A Trip to Turkey

Daddy and Drew departed on a great adventure this summer. Nearly 2 weeks, just the boys, on a trip to Turkey. They were joined in Turkey by other members of our church to travel through towns in the eastern part of the country sharing The Good News.
Drew was excited to ride on the fairies of Istanbul again. They seem to be his most vivid memories of our 2 month stay when he was almost 2.

The horse drawn carriages on the Prince's Islands were a fun treat on their last day in country.

Drew has now grown accustomed to flying in style. Here he is in the VIP lounge in Istanbul. It may be hard to go back to family road trips - nevermind real life at home - after this trip!

Summer cuteness!

Cheverly Truck Touch

Two years ago I took pictures of Drew singing the Backhoe song at the truck touch. Now Evelyn is the two year old singing while Drew is still driving. They both loved the morning full of trucks. Don't get carried away kiddos!

The train! The train!

Watch out, here comes Evelyn!

Beautiful Spring, Beautiful Kids

Happy Birthday Drew!

We had so much fun creating Drew's Fire Fighter party! Drew and all his favorite buddies had a good time doing training exercises, a bucket brigade, and oh the siren noises! The fire hydrant of cupcakes seemed to satisfy our hungry crew. But while red frosting on red velvet was thematically appropriate, we may still have red crumbs in the dining room.

We love Mimi visits!

We're so glad that Mimi comes to help us when Daddy goes on trips! It was a beautiful spring day to share on the National Mall.

Spring Pictures at the Smithsonian Castle Garden

The Snow

No, there is no snow in DC here in June! I'm in the midst of catching up. So here we are back in January. The snow was disappointing to the boy who remembers the three feet of it last year and received a sled for Christmas, but it was a wonderfully heavy sticky snow. The snowballs and snowmen were great! And Drew was big enough this year to help Mr. Brian with the real snow blower! I think our snow family was the best gift we have ever shared with the neighborhood. Drew got lots of compliments on them, but their accessories had to come in at night on his insistence that they might be stolen. It was his Lightening McQueen hat after all.

Silly stuff

Time to catch you up on my super cuties! We had a good winter of having fun inside. I never get any pictures of all the hours we spend cuddled up together reading books. But here are some other favorites. Play Dough snakes may need a bigger table next year.Building with blocks has been growing on Evelyn... especially since she can knock down her own towers - but not brother's buildings!

And of course a box you can fit inside of - now that is fun!

Funny glasses are very important when you are going to the store to fill your cart with Matchbox cars.

Happy Valentine's Day

Thank you Caroline B for this sweet dress!

Someday I will get these two to look at me at the same time, but aren't they so cute anyway!

We took special Valentine treats to friends at church yesterday! Yummy!

Just Pictures

Febuary already!?!?!

So my sister-in-law has reminded me that we actually have a blog! Thank you Teresa! So I'll post a few recent pics now and for the sake of the family I love - I will work on catching up a little since - gulp! - August when I last posted something.

Drew has become a trucker. He hauls the entire cast of Pixar's CARS around in Mac the 18-wheeler. We often talk about how we don't want to be like Chick Hicks (the cheater) and how we want to use our strength to help people - like Lightening McQueen.

Here's Evelyn with a few of her favorite things: Bow, Baby & Bear

Swinging

Drew and Evelyn both take great delight in swinging. It has been one of our favorite activities this summer. I love to come to the front of Evelyn's swing because she just giggles with delight as you push her and she goes flying away. Drew only wishes there was a way to go even higher!

Cows and Company

Drew and I had a great time making cow masks for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. Evelyn didn't really understand why we had to put them in front of our faces, but she enjoyed madly waving hers around.

If you are going to go to the mall dressed like a cow - be sure to go with a whole herd!

Strawberry Picking

We had the most fun picking strawberries this summer! If you ask Drew if he helped to pick, he smiles broadly and says, "I ate the strawberries!" It is a wonder that he didn't make himself sick - I almost suggested that we pay for an extra pound! We did pretty well with our sun protection. Drew's TurkCel hat was quite a hit in the patch! (It was a promotional item from a company in Turkey - we love the little antenna!)

And the tractor was a big hit with Drew and the other kids. They all enjoyed their turns driving. We'll be heading back to Butler's for blueberries later this summer.

Springtime in the yard

Construction Birthday

We had a great time building at Drew's construction themed birthday party. The kids painted, bull dozed a tower of boxes with their bodies, and navigated a wagon load of lumber through a maze in the yard. We had fun fellowship with other moms and dads too! Not to mention a special guest appearance by Drew's dear Sunday School teacher Miss Leslie and her roommate Miss Kate.