Missy Jane

This little girl is a blessing in my life! 

 Like the flower she was named after, Lavender is a healing balm to my soul.  

I am grateful to be able to care for her . . .

. . . even when she kicks, pinches me or gets in funny positions while nursing.

She is a great sleeper, well at least she used to be. Sigh!

Please help me to remember her 7 month old sweetness forever.

Pretty please with a cherry on top!

October Update

I have several summertime posts in the works, but since it is now October, I think I will forge ahead and worry about catching up later!  Here is what our kiddos have been up to:

Thankfully, Ryan and Molly are close by!  John and Evan head over to their place for a game of tennis once or twice a week.  We love to spend time with them.  Can you blame us?  We have the world's cutest, sweetest granddaughters. Ryan is still working hard to keep customers happy with the latest and greatest phone.  Molly has a new jewelry business. Perfect since she is a pro at accessorizing!  Check out her blog HERE and her website HERE.  Brianne has an ever expanding vocabulary, lovely curls and a zest for life that is contagious.  Leighton is a little beauty who loves to snuggle until she decides it's time to get down and go.  The two girls are best friends and Lavender loves to watch their every move!

Elder Aaron has transferred to a new town called Leamington on the shores of Lake Erie.  The mission president combined the north and south Korean areas and moved 3 of the elders into English work.  So there are only two Korean speaking missionaries now, both of them are native speakers. Aaron seems to be adjusting to the change of pace.  He is out of the city now and surrounded by people (including many migrant workers) speaking Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese and even German!  They grow a lot of tomatoes in the area and there is a big Heinz manufacturing plant in town.  Aaron says it smells like tomato soup in the afternoons!

Marianne has been going nonstop since she came home from Ecuador in August.  She loved her time there and is grateful for Facebook so she can keep up with the kids there. It also motivated her to study Spanish, although she has decided it would be easier (and more fun) to go live in Ecuador for a year than having to do her Spanish homework!  She is student mentoring a Shakespeare class at our commonwealth school this year.  It takes a lot of time and effort, but she is doing a great job! She won't like me writing about this, but she also recently had her first date!  She is still our resident photographer and probably takes more pictures on my phone than I do.  Many of them look something like this:

Evan had a tragedy occur when his unicycle broke recently. Apparently you need a higher-end cycle for the jumps, tricks and spins he did. Unfortunately the one he wants is around $700.  I think that's even beyond Santa's budget!  Evan is really enjoying his first year of seminary and is serving as class president.  On the homeschool front, Evan has some demanding classes this year and spends many hours studying.  Fortunately, his geometry program includes some great hands-on projects that feel like playing!

Lavender is growing so quickly and we are all trying to soak up every minute with her.  Sometimes it is hard to get anything done because we just want to play with her!  Her latest trick is waving hi. She gets so excited that she starts waving with both arms and eventually her whole body.  She can scoot to the side and backwards, but is still working on moving forward. She is good at sitting and rolling, so she can usually get to whatever she wants. She is such a happy girl who brings such joy to our home.  We can't imagine what we did without her!

Emma knitted this adorable pumpkin hat for her!