Uncle Ben's Graduation

In May we had the privileged of celebrating a very special brother and uncle: Ben. Ben is an avid reader, talented musician, intelligent, and purposeful young man. Our Mark loves having Uncle Ben rescue him from a nap or play guitar for him. And Lillia is blessed by all the snuggle time with Uncle Ben. He will be attending Grove City College in the fall--- needless to say, we have already bribed him for visits with food and laundry. Congratulations, Ben!! We look forward to seeing how the Lord uses you in this next phase of your life!

The verse he chose for his graduation cake:

"Look to the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5

Here's our graduate and his sweet girlfriend, Morgan. Such a cute couple!

Ben with his Mimi and Papa

We all enjoyed the festivities, the cake, and the excuse to be together...

Ben's 3 nephews dressed in matching outfits for the occasion :-) We HAD to capitalize on the opportunity!

Lillia and Gideon are only 2 months apart

notice the hand holding

last picture of our babies together before the Pfeils headed back to Japan--- it's a special treat to have babies so close in age!

Cute May Moments...

Mark and Daddy "Boiler Up"

Mark makes a MASSIVE line of animals

(his mom was so proud!) :-)

Getting Lillia after a nap is a highlight of Mark's day. As soon as he hears her he looks up at me and exclaims-- "Oh! Wilyah's awake!" Then he runs to her room to peek at her in her crib. This day our dear friends, Kennedy and Rylee, participated in the fun.

Here's Mark talking to his Daddy after a long day of play :-) I love the relaxed, crossed legs and the lean against the dishwasher!!

The elephants are back at the Cleveland Zoo!!! Mark's Great Mimi and Papa gave us a season pass for Christmas and we have LOVED it!!

Some how Mark rolled over a ball and got a rug burn on his nose that bled like crazy :-( I'm sad for the boo boo, but the band aid on the nose was adorable!

Mother's Day

Lillia turns 6 months!!

We can't get enough of this sweet little girl!!

Easter in NJ

The weekend before Easter my dad flew into Ohio. We packed up the car with two kiddos and all their gear and headed to NJ for "spring break." Chris joined us on Good Friday and we got to stay through Easter.

We played trains every day and just about everyone tried their hand at making elaborate train tracks.

Mark loving his new sunglasses from grandma--- such a stud!

We had many special moments...

Every morning Poppie would get up with Mark and give him a mixture of animal crackers and "jumping jacks" (i.e. Apple Jacks cereal) for breakfast

Mid morning Mark and Grandma would make smoothies together---(pretty much every time Mark sees a blender he mentions Grandma's smoothies... so yummy!!!)

Aunt Beth sure knows how to get out the giggles :-)

baking with Aunt Katie

sudoku with Daddy

possibly my favorite Uncle Jon picture of all time!!

working off Grandma's good cooking :-)

here's Mark using Poppie's headset to hear the TV-- pretty nifty invention

Raymond loved on Mark and Lillia

We made a trip to Great Aunt Gwen's and Uncle Bill's. Aunt Gwen spoiled the kids with adorable outfits and super-cool towels. Uncle Bill and Mark spent a majority of time playing games with the pocket door.

super cool Monster towel

Daddy comes home...

Daddy has been home for a little over a month now and we have loved every minute. I really can't thank God enough for the AMAZING husband and daddy He had given us. Sadly, we are having difficulty recovering the pictures of our reunion, but here are some photos of the "Welcome Home Daddy" t-shirts we made...

While Daddy was in Japan...

Chris's sister, Sarah, and our nieces and nephews kept us company while Chris was in Japan for two weeks. We thought we had already said farewell to them for a couple years, but God blessed us with this special time before they return to Japan.

The shower is the next, most logical location for a sleeping child when you run out of rooms :-) Thanks for being so flexible, Gideon!
Of course we had to got to Chick-Fil-A for family night. It was a little tricky with six children and two moms, but we managed :-) While there we were surprised with the opportunity for FREE face painting. Take a look at these works of art--- AMAZING, right!?! And each of the children waited in line patiently for an hour!!! (That's even more AMAZING!)

Mark, you too make us smile...

Precious Mark moments....

• Sitting on Daddy's lap shouting "Oh man!" periodically while watching basketball
• Patting Lillia on the head and encouraging, "You OK girl, you OK" while she cries
• Looking at Momma's shirt and encouraging, "Butiful, Momma, Butiful."
• Asking "Yilyah" to kiss your boo-boo's
• Holding a doll and exclaiming, "Oh goodness, Oh goodness... she poop out!" (hmm... I wonder when he's heard that??"
• Praying for the 1st time by yourself... "Dear God, Thank you Daddy. Thank you, Momma. Thank you blankie. Thank you food. Jesus name, Amen"
• Dressing your elephant...
• 
• Sleeping with your legs hanging out of the crib...
• 

Oh Lillia, how you make us smile :-)

Lillia- 5 months

So our sweet girl developed the bad habit of pulling her hair out while she sucked her thumb. Whenever she woke up she would have a fist full of hair in her hand :-( Our solution: a hat and a mitten... one hand has to be free for thumb sucking (of course) :-)

Lillia's 1st attempt at rice cereal