More of the Kids

Quinn got the hair that I got--thin, fine and very, very prone to static electricity.

Claire smiling as she plays on the floor.

Kai expressing his frustration over something or another.

Claire in her ExerSaucer.

The Lesson of the Day

Here is Shawn with Quinn less than an hour after she was born.

The lesson I want to impart to you is this--BACK UP your pictures.

We had a separate hard drive for all of our pictures and I never backed them up. Well, that hard drive crashed and we lost two years worth of pictures--almost all of our pictures from Bahrain. It was devastating, because they were pictures of Quinn right after she was born and when she was infant, as well as all of our Middle Eastern adventures.

A few weeks ago, my mom called and gave me very good news--she had some of our pictures backed up to her computer from when she came to visit right after Quinn was born. So, though we do not have all of our pictures, at least we have a few months worth. I am posting some of my favorites from that time period......

More Bahrain Pictures

Henry, Shawn and I trying to footprint Quinn for her homebirth birth certificate. It didn't work too well.

Kai bit the dust while going face first down his slide.

Shawn and Quinn as a newborn--like father, like daughter.

Nanny Theresa and Quinn.

More Bahrain Pictures

My mom holding Quinn when she was about 3 weeks old.

Quinn as an infant. It's so hard to imagine her ever being this tiny.

Showing how Shawn and Quinn's feet are nearly identical.

More Bahrain Pictures

Kai, Shawn and Joe at Al-Jayazir Beach.

Quinn getting her first tub bath.

Quinn's first Christmas.

Quinn's first Christmas.

More Bahrain Pictures

The first time I got henna done to my hands.

My dear cousin, Justine, kissing a fish. We had gone to an authentic Arabic restaurant and Justine ordered....this...

Al-Jayazir Beach that we used to go to often.

Joe, Justine and me swimming with the beluga whale. I was pregnant with Quinn at the time.

More Bahrain Pictures

Me, about 7 months pregnant with Quinn.

Our beloved nanny Theresa helping Kai "swim" in a cooler.

Kai in his ball house.

Shawn showing Kai how to use the potty.

More Bahrain Pictures

Dixie, our (not-so) faithful BMW, the first car we ever owned together. It was hilarious....in a bad way.

Kai on his second birthday.

The first picture I ever took of Kai as a two-year old. This was the morning of his second birthday.

Me, fully pregnant with Quinn, on my 25th birthday. Shawn and Kai made me a torte.

More Bahrain Pictures

Kai hanging out with some neighborhood friends.

Shawn and Kai on our back patio.

Shawn and Kai in our yard at the Taj Residence.

Across the street--an Al-Jazira supermarket outside our compound.

Anniversary Fun

Shawn is always a gift-giver. I guess some might say that is one of his primary "love languages." He loves to surprise me with fun things on a regular basis. The flip side is that I am the world's worst gift-giver. My idea of a great gift is a gift card. That way, you know it's not the wrong thing and the person will actually USE the gift you gave them.

So for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and Valentine's Day, I have majorly been lacking as far as presents for Shawn goes. This anniversary I was determined to actually do SOMETHING for him.

Shawn is very athletic and likes to do physical stuff. My idea of physical stuff is going for a walk in the park. But I decided to branch out and do something I've never done before--rock climbing. I told Shawn that I was going to take him somewhere for our anniversary, but wanted to surprise him. Shawn teaches rope rescue and repelling, so he knows a lot about that sort of thing. However, he apparently has never been to a rock climbing gym.

My dear mother-in-law came to visit overnight so that she could watch the kids and we could get an actual date in. It was wonderful! A big thanks to her! When Shawn got home from work on Wednesday, I took him to Applebee's so that we could split a light dinner. Then we went back home to nurse the baby and grab some clothes to change into. I packed his bag, so he still did not know what we were doing. I had given him some vague clues in the past week, but he was still befuddled.

When we got to IBEX Rock Climbing Gym in Blue Springs, Missouri, he was really excited. It is definitely his sort of thing. Because we had never been there, we had to take an intro belay course before we started. The instructor told me when I called to schedule it that it usually took about an hour. We did it in about 30 minutes! It was basically going over knots and how to feed rope through the brake. Shawn can tie the knots they used with his eyes closed and with gloves on (literally! They made them do it that way when he was in the Marines). He has also had me practice those knots several times when he was prepping for teaching.

Okay, so rock climbing is WAY harder than it looks. But it is also a lot more fun than it looks (at least from my vanage point). It was a challenge to figure out where to place your hands and how to get leverage; figuring out what your next move would be. In that way, it is mentally challenging. It's amazing how quickly your arms can get tired doing it, though, and after a couple hours, both of us were pretty tired.

We took breaks in between climbs to watch other, more experienced climbers and to chat with other people in the gym. It was a nice atmosphere; laid-back and fun. All-in-all it was a great anniversary activity and Shawn was pretty happily surprised. He also said he was surprised how well I did. It was so fun and I would definitely like to do it again sooner rather than later.

Getting a kiss before dinner on our anniversary. You can see the roses on the table behind me that Shawn bought me for the occasion.

Us at the rock climbing gym.

Shawn messing around after climbing. He wanted me to get a picture of him to make it look like he had climbed up really high, but I didn't understand what he was asking me to do. So this is the result--a picture of him hanging about two inches from the ground.

Three Years

That's right. It's been three years since Shawn and I said, "We do." It has been a very exciting three years. Time is so strange, isn't it? Sometimes it seems like three years was a lifetime ago. Other times, it seems like we just met and the three years has flown by. Either way, it has most certainly been the best three years of my life. I am very grateful for the life that I have with Shawn and our babies. In honor of our three years, I've compiled some fun facts about the last three years of our life together:

3 Most Exciting Things We've Done
Well, I probably shouldn't post some of the MOST exciting things we've done, so I'll pick some PG things that are pretty exciting, too.
1. Had an outdoor wedding in January.
2. Lived overseas.
3. Had two homebirths.

3 Things I Like Most About Our Marriage
1. Shawn and I are total opposites in most ways, but somehow God really did make us complimentary to one another. He has strengths where I have weaknesses and vice versa. It has spurred incredible growth for both of us that might not have otherwise taken place.
2. We have fun together. I actually enjoy spending time with him, even after three years of being with him pretty much every day. I know it doesn't sound like something that is that impressive, but I think in today's society, it's pretty special.
3. We both desire spiritual growth and encourage each other in it as a matter of course. That is something that I think is the most vital part of any marriage.

3 Things I Like Most About Shawn
1. His heart.
2. He's a great daddy.
3. Life with him is always an adventure. That is something he promised me when we were engaged--that if I married him, my life would always been an adventure. He has not disappointed.

Yes, the last three years has been a wonderful adventure.

This year has been the hardest year of our marriage in lots of ways. By that I mean that our external circumstances have posed more challenges than previous years. However, it has also been the year that I think has been best for our marriage. Even though other things have been frustrating a lot this year, our marriage has been like the calm inside the storm, bringing peace and comfort when things around us have been crazy. I feel like God has really knit us together this year and worked through some of the hard stuff to help us appreciate each other. I look forward to what this next year will bring. I have so much hope for the next year of our life together. Thanks to everybody for supporting and encouraging our little family.