two loves

Two things Camille loves: 

1. Her Auntie Megan.
2. Making birthday cards for people she loves, even if it's not their birthday.

You'll notice that she's concentrating so hard that her tongue is sticking out.

And these days she's giddy with excitement that she can "write" birthday cards all by herself! Another person who is excited to have a new pen pal? Why, Auntie Megan of course!

None of us are looking forward to Megan going back to Mexico in just over a week, but it will certainly be fun writing her lots of "birthday" cards and drawing lots of pictures for her. 

And, as Camille says, "Auntie's other children need her too!" 

These four months have been filled with adventure and blessings, and now it's time for us to share our Auntie with her other children.

Letter of the Week S (overview)

Here are some of the things we did this week (in no particular order):

Drew a spider web

Made our S poster

Practiced doing straddles at gymnastics

Ate homemade chicken and rice soup

Decorated our S page with star stickers

Talked about safety around fire, on the trampoline, in the yard, and other places

Visited Starfall and learned about letters

Ate sandwiches

Attended a Spring Sing-Along

Enjoyed our swing

Played with silly putty

Had a sunshine supper (known by some as a picnic)

Ate lots of PB&J sandwiches

Practiced writing the letter S on the magnadoolde

Cut out stars, squares, and other shapes and used them to make a mobile

Whew! That was a bunch of S things!

our special visitor

We were blessed to have Auntie Megan join us in Minnesota for Levi's baptism over the weekend. Today we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather outside and snap a few photos of Megan with the kids. And can you believe it, we actually got a really great one! Our opportunities to take a photo of Camille smiling for the camera these days are few and far between. But she does love her auntie!

Thanks, Megan, for spending time with us and loving us so much! We're sad that you're leaving tomorrow, but so very blessed to have had you here while we did. We're looking forward to regular Skype dates again, and are excited that you'll be able to see Levi (and Camille) grow these next few months. Love you!

untitled

(Alternately titled "In which Jenna bawls her eyes out and then looks at the bigger picture.")

***

Missing you already, dear friend. But also very excited for this new season in your life!

Tomorrow morning Megan leaves on the journey of a lifetime. It is a journey she has been preparing for for many years. Please join with me in praying for my dear friend as she follows God's calling to minister to the people of Tijuana, Mexico.

She needs our love, prayers and support now more than ever!



P.S. You can look for a post in the semi-near future telling some little-known Megan facts and secrets, as well as the many ways she has been a blessing in my life over the past 12 years!

megan (almost) in mexico

As many of you know, my dearest friend Megan (and Camille's baptismal sponsor) is preparing to move to Tijuana, Mexico in just over six weeks. She's leaving tomorrow morning for a three week training in Colorado, will be home then for a few weeks, and then will be leaving on the adventure of a lifetime. We are so excited to see what God has in store for her in Mexico!

I just wanted to let you know that Megan is continuing to raise support even as she prepares to leave the country very soon. She updates her blog often, and you can visit it to read about what she's up to and hear the many ways in which you can support her and the work the Lord is sending her to do!

you know it's true

Don't we all have the urge to quack when we hear a car honk?

summertime rendezvous

This morning, instead of Megan coming to visit us, we got in the van and paid her a visit! After stopping by her apartment to meet her kitty and change some diapers, we propmtly returned to the van to head out on an adventure. Our first stop was an organic foods co-op near her house. We browsed a bit (I'd been meaning to check the place out for just ages) and picked up some fixin's for a picnic lunch.

Then back into the van we went in search of the perfect picnic/playground location. We found just what we were looking for!

The girls weren't very into the toddler teeter-totter (or see-saw, whichever you prefer), but had a great time climbing the stairs to the pirate ship-themed play set and sliding down the (particularly steep) slide.

After we worked up our appetites we sat down to a nice relazing completely chaotic picnic lunch. There was sand and chicken salad everywhere. But I guess that's what happens when you've got two toddlers on a blanket with food. Oh, and did I mention there were also a few bees trying to join our picnic?

The girls especially enjoyed the freeze-dried strawberries and pineapple pieces I had picked up at the co-op. The Just Tomatos brand of freeze-dried fruits and veggies are simply delish.

(Kristy, please ignore the plastic knife in Isabel's hand. I told you it got a bit chaotic.)

After we had cleaned up our mess, Megan plopped onto the blanket and announced (semi-jokingly) that it was nap time. Instantly, Isabel tipped right over and Camille snuggled right in between them. I guess they really do know the routine: nap time almost always comes right after lunch time!

We really had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather and yummy food. The girls were certainly tuckered out, though, and both took fabulously long naps! I'm embarrassed to admit, though, that it wasn't until I was laying Isabel down for her nap that I realized we had forgotten to empty the sand out of her shoes. There was so much sand in those shoes that I'm not sure how her feet even found room in them! But she sure wasn't complaining. I think she was secretly excited to be bringing the sandbox home with her. She's like that.

beach girls

Megan and I took the girls to a nearby beach this morning and we all had a blast! The weather was beautiful, the water was warm, the sand was wet, and new friends to play with were plentiful.

And the only thing better than as great as playing in the sand and water is snacking!

my summertime favorite

This summer I've been a big fan of s'mores. We've had them several times when we've had bonfires out on the beach in the backyard. Unfortunatly, it was much too windy on Thursday to have a bonfire. So Megan and I decided to take matters into our own hands and toast some marshmallows on the stove.


But to enjoy the outdoors s'mores experience we went outside to eat our ooey gooey toasty treats. And enjoy them we did...

I think we just may need to make some more tonight!

wonderful watery weekend

We spent last weekend with Megan's family at their cabin on Lake Lida, which is near Pelican Rapids. This was our third year joining them on their family vacation, and we are so very greatful that they keep inviting us back!

I think we can safely sum up Camille's experience as "Wonderful Watery Weekend." She had great fun with all things water-related, including filling and dumping buckets, watching giant bubbles Daddy made, and playing in the lake. Yes, most of her time was spent in a swimsuit, and it was even common to find her running around the yard in just a diaper or completely (gasp!) naked!


Camille didn't seem to mind that the water was still quite cold, although she was a bit unsure at first.




But once Daddy started helping her skip rocks on the water all her worries melted away!

We did spend a few precious moments on the hammock. But really, who has time to relax when there's more exciting things to do!?

She also spent quite a bit of time on an antique rocking chair Megan and her mom found at the cabin before we arrived. It was just Camille's size! She particularly enjoyed rocking her sunscreen lotion bottle. She would set it upright, stand behind the chair to rock it (which would, of course, make it tip over), and resituate the bottle many times. So cute!

The first night we were there we skipped Camille's bath entirely. Big mistake. It ended up taking three hours to get her to go to sleep. The second night, we decided to bathe her in a big basin. Apparently she thought that was pretty fun...

It was a very relaxing trip (well, as relaxing as a trip can be with a toddler) and was just what we needed. But of course it is also nice to be back home. And even though Megan will likely be in Mexico next summer, we're still planning on joining the Riggotts up at the lake again!