this boy

 i just love him.  praying for him through a challenging and difficult season.  thankful for God's care and love and protection over his life during this past year. praying the days and months ahead offer him a new way...one of growth and learning and connections.  a reset.  a new beginning. 

 still my dear boy.  we'd so appreciate your prayers for him if you remember...believing God has a huge purpose for his life specifically, and will use his past and present to shape his future.  in the meantime, i'm surrendering and trusting and letting go of the outcomes. 

praying for you every day Hud. Dad and i are so proud of your courage today...❤❤❤ 

official

 Hannah is officially official. on staff in our local ER.  today was her debut shift.  twelve hours spent as an official RN.  no more student badge or clinical instructor or signature. no more "free labour", much to her delight!  so...let the debt reduction begin! she's gonna be so great, just like her older sister, and the younger one to follow.  these three girls are compassionate, and competent.  confident, smart and strong.  they add humour and levity to the situations they face with their patients, and i'm proud of their professional choice to make a difference.  nursing is demanding and tough.  but it's also noble and utterly essential, now more than ever.  

great job Hannah, so happy for you and this really great position you've stepped bravely into.  keep learning and applying and slugging it out.  proficiency on the job and transferrable life skills are what's ahead (and hopefully a cool vacation someday too) ~ and for now, we're happy to celebrate how far you've come! ❤

round two

 Layla is a trooper.  signing up to tree plant once, last summer, i understood.  signing up twice- knowing what she knows- well that surprised me more...the cold, the heat, the bugs (like lots and lots of bugs), the showers (yikes) the long days...yep, she is strong and feisty and something about this experience really brings her joy and the adventure she so loves.  i'm super proud of her work ethic, her independence and her mental strength to grit out another season in the far North.  she is making the coolest memories.  she's also making many other life experiences seem easy-peasy after this.  

a trial run at home.  new tent, new gear.

how is her back ok doing this for hours in a day?

miss you, my dear! have so much fun!

a climber for our climber

even at one year he already loved to climb.  proper playsets, chairs, tables, counters, baby gates, his crib.  didn't really matter. he's always been a strange, but adorable, mix of timid and adventurous.

my mom and i spotted this really great climber at Costco.  a quick text to daddy and he said "get it!"  

we really hope this gets lots of use for lots of years.  

Cree's first Costco trip turned into a bit of a fun adventure.  he did great, and i bet he's a Costco fan for life!

thanks Jeffrey for building it, you are a rockstar!

no words for this " smile".  such a hilarious stage... :) 

but do you even blame him?

 this "top-half-of-the-donut-loving" kid might be on to something!  

like really, what's the point after the icing is gone? :)