Fun at the Park

Playing with Daddy
walking through the leaves

First time down the slide (pause the music)

Trick or Treat!

Little Ladybug
She chose Elmo for her candy bucket

Getting candy from Miss Nancy

Getting candy from Miss Catalina

Lucy had a great time for her first night of trick-or-treating. She would go up to people's houses and say, "No tricks, just treats!" She also had seen the Halloween Mickey Mouse Club, so whenever we told her to say "trick-or-treat!" she'd say "Trick-or-treat tower!" (There was a party at trick-or-treat tower for the MM club crew) :)

Pumpkin Patch

Visiting the pumpkin patch - Danielle, Audrey, Daphane, Tim, Eloise, Lucy and Mommy (daddy is taking pictures) :)
Lucy kept picking up one pumpkin, throwing it down and then getting another. "Want this one!"

Audrey riding the pony

Lucy riding the pony, too

Happy with her pumpkin choice!

Fall Fest!

Lucy playing a game at Fall Fest

3 Little Ladybugs - and this was not planned! Audrey (Danielle), Lucy (Lori), and Eloise (Daphane)

Lucy and Jason George

Daddy and Little Ladybug

Nanny and Pappy Visit - AGAIN!!

Lucy and Audrey at song time with Mr. Shipp - they love this!
Dad being silly

Lucy and Nana

Mom and Dad just can't stay away! (Don't worry, ya'll, we love it!) They had a wedding in Cleveland, so they decided to pop in to see us again. We know they are really coming to smooch on Lucy but we like to think that we have something to do with them wanting to come here again. We had a great time! Mom went with us to our library program one day and to song time another. We had lunch (like always!!) at First Watch. Sometimes I swear that my mom has much more energy that I do. One afternoon I walked into our basement to see my dad videotaping as my mom and Lucy "painted" the mirror with bubbles. The whole sink was full of bubbles and Lucy was standing on the sink, as my mom held her, and was smearing bubbles all over the mirror. ONLY grandparents do fun stuff like this. Since they have gone, Lucy will ask for bubbles now when we are in the basement bathroom. They are off to Michigan to create some more fun with the Wheelers. Have a great time you traveling fools!!!

Our Big Girl

Best Friends - Audrey and Lucy

Happy 2nd Birthday, Audrey!

Lucy gets all dressed up for Audrey's party.

Having fun at the park with Daddy

She is getting so big!!

Our little baby girl is turning into a BIG girl. She is so much fun - we enjoy every day with her. Here are some fun things that she has been doing:

**Lucy knows all her letters and numbers from 1-12. She knows her colors and all her shapes (including octagon and pentagon).

**She has 12 teeth (those molars were tough coming in)

**She has started drinking from a big girl cup - and always wants "chocolate milk!!!"

**She has had 3 successful stops on the potty. Tonight she was so excited after she tinkled on her potty.

**She has numerous books memorized and sometimes we'll come into the room and she will be "reading" a book out loud to herself.

**She loves to dance and sing. Every night she will say "sing song" and after we sing a few will ask, "sing one more song, -k?"

We can hardly believe that she is almost 2! Our hearts are already breaking!!!

Another Summer Visit

Lucy tries on Daddy's shoes
Our family pictures are always silly!


Hugs for Daddy

taking a walk with Pap Pap

Mom and Dad came to visit us from the east for their annual summer visit. My pictures aren't that great - Mom had her camera with her most of the time - so I'm waiting for some pictures from PA!! We had a wonderful time. Lucy constantly wanted "Pap!" When she woke up from her nap - the first thing she said when we walked in the door was "Pap!" I was spoiled by mom - she cleaned my whole upstairs! Dad enjoys exercising by walking around the neighborhood and mowing our lawn. Lucy enjoyed cleaning also - Nanny brought her a cleaning set and she loves using the sponge and mop. Thanks for making the long, 9 hour trip out here, Mom and Dad! :)

Summer Fun

Lucy being silly!


We take Lucy to the library for different programs - this week the theme was insects and she did her first art project - the spiders were already drawn on the paper in crayon and I helped her spray watercolors on to reveal the hidden spiders. Definitely some refrigerator art!

holding her picture with Daddy

Lucy and Daddy playing outside

Playing on her roller coaster

Just Like Daddy!

Lucy has been pulling out the atlas and looking at it without being prompted! Truly her daddy's girl. It's funny since I'll be doing laundry and then come into the room and there she is on the floor, turning pages and pointing at things.

Lucy Dances to Loop Man Dan

Our little dancer - we think Danielle dancing off to the side is pretty great also. (We love you, Danielle!!) Loop Man Dan was great, too! Before playing the video, pause the music on the bottom of the page.

Aunt Mim and Tallie visit

The girls enjoying ice cream: Kim, Lori, Danielle, and Tallie

Tallie and Lucy posing on the frogs at Newport Aquarium

This is one of my favorite pictures. The girls were looking at the turtles, fish and alligators underneath their feet.

Lucy, Kim and Tallie at the aquarium - this is the day after Lucy's little accident - so she's not full of smiles :)

My sister Kim and niece Tallie came down for their summer visit. We had a really nice time and did some fun things while they were here. The best being just sitting and talking with one another. I'm very thankful for these 2 gals.

What we've been up to......

We thought we'd start off with a few pics of Lucy.....
The best seat in the house! We are not potty training Lucy yet, but she loves to sit on her potty before bath time (and random times throughout the day).

Movin' up to the big girl chair - she has joined us at the table.

Having fun in her pool that Nana and Pap gave her for her birthday. This was crazy to get blown up - thanks Mom and Dad!

Slam dunk! Uncle Eric style!

We are having a nice summer - the weather has been amazing! We have only been to the pool with our friends Danielle, Daphane, Audrey, and Eloise twice this summer. I'm sure there will be a few more really hot days, though.

Lucy is keeping us busy. She is growing up so fast. She loves her pool and cries when we take her out. She is in the library reading program at our library - she loves to listen to books. Every 2 wks. we go to Library babies at the library. We also go to a Toddler Music program at our local children's bookstore. She loves to move and groove!!

Matt and I are doing well. We always say we want another vacation - but then they turn out to be more work than just staying at home. I know it'll get easier as time goes on. We've had some exciting things that have been happening regarding a move. Nothing definite or permanent. But we see God's hand in it all. Please continue to pray for this!! :) We are excited!

Some other things we've been doing: hanging out with Uncle Willy for his birthday, having dinner with our friends the George's - meeting Miss Karah and getting to know her, lots of park time (Lucy is climbing the steps and going down the slide), lots of walks, going to Parky's Farm, dinner with the Ernst's and getting to know Miss Grace, swinging with Carson, seeing Miss Mallory Dennin and hanging out with Carl and Francie, meeting Miss Clara Doss and hangin' with Stacy and Jason. We are looking forward to Aunt Mim and Cousin Tallie's visit next week!!

Big Hug from God!

Matt and I were talking LATE one night and I shared with him how I just felt like God wasn't around anymore - how I felt that I prayed and prayed and He just wasn't listening/answering. We continue to pray about our move, some struggles we encounter here, and also how we can be used while we are still here.

Yesterday, a friend and I took Lucy to a waterpark. When we were getting out of the car, two young girls came over and asked if they could wash the windows of my car. I said, "Sure!" and then they said, "it's free." As we got our gear together and left the car, they said, "Have a blessed day!" I really thought they were from my church, as we do many outreach things like this. They were not from our church, but from another local church doing outreach. They left a handwritten note on notebook paper on my windshield. I had to really hold back the tears. It was folded up and on the outside it said, "We LOVE YOU!" Inside??? :

We washed your windows so you could see more clearly. :) God loves you and your family. You are so blessed to have each other. Times may be hard but with a a little faith and some love lives can be changed. God just wants to let you kow He is here and has never left you. Things will get better. We'll be praying for you! Love, Some girls from (name of church)

God is here - He sees, He hears and He loves us so deeply.

Esther Study

I've been doing a Beth Moore study with my bible study and it has really been amazing. Her latest study is Esther - It's Tough Being a Woman. I'm putting a good word in for Beth Moore. I know some of my friends find it hard to keep up with - I do too - we all get busy. But she has truly been blessed by God. I love studying along with her. This has been one of my favorites.

This particular quote from a book (mentioned in Beth's study) just really hit me the last few days. I've been reading it over and over. It is an exerpt from The Queen and I. It reads:

"When, because of your faith, your life too becomes perceptibly different; when your reactions are quite opposite of what the situation seems to call for and your activities can no longer be explained in terms of your personality; that is when your neighborhood will sit up and take notice. In the eyes of the world, it is not our relationship with Jesus Christ that counts; it is our resemblence to Him!"

Amen!

Family Vacation

We are home from the beach - it went by way too fast. It was nice to be able to be in one place with my whole family. As we were driving home, Matt mentioned how he really enjoyed being at my parent's house the most. Lucy was still saying "Pap!" and "Nan!" on the way home. :)

We started out (and ended up) in Shamokin. Enjoying all the local favorites. We had such a great time at Knoebel's Grove. It was so fun to see Lucy and Tallie enjoying the things that my sister and I were able to experience when we were little. Lucy loved the train and the carousel - saying "more" every time the ride was over. Tallie loved the rides too (she's able to do the 'bigger' kid rides now!) yet she loved to just be around Lucy. And many thanks to the men of the family for trekking over to Bloomsburg so that Kim and I could have the famous Berrigan's subs. James' pizza didn't happen (boo)- but I guess that'll be first on the list next time.

Lucy loved the water and we had to hold onto her because she kept running INTO the ocean. She would cry and kick when I picked her up to take her out. She was shivering and the water was freezing, but she kept going back in.

Missing the family to hang out with during the day and how well Tallie plays "mommy" to Lucy. Also missing the games of Phase 10 after Lucy went to bed. Ah well, still praying that we end up in MI so that we'll have some card nights and just be able to hang with Dean, Kim and Tallie.

Long drive = very tired family!!