the birthday party

we had a snowman theme and invited the nicholsons and a neighbor family.  gwyneth seemed to enjoy it.  when she went to bed that night she said she was going to dream about lovely parties and being 4.

the birthday

just over 4 years ago, God brought a quiet and stubborn little baby in to our family.  she came two weeks past her due date and certainly not the way that i had prayed for.  and now she is still quietly stubborn and doing things not exactly the way that i would like.  so unlike her older sister, she is shy and wild and crazy at the same time.  no sitting and looking at books for hours.  no sitting and listening to books for hours (unless it's about a little girl named lucy and her faun friend).  no looking people in the eye and flashing bright smiles.  nope.  she smiles when she's good and ready and not a minute before.  she runs not walks.  she screams not laughs.  she is my gwyneth grace.  and i am falling in love with her.  and i am learning to stop praying that she will be like me and that she will be wild and crazy for Jesus.  

school daze

though i never aspired to "home school," that does seem to be what we're doing right now. we are still prayerfully considering other options. for now, maggie is learning to read and gwyneth is learning to hold a pencil and sit still. teaching maggie to read is by far the easier task. i am so thankful to the LORD for giving me the grace to do this. daily. grace. amazing. grace!

ok, i'm bragging but she wrote this all on her own!!!

happy birthday, gwyneth!

due to illness, gwyneth's birthday party was cancelled last friday night. this photo is from our new year's pork and sauer kraut dinner(postponed thanks to illness)/ goodbye to the nicholsons/ birthday party from sunday. it's been a rough start to the year but we are still very thankful for our crazy, not-so-little girl who was actually my "easy" baby! she is loads of fun, speaks with a bit of a british accent and falls down more than any child i've ever seen (to quote our neighbor). she doesn't sit still for long but she admires her older sister and loves to take care of her younger one. her sun rises and sets on her daddy (as with all of the girls in this house). she is easy to love but a little hard to keep up with. happy birthday to my little sausage-gwyneth grace!

third culture kids

we were recently invited to attend a thanksgiving lunch with some other american missionaries in the uk. i was excited to tell the girls:
me: "we're going to celebrate thanksgiving with a bunch of americans!"
gwyneth: "i don't like americans."
me: "gwyneth, WE'RE americans."
gwyneth: "oh."

making new friends

we spent a day in cricieth a few weeks ago. it is an incredibly beautiful coastal town and even had a castle. of course, we didn't manage to get any photos of the scenery! the dads had met at a conference so it was nice for the mums and children to meet. we are very thankful for Christian fellowship. the day started out on the cool side so i didn't think to take swim wear. the girls didn't seem to mind. on a cultural note, gwyneth continues to call "angharad" "king herod!" i guess we are still getting used to the welsh=)

quick visit from our resident photographers

Yusdi and Jessica were in our neck of the woods recently and came for our sunday morning service and lunch (abbie's incredible chicken enchiladas and fresh salsa!)  jessica has posted a few of her fabulous photos on her blog.  enjoy!

just for fun!

happy birthday gwyneth grace!

we are so thankful for our little gwyn. she is our clown. our cuddler. our stubborn one. she thinks the world of maggie but is so very different than her. she adores her daddy. and the Lord has taught me much of His grace and mercy through her. we love you, gwyn!

and a special happy birthday to gwyneth's "twin" (one year later). it is on days like today that the possiblity of play dates and friend birthday parties seem just out of reach and over the ocean. we miss you ezra!

and not to be left out...

here is gwyneth's little routine! she has to do everything that maggie does. and then some.

some updates

i took gwyn to the dr. ("surgery") on friday. he thought that she did not have a stomach virus but that it was her old constipation issues acting up again. he gave her some meds and she's been doing better but still not eating a lot. he laughed when i told him that she's lost weight. notice that in the photos from sunday she is wearing a 2t dress that maggie wore last summer=) anyway, i did pass the written part of my driving exam and plan to book the actual driving part a.s.a.p. please continue to pray for that. when we got home from the testing centre this morning, i rang abbie who said that both of her children were sick this morning. a few minutes later, maggie vomited. so we're in the thick of it right now. steve is working hard to get all of the paperwork sorted so that we can all be certified to work with children. we hope to have some sort of holiday Bible club in july or august. school is almost year round here. they do get a lot of bank holidays and a week here and there but july 18-sept. is the main summer break. well, i think that's everything for now.

our little gwyn

gwyneth is such a little sweetheart.  she loves to cuddle and giggle.  she is walking like a pro and even trying to say some words (but mostly just pointing and screaming).  our favorite is when she walks up and just grabs our legs in a big hug.  what a precious gift!

catching up

if you really want to, you can see photos of gwyneth's 1st birthday here

to cheer up your monday morning