Family Vacation and Faith's Birthday

We hit the road last week enjoying Utah's summer adventure town, Moab, and then down to the Jemez mountains near Santa Fe for a couple days of camping with friends. Along the way, Faith turned five!

Just north of Moab is the Arches National Park; the shaded Sand Dune arch is tucked away inside a slot canyon and was the favorite place in the park to play.


The balanced rocks have inspired countless Road Runner cartoons.


They've also inspired some man-made rock-balancing.


I took the older children on a half-day white water rafting trip down the Colorado River. Here's Eli and Grace embarking.


Isaiah enters the river with a little more flair.


After Moab, we continued heading south for some camping; along the way we stopped at Four Corners for the traditional photo.


That evening we ascended into the Jemez Mountains (about 8,000 ft) and enjoyed friendship and fellowship with our church family from Albuquerque.


They even remembered Faith's birthday and presented her with a cake; but she's still a bit shy and tried to hide from the attention in my shirt.


Birthday presents have a way of drawing her out though.


It was a great trip and wonderful to see our friends in New Mexico again.

Good Hair

After a trip to the local beauty shop; check out Faith's new look.

Good news!

Faith's leg casts came off today! There'll be some more check-ups, and night-time braces for a while, but no more casts and the doctor is pleased with the progress.

Faith was casted on both legs (from the knee down) to correct a problem with her calves that was limiting mobility in her feet.

A good hair day

Today is a significant day in our household. After receiving much advice about how to do Faith's hair--much of it utterly incongruous--and filling a whole cabinet with various cremes, goops, and conditioners, today we found a good hairdresser!

Faith also has new casts. Not only are they in the color she likes, but the med techs were able to bend her feet to the proper position when they put these new ones on. That's progress we believe!

Breaking a habit

Poor girl! Faith will be wearing casts on both legs for the next several weeks. For as long as I can remember Faith has walked mostly on her tip-toes and the orthopedic doctor noticed that her calf muscles were shortening such that she couldn't fully extend her feet. According to the specialist casts are the best way to break the habit of tip-toe walking before her calf muscles or ankles are permanently damaged. She looks sad in the picture but that's mostly because of the extra attention she's getting. She can still run and play, she just can't tip toe all that well.

I guess sometimes our problems in life can get to the point where only a strong forcing function can correct it before real damage occurs. It's worth asking yourself, where is one needed in my life?

Faith's 4!

And she chose Chuck-E-Cheese for daddy's birthday lunch date.

Moms Stay Out

We all enjoy the Mom's Day Out that some kind ladies in our church offer. We know Faith enjoys it, too. She calls it Moms Stay Out!, which I guess makes sense to her.

What Faith said

"I have my Elmos on the table."

"Faith, those are called elbows," instructed Grace.

A Remarkable Discovery

One of the great joys of having a mess of young kids is the daily variety show of budding personalities being expressed and the interactions with other young personalities in the house. Sometimes this is painful, sometimes it's hilarious, but sometimes it's also very helpful.

Lately, we're enjoying Zeke's budding charisma. He's quite the cut-up. But our pediatrician has been a little concerned about his lack of speech development; we recently had an initial appointment with some specialists to look into this.

Last night, however, Nana made a remarkable discovery. She found a way to make the boy talk. Zeke can now pretty much say anything you want him to. The trick?

BIG SISTER!

The way to get Zeke to talk is simple. You ask Faith to ask Zeke to say it. He has enough respect (fear? anxiety?) for his big sister to do whatever she says. Before this trick was discovered all Zeke would say were a few mumbled syllables, but last night, under big Sis's beck and call, he would say as clear as a bell whatever we asked (through Faith).

Faith turns 3

Understanding 2 year olds

Faith loves to "help" around the house. One of her favorite chores is folding laundry, which for her means balling up the garment and then placing it in a pile of other crumpled clothes belonging to one of her siblings or parents. The curious part is that she hums just like her momma does when she folds the wash. What's going on here?

When Faith tries to clear the table, or buckle her little brother in the high chair, or clean the bathroom mirror with her licked hand, or any number of other assists, what I think we're really seeing is not some mess-making, mischievous toddler, but a sprout that one day will flower into a very helpful big sister.

My oldest daughter, Grace, is an invaluable help around the house. And if I recall correctly back when she was knee-high to a grasshopper she made her fair share of messes, all the while thinking that she was helping.

So go on Faith and get to work. I can't wait to see the result.

And then there was one

It looks like we're down to just one child in diapers now! That's a great Father's Day present. For the last couple of weeks Faith has been doing very well, even at night. She's definitely earned the special bedding that her Nana made for her when she reached this milestone.

Faith smiles

Why is this new photo of Faith so remarkable?



Because up until now, this has been her "camera smile".

Li'l Miss Contrary

When children are very young, like our little Faith, it's amusing (and at times worrisome) to see the child's personality begin to express itself. Faith has demonstrated that she will probably be the contratrian of our children. Her first reaction to her parents' direction is usually to be solidly against it.

One humorous example as a case in point: Kristin was singing Jesus Loves Me to the little children and Faith interrupted her with a sassy look to assert, "Jesus DON'T love me!". She said this because she wanted to hear the B-I-B-L-E song and was going to reject anything else. It's funny for now, but bodes of difficult days ahead.

We're going to have lots of stories to share, if these kiddos don't kill us first.

New Doos

Faith is a little shy about her new hairdoo, but we all like it.




Zeke must have been jealous about all the raving over Faith's hair. I caught him wearing this.

The real Faith

In public our daughter Faith is very shy. But this is an alter ego. At home her true identity emerges. She follows us around the house and cracks us up with her antics, words, and especially her facial expressions. Tonight I grabbed the camera and now have documented evidence of the real Faith.

Faith Turns 2

Happy Birthday to Faith! We're off today to Alabama to celebrate with family (and also to finalize Zeke's adoption); these pictures from recent months capture some of the many faces of our hip-hopping, laughing, questioning, fussy, fun youngest daughter.