Bikes, Blankets, and Babies

We promised Grace a new bike once we arrived in Idaho. We are in Idaho and she has a new tricycle!!! For months we have heard her plans to buy a pink bike with white tires. Well she has a pink and purple tricycle with white tires!!! I felt very sad for her after we purchased the bike because it began snowing again. Ah, lovely Idaho has snow in April. With the drop in temperature it was too cold to play outside on the new bike and then poor Grace was quite ill. She ran a high fever for a week with a few other symptoms. Our days consisted of Grace laying on the sofa from morning until night eating and drinking little. Her greatest comfort was snuggling with mom or dad (depending on the time of day and her current mood) and watching Beauty and the Beast. Once again the weather has changed so we have spent a bit more time outside feeding the new baby calves at Grandma's house, riding the bike as much as possible, and jumping on the trampoline.

***

Anne is on the brink of walking. She can take several steps when she in distracted, but mostly she does several squats before deciding to sit down and crawl to her desired destination. Thankfully Anne has been in good health. She enjoys playing with all the pets and climbing up and down the stairs (and boy are there a lot of stairs to choose from between both of the grandparents' homes. ) It is nice to have both families so close together. When the weather is warm we get into the double stroller (thanks Joe and Suzanne) and walk from one house to the next. The walk is pretty short, but Anne often falls asleep just before we arrive at our chosen home. I think she would prefer either a walk that is shorter or significantly longer than our three blocks so she could get an adequate nap or no nap until we arrived. But this falling asleep for five minutes is challenging!

***

Edwin has begun quilting! For his birthday I took him to the fabric store and we picked out a quilt that he wanted to make. So with an instruction booklet in hand and several yards of fabric we headed home to quilt. One of Edwin's goals has been to make a quilt and to hand quilt it. He thought that he would have ample time this year with an easy school load. However, with a new baby and the busy interview trail and a road trip across the country with the family for Christmas time went by quite quickly. So I figured this was the perfect way for Edwin to feel success in completing a goal and it would give him something to do in the evenings. Our friend Sara came over to teach him the basics about piecing together quilt blocks. With lesson one out of the way Edwin has been sewing away! He is hoping to get the entire quilt done before he starts residency in June. Happy Birthday Edwin!

My little brother Tim blessed his baby earlier this month. It has been 8 years since my siblings and I were all in the same place at the same time. My three brothers with their families came, but my sister unfortunately ended up in the doctor's office with a sick baby and then with a sick husband. She was unable to come.... but we had a great weekend anyway!

It is so good to be near our family!!! This is why we left Texas so soon.