Troy & Naomi Johnstone

More photos of Ethan

2008-11-01T14:24:00.004-06:00

Of our two girls, Adelaine is the one most interested in babies and dolls. I think we would need to tie a truck around Ethan's neck to get Ellie to notice him. I think it will take a bit more work to get photos of Ellie with her baby brother.

Boy meets girls

2008-10-31T13:35:00.010-06:00

Ethan comes home and meets his sisters.

A new gift from God

2008-10-30T10:20:00.006-06:00

It is our great pleasure to introduce Ethan William Johnstone.

October 29, 10:46 PM
7 lbs 2 oz
20 inches October 29, 10:46 PM
7 lbs 2 oz 20 inches

Both mom and son are doing well. Dad has a slightly bruised hand from mom squeezing hard.. just in case anyone cares about him.....

more to come at www.flickr.com/photos/johnstonekids/

At 36 weeks.. how many to go?

2008-10-20T22:19:00.002-06:00

Naomi at 36 weeks. The original due date was November 6, but every time we have gone for an ultrasound the technicians have told us that we are further ahead than that. At Naomi's last doctor's appointment the doctor suggested that the baby could come soon.

So.. any day now.....

Every portrait tells a story

2008-10-18T07:48:00.004-06:00

Great portraits tell a story about the subject. [not suggesting these are great portraits..]

This photo could suggest "civil unrest" as two rough and ready rioters prepare to throw stones at an authority figure (me!), or maybe just "out for a walk".

This may invoke the idea of "innocence". But anyone who really knows a three year old knows better.

The story here could be, "sisterhood is great", "good friends", or "perfect kids". Yeah, that's nice.

The story here could be... "the truth".

More pics of the munchkins: www.flickr.com/photos/johnstonekids/

The relatively small power of storms

2008-10-15T19:55:00.002-06:00

Storms. Raw power. Beautiful. Potentially destructive. Scary.

Despite the awe inspiring power of a summer storm, they are as nothing to the power of the Creator of the whole universe.

I know that the LORD is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.
The LORD does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
Psalm 135:5-7

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
Genesis 9:12-16

His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
Psalm 97:4-6

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown...

See more summer storm photos in my photograpy slideshow or purchase prints at Photrade.com

Grill This

2008-10-12T08:03:00.000-06:00

If you knew my dad at all, then you know that I was born to BBQ.

[Dad and me doin our thing]

For many, the grilling season is already over. But I am like my dad, I am not a fair-weather BBQer. Nope. I will shovel my way to the BBQ and fire it up all winter long. Neither rain..

or snow..

will keep me from my grill. Cold, however, will. It is mighty hard to cook food when it is -30.

Once I went out to get a tank refilled in the middle of a snow storm and the guy just looked at me with raised eyebrows as if to say "are you crazy, BBQing in this weather?" I informed him that my wife was away for a week, and with a knowing nod he filled the tank without further questions.

Normally it is a nice piece of meat that graces my grill, but on occasion we slip something else onto the flaming grate of goodness.. like pizza.

Talk about a great combination of two things I love.. pizza and BBQ. The only way to make this better would be to combine it with another favorite food group of mine, but I think deep frying pizza on a grill might be going a bit too far.

Best done with a thin crust, grilled pizza is pretty awesome.

Another great food to add to the grilling gourmet menu: Corn.

Just soak that sucker in water for a few minutes and you are ready to grill.

This was some of the best corn on the cob we have ever had!

Mmm mmm. BBQ goodness!

Ellie's Directorial Debut

2008-10-10T22:00:00.003-06:00

After starring in many movies, Ellie has now moved into a new position behind the camera. In her directorial debut, Ellie works on her cinematography style with hyper-realistic camera shake, fast panning, and unique, random camera angles.

In describing the movie, producer Troy Johnstone said "It is truly amazing.. its almost as if there was a three year old working the camera!"

A Berry Nice Day

2008-10-09T19:59:00.004-06:00

Awhile ago we took the family up to Wetaskiwin to pick strawberries at Stevens Strawberries.

It is a family owned strawberry u-pick.. and Naomi happens to be part of that extended family. So it was a berry picking family reunion kind of day. The kids were there helping pick berries (more like, helping themselves to berries..), along with uncles, aunts, and grandparents. Afterward we had a big BBQ and some good times visiting with family we don't see very often.

Ellie "helping" grandma

Adelaine "helping" mommy.

Ellie performs The Strawberry Dance of Happiness.

Ellie and her red prize.

Anticipation

Enjoying the fruit of our labour.
______

So, after all the fun of picking and the BBQ was over, it was time for work....

Shoes

2008-09-16T22:10:00.006-06:00

Adelaine absolutely loves shoes. This is disturbing as she is only 21 months old. Hopefully it fades before it starts to cost us real money.. She tries on all shoes around the house, excitedly saying "shoes! shoes!" Her own, Ellie's, Daddy's sneakers, Mommy's Crocs, and fridge magnets. Yes, fridge magnets.

I don't think those are going to fit, Adelaine.

The other day I (Naomi) went shopping with my mom, Judith and all our kids up in Red Deer. We hit a good sale at Old Navy, so were busy scouring the racks for deals when I suddenly noticed that Adelaine was nowhere to be found. The store was quite quiet, so I wasn't too anxious, but I still quickly walked through the racks looking for her bright yellow shirt. I finally found her a couple sections over in the teen girls area. There she was, sitting on the floor completely surrounded by a mound of shoes, trying on a pair of sequined size 8's. When she saw me, she excitedly gave her excuse for her disappearance. "Shoes! Shoes!" That's my girl.

Elections

2008-09-14T15:49:00.001-06:00

Elections are special times in Canada where we, as a nation, can temporarily put aside our politeness and superficial notions of post-modern tolerance. Only at election time can we properly revile each other over our political affiliations. Gone are the usual "Well, you can believe what you want" and "good for you, glad that makes you happy" mentality. Usually polite neighbors can now truly express themselves by saying "How can you vote for that party? Are you stoopid?"

Maybe we take the gloves off because election results can actually affect our wallets.

Anyway, I am a bit of a news junkie, especially for Canadian politics and I will be glued to various news sites and some TV coverage. So, for the next few weeks my wife will once again be an election widow. Thankfully the Canadian election cycle is brief and intense. The American system would put serious strains on Naomi's patience. Two years is too long for election coverage!

Run for the hills!

2008-09-08T21:35:00.015-06:00

Grandma has the kids... lets make a run for it!

So we did..

Finally fulfilling a plan we had made almost a year and a half earlier at our fifth anniversary, we took a few days to spend together in the Canadian Rockies. Grandma was kind enough to look after the kids for us for the weekend (thanks grandma!).

Sell photos on photrade | Sunset on Two Jack Lake by tjphoto

Naomi was able to find a really good deal for a few nights right in Banff. Unfortunately, our order for clear skies fell through, so our Saturday was mostly cloudy and we didn't get to see as much of the mountains as we had hoped. But the Rockies are just amazing, even when they are in the clouds.

Sell photos on photrade | Peyto Lake by tjphoto

While cruising the park Naomi told me how that morning she had heard on the radio about the $1, 800,000 bathroom facility that the park had just opened that day. Well, guess what we found just around the river bend?

Very nice.. This environmentally friendly, solar water heating, solar electricity generating facility certainly soothed my conscience, but it sure hurt my tax paying wallet. Don't worry about the $1.8 million price tag.. Apparently, it's energy savings will be fully recuperated by AD 2584. Still.. probably the nicest bathroom I have used in the park.

We did get up to the top of Sulphur Mountain above the Banff town site. Thankfully they have a gondola.

After paying $60 for the ride, we were disappointed that it was a snowing white out by the time we reached the top, but we only had to wait a while for the clouds and snow to clear and were actually treated to a few rainbows that we could see from above. Definitely worth enduring the wet snow.

Sell photos on photrade | Over the Rainbow by tjphoto

While on the peak, an elderly couple were suddenly excited by something in the trees near the walkway. I thought maybe it might be Big Horn Sheep that are known to be up on the peak, but it turns out she was simply thrilled to see some snow. My question for her: "You're not from Canada, are you?"

The view from the top was spectacular as we strolled the boardwalks to the peak. This is the easy way to see the mountains. In between a few snow squalls we shot a panorama from the top.

[click for larger image]

It was very nice for us to get away alone for a few days and just enjoy spending time with each other. Being in the mountains was just a bonus.

Animal noises

2008-09-02T22:45:00.001-06:00

The diaper warrior displays her impressive knowledge of animal calls she uses when hunting big game (anything bigger than her).

Olympics

2008-08-25T23:22:00.006-06:00

Like millions of others, the last two weeks of peak athleticism that is the Olympics have inspired us to that Olympic ideal, sitting on the couch and watching it on TV. Ironic, isn't it?

Adelaine gets bored with TV pretty quick. Ellie, however, is a born couch potato. Since her earliest days she has always been mesmerized by a TV. During the Olympics she would ask at all times of the day to have the TV on so she could watch. Who knows what was going through her head as she watched these various sports, but every once in a while, she would announce to us that "Someday when I get big I want to do dat." This was usually said while watching the bike races, gymnastics, diving or swimming. Hopefully she never wants to do race walking.. I don think I could handle the embarrassment.

Despite her great interest in the sports, I think her Olympic technique is more in line with the professional spectator than the athlete.

_______________

The Chinese government did put on a good show for the rest of the world. It's amazing what you can do with a controlled economy, total central authority, and a fearful populace. The Opening Ceremonies had many dazzling images that will be impressed in our collective minds for decades to come. But it all falls flat compared to the arguably the best Olympic Opening Ceremonies: Albertville.

Ok, so maybe no one is going to argue for France's 1992 Winter Albertville Olympics had the best opening ceremony, but it is certainly more memorable than the Bejing one. I was in university at the time and was awestruck at the spectacle. It was just so... bizarre.

Imagine Cirque du Soleil running the Olympics, but weirder, combined with Dr. Seuss on drugs. This over-the-top, freakish cirque nouveau show was perhaps the strangest, most inexplicable thing I have ever seen on TV. The walking snow globes, the suspended drummers and spider dancers, the crazy, acid-trip costumes. Good grief, what were they thinking?

Maybe this is why France hasn't been allowed to host an Olympics since..

Is this for real?

2008-08-14T20:50:00.006-06:00

While looking at headlines on the Drudge Report, I came across several about the war in Georgia.

I was reading some news today linked to from the Drudge Report about the war in Georgia and came across one that had a rather strange Associated Press photo... Can this be real?

The caption reads

Russian troops take up positions on farmland, during a search operation outside of the Black Sea port of Poti, Georgia, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008.

Whoa.. I guess that Russian guy didn't notice Georgia's secret biological weapon: the Giant Stealth Cow.

Either that or it may be a crazy poor Photoshop job of Iranian proportions!

Read the rest on My Way News

Summer days

2008-08-13T22:01:00.002-06:00

Since moving out to the country a few weeks ago we have been been trying to spend lots of time outside with the kids. A few times it has been hot enough to break out the hose to cool off.

Ellie really enjoys water and likes getting soaked. Adelaine is more interested in playing with the hose itself. Every once in awhile Ellie would pick up the hose, and then watch out! She doesn't really intend to get you wet, but she turns around quickly to tell you about what she is doing and sprays you. Gotta watch the camera..

Adelaine in their little play house.

We have also tried to get to the parks regularly. Adelaine loves the slides (slide is one of the growing number of words she has) while Ellie likes to get to the top and then chickens out. They both enjoy the swings quite a bit too.

In fact, all of us enjoy the park.

They do also spend quite a bit of time inside too. Adelaine has discovered the phone and likes reciting animal noises that she knows to anybody who will listen.

And Ellie, well, she's Ellie.

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnstonekids/

Awkward comments

2008-08-12T21:33:00.002-06:00

Some people have a real knack for digging a hole for themselves.

A perfect example came my way as I was grocery shopping the other day. As a bit of background, I should tell you that I am expecting #3 in November. I have always gotten really big fairly fast, so I knew to expect a few comments and sideways glances with this pregnancy. But I was still taken aback the other day when a lady unknown to me approached me in the grocery aisle with great sympathy, clucking her tongue and saying in a loud voice, "You poor dear, you're overdue aren't you!" When I quietly informed her that no, I still had three months to go, she was shocked. "But you're HUGE! And you've dropped!" After a few more similar comments, she suddenly seemed to realize that the conversation was becoming a bit awkward and she grabbed her cart and quickly moved on. While her outburst was not terribly good for my "self-image", I have to admit that I FEEL overdue and will be very relieved when Johnstone #3 finally makes his or her appearance.

Anthony & Christa

2008-08-10T10:10:00.001-06:00

Congratulations to Anthony & Christa (MacFarlane) Willems who were wed on August 2. This was a very unique wedding to photograph as it had a Medieval theme! It really was a great wedding that gave the glory to God for all He has done in their lives individually, and in bring them together.

New photos have been added to my photography page.

Prayer Letter :: Summer 2008

2008-08-06T11:06:00.006-06:00

We have sent out our latest prayer letter chock full of news about the Johnstone's ministry with GoodSeed Canada. You can download it here.

Sniff sniff... smells like.. stale blog

2008-08-04T16:03:00.003-06:00

Yup, over a month without an update on here. But I have good reasons:

Its summer, at least in some parts of Canada.
I am high on paint fumes after spending a few weeks painting in preparation for..
moving to a new place and getting it set up takes time, and while there..
we have had no internet access. And after six weeks since requesting an installation we are still waiting!!!

But I do hope to get some more stuff up here soon, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, why not check out some of the latest additions to my online photography portfolio.

Dr. Irony

2008-07-03T08:50:00.006-06:00

He survived the systematized killing chambers and doctors of death of Nazi Auschwitz, and went on to create his own.
The Nazis systematically killed millions of powerless people, he has enabled many more millions of powerless people to be murdered.
They eliminated undesirables that they thought would undermine their society, he eliminates undesirables that may cause future crimes (by unloved and unwanted children).
Their worldview didn't see their victims as people, nor does his worldview see his victims as people.
He claims to prevent crimes and murders and save lives by taking lives.

His name: Dr. Henry Morgentaler, recipient of the Order of Canada.

Unwelcome family intruder

2008-06-19T13:40:00.012-06:00

I have this foreboding feeling that my family is going to have a very unwelcome visitor.. one you dread its coming and wish for it to leave, but are virtually powerless to prevent. This intruder isn't a person, it is the Canadian government.

Usually, the news is a good antidote for happiness and contentment, but a couple of stories have stood out recently and gotten lots of attention in the press.

#1:: A Quebec court allowed a 12 year old girl to take her dad to court over his refusal to allow her to go on a school field trip. The judge decided that it was "excessive punishment" and permitted her to go on the trip.

An editorial in the National Post says this on the issue:

The courts have no business -- none -- in such routine family matters. This ruling is so profoundly intrusive we can only hope the Quebec appeals court strikes it down, and quickly.
A 12-year-old Gatineau girl repeatedly disobeyed her father's rules about staying away from Internet chat rooms that he deemed inappropriate for a child her age. Eventually, she chose to circumvent his rules by going to a friend's place to access Web sites he had banned her from viewing at home. She then compounded her disobedience by posting salacious photos of herself on one of the banned sites. So the father grounded her, telling her she could not go on the year-end camping trip for her Grade 6 class.
The girl, whose parents have been divorced for a decade, then left her dad's house and moved in with her mother, even though the father has 100% custody. But because she still needed her father to sign the consent form for the field trip, she and her mother convinced a court-appointed lawyer to take the father to court.
www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=602849&p=1

www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080620/
Quebec_appeal_080620/20080620?hub=Canada

#2:: An unelected Liberal Senator brought forth a motion in the Senate to criminalize spanking.
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/
20080618/spanking_senate_080618/20080618/

While her motion passed in the Senate, it still needs to be approved by the House of Commons. The Senator has already stated that she will continue to bring this motion forward until it is accepted and made a law and she has been able to erode parental control and decision making.

Whatever you think on the issue of spanking, I think most people would agree that it is a decision that is best left up to the parents, not the nanny state.
_______

Does the state really know better than me how to raise my children? At times I think that they barely know how to run themselves, yet alone my kids. Should they have the right to stick their nose into my parental decisions that will affect the future of my child's development? They already have the education system, now they want my home.

And what about the ideas being promoted in general in our society? After several decades of increasingly liberal ideas of parenting, are they showing dividends in better behaved, more respectful, better balanced children who become better behaved, more respectful, well balanced citizens? No.. I think most observers would agree that our society is not on that idealistic upward spiral. Look at the problems faced in our school systems, workplaces and the general increase of other societal problems.. The spiral is going down, not up.

What are parents to do? On one hand some politicians are trying to interfere in families by saying spanking is a criminal activity and other forms of discipline should be use. On the other hand we have courts setting legal precedent that parents don't have the right to ground children. What is left? If this continues, then the decision making and leadership of families will shift from the parents to the children and the government, neither of which I trust to be making parenting decisions.

Where is my pen, I’m writing my Member of Parliament.

Them kids

2008-06-17T23:10:00.004-06:00

Ellie is facinated with my beard (this is Troy, by the way). She likes rubbing it and pulling on it. However, she does not like it when I rub her neck with it. Someone mentioned to her that she once had a milk mustache, which she quickly extrapolated into a whole beard. This is easier to create if you are intentionally messy to leave as much milk as possible on your face to create a beard (or "beart" as she calls it.) like daddy. So.. after every cup of milk she excitedly exclaims "I have a milk beart!" then giggles like a little nut.

Adelaine is our little cuddler. She is the expert hugger of the family, giving them frequently and for long periods with her head on your shoulder.

Unca Dew (Uncle Andrew) recently had a birthday and the nieces were on hand to help make it a memorable event.

This one is titled "Mischief Incarnate". I think it is a self-explanatory title.

Adelaine has figured out where her nose and mouth are. So if you ask, she will show you by squeezing her nose or usually opening her mouth wide. This time she covered it.

Ellie, our little tomboy, will bravely get up to the top of a slide then chicken out and not go down it.

Adelaine, our little girly girl, will push by her, and almost dive down any slide, regardless of size.

I guess having your tongue out increases the sensation of speed. After watching Adelaine go down about five times, Ellie figures it is safe and will give it a try.

A sign of things to come.. Ellie, part of the ipod generation. She asked to listen to her "train music" and "Larry Songs" (Silly Songs with Larry).

Driving on the Left

2008-06-08T10:42:00.002-06:00

Driving on the wrong.. er.. left side of the road can be fun.

While in the UK I rented an exotic European car to cruise the English countryside.

Ok.. so a 1.6 liter hatchback VW Polo may not be a candidate for an "exotic" car in most people's books, but after four years of driving a minivan, just about any small car with manual transmission is exotic. Anyway, I had a blast with this little car as we whizzed down the the left side of the road, got dizzy on roundabouts, and took the scenic route many times (a euphemism for getting lost). Too bad I couldn't have put handles on the top and checked it as baggage for the trip home.

It didn't take long to get the hang of the British roadways and systems. Their roads are in excellent condition compared to Canadian roads, an easy thing for a frost-heave free country to do. They also have LOTS of signage on their roads and road surfaces. Unfortunately, I started my driving experience pretty much in the centre of London. I picked up the car just across the river from the British Parliament and spent the next 1.5 hours trying to learn to drive on the left, navigate roundabouts (which make for easy u-turns should you get lost), and dealing with traffic in a major city. Obviously, I survived.

There were, however, three things that I continually found difficult to adjust to in driving the UK:
1) Getting in the correct side of the car.
2) Knowing where the left side of my car ended. After driving for 20 years sitting on the left side of a car, I intuitively know where the right side of the car is. But suddenly sitting on the right and driving from there.. I struggled to gauge the distance. When driving down a narrow road with parked cars or a stone wall on your left, and oncoming traffic expecting you to move over, it can be very difficult to figure out how far to the left you can go before you smash your sideview mirror. I saw a lot of busted mirrors over there, so I guess I wasn't the only one.
3) It is a small country. I kept looking at the maps at places I want to visit and thought that I didn't have time to get there. Then a local would tell me, "oh, that is about a 30 minute drive." I get a kick out of foreigners in Canada who can't grasp the immense size of my country, but I couldn't get over how small England is. At one point I drove from the west coast to London on a single tank of gas!

Gas was very expensive in the UK. When I left Canada it was selling for about $1.12/liter. Over there I would look at gas prices and see 1.20 and think it wasn't too bad, until I remembered that that price was in British pounds, equally twice that amount in Canadian funds. So about $2.40/liter is what I was paying. Good thing it was a small car.

Most cars there are very small. I guess it is the survival of the smallest when you combine the narrow roads and high gas prices. Trying to drive a typical North American vehicle would be suicidal over there. They would need to use the jaws-of-life to pry your vehicle out of the average town streets.
___

I have come to some new conclusions about driving. North American roads are the "bunny slopes" of of the world's roads. UK roads, are by comparison, the black diamonds. Here in Canada we have wiiiiide, relatively straight roads with very slow speeds. UK roads are narrow with no shoulders, winding and fast! Don't get me wrong, it was a blast driving on them, but a bit unnerving at first. Streets in a town are barely two lane, with cars parked on both sides where ever they want. Winding country roads with no visibility and driveways coming on over a blind hill will still have a 50mph (80 km/h) speed limit!

My grand plan for this tourism part of my trip to England had been to have no plan, just drive around to a few different regions and stop to take photographs of the idealized, pristine English countryside. What I hadn't counted on was the roads. Driving in the rural areas of Southern UK are akin to going through a green tunnel at breakneck speeds. The first problem was that I often could not see much of the surrounding countryside. The roads usually had a stone fence with hedge growing on them. The next problem was that when you did see something to photograph there was no place to pull over. These roads have no shoulders, and by the time I found a spot to stop, I was already too far away to walk back.

Typical road in the Cornwall region. 50mph with no shoulders and limited visibility.

Here are some short clips of me driving around the UK countryside to give you an idea of what it was like.

Roundabouts
Roundabouts were one of my favorite parts about driving in the UK. They are very efficient in moving traffic and you rarely had to stop at intersections. They also have spoiled me a bit and now my wife has to now listen to me complain about annoying stop signs, three and four way stops.

Roundabouts can easily handle many roads coming from different angles to the hub, unlike some crazy intersections that can be found here in North America. You do need to have an idea where you want out before you get on the roundabout. I saw roundabouts having as many as six roads coming off them. The signs leading up to such a roundabout look a bit like a spider, a center circle with lots of arms radiating out.

On a roundabout, drivers inside the roundabout have right-of-way (or is that left-of-way in the UK...). So, whether it is a simple roundabout with only one lane of traffic around the centre hub, or a large multi-lane one on a highway, you must yield to traffic within the circle. This graphic from wikipedia illustrates a more complicated one. It looks crazy, but pick a car and follow it through the roundabout. It is actually pretty straightforward, in a roundabout sort of way.

Why are roundabouts safer?

"The physical configuration of a modern roundabout, with a deflected entry and yield-at-entry, forces a driver to reduce speed during the approach, entry, and movement within the roundabout," the center says.

"This is contrary to an intersection where many drivers are encouraged by a green or yellow light to accelerate to get across the intersection quickly and to 'beat the red light' and contrary to old traffic circles where tangent approaches also encourage, or at least allow, high-speed entries." http://www.drivers.com/article/334/

I guess I need to get on town council to get roundabouts in this town.
_____

Overall, I really had fun driving over there. My favorite thing to do, was randomly exit the highways and drive through countryside that very much fit the stereotypes I had in my mind of the English countryside. It was lots of fun to get lost.

Back at home

2008-05-26T10:23:00.005-06:00

Back at home with the family means its time to put up some new pictures.

Rain rain, go away...
Adelaine and Ellie looking out at the sandbox in the rain.

Bunny and Bear are Adelaine's constant companions. She picks them up whenever you take her from her crib and she can often be seen walking around chewing on their noses or happily hugging them.

Our new dishwasher:

Ellie 'helped' mommy make cookies and then licked the beater 'clean'.

Adelaine with the sunhat