Halloween 2008

Well you know I'm behind on blogging when I'm not posting our Halloween adventures until November 19! Sorry!

Our Halloween adventures lasted a week, so let me give you the scoop chronologically.

Saturday, October 25

Our friends David and Emily threw a wonderful Halloween party. The kids' costumes were a big hit. Katie was Nemo (aka "fishy fishy" since she's never seen "Finding Nemo"). Her friends Hannah and Meghan also got in on the animal fun.

Katie got into the groove at the party by dancing in her fishy costume:

Friday, October 31

Katie went trick or treating for the first time. We only visited a handful of neighbors (the ones we know best) but she wasted no time learning how to show off for candy. :-)

Saturday, November 1

For me, the biggest event of the Halloween season is our neighborhood block party, which includes a costume contest. Last year Katie the Lion won 3rd place. Could she outdo herself this year?

Sadly, John couldn't come, so I recruited my saintly future sister-in-law Lindsey to help me watch Katie and take pictures. Katie LOVES her Aunt Lindsey!

But before we get to the costume contest, let me tell you about Katie's other fun block party adventures. She amused herself (and the rest of us) by trying to eat the ice in the drink bin, saying hi to a neighborhood dog, and picking up all the leftover toilet paper from a Dress-Your-Mom-Like-A-Mummy contest.

So now, back to the contest. Katie had stiff competition from about two dozen of the neighborhood kids:

The awards were given out based upon applause level, so when it was Katie's turn to shine, she made sure to applaud for herself:

Sure enough, her clapping must have helped, because Katie made the semifinal round. And when the applause was tallied again, Katie got... 2nd place! Go Katie!!!

Katie enjoyed the entire afternoon, but was glad to cuddle up with Aunt Lindsey and Sesame Street afterwards while Mommy helped clean up.

Our 4th Tiny Talk Tuesday

Now 17 months old, Katie is talking more and more every week. Here's what she said this week:

"Beh-bee" = "Belly Button" (first said on Oct. 30) (thanks to my friend Katie for giving us the Belly Button Book -- you're right, Katie, it's been a big hit! Toddler Katie loves pointing at her belly button and exclaiming "Wuzzat???!!")

"Where's Mommy?" and "Where's Daddy?" (first said on Nov. 1 to Lindsey). My future sis-in-law Lindsey was watching Katie while I helped run the neighborhood block party, and Katie's way of thanking her was to share a few phrases that she'd never said before! Thanks again (and happy birthday), Lindsey!

"Grover" (first said on Nov. 3 to Grammy)

"Ah ee ah ee" -- This is Katie's version of reading. Whenever she sees letters anywhere, whether on my Wheaton College t-shirt or the words on our dishwasher, she tries to sound out the letters. Of course, she can't tell one letter from the other, but it's still cute. :-)

And a new fun activity today: Katie has been giving me "eskimo kisses" (aka rubbing her nose against mine). She discovered this trick totally on her own and thus thinks it's hysterical.

Happy Election Day!

California, Here We Come (Part 6)

I promise, this is the last of the California posts! I need to finish them up so I can move on to more current happenings in KatieLand. :-) For other California reports, see here.

Saturday, May 31 was a HUGE day. It was my brother's graduation day! It was Katie's 1st birthday! And we also spent a lovely evening in La Jolla to celebrate our last evening in California. I'm going to tackle these photos in that order.

Seminary Graduation

First of all, my brother Stephen graduated with an M.Div. from Westminster Seminary. While I would have loved to have heard R.C. Sproul deliver the commencement address, I couldn't hear much while chasing a crawling Katie around the lobby. We came back into the ceremony in time to watch Stephen receive his diploma -- and quickly wished we hadn't.

Stephen decided to goof off during his moment in the spotlight. In the first photo below, you can see him clapping as the gentleman in front of him receives his diploma. In the second photo below, John tried to capture Stephen's big moment -- and as you can hopefully see, all eyes are on the floor, where Stephen landed after "tripping" and sprawling. Afterwards he "limped" to get his diploma, as the audience expressed pity and worry that my brother might be hurt. The seminary president reassured them with, "You all obviously don't know Stephen Roberts."



Here are photos of the graduate with (1) John and Katie, and (2) his new fiancee Lindsey.

We were also surprised and happy to run into two of John's college buddies and Christian brothers -- on the other side of the country from his alma mater!

Katie's Birthday

While we were saving most of Katie's birthday festivities till we got home, we managed to sneak a few things in. First, the waiters sang "Happy Birthday" to her at lunch:

Secondly, and most impressively, my sister-in-law Sharon spent her ENTIRE last California afternoon driving around the area looking for any store that would personalize a birthday cake on the spot. It literally took her hours! I was so touched when she surprised us with a cake that afternoon:

Here's a video of Katie enjoying the cake:

Here are a few more cute photos of Katie on her birthday:

and an adorable video of her waking up in the car, cuddling her favorite stuffed animal Eeyore, and eventually trying to eat him:

La Jolla

After resting for a few hours, most of our family headed to La Jolla for one last glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. My brother Jason had never seen the Pacific before, so he decided he would brave the water even though it was freezing:

Lindsey's mom, who had flown in for Stephen's graduation, gave hugs to her daughter and my daughter:

I gave hugs to my husband and my brother Stephen:

Katie cuddled up with my mom and with me:

Lindsey cuddled up with Stephen, and then with Katie later that evening after giving her a birthday gift of animal-themed tights!

The next day we all flew home except for Stephen, who had to drive cross-country to get his car and belongings home. What a wonderful and exhausting trip!

California, Here We Come (Part 4)

(Sorry for the delay in finishing the recounting of our recent trip to California. We've been dodging tornados around here! It was hard being without power 12 hours and without internet access 18 hours, but I still feel blessed that we and our loved ones and our home are all safe. One house on my parents' street was split in half by a tree. :-( )

Anyway, back to sunny memories...

Thursday of last week was our built-in rest day. We didn't have any scheduled plans except a possible get-together with our friends Glenn and Sara. Glenn was John's roommate in college and post-college, as well as one of his groomsmen. Sara is due with their first baby on June 8. Thus, we didn't know if we'd be visiting them at their home in Carlsbad, or at the hospital! This was especially true when Sara started experiencing mild contractions the same day we were to visit them.

Thankfully for us, they were just warm-up contractions, and we got to have a nice afternoon with Sara, including some beach time, as well as a delicious sushi dinner with Sara and Glenn. We specifically requested this sushi restaurant since we'd been there before and LOVED it -- and we recommend it to anyone visiting Carlsbad! Sushi Taisho is YUMMY!!!



We had a wonderful time with Sara and Glenn, and Katie had a wonderful set of naps that day for the first time on the trip. Life definitely started looking up at that point. And to cap the whole night off, my brother Stephen's fiancee Lindsey arrived that night, and we absolutely loved getting to know her. Here's a photo of her meeting my parents for the first time the next morning:

Click here to read more about our trip. And tales from the rest of our adventure are to come...

Congratulations, Stephen and Lindsey!!

My brother Stephen called me yesterday with the most EXCELLENT news: He is now engaged to Lindsey Rowe, his long-distance girlfriend of many months! We were expecting them to get engaged, though he surprised all of us (including Lindsey) with a surprise trip to Seattle this week to propose. Congratulations, Stephen and Lindsey!!

In addition to being fellow bloggers, Stephen and Lindsey both have a love of learning and a passionate heart for the Lord. I've only corresponded with Lindsey thus far by email and Facebook, but I look forward to meeting her next week when our family and Lindsey and her mom are all in California for Stephen's seminary graduation. Then L&S both plan to move to our area this summer, with Lindsey getting settled while Stephen endures a few months of boot camp in preparation for his career as an Army chaplain. They hope to get married sometime next year.

I have prayed for years for the Lord to bring Stephen the right woman, and especially a wife who loves the Lord. Katie and John and I all look forward to welcoming Lindsey into our family!