Sunny Days in AZ

Having fun on the beach at Canyon Lake campground.

Sophie, Lyla, Charis--the cutest beach babes :)

Uncle Linc loves his niece!

My newest niece or nephew is in there!

The airshow!

F-16s

So, here's the update: Joel is pretty much guaranteed a dialysis job with great pay when we move to AZ--in the words of one of the nurse recruitors he talked to, Joel is a "hot commodity" in the Tucson area right now, since he is a dialysis RN with experience. Woo hoo! Also, we found several houses that we like that are within our price range. It is definitely a buyer's market down there right now. There is one house in particular that we really love. We are praying that it is still available when we have the ability to make an offer on it--we need to sell our house in La Crescent first! So all in all, a move to Arizona this summer is looking very promising as long as a few pieces fall into place--we are very excited about it!

The Many Faces of Lyla Jane

What a

funny

bunny,

silly

willy,

goofy

little

girl!

We love our little nut!

Sitting, Standing, Jumping, Dancing

She has been making so much progress lately! Check it out...

Playing in the jumper at my friend Susan's (aka Auntie Suz) house

Sitting up so big!

Standing by the couch like a big girl, and doing a little dancin' too. :)

Pics & Video

Bryana and Josh babysat Lyla for 9 hours on Saturday and here are a few of the pics...

Lyla was doing her jumparoo workout so obviously she needed her workout ponytail.

pigtails from Auntie Bryana

hangin out with Uncle Faz

cutie pie :)

Our silly little girl :) :) :)

Lyla's New Glasses

So it turns out that Lyla is far-sighted. How they could figure that out while Lyla was sedated is beyond me. Nevertheless, she has new glasses, and we can already tell that they're helping. Lyla looks around like she sees a whole new world! Also, they are helping her eyes not to cross nearly as often. She doesn't try to take them off either, which is amazing to me. Maybe she likes having them on because she can see!

One other tidbit--this is how I found Lyla sleeping the other morning before I went to work. She made my day and she wasn't even awake yet. :)

Our Little Hero

The last song in Lyla's First Year video (which you can watch by clicking here) has a line that perfectly describes our Lyla Jane. It goes--

"You're my hero little girl. You always save the day with your smile. I know I'm in love...with the one behind those pretty eyes."

Whether I'm feeling rotten, or Daddy's feeling rotten, or even if she's feeling rotten, (which she was yesterday due to a nasty cold) Lyla still manages to put on that infectious smile, or a heart-melting, adorably hilarious silly face. It changes my attitude in an instant. I realize that I haven't faced half the challenges that she has in her short life, yet she keeps on smiling and proving that she is our little hero.

Thank you, Lord, that you've given us Lyla as a constant source of joy.

Psalm 94:18-19 "When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul."

Cuteness

Auntie Bryana watched Lyla yesterday and took some pics--here are my favorites...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's our sweetest Valentine--

True love is ...

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

I Corinthians 13:4-7

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and have true love in your life!

Weekend Adventure

Joel, Lyla, and I had a little getaway to the Twin Cities this past weekend. We met up with Joel's parents at IKEA, then we went to the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America. Lyla loved looking at all the fish in the aquariums there. She got to try some yummy cuisine off our plates too! We stayed at a hotel for the night and then went to the Minnesota Zoo the next morning. There's a large indoor area there and we enjoyed all the interesting animals. Again, Lyla's favorites were the underwater creatures. It was a perfect little escape--just what we needed. :) Lyla, of course, was a trooper through it all...

Looking at the fish with Dad

Our table was right next to an awesome saltwater aquarium--the yellow puffer fish above my head cost $1200, according to our waitress, the most expensive fish in the restaurant!

Checking out the fish

These were at the zoo--called sea dragons--unique little creatures

Lyla liked the dolphins too

Lyla and the shark--yikes!

And my favorite-the very rare and endangered Amur Leopard.

Sledding!

Lyla went sledding for the first time!

Daddy & Lyla snuggling in the morning :)

Doing Alright

Just wanted to let you know that we are doing alright. Thankfully, Joel had the day off yesterday so we were able to pray together and cry together and just spend the day as a family. We were also able to take time to count all the many blessings that we do have. We are so grateful. Lyla and her sweet smiles have brought us great comfort. She is always a ray of sunshine. :) And God has given our hearts peace. It's hard to understand why we had to have another miscarriage, but we are just trusting God and we know He has a plan. We will not give up on having another child! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers sent our way, and for your encouraging words. It is so comforting to feel so prayed for and loved. We don't feel alone because we know so many others have been down the same road.

Sending our love to you too, Jenny & Joel

Job 1:21b "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Miscarriage

We had a miscarriage--please pray. This is hard.