our first trip to Iowa

I know.

When you checked this blog today, you were thinking,

"Oh boy, I sure hope Jamie uploads some more outdated pictures to share with us!"

Good! Because guess what, that's exactly what I've done!

These are from our trip to Iowa this past March.

Zekie sleeping on the plane

helpful older brother in the airport

the kids watching the airport ongoings

(I happen to really love this picture)

Zekie watching

Rilla watching

Abe watching

studying it all so intently

Rilla doing lace-and-trace on the plane

kissing my sweet baby boy

Zekie playing in the house where we stayed

(the house where we now live, of course)

enjoying all the great toys that were so kindly brought for us

Rilla in the living room

Keith's sermon preparations

Zekie gazing out the window at the rain

We gave the kids Bibles and stuffed animals for Easter morning.

We woke them up to give them an Easter morning feast.

They loved this and still remember it. I think it will be a tradition.

Easter afternoon with friends

watching the pigs eat their dinner

going for a walk

Abraham was very photogenic on this day...

... and I took tons of pictures of him as we walked.

happy two-year-old boy

so handsome in his little brown jacket

keeping up with the big kids

I love this kid!

Priscilla and Melinda ahead of us

Abraham found a stick...

.... a really fun stick...

... and he had a great time digging with it...

... everywhere we went.

This picture is my favorite.

Somebody get this kid a stick for his next birthday!

There is no end to the fun you can have with a stick!

You can even use it to whack tree branches!

Eventually we had to leave the mud behind, but not the stick.

pretty chickens on this pretty spring day

and another shot of the chickens and their house

enjoying the play area

Melinda and Abraham

Zekie sleeping on the way home again

(Praise God for him sleeping so much on the trip!)

Rilla behind me on the plane

Abraham across from me

Abraham exploring everything

trying to make his hands into the "I love you" sign

sleepy Zekie

I never get tired of this sight.

Abe in the Denver airport

enjoying the airport experience

The kids rode this thing for like an hour with their daddy.

It was late at night... really late... and they were exhausted.

But eventually, we all made it home.

Only, home didn't feel like home anymore...

but you know how the rest of that story goes!

And now here we are in Iowa... to stay for good... hurray!!!