We're off!

We're going to Bethany Camp for family camp next week. The kids and I are leaving tomorrow morning to spend a couple days with my parents. Tomorrow afternoon we're going to the Chautauqua County Fair to see the farm animals (at the EIEIO house, as Bekah & Joey call it). I'm sure I'll have all kinds of fun stories and pictures to blog about when I get back.

Recently we've had the pleasure of attending a few of Tim's senior league hockey games. Tim plays with his dad, brother Danny, and a few other relatives. The kids LOVE watching his games (or perhaps just playing on the bleachers and yelling). Joey repeats "Go Daddy, Go Danny, Go Grandpap!" over and over and over. He now has a small hockey stick at home that he likes to play with, so I guess it won't be too long now before he's on the ice with them.

A few games ago, the kids' Great-Grandpap attended the game too. I cannot tell you just how much I love watching my kids with him. What a unique and special relationship for a kid to have (and I'm pretty sure Great-Grandpap enjoys it as well). I get choked up just thinking about how thankful I am to have married into a tight-knit family with such a respectable patriarch.

Here's the most recent picture of Ryan. He's now sitting unassisted and crawling rather well too. He's a very happy baby and smiles almost all the time - despite currently fighting with some pesky bottom teeth. His outfit in this picture is a hand-me-down from my sister's oldest son Jay. Jay wore this outfit in our wedding in 2002.

A few weeks ago, we built a playground in our backyard. Joey couldn't be happier. There's only one things he enjoys more than swinging - reading. The boy is nuts over books. He's recently started learning his letters. He recognizes about half of the alphabet now and learns things so quickly. He can also spell book. Maybe we should start preparing him for Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Where to start...

So I've been wanting to start a blog for a while. My kids do so many fun things these days that I feel if I write them down, perhaps they'll enjoy reading them when they've grown up.

This thought came to me a few months ago... we were on our way home from a family birthday party when I noticed that Bekah was praying to herself in her car seat. It was so precious. She was thanking God for each member of our family. What a sweet girl. That night when we got home, I asked her to show me how she prayed so I could take a picture of her.