a few from last week and some from this

Susan emailed me some pictures that she took the morning we left, and they were pretty cute. Elena helped her make blueberry muffins while we got ready.
Here's our crew at church. We took two, and one Elena's looking away, and one Chris's looking away...
Here starts the ones from this week. Mom bought her a stuffed lamb to sleep with that she loves-she hugs it and lays on it.

We call her "squashy" when she wears this, because she looks like a little yellow squash. This was her last time to wear it, which is sad, but it's gotten too little and her toes curl up in the bottom.

I took some more pictures of her asleep-it had been several months. She just looks so perfect to me when she's asleep. I had gotten to where I put her down all the time to get stuff done, but I'm back to trying to hold her for a good part of one nap a day. I just like to look at her.

Avery and Nathan moved home, and their cats are hanging out in mom and dad's basement. Therefore, so are we. And, so are the (so far, 14) mice. Yikes. The cats found the first one... Anyway, Elena very much enjoyed pulling plastic fruit out of the shopping basket.
Elena loves her Cami. Just looking at her makes Elena crack up. She wants you to hold her hands so she can follow Cami everywhere. Cami puts up with her pretty well, and acts like you'd expect a big sister to act when the little one starts getting in your stuff. Loves her, but really, could handle her not getting into everything.


Chris read a newsletter by the couple who were interns before us in Moldova, and have a little girl. It said that she was playing with lei, since they don't rip (moldovan money). Chris boiled a dollar and pulled it out with tongs-which was pretty funny. I'll tell you, they do rip. But, she's enjoying holding it and we're enjoying knowing she's waving around money.

My aunt Deedee and her husband David came by yesterday on their way home from the storytelling festival in Jonesborough. It was a nice surprise visit. I'll explain why they're at our house in a minute, instead of mom and dad's house.
Hanging with Aunt Avery, also at our house. The dress she has on was my Easter dress as a baby. And see her shoes! A little girl a couple of months older than her had on soft little shoes and was walking, and Elena hates shoes, but these looked doable. I asked her mom what they were, and they were Robeez, which we had already! They seemed more like slippers and like they'd slip on the floor, but so far, they're great and she doesn't pull them off.
We were cleaning out last night and put her in here to play with her toolbox, which is actually a Christmas gift that I'm putting away for later. I guess she won't remember it anyway.
From this morning-we went to say goodbye to Deedee and David and Elena stayed for awhile with mom and Avery while I went to work. She liked those red beads.

This week we've decided we're painting our house. So, Chris, dad, and Nathan spent all day yesterday scrubbing it with a power washer and brushes. It's never been painted, and needs it badly. And, we're ready for it to look like we've done something, instead of spending all our money on boring things that no one sees. Anyway, I"ll post before and after pictures next week!