom's brother and sister-in-law, Larry and Jayme, to come along, so it made it doubly enjoyable. I wanted to throw up some pictures as Mom and Dad don't have a blog. The pictures are amazing and Dad said basically, it was the best gift they could've gotten: relaxing, no pressure, get to see and do exactly what they wanted, no meals to plan, prepare, or clean up for a week . . . I could go on. One cool thing was they (the four of them) were invited to have dinner with the Captain, evidently, only a very few passengers get to do this, so it was special. They loved Alaska and got pretty close to some glaciers!

As an aside, Josh and I just got a postcard from our friend, Amy, who spent her whole summer interning in Alaska (waaaaayyy up, north of the Arctic Circle!) and she loved it, and wants to move to Alaska someday. Hmmmm . . . maybe there's a reason Josh and I want to go there too . . .

Mom and Larry in Skagway, AK
Their cruise ship, Rhapsody of the Seas Mom, Dad, Larry, and Jayme enjoying breakfast on the ship.
Just relaxing! Mom and Jayme
Mom and Dad (below) soaking in some scenery.
Distant glacier

At Home with Grandma, Opa, and Aunt Jana

Back home in Tacoma, we split our time with Josh's family and mine, of course, so I will try to alternate postings between both sides of the family. We'll start with just some casual photos at home; the fun things we did (Ft. Nisqually, Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, Snoqualmie Falls) will have their own posts. Also, I will put up some pictures of Manzanita, OR: Josh and my Get-Away otherwise known as a second honeymoon. So we still have much to catch up on, but frankly, I'm not in a rush: things here at Ft. Sill will be pretty boring for awhile (I hope!). It actually rained here this afternoon, not a huge thunderstorm, but a nice shower.

Dad loves Sophia's fancy-schmancy jogging stroller. Sophia loves it too; she doesn't mind being in it for extended periods of time. She just relaxes and gets really comfortable.
Grandma loves her Sophie!
Sophia loves playing with Mocha and these three shots capture some of the moment:
Hey Cutie!
Sophia would rather play with anything that is not a toy (hence the picture frame in her hands) than anything that is a toy.

Here's Aunt Jana giving Sophia her first piano lesson:

Way to go Aunt Jana! Way to go Sophie!

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

Our last Sunday before leaving (July 20) we drove to the WMWR after church and had a picnic. I was surprised I wasn't melting - in the shade it was pleasant enough. It was fun to do something special as a family. We hiked (well, walked) about 1/2 a mile up the trail and back. It started getting too hot, so we turned around. We left for Washington two days later!

Fun Stuff Around the House

We are done with all our traveling - Labor Day and all - so should be settling down for awhile. The unpacking is (mostly) finished and I can start to catch up on blog posts. I'm looking forward to sharing all our travels and special times.

Here are some photos from the couple of weeks between Josh's homecoming and our leaving for Washington (July 3-20). Looking at them now, I am shocked at how much Sophia's's changed in two months!!! She looks so little in these pictures, and she's so much bigger now (and has so much more hair!) You'll see the difference as I put up more recent pictures.

This picture is from June, actually, from my time with Geoff and Mindy. She's playing with one of Grant's toys.
























Mommy's busy unpacking in our new house and I fit in the cupboard!




















Just playing outside in the (hot) weather.

Daddy and I just woke up from a nap, can't you tell? And I'm wrapped up in a bed sheet!

























Mrs. Johnson, see how cute I look in this bumblebee dress you gave me? Thank you!

























Miss Intense Reader

Josh is Home!!!

Josh was finally reunited with his family July 2 at 1:15 PM!!!! Sophia initially took exception to being handed off to him, but after a refreshing nap she decided he must be alright. I'd almost call it a miracle because she didn't mind being held by him or even playing with him out of sight of Mommy that very same day! Now, just a few days later, she feels almost as at home with her daddy as she does with Mommy. Of course there are some things she still wants her Mommy for, such as feeding and drying off after a bath. Here are a few pictures from this past week:

Daddy and Sophia enjoying a big bouncer at Family Appreciation Day. Sophia wasn't big enough for most things but the inflatable bouncer was definitely a hit. She had the biggest smile on her face as she watched all the little kids around her bouncing away and had lots of fun trying to imitate them.

Mommy and Sophia on their way to the pool. Sophia loved it and Daddy had a lot of fun splashing around with her. She also thought it was great pretending to swim herself in the pool.

Catch-Up

I know I haven't posted anything since February, and I feel bad about that. But life will go on. So . . . here's one "catch-up" post of mostly pictures. Josh will get home in ONE MONTH!!!!!!! and I am leaving for Lawton June 10. Josh and I are planning to take a three-week leave the last part of July - Aug. Don't know the exact dates, but we will be leaving Sophia for 5 days with Grandma and Opa, spending a week with family, and then spending one week driving back to Lawton from Tacoma; truck, trailer, baby, puppy and all! :=)

Sophia has been crawling for two months and is now beginning to stand up all by herself. No steps yet, but that's ok, because Mommy wants Daddy to get to see that milestone. One month ago she FINALLY got two bottom teeth! So she's not toothless anymore, but those two are all she has - at 10 months! Don't know her current weight and height, but at her 9 month check-up a month ago she was about 18.5 lbs and just under 29 inches long. She was in the 50% for both. She eats great, and is finally sleeping without screaming herself to sleep. Don't know if there is anything more gut-wrenching or painful to listen to than that, but I'm so thankful I was able to tough it out (with Mom's help, of course).

MAY PICS:

My first swing!

Mommy and Sophia at the park.

All dressed up for Mother's Day!

Irresistible grin!

Mommy didn't put my hat on crooked, but it's too big for me, so that's just the way it ended up! Mommy thought it was pretty cute, and I obliged for the camera.

APRIL PICS:

Grandma and Sophia have matching outfits!

Aunt Jana and Sophie at the Daffodil Parade

Sophia in New York, in a spring outfit for the first time! (Nice tongue, Cutie!)

Laura with Nala at Adam and Meredith's house.

MARCH PICS:

Opa and Sophie share a snuggle.

You better lower this crib, Mommy, because I can stand up all on my own now!!!
Easter dress and Easter lamb

FEBRUARY PICS:

Valentine's Day at Geoff and Mindy's

What a grin for the camera!