Anna's Photo Blog

The cats were another highlight of the trip.



L loved to wake up early and go out first thing to feed the cats.







And M helped herself when no one was looking.



Here is Mirah the beautiful goat. She is the sweetest, most friendly animal!

While were visiting, Esther and Clara temporarily became slaves to L and M. I didn't even know that L could be so bossy! L became best buddies with Clara and M became best buddies with Esther.



L and M also loved getting into all of Esther's and Clara's clothes to play dress up. M especially liked all the shoes and slippers. By the third day, they were all out of the bedrooms and all over down stairs.







M was fascinated by the huge trucks that were dumping manure and the tractors that were working in the field behind Grandma's house.



The water fights were fun...M was a natural:







We talked to David on the phone a lot. We all missed him.

The girls and I spent two weeks in Newcastle for a very much needed vacation from everything. (It would have been even better if David could have been there, but he had to work. He joined us for the last little bit)

There were two things that L and M LOVED!! In M's words, the "heme" and the "meme." Translation: the trampoline and the hammock.















And here is the "meme":

Grandma sewed a beautiful Cinderella dress for L for her birthday. L was too shy to wear it while everyone was around, but when she woke up the next morning, it was all she could think of.

She twirled, and danced, and giggled, and twirled some more. At first, all I could get were tons of pictures like this:













And then, finally, I got one in focus:



Several days later, she could finally sit still long enough for a picture. What a beautiful dress!! Grandma did a great job!



And L, being the wonderfully kind sister that she is, decided to give M her old princess dress. It is still a bit big for M, but that is okay. Thanks to Grandpa on the other side of the family for it. (Although he didn't sew it.)

L's birthday was great! She really enjoyed it, and she got to spend it with lots of family. She was especially excited to get to spend the day with her cousin.





When I asked L what she wanted for her birthday, she told me she would like whatever we gave her. She did have one request though. For about two months, she had been requesting to have watermelon on her birthday. Watermelon was not in season yet, so it turned out to be one expensive watermelon. But what a wonderful request!! And she ate tons. And then a few days later, she ate even more. We still had about a third of the watermelon left, and she ate almost the whole thing herself. M and I had a few pieces, but L ate and ate until there were only two or three triangle pieces left. At that point, she was so sick she had to quit. She came back and finished off the last few pieces a little while later.





L also requested to have cheesecake.

Here is L when she was 18 months old.




And now, here is M at 18 months old.


And here they are together. L can still fit in a milk box.

L's hair is finally long enough to put into pig-tail braids, her very favorite hairdo.

As you might remember, L used to have very long hair. It was beautiful. She has always been in charge of her hair, and has never let me do anything in her hair except what she requests. Her very favorite hairdo has always been pig-tail braids. This picture is from April 2008.


Then in May, shortly after I got a haircut, L gave herself a haircut, wanting to be like Mom. I will never forget walking into the room where L was and seeing all that hair all over the floor. The clumps of hair were so long, and they were everywhere! I felt sick, and I went into shock. It happened mid morning, and for most of the day after that, I was in a daze, wandering around and not knowing what to do. Luckily, one of my dear friends just happened to call in the late afternoon. She got to hear the whole story as I bawled my eyes out. She came over and snapped me out of it, and helped me pull myself together and figure out what to do next. (Thanks, Laurany!!)


We got her hair cut, leaving it as long as possible.


Then, less than a week later, she gave herself another haircut!!! I couldn't believe it! This time, there was no hope. She had cut one chunk right to her scalp, in the very front and center. Several other chunks of hair that she had cut were less than an inch long. L was very upset to have to get her hair cut so short this time, but there was nothing else to do. (This time, I took it all very well. All I can say is, it was a very good thing that she hadn't cut it this short the first time!! I don't know what I would have done!)


The thing she missed most was her pigtail braids. For the entire year it has taken to grow her hair back out, she has been looking forward to that wonderful day when she could have pig-tail braids in her hair again. That day has finally come, and what a glorious day it is.

Here is the best picture I got of Samuel's graduation, which is a pretty lame one. But I need to include at least one picture of the main event. Here, Samuel is standing up for an award or recognition he got. Good job, Samuel!


L and M thought Newcastle was a total blast. They really loved getting to hang out with their aunts.


L especially liked the part where she got to boss them around and tell them what to do.


And here is Mirah, the most wonderful goat in the whole wide world!!






Here I am with my two youngest sisters. They have sure grown into beautiful young ladies while I have been away!