The update!

Finally three weeks of strong winds stopped and the sun came out!!  We have loved being outside- the kids are happy and cousins play nicer when they aren't inside.  My brother and his family came to visit Spencer one last time before his mission.  All the cousins together!  (One of the baby cousins was pretty upset about being in the picture so he was being cuddled)

 I love it.  Eliza and her many faces.  Running with a look of  "what?"  Our little Lizee is really starting to speak so much more clearly.  I have to often remind myself that she is only two. I am always trying to treat her like she is three.  Poor girl.

Story 1: The other day I asked her if she was my princess and she said, "Nope. I'm daddy's princess."
Story 2: While we were getting ready to make cookies one morning I hear Eliza start singing, "I love my daaaaddy. I love my daaaaaddy. I love my daaaady."  Completely random never been sung before song.  Love her.
Story 3: We have a momma cat that recently had babies.  Eliza, for the most part, is really great with the kitties and considers it serious business to take care of all them.  It's so serious that she recently informed me that the momma cat and all the babies are her sisters.

 Our precious little Emmalyn.  She's like cheese- just gets better with age!  She is crawling...everywhere.  She has opinions that are sometimes really loud! She eats like a horse and loves her bath.  She thinks the older kids are funny and often gets frustrated when she is left in her highchair only to see the other two kids running and playing.  She wants to be part of the action.  She still sports an awesome curl on her head...but more than anything she gets lots of compliments on her "mohawk."  (as if I would give my a baby a mohawk) :)  She sleeps from 7:30pm to about 6:45ish without waking.  She is very sensitive to any sort of corrective voice and the times when I have told her to stop doing something she lets out the saddest cries.  She is starting to do things that I ask.  For example, she puts her head on my shoulder and she says goodbye and splashes in the tube on command.  I get about 10 minutes in the morning of great cuddling with my little Emma baby.  She is our little sweetie!

The kids have had so much fun being around Nana and Papa and all the cousins.  Hopefully they will remember the time they had here.  

Papa is so good to wrestle and rough house with all his grandkids and Dane especially!  Dane has gone through some serious wrestling withdrawals since December.  He talks about wrestling daddy all the time when he gets back.

 The girls.  

 Our little Emma baby!  She loves the swing.  She especially likes it each time she gets pushed high.  She shakes her arms and legs in excitement.  She just might be our "adrenaline-junky."  (She'd get that from her dad!!)

We have 6 weeks left of the deployment!  The time has gone so fast!  This deployment has been one of those things that I would never choose to do yet I am so grateful for the things that I have been able to do and learn because of it.  It has been a-lot-of-great mixed with a little not-so-great!  Our return (one-way) tickets have been bought and we are starting to think about packing, traveling, etc.  Hallelujah- we are almost finished!!