norah=3 years.

Our Norah girl turned THREE at the end of September!  We loved that we could celebrate with some family and friends on her birthday and make her feel extra special.  We had a mini party with Aaron, Nathan, Kim, Diana & Ellah - what a special day for Norah!

These little princesses always have fun together!

 

Me and my girl.

 Norah loving her new bag that auntie Kim made.

Norah adoring her new Rapunzel cup!  Anything Rupunzel makes my girls silly these days.

On Norah's birthday we went to the zoo with some of her little friends and all of us girls had a great time (David was working and all my siblings were traveling).  Norah & Evelyn loved seeing the animals in person and trying to feed as many of them as they could with the seed/food we bought. It was a great day.

Honestly, this is the best shot... Ellah, Norah, Alani, Evelyn... and nope, there's no gorilla at the zoo :)

My big three year old enjoying the automated swing, what a special treat!

After hours at the zoo, on the way to the car... someone's tired!  But, what a beautiful walk.

A few fun facts (in her words):
Favorite book: ummm, ahhh, tangeled (that's not a book norah, that's a movie). ummm, i want to have all of them (pointing at the book shelf). we suggested to her that fancy nancy is her favorite and she agrees.
Favotire food: goldfish
Favorite toy: aauuuum, puzzles (i don't think she understands what "favorite" means)
Favorite activity: go to park
Favorite person: da blue one... umm, we mean people... finally we got aaaaa Ellah and Evelyn!
Favorite color: ah pink!
Favorite song: Twinkle Twinkle and all of dem.

And, just for memories sake, here are two pictures from last year in Spokane as we waited to finalize Evelyn's adoption!  So glad David was with us for Norah's birthday and that we're in Germany all together this time around!

Evelyn, literally attached to me at all times... look how young they both look!?

It's crazy and fun to see how drastically our family and my little babies have changed in one year's time. God is so good and we are so blessed by the little lives we get to help shape.

day 2 day.

A walk in our hills... to see the cows... in princess gear :)

Running freely in the backyard... many hours playing in the yard this summer.  So blessed!

Norah. The Climber, up on our fence.

Our typically happy littlest one.

Saying g'night to the neighbor chickens (about 3 houses down the road).

Cuddles & naps on Sunday afternoons :)

And, princesses watching princess shows (Norah & Ellah).

Lots of laughter.

pool hopin' summer.

We've been so blessed by the beautiful weather here in Germany the last few weeks and have taken full advantage of getting out and exploring and enjoying the sunshine while it lasts... we know the rain is coming sometime... :(

The Germans really love swimming - or maybe its they know too the summer days are short and they need to make sure there's a pool in just about every other village to cover the amount of people needing to swim and soak in the sun!  Either way, it's so much fun to pool hop!

 Enjoying the "lazy river" section that is perfect for little kiddos.

 You can click on the picture to make it bigger but there's a slide, a diving board far back, and then a big swim area and the little river and smaller kid pools that you can't quite see (they are to the right of the picture). 

 Ellah & Norah enjoying some swim time together.

 Soaking in the sun and snuggles with Daddy :)

We've made it to maybe three or four pools in the 25 min surrounding area but haven't hit them all.  I took some pictures at one of our favorites a few weeks ago on a Saturday.  Oh and by the way, in Germany, no lifeguards - swim at your own risk!  Many many things here you do at your own risk. If you're willing to let your two year old jump in then you better be there to watch him or her (it's called parenting).  Anyway, I enjoy the freedom of the German ways and the "at your own risk" most of the time but othertimes I like structure and instruction - like tell me, should my child be going down this alpine slide on my lap or is she too young?! You get the idea.

a(aaaahhhh)ustria.

Blessings come in forms of family time, days off, visits from loved ones and weekends away with our spouse!  David's mom was gracious enough to fly here with the intention of watching our girls so we could get away and take a few days off!  Since my anxiety/depression came full out when we were in the States in May, David and I have needed help. I finally felt healthy enough to leave the house for a few days - praise God!  Since we live so close to such beauty we found a wellness hotel (popular here) about 4 hours drive from our home.  It was basically a hotel that takes care of you with three healthy meals (lots of options), pools and many different saunas.  It was a dreamy place that we hope to return to again!

 A beautiful shot by one of thousands of vines on our drive.  We do live in wine country here!

 God is so creative and the sights of Austria are some of our favorite.

 Reading in the room with champagne and tea :)  Love relaxing with my man.

 Having fun with the view from our deck and our new camera.

Here are three of the pools - one cold one down below is more like a pond, a saltwater whirlpool straight above that and the farthest one was also a saltwater pool but not so hot.  It's been so fun and interesting to see how the Europeans relax and get healthy. It really works well for us.

David fell asleep many times in these comfy chairs - I chose to read and reflect more on life and the beauty here.

 Back in Germany we finally captured the girls with Grandma!

 Evelyn had a great time with Grandma but a hard time adjusting to life back with Dad & Mom!

Before we left town we spent two days with Karen and took her to our favorite pool and to pick some flowers.  In the pictures below you can see that flower field.  This is typical here and you just pay on the honor system by putting coins in a cup and there is a little bucket of knives to go cut your flowers - what fun!