Friday Fun Pics

What better way to finish off a work week than with some pics of a couple of the cutest kids ever??? Enjoy!

You can see his tops gums getting swollen with new teeth on the way!

There's no denying they are related!!

He really resembles Grandpa Deibel in this pic!

Sitting on the couch like a big boy!

Beautiful Evening!

Last night I was up in the mountains and witnessed something incredible. Thought I'd share it with you...Enjoy God's handiwork!!

Picture Overload!!

So, we broke down recently and purchased a new point and shoot camera to keep around the house. Our other one died a horrible death quite some time ago. And while we LOVE our "big" camera (the one Seth uses to get all those awesome shots you see on here all the time), it's not the handiest for those "quick! get the camera!" moments. We also realized we have an extreme shortage of pictures of Isaac's infancy as compared to the girls'. We realize some of this is to do with the fact that we have three kids to keep up with...but, really, how long does it take to snap a photo?? So, with the hopes that I (Jen) can keep this camera with me and snap some more candid (and not so candid) shots, and the hopes that I can get some of these on the blog more often, this camera will prove to be a good choice.

So, without further ado...pictures!!

Isaac is...amazing. He's defintiely his own man. I've never seen a baby, child or adult that smiles and laughs as much as this little dude! His name means "laughter", and he lives up to it!! He's also very laid back; not in any hurry to get anywhere. What he's more concerned with is standing, and bouncing. He's still not able to stand on his own (which, at 7 months is fine with me!!), so we end up holding him a lot so he can stand and "jump" to his heart's content. Because he wants to stand all the time, he's been much slower to sit unaided than I would've anticipated. Every time I try to put him to sit, he arches his back, juts his legs straight in front of himself, trying to stand. But today, he did this:

He was so proud of himself!! And while he sat a good few minutes...

He still isn't terribly sturdy.


The girls were really excited to see his latest accomplishment and rewarded him with toys and ooh's and aahhh's.

I added this pic for my mother-in-law. The look on Isaac's face looks SOOO much like that picture you showed us!

And, because we DO have THREE children, here are a couple of pics of our lovely ladies of the castle:

Triathlon

As you may have known, Jen began running a couple years ago, and ran a 5k. Unfortunately, that was the only one she could do because of some things in our schedule - and the whole Isaac being born thing. Well, I'm so proud to tell you that after just 7 months after delivering Isaac, today Jen ran the running portion of a triathlon held in one of our local villages. Now, not to stray from how impressive this feat in itself is, let me tell you a little bit about today, just so you can get a feel for just how great today was:

The weather was really the star of the show today. We woke up this morning to lashing rain, near gale-force gusting winds - just a miserable thing. But, the show must go on! The race format was set up for all the pro-class athletes to begin before the rest of the group, and they started the others in intervals after that. Well, when it got to be the time for Jen's team to start, the swimmer is actually a guy that swims the ocean every day here. The frigid, 50 degree ocean. (Can you say, psycho?) So, he was the only one doing his leg without a wet-suit! He stood out like a sore thumb, looking something like a single white pill in a field full of black licorice. Then the son of some of our friends did the biking leg, leaving Jen to do her 5K (which turned out to be 5.7 due to a last minute change in course.) Well, let me tell you...it was awesome to see Jen go out there, run her legs off, and finish the race. No stopping. No slowing in pace. She did it. Couldn't be prouder of her. Hannah and Cailyn even snuck up towards the last bit and finished the race with her, which was awesome. Me and the kids hung out in the wind and rain, and even though it was cold, it really was amazing. Nothing a good hot shower and cup of hot chocolate didn't take care of when we were done! (For those keeping track and all you worrying mother types ;), Isaac was the warmest of the bunch. He took a nap in his cocoon-enclosed stroller all while we were waiting. We were all jealous of him!)

Enjoy the pics I got! (There's only a few...the rain was just coming down too much, and I couldn't keep the lens dry to save my life...)

Jen getting started on her first lap of the day

Getting to the finish...Hannah and Cailyn were great supporters!

Very proud moment!!

If you want to know what the day was like, the girls' faces will tell you, lol

Cailyn is 4!

Her birthday was last week actually, but really she's had it pretty good this year. A few posts ago, I showed some pics of the 1st birthday party she got to have while we were in Arizona with our families. Then there were different days of opening presents with family. So, once her actual birthday came around, we had a nice small celebration. But overall, she had a pretty good day. Her friends at school had made a card, and she got to go to a story time at a local library. That portion actually has a funny part to it:

If you've seen the movie, "The Italian Job" there's a part where the computer tech guy wants to be referred to as "The Napster" and won't do anything until he is called by that name. Well, Cailyn had similar thing that day. When Jen was introducing her to the other moms at the story time and they would as her her name, her reply was, "Birthday Girl." LOL! It was really the first time she's made that much of her birthday! It was so sweet to watch and it was a great day. Here's some pictures of her with her cake (as usual, crafted by Jen!)

The request this year was a Tinkerbell cake. Pretty good, huh??

Blowing out the candles

I asked her which piece she wanted. Of course, she wanted Tinkerbell. So...I cut her out!!

...and she couldn't wait for a bite

I was reminded that I never posted a picture of Hannah's cake earlier in the year...another masterpiece by Jen

Camogie

Organized sports have begun in our household! Hannah is old enough this year to begin playing the sport of Camogie. This is a sister sport to Hurling, which is an ancient sport; estimated to be about 2,000 years old. It's fairly straight forward - two teams line up and try to hit a little ball called a sliotar (pronounced, shli-tur) in the opponents goal using something called a hurl that resembles a hockey stick. There aren't too many rules, other than you pretty much can't intentionally bash an opponent with your hurl and the ball has to stay in between the lines. It really does resemble hockey, which ultimately are shared in origin.

Today was just a spectacular day; absolutely beautiful outside, and perfect for going and playing some sports. She was a bit behind today being that they actually started when we were in the states, but she took to it right away. Immediately she began drills on how to hit the ball, and then moved to some practice throwing and catching, then they actually played a scrimmage. And the best part is, Hannah scored a goal!!! She was so excited and happy to be out there. Though there was a little nervousness as she began the day not knowing how to do it, she really took to it well!

Learning to hit the ball

Catching drill...not going to well yet ;D

Hannah got right into the action!

She may have just been as excited to run around on a nice day as she was playing!

Proud girl after her first practice!!

St. Patricks Day - Arizona style

Alright, this is the second post of our trip - For St. Patrick's Day here, we decided it would be fun to have an early birthday celebration for Cailyn and her cousin Jared since their birthday's are so close together in April, but we're all together now. So, we all loaded up and went to this massive indoor play place. This place was awesome! All indoors there was go-karts, bumper cars, laser tag, bowling, miniature golf, and a whole section just for the little kids with tea-cups a carousel and one of those circle "roller coasters". So we spent the day just having fun, playing arcade games, and riding rides. It was so much fun!!! Here's some more pics of our time (not just of the day at the arcade)

One thing we absolutely miss are the Arizona sunsets. They are simply amazing. I haven't really had the chance to get any landscape pictures, but one night as we were hanging out at the pool, I thought this scene was pretty spectacular:

Another picture with Grandpa and his grandkids. Isaac looks pretty comfy!

Hannah and Cailyn had to demonstrate some Irish dancing. Cailyn is giving it her best shot!

And then Hannah gave some lessons to her cousin and Grammy

The birthday kids!

This was called the frog drop. It basically lifts the entire group up to the ceiling and then drops them. And lifts them. And drops them. It's so fun! Hannah and Cailyn were a bit nervous before the ride, but as you can tell, they're loving it! Cailyn had this look like, "Where has this feeling been my whole life?!?"

And Isaac got to go for his first Carousel ride!!

Hannah and her cousin on the roller coaster

And Cailyn and her cousin took a turn as well. Such joy!!