Time with Grandma - Part 1

We were so thankful for a visit from my grandma the past few days. At 93, travelling isn't easy, but that doesn't stop her. We had her over our house for dinner and some time with her two great grandaughters. It had been since last July when she saw Nina, and she had never met Lyla before, so this was a special visit. Lyla took to Gram right away, and sat on her lap more still than she'll sit on our lap!
We think they became good buddies!

Time With Grandma - Part 2

Our second visit with Grandma was today at my mom and dad's house before she leaves to go home tomorrow. Today's visit was MUCH more high energy as the four great grandaughters were there together. There is never a shortage of silliness when they all get together.

I think that Gram is going to have a lot of stories to tell when she gets back home. I also think she's going to sleep for a day! She's been busy and on the move ever since she got here on Friday, and between visits with the girls, dinner at my house and dinner at Shen's house and hanging out with my parents, she's going to be worn out when she gets home! We're so happy she was able to visit, and we are pretty sure she kept entertained while she was here!

We've Been "Efl-ed"

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/81Vx7axG2p2cARoc
My mom elf-ed Bo, Shen, G, Mark, and I...this is a funny one! Make sure the volume is on.

Merry Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!!!!! We hope everyone had a wonderful day celebrating such a great holiday. Christmas really is such a wonderful time, and we really enjoyed ourselves this year. We spent Christmas Eve at the traditional family gathering at my parents' house, then Christmas morning at our house then back at my parent's house. It was an awesome time of enjoying our kids, our family, and everything that God has blessed us with. We really are thankful! To see all the pictures from our evening and morning, click on this link. By viewing the slideshow, you can read the captions of who and what some of the pictures are about.

http://picasaweb.google.com/amandabeth2/062?authkey=gjhnrKGushU&feat=directlink

Winter Has Arrived!

Since winter officially arrived yesterday, we know we'll be spending most of our time inside for the next few months. Thankfully, our basement toy room is a pretty good place for the girls to play and get their energy out. Since there isn't much in our basement right now other than our elliptical machine and the toy room, there is plenty of room to run, jump, and play which is coming in handy during these long, cold months ahead!!

And the Nightmare Continues...

In case you were a little in doubt about the presence of the sex slavery issue here in the U.S., msnbc.com just posted an article this morning you might want to read.

Sex Slavery: Living the American Nightmare

With Christmas right around the corner, and all the celebrating and gift giving that surrounds us, could you imagine being in this wonderful country but in these deplorable conditions?

It's Taken Nine Months...

...but Lyla finally has a tooth breaking through. She's been drooling and chewing for six months, so it's about time! So far, no successful picture of the tooth, but since we've all got them (I hope), there may be no need for a visual on this one.

We Love our Animals

The girls both love the lion and giraffe in the nursery. It's cute watching Lyla do the same things that Nina did at her age. Every morning, Lyla crawls over to the lion to give it kisses like Nina did. Lyla also likes to "ride" the giraffe with our help, and she loves to crawl in the legs and play with it's tail...just like Nina did. It's cute to see that they both love those animals so much.

A Really Great Event

Last night, Mark and I attended the 2008 benefit dinner for the International Justice Mission with our good friends, the Clarkes. It was an amazing evening. The ridiculous traffic, pouring down rain, and running a block in the pouring down rain (in holiday attire, high heels, no umbrella), couldn't detract from the magnitude of the time we were there. Both Megan and I attended the Call + Response film a couple months ago, and we were both really impacted to do more in the area of human trafficking and injustice. During the film, the president of IJM, Gary Haugen, spoke on the crisis of injustice in our world. The information and statistics are startling. Did you know that there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history? The images will break your heart and keep you up at night, but the fact is that it's all too real and happening all around us (all over the world and HERE in the U.S.). It's almost impossible to be exposed to the reality of what's going on and not want to do something about it. Second only to drugs and weapons, humans are the most trafficked product in the world, and the demand for humans is growing as traffickers realize that once they sell a drug or a weapon, their product is gone, but they can sell a human over and over and over and continue to make a profit. Scary, right? Did you know that children are being advertized for sex on Craigslist? It makes you rethink your use of that site. One could go on and on, but the point is that IJM is doing so much right around the world to bring justice to victims of unspeakable acts. They are dedicated to fighting for basic human rights, persecuting the cowards who buy sell women and children for sex, and those who enslave children and adults against their will and without pay. As Haugen said last night at the dinner, the battle is really one of Good against Evil, and last night was truely a celebration with over 1200 people that a lot of Good really is happening through IJM. We were so thrilled to be a part of the evening, and our hope is that many others will join the fight against injustice because it really does matter to those victims. Haugen made a great point that we may not be able to make a difference for all the people in the world, but we CAN make all the difference in the world for some.

To learn more about IJM or the topic of human trafficking, here are just some sites that might interest you, and there are many, many more out there:

International Justice Mission

Polaris Project

Born To Fly

Season of Light

Not For Sale

Trafficking Sucks

I would also really recommend Gary Haugen's book, Just Courage

To close, there was one quote I read on a blog that really stuck in my head. It's by Dr. Martin Luther King. He said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Something to think about...

Nine Months

Lyla turned nine months old on Monday. I would have posted then, but I was trying to get the Santa pictures posted that day, then we went to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree, bring it home, decorate it, etc. So, for a quick Lyla update. At nine months, she is into everything. She wants to do whatever Nina is doing, and crawls all over the house pulling up on everything she can. She's still a picky eater. I took her to the doctor yesterday for her check-up, and the word is that we need to put some meat on her bones. She's at the top of the spectrum for height but at the low end for weight. She is still a great baby, so sweet, and still has NO teeth and just a little bit of hair! :)

In these pictures, she's checking out her reflection in the trash can (a bit gross, I know, but she's a kid...what can you do?). This first picture is her giving herself a kiss. She gives the biggest open mouth slobbery kisses ever, but we accept them anyway. This one is a must see in larger mode. Click on it to see the funny reflection in the trash can!

A Visit to Santa

Yesterday, we took the girls to see Santa. Our community was having a Winter Wonderland which was supposed to be outdoors. However, it was SO cold and windy, and they thankfully moved the activities indoors. Nina was very excited to see Santa this year.

Lyla wasn't feeling very well, but she didn't seem at all scared by Santa.

Nina loved the reindeer, Santa, and the juggling elf!

Buddies...Kind of

I can't say they're buddies all the time, but we're definitely getting to the point where they're starting to play together. There is still a lot of I want what she has, but I have a feeling that's not going to go away anytime in the next 18 years. While we definitely think there are challenges to having two kids in less than two years, we're starting to see the benefits also.

Big Baby in a Little Stroller

Nina and Lyla have taken to a new game. Nina is the mommy and Lyla is her baby, and Nina gives Lyla stroller rides in her baby doll stroller. They both think it's pretty funny, and I crack up b/c Mark sings the big baby in a little stroller a la Tommy Boy - if you forget that part of the movie, here's a little refresher: http://crackle.com/c/Movies_and_TV/tommy_boy_fat_guy_in_a_little_coat/1860692