Baby #4

She's here!  Our fourth precious cousin was born on September 20.  We adore our sweet Ava Alivia!

Andrew, Hannah and Baby Ava stayed at our house this past weekend and it was SUCH fun getting in snuggles, kisses and a photo shoot with the newest member of the family!

It's hard to believe that all the cousins have been born!  What a tremendous few months it has been as we have welcomed these four new precious lives into our extended family.  Tirzah, Jonathan, Micah and Ava, already I can't imagine life without you!  Auntie Grace loves you all sooooooo much!!!

Cousins, Alfalfa and Caves, Oh My!

Last week we went down to southern Oregon to visit David's brother Jonathan, his wife Laura and their three beautiful daughters.  Our girls adore their cousins! 

Talia is only two months older than Ella and the big girls all loved playing with her!

Eliana (Ellie) and Esther are only three months apart and they have always had a special bond with each other.  They were making each other giggle the whole trip!

Baby Tirzah is growing up so fast!  She was full of smiles the entire time.  It felt so good to have a baby to hold and smooch on! (My baby is growing up WAY too fast!)

Laura fed us like kings (hilarious I know).  She is such a good cook and we were completely spoiled!  The girls got to help Uncle Jonathan make ice cream one night!

On Saturday it was "Bonanza Days" so went went downtown and watched the parade.

Our girls had almost made a dent in their candy from the 4th of July so this was very providential.

With eight girls seven and under it was a party all the time!  Jonathan is working on his in-law's farm this summer so while he and David weren't moving wheel lines and swathing they took the girls on dirt bike rides through the alfalfa fields.  The girls loved it there on the farm.  It was so beautiful!

Sunday afternoon, before we came home, we went to the lava beds just across the California border.

It was a fascinating place.  So barren yet beautiful. 

 

Auntie Laura stayed with the babies while the rest of us went down the explore the first cave.  It was so incredible to think of the lava that flowed through to make these caves.  The girls LOVED trying out different paths and seeing what holes we could all fit through.  Only Ella was a little distressed that she didn't have her own flashlight.

Cousins in a cave!

Happy little "Spelunkers"

It was such a blessed trip.  We came home feeling refreshed and encouraged in spirit even if we were a little tired out physically.  There is hardly anywhere in the world that I feel as at home than with them.  We love you and miss you already!!!

Baby #2

Eleven days late but worth the wait, Mary finally had her baby!!!

Jonathan Steven Domes was born May 17.  An adorable ten pound baby boy!

Yesterday I got to spend all day playing with Caleb (big brother!) and snuggling this sweet little man.  I fall more in love with being an auntie every single day!

Two baby cousins born, two more still to come!!!

Baby #1

Remember how I said I had four neices or nephews due this year?  Well, the first one was born!!!  She sneaked in three weeks early and took the place of first arrival even though she was supposed to be second!  Sweet Tirzah Marie was born to David's brother Jonathan and his wife, Laura.

We were abundantly blessed to get to see them only a week after she was born as they haeded through our part of the woods on their way south for the summer.

She is gorgeous.  Absolutely stunning.  They graciously allowed me to take some photos of her which thrilled me to no end.  I've never taken newborn pictures before and it was so much fun!!!

We love you Baby Tirzah!!!

Auntie Brag Time!!!

I really really really love my life.  Being a wife and a mommy is more than I could ever dream of.  Then just when I thought things couldn't get any better, God made me an auntie too!

There is something so unbelievably fun and joy filled about having such a special role in these precious little one's lives. 

Jonathan, Laura, Talia and Eliana came to stay with us last weekend so we all drank up our time with them.  The girls are growing sweeter and more precious everyday.  Talia knows all of our names now so that makes us all feel especially loved!

Talia and Ella are only two and a half months apart, and already they are turning into great little buddies!

And of course we are pretty crazy about this little man too!  We can't believe our little Caleb boy is almost a year old!!!!

Two nieces, one nephew and more to come!!!!!!

Cousin Fun!!!!

One of the best parts of the entire wedding trip was getting to live in the same house as our adorable niece for three days!

Talia and Ella are 2 1/2 months apart and really had fun playing and crawling all over each other!

Isn't she beautiful?

This auntie cannot get enough of her! Talia is our only niece so far (but two more cousins on the way!!!).

This was the girls when we last saw them back in May.

They had a much better time together this trip!  I am so excited to watch these sweeties grow up together!

Speaking of cousins, David's cousin is visiting from Alaska and it has been so much fun connecting with her and her little sweeties!  The twins are only two months older than Ella, but watching them together was hilarious!  Could they be any more different?

What a blessing family is!

A Great New Year!

We have had a wonderful start to our new year! While we are incredibly blessed to live within five minutes of both of our amazing families, it sometimes is a struggle during times like Christmas when you would love to be everywhere at the same time! This year however, Jonathan and Laura decided that they would stay home ( Southern Oregon) for Christmas and come and spend New Year's here. It has been wonderful for us as we were able to have a much more relaxed Christmas and a fantastic New Year's!

Jonathan, Laura and Talia have spent the week with us, which is about the best time any of us could imagine! Jonathan and David are as close as can be, Laura truly feels like another sister and of course, Talia is a big hit around here!

(Bethany played all day with her nativity set from Uncle Jonathan and Auntie Laura)

Yesterday we went up to Boppa and Grammy King's house to have our King family Christmas. Plus it was Uncle Andrew's birthday so we got a double celebration in!

Blowing out birthday candles with Uncle Andrew! Bethany wasn't feeling very great, but she was Andrew's buddy all evening. What a great uncle!

( Youngest to oldest: Matthew, Peter, Timothy, Andrew, Isaac, Benjamin, David and Jonathan)

We actually took the time to get some brother and family shots this year which is something we NEVER do! Look at these great guys! All of them love the Lord and are serving Him with all their hearts. And talk about fun!!!

Of course they needed a shortest to tallest shot too! They wanted a muscle shot, but never got around to it!

What a blessing it is to be a part of such a wonderful family. I was talking to my mother-in-law right before this and she was saying how blown away she is by God's goodness and faithfulness. She originally didn't want any children!

Cousins!!!!

We have been so incredibly blessed the last two days to have Jonathan and Laura ( brother and sister-in-law) and their precious new Talia Mae stay at our house. I can't believe that I survived this long with out getting my hands on that precious little girl, but somehow I managed. She is so adorable and we are getting as many loves and smooches in before they have to leave.

This is the very first cousin and the girls absolutely adore her. Even Havilah constantly wants to know what is going on with her. They are all going to have so much fun together as they grow up! Isn't she so beautiful?!

A new kind of love

Friday night a very wonderful thing happened. Lydia and I were so excited that we couldn't go to sleep and stayed up until Daddy came home from patrol. Don't we look excited?

I became an aunt and the girls became cousins for the very first time!!!!

Talia Mae King was born October 30, 2009 to Jonathan and Laura King. She weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. Talia (pronounced "Tuh-lee-ah) means "Dew of Heaven" in Hebrew.

I haven't gotten to see her yet so I don't have any pictures of my own, but here are some that I stole from Jonathan!

The proud daddy!

The beautiful mommy!


The GORGEOUS little girl!

I am absolutely dying to hold her! They are planning on coming up for Thanksgiving so it looks like I will have to wait until then. I try not to think about it too much for fear that depression will overtake me during the wait. I'm very hopeful that time will fly and that I will some how survive that long without her!

Now, together David and I have twelve siblings, so we are pretty sure that in the future there will be no shortage of cousins, nephews and nieces. Somehow I just can't imagine it getting any less exciting with any of them. New life is such an amazing miracle!

A little of this and that

I'm not sure what has been plaguing me lately and making me incredibly negligent towards my poor blog! My mind seems to go completely blank as I stare at my page and everything brilliant, humorous or thought provoking vanishes. I think a major hindrance for me is that I haven't picked up my camera in ages! Somehow a post without pictures just doesn't feel like a post! So here I am, resolved to do better and determined to take pictures no matter how mundane they may seem!

In the middle of September we had our youth council retreat. This is our sixth year working on the leadership team for our youth group, but my eleventh year being involved with the retreat ( as I was a part of the youth council before becoming leadership). The youth council is a small group of youth who want to push themselves to become leaders and examples to their peers. They help lead the small groups and run much of our youth group meetings.

Once again, the Lord has blessed us with an amazing group of kids to work with this year.

Our girls absolutely LOVE the retreat and especially the kids. They always make fast friends and I am constantly amazed to see the patience the youth have for playing the same little games over and over ( and over...).

The week after the youth council retreat was our annual "King Family Camp out". Two brothers were away at Bible college this year, but we still have a fabulous time together. We were especially blessed to have David's brother Jonathan and his wife, Laura, there. They are expecting their first child and it was so much fun to have someone to be preggy with!

Last week we babysat our little neighbor baby for two days. It was so much fun to watch Havilah interact closely with a little person. She absolutely adored her and could hardly be held back from showering her with every toy, blanket, book, binkie or food item in the entire house. I can't wait to watch her as a big sister. Don't worry, I do mean literally watch her!

We had the treat of having Jonathan and Laura come and stay with us for four days last week. They are such a blessing and I am overwhelmingly thankful for family that love the Lord and are such an encouragement to us in that way.

Here we are at 27 and 37 weeks. Giving the cousins a little chat time!

Please pray for Laura as she is having some blood pressure issues. This baby could come any day!