Little Miss Faith...isn't she lovely?

I recently had Faith finish a few sentences to post on here for everyone. So here's what she wanted to share:

My favorite subject in school
is Math because I'm learning Division and Multiplication

My favorite games are
Old Maid and Sorry

What I miss most about Colorado
is seeing all of my family

I want to tell them
that I love them and miss them.

My best friend is
Megan

My favorite recess activity is
jumping rope

I just finished reading
The Higher Power of Lucky. I've been reading a bunch of books for a competition called Battle of the Books.

When I grow up I dream of becoming
An artist

During my play time I like to
draw

I am most thankful for
my family

My favorite TV shows are currently
Hannah Montana (even though Mommy doesn't let me watch it that often) and The Amazing Race.

FYI

Just thought you all might like to know that Krisalyn told a boy at school this week that he is going to marry her when she's older. I'm not sure what is funnier- the fact that she's 4 and she's already picking out the one she wants...or the fact that she didn't ask him - she simply told him.

She revealed this little detail to us about her day when we were all sitting around the dinner table talking about our favorite and least favorite parts of that specific day. She made us all guess about hers only indicating that it had to do with a secret she told her friend Jayden. After a series of guesses at which the closest we got to the truth was that she told Jayden that she was his girlfriend, she finally gave up and told us the real story. Brian and I looked at each other, both filled with terror and bewilderment, and we both agreed that she is definately my daughter.

Happy Heart Day

We just wanted to say we love you all! Happy Valentine's Day!!!

No more long blonde hair...

The girls have wanted to cut their hair for quite some time! We made them wait until after Lindsey's wedding...and we finally gave in! I won't lie - watching their beautiful hair fall to the floor was difficult...but allowing the girls to start making some decisions on their own paid off in the end. Their individual styles are reflected in these cute little haircuts!

Good Times!

We're back!

We returned to Washington exactly one week ago and we're just now feeling settled back in. It literally took me a week to re-organize our 1100 square foot apartment in order to make room for new toys and all the goodies from Christmas. Faith is now back in her own room (we got rid of a couple of book shelves and converted our bedroom into part bedroom/part office). She was initially thrilled about the idea but she's complained about sleeping all alone the past couple of nights. At this point, she's going to have to get used to it because we simply can't fit all the clothing for three little girls into a single closet.

Our visit home was bitter-sweet. We loved reconnecting and spending so much time with everyone, but it always serves to remind us of just how alone we are out here. I know that a great number of people raise families without the support of their extended family...but I think that when you've known what it's like to have a larger community supporting your immediate family, it makes it more difficult when you lose that support (even if it's only for a season of life). I guess we have learned that you don't really appreciate what you have until it's gone.

Despite the struggles of simply living so far from our loved ones, we still feel so cared for by God in this entire venture. I can't believe that I'm half way through my program at school. This entire experience has already taught us so much about love, life, and who we are individually and collectively as a family. We're excited for a new year and new discoveries.

Thank you to all of you who loved us so well while we were visiting. We ache in our desire to be nearer to each of you. I'll attempt to download all of our photos and post a holiday recap slideshow later this week!


p.s. We pulled out the good old webcam and set up our skype account...so you should all set one up too so we can at least see each other more regularly!

A Thanksgiving Recap!