2009 Wrap-Up

What a year! For us, it's more like: What, a year went by already? Here are some brief updates on each of us:

We didn’t have Joel Daniel last Christmas. He was born April 1st. We praise God for a quick, delivery and recovery for Laurie. He’s crawling all around the house, and loves discovering new things left on the floor by his siblings. He’s 9 1/2 months old and has just fit in to being a part of our family.

Jordan is speaking in sentences now, and oh man, does this mean trouble! At just over 2 she has major spunk. She loves gum, and asks everyone, “You have gum?” hoping she will get a piece. She calls her purse her ‘person’ and carries it around with her everywhere, with a toy cell phone inside, of course! No one intimidates her. She holds her own when she’s outside with a bunch of bigger boys - and with her brother Isaiah, for that matter. She's also really assertive - in a friendly way - with strangers. She'll smile and say hi to anyone - kids or adults.

Isaiah is still an avid climber: scaling trees, bookcases, fences, and anything else close by. He is a fan of Tom & Jerry and Man vs. Wild. (We think he should be their promotion manager, since he tells everyone about the show and tries to demo the stunts.) He is 4 1/2, eats constantly and never sits. He goes way too fast on his bike, and tells stories that are hilarious. He definitely keeps us on our knees praying, but he also gives the best snuggles. His love for and knowledge of animals is amazing. Naomi recently asked him, “Are you going to paint that alligator?” He quickly responded, “It’s a monitor lizard.” Whoa.

Naomi is 6 ½ and has lost 5 teeth…including her 2 front ones. She is in first grade and she is becoming quite a good reader. She is so tall it scares us, and she almost fits in her mom’s shoes. Art is still one of her favorite things to do in free time. She is a helper at home in so many ways, and a real leader and helper in her classroom, too. The teacher told us she doesn’t know what to do on the days Naomi is absent. We’re amazed at how much she makes her other siblings laugh and loves to play with them.

Danny is still working on completing his PhD at UC San Diego. All that's left at this point is writing the dissertation, which he's working on pretty much every day. He’s still teaching Modern Hebrew at UCSD, too. He took a trip to Germany and Israel with his dad this summer, and presented a paper at a conference in Jerusalem. God gave him the opportunity to work adjunct at Bethel Seminary here in SD, teaching a couple of Old Testament classes. Last month (Nov) he presented 2 papers at the big Society of Biblical Literature conference in New Orleans. He is also trying to be a dad and husband, etc. To let off all the scholarly steam, he loves to wrestle with the kids and challenge them to Uno games.

Laurie’s schedule is pretty maxed out caring for and loving our 4 little ones. She stays semi-sane by getting outside and walking to local parks. She tries to keep the house in an ordered version of chaos, and most days gets dinner done. But admittedly, the local pizza parlors make some money from us as well. Laurie still goes to Community Bible Study each Thursday

morning. She’s encouraged by spending time studying the Bible, and enjoying time with women who desire to love God more. She gets a break from the kids, too. They come with her, but have their own story time. As a mom each day brings much joy coupled with hard work and training youngsters. She also has the difficult job of making sure Danny doesn’t let his scholarly role go to his head; probably the toughest of all of her tasks.

Joel with his award-winning smile.

At the park the other day, the kids tried walking on this rope tied between 2 trees. Jordan's getting help from a friend.

Danny helping Isaiah

Naomi doing it on her own.

Danny had to try, too.

We were able to play in the snow this Christmas.

Sugar High

Our neighborhood is great for trick-or-treating. We gather with a mass of neighbors and just start walking. Since it is graduate student housing, there are so many homes with little kids, and even the students without kids get into it! We were only out there for about an hour - how much candy do you really need?! We had 3 kids collecting candy this year. Yikes.

This was Jordan's first year trick-or-treating. She was a skunk, and she was totally into it.

Above: Here is the mob of people going up and down the stairs. In our neighborhood, not everyone participates, so it becomes a treasure hunt for the kids to find the doors with decorations and are thus the ones with candy. It was fun to watch Naomi and Isaiah lead the crew for a while.

Above: This couple was a little more enthusiastic about it all than Danny & me. :)

Nomi is taking orders.

Above: Isaiah couldn't find his Spiderman mask, so at the last minute he grabbed this one, making him Spider-Batman. I'm pretty sure he was the only one with this costume.

...and Joel cruised in the stroller with his pumpkin top.

Joel was all about the candy, too!

Below: Naomi at her Halloween parade at school.

Above: Naomi's teacher & her identical twin both work at the school.

They dressed as Dr. Seuss' Thing 1 & Thing 2. Pretty cute, I thought.

Evening Fun

A favorite place to go with our good friends is the beach/park in Del Mar. It's only a 15 min drive from our home. (We're so spoiled, we know.) The kids can play in the park or climb trees and the adults try to talk a bit. This time our friend brought his sweet camera and took some shots of our family. Enjoy...we are biased, but we think they are cute!

Our crazy Isaiah, climbing and making faces--what he does best.

Just have to kiss these cheeks...

Jordan just has fun all the time.

Naomi with her best buddy following. They have so much fun together and it's a joy to see them interact.

Naomi is the best at making Joel laugh.

This toothless grin shows she's up to something.

Two

Jordan Kate is 2 Years Old!

This blondie is trouble - just look at those mirthful eyes! She is hilarious, affectionate, and tons of fun. Aaaaand a little manipulative. It is such a blessing to have her around the house; she adds so much to our family.

Lately Jordan has been talking so much. One of her favorite phrases is, "Come on." She tells me that when she wants me to go outside with her, or read books to her. We have to pry her off of 'Beebee Joel' because when she goes to give him a kiss she does it full-force! We thank God for this little one and pray for his grace in her life.

Jordan loooooves popcorn...

and pretty much everything else, too.

She gets so excited when she sees bugs,

so I made a ladybug cake for her.

One of her birthday presents.

Danny reading Jordie's new Elmo book,

while spectators crowd into the cheap seats.

Our day ended with Naomi 'decorating' Danny's hair. Nice!

Jordan just pointed to his head and said, "My clippies." :)

Around the house

Here are some super important things from the last month or so:

Danny and the kids caught an alligator lizard up at the family cabin and we brought it home to SD. The kids love catching bugs for it and watching it attack and eat them... (Well, Danny and Isaiah love it the most). It will eat nearly anything alive which is the right size - Danny has even gotten him to eat food out of his hands.


The kids had fun making these little flags to decorate for the 4th of July. We went out to a church picnic in the afternoon on the 4th, but missed the fireworks because we weren't willing to let the kids stay up until 10:30 to see them. Cranky kids all of the next day just so they can see some colored sparks in the air? Call us bad parents, but no way, Jose.

The kids each sporting their Red, White and Blue:

I promise Isaiah's hair doesn't look like this in public. Usually. His muscles, though, are always this big.

Naomi found this food idea in a book we were reading from the library, so we tried it one morning. Toast, jam, and raisins in the shape of pigs:

Here's the whole lot of them:

Joel is really starting to wake up from newborn-hood. It's so rewarding to coax smiles and occasional giggles from him.

Isaiah quotes:

[Laurie is looking at Isaiah's craft from church about Jesus ascending to heaven]

Isaiah: "That's Jesus with his hands up."

Laurie: "Why are his hands up?"

Isaiah: "So he won't hit his head on the clouds. That would hurt."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Isaiah: "Dad, you're a SO-good dad, and...I'm getting used to you."

Danny: "What does that mean?"
Isaiah: [thoughtful pause] "It means I kinda like you."