My Dad

On July 23rd, my stepmother called to tell me that my dad, Gene Thorpe, had passed away that morning after suffering a heart attack. To say that I was devastated would be an understatement. I had just talked to him about 3 days earlier. Annie and I flew to California and spent 9 days helping my stepmom, Diane, prepare for the funeral service. Even today, it's very numbing to think that he is really gone. It really makes me consider the fact that God can take us out of this world in a moment--I need to be diligent about getting the Gospel to all those who don't know Christ as their Saviour. I miss my dad, so much. Above, is a picture of dad and Diane with all the California granddaughter's at Easter last year. Below, dad is holding Annemarie for the first time. Unfortunately, when we were in California in May for Tony's funeral, I did not get any pictures of dad holding Mia. I hate even thinking about that.......and I am trying to take pictures of the family--all the family--when we're together for any reason. I love my dad and miss him alot.......

FINALLY!!!!!!

Well, I finally bit the bullet and blogged, even though the laundry is looming!! But, I checked the undie drawers and everyone can wait one more day..... So, below you will find a slew of pictures!! As I was about half way through blogging, I noticed that I put the oldest ones at the bottom...I usually put the oldest ones at the top, so this time, if you start at the bottom, they will be in chronological order--if you care! So, since earlier this year, God has turned our world upside down...in a good way. Scott and I believe that God is calling us back to California, so we're headed back. Before Scott and I were married, we knew we wanted to move to a small town, have kids, live a slower life. So, four years ago, when God told us to go to Wisconsin, we thought, "Well, this is great!! We've always wanted to move to a small town and that happens to be what God wants, too!!" YAH!! As the years went by we were very happy with OUR plan....buy a house, have another child, I'll finish school, start teaching, buy a bigger house, etc, etc, etc....One thing Scott and I didn't do enough of, though, was talk to God about HIS plan. I think there have been a few times where God has tried to get our attention and we decided not to listen. And God brought us to our knees with this decision--and I'm so glad He did! I love living here (the friends, family, town, an AMAZING church family!!), but I realize that I love God more--it's that simple. And as much as I drug my feet at first, I am now excited to see what's in store for us. I mean, just look at what God has done in the short time we've been here--He has brought some truly amazing brothers and sisters in Christ into our lives, Annemarie was saved and baptized, a new work has begun and continues to grow, Mia was born and thrives--the list is long. I never would have imagined that God would be leading us in this direction, but I never imagined that my life would be as amazing as it is right now. But, God knew. And He knows what's in store for us in this next journey that He's asking us to accompany Him on. So,we are sad to leave our family and friends, but amazed at what God has already done. How could we not follow Him? So, after months of prayer, studying and discussions, at the end of June we put the house on the market and decided to follow God. We've had alot of people look, but no offers. So, we'll leave the house on the market and go. God will handle it. The girls and I will fly to California on October 9th and Scott will leave here (with my brother-in-law, Tony) on October 21st-one day shy of our 4 year anniversary of arriving in Wisconsin. We will stay with my sister and Tony until their backyard is complete--then we'll live in their backyard.... :-) No, not in tents, they are adding a garage and there will be an apartment above the garage for us, until we can buy a house. Until just a few days ago, Scott figured that he would get a job once he arrived in California. But (and we shouldn't be surprised), God worked that out. He will now manage the same paint store that he worked at when we left California. What an answer to prayer!! Annemarie is up and down about going--excited to be closer to friends and family, sad to leave her friends and school here. So, we're just trying to let her feel however she needs to..... She started third grade (and yes, I cried on the first day of school, like always!!), and really likes her class. I'll go to give her a going away party on her last day, so that gives her something to look forward to. As for Mia....well, she has blossomed! At her 9 month appointment at the end of July, she weighed exactly 16 pounds. I'd say she's approaching 18 now, but she'll get weighed at the beginning of October again. She has started some new medication for her reflux, and after ALOT of laundry, I think we've finally got that worked out. She rolls over (although, I've noticed recently that she won't roll from her tummy to her back, but sometimes I think that she's being stubborn!) and is just starting to get her legs under her a little. She'll rotate around on her tummy to get somewhere and is sitting up really well. I still put a pillow behind her-just in case (but if she feels it behind her she'll "lounge" on it...). She's eating Cheerios and we've experimented with some other foods, but I think she may have some issues with texture. She's really getting the hang of her sippy cup but LOVES her bottles!! Her corrected age is now 8 months, so for an 8 month old, I think she's right on. It's amazing to think that soon, it will be a year since this precious little one was born--amazing!! She's been discharged from Birth to Three (yah!!) for two reasons-first, she's right on for her corrected age and second, it's actually easier for Wisconsin to just discharge her and then for California to enroll her as a new participant. We've already got an appointment with a Pediatrician in California to evealuate and make any referrals. Mia will receive RSV shots again this winter and the doctor here advised us to plan on heading into hibernation around the first of November. I'm curious to hear what the new doctor in California recommends, though. Scott and I are just getting ready to move--I'm still in school-two English classes (online) and trying to pack, etc.... I'd ask everyone to continue to pray for us as we continue to seek God's direction.

Goof......

Well, I know that some day my daughter will be so unhappy that I posted this, but, oh well!! We recently had family pictures done and Annie likes to goof off, as we all know! So, Greg caught her on camera with this lovely pose! Nice.....

And here she is enjoying Aunt Cathy's birthday gift.....yah, another reason for Annie to pay absolutley no attention to her dad and I ;-)

Sis and Tony, etc....

My sister and Tony came to visit at the beginning of August. Nic, Kay (Nic's girlfriend) and the girls came too, this time. So, we went and did touristy stuff, which was alot of fun. Unfortunatley, I didn't seem to bring my camera ANYWHERE we went! So, I actually had to go to my sister's blog to download the pics....I think I was just trying to remember all the baby stuff that has to come along EVEYWHERE we go! So, then I forget the camera! I need to just put it in the diaper bag!! But, here's the clan on there way back to California. You can visit my sister's blog (Cathy's blog on the right) to see more pics......

Happy Birthday Annie!!!

Annemarie turned 8 on August 1st. So, we decided to have our first sleepover. But, since my house is really on the small side, we had it at mom's. The girls all made their own pizzas and then the adults had a turn...

nice, Bubba......

then it was time for presents.............everyone's favortie time!

This year, since Annie is going into third grade (also hard to believe!), we decided to redo her room. She'd had Disney Princess' since Kindergarten, so it was time to get the big girl room. It's a really pretty set, but not too "girly" and Annemarie LOVES it! She was very excited, but really loved all her gifts (and thank you again, to eveyone!).

Annemarie opening her gift form Aunt Cathy--a Disney MixStick (MP3 player). Annie was thrilled because she's been asking for an iPod but her dad and I have said no. But this is a good start--if she can keep track of her MixStick, than we'll see in a few years.....

And of course, Aunt Cathy had it loaded with some songs so she could enjoy it immediately!

Ashley, Caitlyn, Christina and Bailey enjoying the many Nintendos that were at the party!!

All Annemarie really wanted to do was take all her friends to Paul Bunyan Cook Shanty for breakfast (especially when she heard that Caitlyn had never been there--Annie thought that was some sort of a crime or something!!). So, we packed up everyone (in the rain!) and headed to Paul Bunyan's in the Dells. They serve family style pancakes, ham, sausage, eggs and potatoes. But first, you get these warm, buttermilk donuts!! They are SOOOO good! We will miss you, Paul Bunyan's.......

Purple Belt Promotion

Yep, Annie has promoted in Karate again!! She really likes it and it really helps with her concentration. So, here she is going through the all the skills to get that belt! And, conveniently, purple is her favorite color!!

Paying attention to instructions....very good......

"What'd they say????"

Finally, a smile................

unwrapping her purple belt......

And the wonderful, "Do i have to smile much longer?" smile.......

And now it's time for Mia's pics.....

These are my favorite jammies and I just wanted a picture of Mia in them. And since Scott was here.....And there's that closed-mouth smile......

The second attempt at a biter biscuit went much better, obviously!! We'd also been trying Macaroni and Cheese and green beans. At first she ate up the Mac and Cheese, But, then, I don't know if it became too much work or what, but she won't eat it now. She'll eat green beans, but only if they are in baby food. So, I cut them up and smash them just a little and mix them in some kind of meat. She likes that alot!

And Mia's little trick, mixed with a bunch of food is even better!!!!

There's that front right tooth peeking through the mess!!

And a great smile for daddy!!!

In this shot, you can almost see her "fang". It's on the top, on her left side.

Scott's mom sent us this ducky toy. It's really cool. We fill it with water and then she can push on the water part and there are little floating fish inside of it. This saved us--Mia hated tummy time for so long, but she loved this duck, so she'd actually paly with it on her tummy, now she loves her tummy so much we have a hard time keeping her on her back for bobo changes, etc.....

Mia loves Cherrios!! But, really, who doesn't! I noticed that she was pointing and using her pincer grasp, so we tried Cheerios, and she LOVES THEM!! We joke that she's going to turn into one!! And in her Safe Feeder, is a banana--her favorite, but not ours!! think of a half masticasted (good word :-) ) banana in a mesh bag.....poor daddy the dishwasher ;-)

Lately, she's figured out how to give a close-mouthed smile. It's cute, but I'd love to get a big smile with all those teeth! Here she's giving her dad a nice smile!!

You can alomost see those two teeth on the bottom. They're small but they hurt (if you're dumb like me and stick your finger in there to check on her other teeth that are coming in....)

When Annemarie was little and it was time to get jammies on, we would take her shirt off and give her "hair". Like Annie was, Mia is quite bald still so the other night, she got hair for the first time......

So funny............

First time with a biter biscuit....not too impresssed......

same with mashed potatoes. She liked them, a little, but she didn't gobble them up like I thought she would......

"I'm getting stronger!!"

And this is a pretty good shot of Mia when she squenches up her face and tries to breathe through her nose. However, when she does this, her upper lip actually blocks her nostrils so then she gets all snotty.....it's really funny!!