Happy Birthday, Turi!

July 22nd was Turi's 9th birthday. We had a great day. We still got to do school (which she really enjoys) and she got to do a little climbing and swinging. Usually, Turi asks to go to the swings about twice a week. The closest swings to us are "in town" which is a good 15-20 minutes so we usually don't make it out as often as we would like. We took her to a really nice playground which she was thrilled about. She also got to eat cake for breakfast (see pics) and she thought that was the ultimate. However, we had to put up with the sugar crash for the rest of the morning :). She finished off her cake after dinner and can you believe she ate half of that cake by herself? There was nothing left. She had a great time opening presents and couldn't believe how many things one person could get. Overall, she had a great day. The highlight? The balloons we hung around the house for decorations. They were the most fought over and the most played with. Next year? Just balloons :).

Learning to Read

Isn't this precious? The girls are using a free computer program to help in their reading process. They LOVE working on the computer!

Water

The girls LOVE playing in the water. We let them run in the sprinkler on hot days and lately, everyday has been a HOT day. They have such a blast! Here is a video of them (I just figured out I can do this!). It is so funny watching them get so excited about water.

These last two weeks have seen us starting home school. We wanted to get the girls up and running before the baby comes. It has been a real blessing that we have because it takes so much time to pick out curriculum, send it back when you realize it's not what you want, figure out what you want again and start the process over :). We have no idea what we're doing but the Lord has blessed us with girls who are really excited about school and learning. Turi just can't wait to actually begin. Their final books arrived last night by UPS (he always shows up about 8) and we were just on our way back from a friend's house. When he pulled up, the girls ran up to the truck screaming, "Our books! Our books!". I bet that made the UPS man's day.

Pray for us as we need the wisdom to be teachers and the patience to work through things with the girls (especially as they continue to learn English). Pray for Turi as she begins her classes and is so excited to move forward. Pray that the Lord would bless her efforts because she is going to give it 120%. Pray for Bitsu as she is learning how to learn and it can be hard for her to sit still. Pray for creativity as we work together. Pray for Tihi as she has always been the baby and is still learning that she also has to help out with chores or actually do school. Even though she is excited about it, it might be hard for her to actually get into routine.

July 22nd is Turi's b-day. Stay tuned for some great pics!

Home Group

We have wanted to start a storying home group since we've moved back to the States. Well, we finally have. Granted it is just our family for now but we actually have other people interested in attending!

What has been so fun has been watching the girls loving the stories. That is A LOT of fun and I feel like I'm back on the field. I usually tell the story (we have done Creation, The Fall, Cain and Abel and Noah) and then I ask the girls if they can retell it. Sometimes they can right away and sometimes I have to tell it again. Usually Turi retells it in English and then Bitsu, with Turi's help, retells it in their native tongue. It is a lot of fun to watch the girls' interest and watch them learn the story. They love attending church.

Please pray for some people who have either expressed an interest in attending our home group, expressed an interest in spiritual things or we are getting to know pretty well.

Dress Up, Fireworks and Horse Races

The girls are really creative. Yesterday afternoon, they spent a couple of hours taking out all the toys they own that they could put on one another and dressed each other up. The game was that first Turi would dress up Bitsu who wasn't allowed to look until she was done and then visa versa. It was a lot of fun to watch. And I got some pretty good pics out of it (see the last two).

We went out to see Flagstaff's fireworks last night (pics #2 and #3) which were actually quite good for a small town. The girls really loved them and loved getting to stay out late even more. I think the pic with them and Curt is priceless. They were too excited to sit down. We had to get there early because of parking so we brought some cards and a friend! This is Carolyn, the girls' first babysitter who has stayed with them a couple of nights to give Curt and I the chance to get out.

The first picture was the horse races we went to this afternoon. Horse races are only held once a year in all of AZ and it happened to be 5 minutes from our house. So, we went. No betting, of course, but it was fun for the girls to see the horses and get caught up in the excitement of the crowd. Plus, I've never been and wanted to see what it was like!

Happy Birthday, America!

The girls' first 4th of July. We went out this morning to see a parade, which was great. The girls absolutely loved it. They loved watching all the different things pass by and getting all the free candy (not to mention books, flags, pencils, etc.). It was perfect weather and they had a great seat. Tonight we will head out and see the fireworks display. I bet they're going to flip over that!

Excuses...

So, we are currently changing over computers and I am using that as my excuse to not posting often :).
The girls have been in swim lessons for the last two weeks which has been really good. We think the two older girls just need more time in the water but Tihi has really flourished with having a teacher. She is more comfortable in the water, will swim underneath and has started to figure out the freestyle stroke. And getting to be in the water everyday has been a lot of fun for them.
My mom sent the girls some stamps which they love playing with. That's what the pictures are of. Anything that is new and creative draws their eye!