Inge's Hair Cut

Inge has a summer hair-cut. As you can see, she looks very cute.

Not so short we can't have pig tails.

Inge toasted and buttered this toast all by herself. She's getting to be a real helper.

Father-Makers

Here are some pictures of those who make me a father. I've dozens of other pictures. I'll see if I can post some of them later.

Father's Day

Tomorrow is Father's Day. Claire and I both come from families where we have a heritage of faithful fathers. That doesn't mean flawless fathers, but it means that our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers stuck with the jobs they began, loved their wives, and raised and provided for their children. This is a heritage that gives us great joy and also humbles us--great gifts do that. However, not only are we grateful for our heritage in general, I am thankful for my dad. I remember when I was young, my mother pointed out how lucky my brother and I were to have a dad like our dad. Dad did stuff with us. We had neighborhood whiffle-ball tournaments in our back yard. We took the neighbor kids out and picked up aluminium cans beside the highway. My brother Andrew used to ride 50+ miles on the back of Dad's bike. And when Dad wanted to put up an antenna for his ham radio, we got to climb up in the tree and help set it up. I also remember the sense of awe that Andrew and I had at the speed with which Dad could dig a snow cave, or build a tree fort. As we got older Dad continued to include us in what he was doing, spent time and money on our interests, and corrected us and gave us hard lessons where needed. Mom was right, we were extremely blessed to be given a father like our father. Thanks, Dad, and thank you, Our Father in Heaven.

Lovely Wife

Here's a picture of my lovely and patient wife. She lets me take way too many photos. :)

Nelly Noodle

This is sure one sweet little girl, and we want you all to know that we are very thankful despite any bad news. Our little trials are very minor compared to so many.

Bad News

I'm sorry to let you all know that we saw the plastic surgeon today, and it appears that Michelle's palate has separated, and we are more or less right back where we started. We'll probably have to have a surgery again in a year.

Please pray for us, especially Claire. Also, there is some slight chance that it will heal, so please pray for that as well.

See Food

The Instructors:

The Student:

Three Kids

Horned Nelly

Pat-a-Cake will get you through

Michelle does like "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and it was used more than once to keep her happy, this past week. But I'm afraid we used Pat-a-Cake much more often. I wonder how many times you would have to do Pat-a-Cake to actually make a one year old dislike it.

Nelly

Hello all. Peter's done a good job keeping you all informed about the big picture, but I'm going to throw in a quick closeup, consisting of Mommy's perspective. Our little Nelly was a real trooper through her ordeal. She didn't like the IV and wasn't crazy about the tongue stitch, but those two annoyances aside, she was a lovely baby. The nurse said she could have the award for "most compliant baby," and I have to agree. Just imagine being put through all that, and then the phlebotomist arrives--at 5:00 a.m. the next morning, thanks a lot--and has to wake you up after you've only been solidly asleep for about three hours, and turn on lights and flip you over and poke you and squeeze out blood and make slides all over again. And still, she hardly fussed at all.

My favorite moment was this: Later on the day of the surgery when Michelle was still pretty uncomfortable and preferred to be lying on someone's chest, we discovered that singing was a good thing to do. I could tell by the way she rocked her bum back and forth that it was helping. So we sang her song, and then we sang our family favorite, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today." We sing this every morning in family worship, and every week as part of our church liturgy, so the kids know it well. Much to everyone's delight (she's only done this rarely, and this was the first word I remember her speaking after surgery) the first round elicited from her a sturdy little "'Men!" And then she went one better and started singing it with me. Little sweetie's lying on my chest; she's just had surgery; she's hooked up to about five monitors and an IV; she's got a stitch in her tongue; she doesn't know how to talk; and she's singing along and saying Amen. She sings it, by the way, quite well for a one-year-old: not hitting the notes exactly, but approximating the intervals with decent accuracy. (It's all sung on "ah," in case the musical aunt wants to know. It's like this: "Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah," and then a muddy bit involving some grimacing and shorter Ah's, and then a truly high "Ahhhhhhhh!" and then "'Men!")

So, all to say, she's been great. Now, if she can put up with wearing arm splints while she sleeps for two more weeks, she'll be home free.

I'll add my thanks to all who have been praying. We appreciate it so much.

Claire

We're Home

The water problem seems to be solved. Thanks for praying, and for the practical ideas, Darcy. Michelle has also gulped some water a couple of times now, indicating that she will drink when she is thirsty, which is reassuring. We are also home now and doing well. Now we just have to keep things out of Nelly's mouth... it'll be easy "like peeling a turtle."

A Prayer Request

Everything is still going well, but there is one little hitch in the works at this point. She's decided that she doesn't want to drink. She eats yogurt and baby food very well, but will not drink water or juice, or any clear liquids. Please pray that she'll get over whatever her little hang-up is on drinking.

Discharged

Thank you again for all your prayers. Michelle has done very, very well, and we are being discharged this morning. We are going to stay in Spokane, just in case, but Nelly is eating well and is just on Tylenol and it glad to be disconnected from all the wires and tubes. Praise the Lord with us!

As you can see in the picture, Nelly is up and looking at the book of family pictures Namma made for her. She really likes the book! Thanks, Namma!

This picture is from yesterday. Nelly liked to sleep on Mom or Dad's chest. She was a real sweetie.

Recovering

Michelle is doing well, and has taken some water in her mouth. The thread on Michelle's cheek is a stitch in her tongue to pull it out of the way if necessary. It will come out tomorrow.

In Surgery

Michelle is currently in surgery. Thank you for your prayers.

Nelly's Surgery

Nelly's surgery appears to be on again. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. Please pray that everything goes well. Thanks!

The Modern Woman

Well equipped and ready for anything...

Shop Til You Drop

The beach also has a great outlet mall.

We do get a little crazy as the day wears on.

Please notice that this is a family portrait. Also please notice how many pictures I have taken of Inge in the air. And I'm not even trying.

Oh, the joys of outlet mall shopping.

At the Beach Again

Little girl with a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.

The pompom makes her feel spiffy.

Yep, this is the crazy crew we take down to the beach-- plus Nelly and I, of course.

The blue sky is kind of rare this visit, but there it is, to prove that we've seen some.

Namma and Tappa's House

We came to Namma and Tappa's house last week and are now down at the beach. Here are a couple of pictures from the end of last week.

Louie getting his tractor ride from Tappa.

Inge and Lewis with Daddy and Tappa at "Dozer Days" watching the heavy equiptment. We just happened to see the sign for it at the tire store.

Nelly, apparently pretending to sing the Gloria.

Daughters

I have beautiful daughters.

Happy Mother's Day To Our Moms

Our Mothers are Grand Mothers, so you get to see mostly pictures of their Grand Children.

Note the John Deere hat.

Nelly looking for something in the fridge-- trouble, maybe?

A cute, cute, urchin-Nelly.

Same Nelly, different angle. She climbed up on the chair by herself.

Inge, Lewis, and the "Gardening Stone" that came with Inge's gardening kit from Grandmother Cleo (Claire's Grandma).

Claire insisted I include this shot for the facial expressions.

Please notice that this is our Super-Mom. She's hauling 3 children with her new bike.

And Nelly

Miss Nelly (as many of you know) fell down and gashed her lower lip a couple of weeks ago. She had a stitch in for about a week, and during that time she learned to go everywhere and do everything with her tongue sticking out. Hence, it is not unusual to see a short figure adorned with a backwards John Deere cap, rummaging in the forbidden cat food container, tongue hanging out and popping eyes watchfully scanning the periphery for approaching adults. Breaking and entering has become her area of expertise, or perhaps cat burglaring would be a more appropriate term. She can silently take advantage of a cracked door, an empty room, faster than you can say, "Where's Nelly?" Some of her favorite locations? Oh, Daddy's office, certainly. The phone, with all its cords, resides there. So does a small but intriguing collection of bottles and boxes. On a very good day, one can find a stray bottle of contact cement, or perhaps an open box of papers. The bathroom is another stellar location--the place where bliss occurs in the form of baths with bath toys. There are others: the box of coloring pencils sometimes left open by the older sister. The boarders' room, with its array of no-no's. All bookshelves. A diaper-wipes box promises two minutes of unalloyed entertainment, provided nobody comes: that's about how long it takes to completely empty a full box, shred at least one wipe, and start in on the Desitin.

But to her credit, she is already a little aspiring reader. She loves bookshelves, but usually the object in view is some time to sit down uninterrupted and flip through a new book--which is, believe it or not, nearly exactly what she does.

She toddles everywhere. She has a happy, inquisitive temper, except when (like the little girl with the little curl) she doesn't. She has an overdeveloped sense of justice, and "finders, keepers" is her motto. She has recently learned to cuddle a "baby," so I often see my baby with her baby, as much smaller than she is as she is than I. And last night she had her first truly maternal experience, perhaps a bit early. Much as she loves her baby, it is a feat of some logistical magnitude, and beyond her capacity, to figure out how to sleep with said infant. I left the baby in her crib experimentally last night, to her great delight. She cooed and snuggled, chuckled and squirmed; I left the room and went downstairs. Some minutes later, over the monitor I heard a shriek of outright exasperation. I returned to find her sitting up in bed, clutching the problem child to her chest and expressing chagrin. It was clear what she was saying (and I remember the same sensations myself): "What do I *do* with this kid so I can go to sleep?!"

Updated Dossiers

Because we haven't done this in a while:

Ingrid increases daily in symmetry and organization. She loves to pair--things, people, situations, colors. My birthday set of colored bowls (see picture below) furnished matching activities for a full day and a half, as she searched high and low for fruit and vegetable ideas to fill each one. Lemons went with the yellow bowl, tomatoes clearly with the red, and perhaps we could get some blueberries for the blue one. Green called for limes, and orange, well, for oranges. The bright pink one, however, posed a difficulty from which we have not yet fully recovered; and I, at least, was only marginally satisfied with the fact that we might as well buy a couple of tomato bushes to fill up the red bowl, while the lemon bowl could have furnished room for about half a lemon. Similarly, when we sit down for prayers before bedtime, it is not at all astonishing to discover that our positions will be governed by our shirts. Tonight, for instance, Lewis and I got to sit together because we were both wearing yellow.

Lewis is still mesmerized, enchanted, by big equipment. He looks for sympathy in every quarter. Today I heard him telling Tuppence about his excavator. "It's a big arm, Tuppence. Isn't it a biiiig arm?" I don't know what she said. He has also developed a slightly unsettling habit of questioning. Goes like this: we're passing somebody's front yard and Lewis waves his arm vaguely in the direction of the whole thing--driveway, grass, sticks, clutter, toys, plants, dog, hose, auto parts--and says, "What's that?" Questioning yields no help. "What's what, Lewis?" "What's THAT??" It's only after the unfortunate adult yields to the grinding pressure of fate ("I don't know what it is, Lewis"--hoping without much hope that it might be the carburetor or the canopy, something not too humiliating) that he delivers the kicker. With a soothing overtone of complacency, and--could it be?--condescension: "Is it a caaaaar?" Lewis says.

Michelley-bean...will follow. I've just run out of time. More later!

Non-Surgery Week

Surgery Rescheduled

Michelle's surgery is rescheduled for Wednesday, May 31. Just thought you all might like to know.

Surgery Canceled

Michelle's scheduled surgery has been canceled because she still has a little bit of a cough. Yikes. Reset for a later date. Hopefully not too far off.

Surgery

Nelly (our latest nickname for Michelle) goes in for surgery tomorrow morning early. Depending on the situation we'll try to keep you updated here as much as possible as things progress. Thank you for your prayers!