Older pictures are fun too!

One of my favorites of Rachel and her Nana when Rachel was four months old.

Some Fun Pictures

Snow Hiking

Joshua calls snowshoeing "snow hiking". Finally after three years of waiting, the snowshoes we found at a garage sale fit Joshua this year. He enjoys them and is quite proud of his new talent. Below is a video of Joshua on his first 'snow hike'. At the end of the hike we ended up at the top of a sledding hill. So Joshua is walking by himself all the way down the sledding hill (at his request), at the end you can hear him yell: "Come down here!" (He wanted to watch us come down the hill, Joel of course ran with Rachel on his back, and Mommy, of course, walked.)

Upon the Potty

Last night, there was excitement in Joel and Renee's house! We have been casually potty training, meaning Rachel still wears a diaper, is encouraged to go pee pee on the potty, and has a sticker reward chart. Last night, to Mama's incredible amazement, Rachel said "pee pee", pointed to her diaper area, and walked to her potty in the corner of the kitchen. She proceeded to pull down her pants, take off her diaper (with some help) and sit on the potty. Ten seconds later she stood up and said "All done!" Mama looked. And looked again. Mama gives a shrieky Whoo-hoo! and starts clapping! Rachel had gone pee pee in her potty, by herself!!
Of course the whole family starts clapping and hurrahing. It was a fun time. After the necessary actions that follow going potty, things calmed down.

Ten minutes later Rachel does the EXACT same thing. Yes, pee pee and all. Can you imagine Mama's reaction?
She sat down and shook her head. Unbelievable.

Taxes according to Joshua

Daddy: What country do we live in Joshua?
Joshua: Hungary!
Daddy: Ha! No Josh, we live in the United States. Do you know what state we live in? (I know he knows this one)
Joshua: Soda pop!
Daddy: That's right, we live in Minne"soda"!
Daddy proceeds to give a brief explanation of why he has to do taxes.
Joshua: Then we give them money then they give us money then we give them money and we keep doing that.
Daddy: exactly. You're brilliant.