The dog and the bear

Emma and Bea were playing with their stuffed dog and bear respectively. So as I was in the other room, I heard,
"Prick up, Exika, prick up. Exika just doesn't seem to prick up." Emma's dog is named Exika and apparently isn't feeling well. Exika is from Mexico, I'm informed.
Bea's bear is Indian and her name is Indiana. Aren't they creative?

Jonathan put lights up in their room and it made everything magical. See the sweet hugging as they stare in wonderment.

The girls in their new Advent Jammies. Nightgowns are the biggest hit!

We had a great time with Grandpa, Oma, and Josiah at Thanksgiving.

A little Violet gallery

We know, we know. This is a typical parent thing to do: post a bunch of pictures of their kids because they think they are the cutest things. Well, we don't think, we KNOW! Our little Violet sits up by herself now, kind of army crawls, and has just braved her second tooth's appearance. But what we really can't get over is her smile. We hope you agree.

The Gingerbread Houses

So here they are and boy are we proud!

What else would they be talking about?

The girls made gingerbread (actually, graham-cracker) houses at the Miller's today. Outside of Bea's house were two gingerbread men who were "talking." Jonathan asked the girls what they were "talking" about. Emma replied: "They're talking about Tolkien." One more reminder (not that he needed one) that Jonathan really needs to finish his dissertation soon.

Emma with her friends Theo and Greta

Bea and Greta

Look at that red bush!

Fall carnival time; Emma's a Strawberry and Bea's some Sky (abstract, huh?)

Our little star

Bonners Ferry Visit, Part Deux

Extra special treatment on the teeth front by Grandpa

Fun outside helping him too (while staying clear of Zorro)

And breakfast with our favorite Grandpa

Oma gets to love on Violet

Bonners Ferry Visit, Part Un

Violet was introduced in full force to Zorro!

She was sufficiently doted on especially by her Grandpa

Here are the girls with Uncle Joel and Aunt Ashley-boy do they love them!

Oma gave the girls fans and purses from her visit with Aunt Bebe

Oma, Grandpa, and Uncle Josiah visit: Ah, how sweet it is!

Good friends!

Dan and Wendy's visit

We had just the sweetest time with our friends from Texas, Dan and Wendy. Lots of fellowshipping and time with them and the Griesers. More pictures on the next post...

Update on the kiddos

So here we are, giving late updates as usual. Violet is growing like a weed and has started a little baby food. Her favorite so far is pear. Great-grandpa and Great-grandma visited us in September and the girls really enjoyed their time with them. They are pictured here ready for ballet class.

blog looks

I know, I've changed the looks again of our blog. Basically, it's just too bad they don't have more template options. I keep trying to make it look different from everyone else's but that's impossible. So maybe we'll stick with this theme for a bit.

The pretty ladies of our house

Emma loves holding Violet these days and Vi doesn't seem to mind. Violet's 4 1/2 months and continuing in her quest to pork up. She's succeeding!

Our new house

I know this is only the living room, dining room and kitchen, but it's a start so you can see our new place. We just love it! The old wood floors are great. We have one bathroom that's bright blue and other that's bright red, which is exciting. And there's a huge yard in the back the girls have been enjoying.

The Lake

Annie and her mom took the girls up to Sandpoint, ID to see the great grandparents and of course swim in Lake Pend Oreille. This is a huge freshwater lake and really very beautiful. Annie's parents grew up here sailing and swimming in it, so it holds lots of memories. Emma and Bea had a great time moving sand from one place to another.

Barney

At about 3 months, we've taken each girl over to a park in Pullman, WA to get her picture taken with a huge purple dinosaur. So here's Violet's.