LADybUG....

when i asked your daddy
what phrase he thought best described you,
he instantly replied,
'sweet firecracker.'
i couldn't agree more.
i should have known you would have
such a zest for life
when you came on the scene so unexpectedly.
you operate with the 'ta-da!' mentality
and work with a fast and furious pace to keep up
with your brother. you WILL NOT BE LEFT OUT!!
you are so illuminated with happiness
and excitement that you look like a glo-worm,
just bursting with light.
you love to be around others, other kids, babies, to the point you have made other little ones a little guarded (freaked out)
from your exuberence.
however, you *usually* win them over with your lovely, loving self.
and, boy, can you dance, mama. if a good tune comes on, the rythym is going to get you, and i love all of the moves in your arsenal.
sweet e, your enthusiasm is greatly balanced with your cuddly, loving nature, and although you are a go, go, go kind of kid, you also equally go with the flow. it is very rare you are anything but joyful and good-natured.
i can't believe i am lucky enough to have you call me mama, i marvel at you every day and what an example you are of God's grace in my life. i cannot wait to see you, our little spitfire, grow, and to see what Christ has in store for you.

i am very far behind.
there are many things to post
from our first dreamy month in missoula,
but there is a far more pressing event at hand...
tomorrow our elsa is 1!












happy birthday to our sweet, sweet surprise.

so, we know probably three people in montana,
and i confess that one is our real estate agent,
and another is the selling agent who now lives across the street from us.
the third is a man named richard beighle,
who is also one of the nicest people i've ever met.
dr. beighle also happens to live on a cherry orchard on flathead lake.
last week we were invited (mostly by ourselves) to pick cherries
as the market is flooded and he wasn't going to be harvesting and selling them this year.
so away we went for a magical day of sun, water and picking. i really think i could have lived on that deck.

lunch at the lake

time to pick

signs of a successful day

tHe ROAd HoMe

while i have no real interest in doing it again soon,
our cross-country road trip
can actually go in the books as fun,
and we suffered no mechanical, physical, or emotional breakdowns to speak of.
elsa wasn't super-pumped about having to be in a rear-facing car seat
but was for the most part her usual
go with the flow self.
i think hutch had the best time of all, either observing all of the landscape
or farm animals/machinery, or being brainwashed by our little dvd player, so he was all good.
devo and tilly, well, they survived, with the help of happy yellow pills.
team jehle was able to see a real slice of americana and take in
the beautiful scenery from sea to real close to shining sea.
we saw God's creation across the u.s. of a, from the outer banks to visiting good friends and
babies we needed to meet to the AWESOMELY CUTE PUPPY LEWIS!! to pearl street to the mountains to our new residence.
and, as of two weeks ago, we made it. not a bad trek for a week's time.

tEXaS favE FiveS

every trip home is the best trip home.
not sure why all of my pics are uploading blurry, hmmmm.

kansas city trip '09- FAve fiVeS

excellent as usual,
made even more so by the addition of mr. chase london jehle