Baltimore

Yesterday we spent the day in Baltimore...my old stomping grounds during college. During college I worked in Baltimore and went to school in Towson which is just a short drive from the city. It was great to be back as a tourist (happy to be visiting then heading to a much more tolerable climate in SoCal). My mom took myself, Shannon and the kids to the Baltimore aquarium. The kids LOVED it! We saw the 4D movie where we wore 3D glasses and felt the whales blow hole spray on our faces, snakes tickled our feet (air puffs and a rubber tube), and our seats vibrated and shook along with parts of the movie. It was so cool! Noah woke up this morning talking about the whale spraying him and has been talking about it non-stop all day. He also loved the sting ray exhibit and the sharks. Jordan however cried like crazy when the dolphin show was over. My mom bought her a dolphin stuffed animal and she hasn't let go of it (or stopped kissing it) since. :) Noah got a rubber sting ray that he has been carrying around with him and taking into the bath. He even told me early this afternoon that he was sticky from lunch so he needed to take a bath...with the sting ray. Funny. :)

The picture here with Shan and Jordan shows the backpack carrier they loaned us at the museum. They check strollers and loan out carriers. It is such a great system.

Travel

Killing time trying to kill each other in the airport. Silly from exhaustion.

"Plumb's dance mix is my favorite. Hmmm let me see where it is on this thing."

This photo speaks for itself.

Quick update on our travels...

We left our house last Thursday to fly to my mom's in Maryland with a "short" layover in Oakland (cheaper tickets). We ended up getting stuck in Northern California (as if that wasn't bad enough in itself - ha ha just kidding although we are from SoCal we love NorCal) for seven hours with hungry tired kids before we boarded our plane for our five our flight. Yikes. It was SUCH a long day but the kids did really well. Here's Noah before the plane even took off from Oakland and then there's Jordan. She's the bundle of energy rockin' out on my iPod even after such a long day. We met the nicest people during our wait though. We sat with a family whose son had a repaired cleft lip. He looked great and was probably the sweetest boy we've met. He shared every one of his favorite toys with Noah.

More posts to come...

Trials

Here's a cut and past from my friend's blog. Her name is Summer Martin, she's wonderfully kind, a loving thoughtful friend, she loves the Lord and is consistently growing in her walk with Him. Her blog is www.summalovinn.blogspot.com if you want to read more of her posts.

This one really struck me as I've been talking with a lot of people lately who doubt God's goodness when they're faced with trial in their lives. I always think of the song It is Well With My Soul. I hope that if I were to face a trial of great magnitude that I would respond in the like.


“Reader, if God has given you His only begotten Son, beware of doubting His kindness and love, in any painful providence of your daily life! Never allow yourself to think hard thoughts of God. Never suppose that He can give you anything which is not really for your good. Remember the words of Paul: ‘He who spared not His own Son—but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things’ (Romans 8:32).

See in every sorrow and trouble of your earthly pilgrimage the hand of Him who gave Christ to die for your sins! That hand can never smite you except in love! He who gave His only begotten Son for you, will never withhold anything from you which is really for your good. Lean back on this thought and be content. Say to yourself in the darkest hour of trial, ‘This also is ordered by Him who gave Christ to die for my sins. It cannot be wrong. It is done in love. It must be well.’”

by J.C. Ryle

SHE'S WALKING!!!!!

Today is officially the day...Jordan started walking! Yay! Last week it was looking like it would be a long time before we'd see her upright. Her therapists and I were just hoping she'd walk by her 2nd birthday. She was tired today and grumpy so I was assuming it would be a wasted session but then she just took off!

She is so cute with her arms up high and her shoulders up so tight. We'll still use her walker to help her build more strength but also try to get her to walk as much as possible alone.

Check out our video. I'm so glad I had my camera in my purse!

A few pictures

Just a few pictures I've been wanting to add...it's been a long day so I'm not posting much but I will add more in a day or so.

A few of my favorite pics of the kids while at the Woodwards last weekend with her new VERY nice camera.

I love this one of our Noah. He's getting so big! Notice his gray tooth - he fell and knocked it loose last summer and it's now dead. He goes back this month for a re-check.

I love this picture and love this girl! What a nice camera huh? Jordan LOVES the water and was having a great time that day in the baby pool.

Here are a few from Father's Day with my dad. I went riding with him in the Angeles Forest. It was SO fun but quite the workout. We rode out an hour and a half or more and another hour and a half back after eating lunch. It was great hanging out with my dad being outdoors and I loved riding the horses. I rode Jeronimo and my dad rode Tioga. They were on their best behavior.

More posts tomorrow or Sunday. See you then!

Happy Fourth everyone!