Catching Up

Hmmm...  I think the best way to begin is to mention that Yes, I did take an elk from Colorado this year as part of a successful hunt.  Here's the proof...

This cow was part of a very VERY large herd that passed my position and the experience of taking my first large game was pretty surreal and difficult to explain, so if you want to hear more just give me a call.

Similarly surreal and difficult to express was the selling of our Florida boat, The Irwin.  It took much longer that it should have and I accepted far less than I should have.  However, when the deal went through it was tremendously fast paced and brought with it a tremendous relief.  The initial call came on our family's way up to Atlanta.  Three hours later, the transaction was complete (with the help  from a friend in Panama City) with only a check to clear.  My relief was immediate (though somewhat reluctant as I still did not have the cleared funds yet) and my excitement about never having to drive to Florida again to solely tend to a boat that we can't use on a regular basis was unquestionable.

Next major event of note was Christmas.  The children (of course) love everything about Christmas and this year we added a few things to help them grow spiritually while also enjoying the season a little bit more.  As part of a nightly devotion, we lit the advent candles daily and shared in many stories, activities and lessons from God's Word.  It all culminated on Christ's birthday with a wonderful celebration at our home on base.  Here are the kids expressing their love for each other on the 25th.

Still, after plenty of prayer and soul searching, our family has decided to take a different tack with this year's Christmas celebration.  In short, Christmas will be a way to "gift" our Lord, Jesus, rather than ourselves.  He said that whatever we do for the "least of these," we do for Him.  So, instead of exchanging gifts and setting up stockings for Santa to fill, our family will channel our resources this coming Christmas to helping the least of these.  I don't know if we will do this every year, but we are committed to it for 2013 and the kids are slowly gaining an understanding that December 25th will look very different next winter.

Just as Christ's birthday will be celebrated serving Him via the "least of these," we have also committed to honoring our families' birthday is a much greater way this year.  The resources and time that would have been spent in the crowded malls or scouring Amazon during November and December looking for the "perfect gift" will instead be spend on a birthday-by-birthday basis to honor each family member appropriately on their special day.

Speaking of birthdays...months of anticipation and a very stressful week past the due date culminated at 5:55 A.M. on December 31, 2012 with the birth of Noelle Moriah Sulhoff.  Here is a photo of Noelle in the arms of my hero and lifetime best friend.  I am marveled with every birth how she does what she does!  God is truly so good.  She was 8 lbs, 7 ozs, and she has fitted into the home life with aplomb!  Already at seven weeks she is sleeping through the night and bringing constant joy to all of us.

Well, that's all I can muster up to update ya'll on for now.  I hope it has been informative!

At the Present

Just look at the post below and compare to the pictures here! How they've grown! How our lives have changed! It's really so remarkable.

Hannah is here posing with a new birthday toy. She is four now!

Elizabeth is posing with the other member of our family, Baby Bear. Baby Bear is sporting a lovely orange scarf "finger knitted" by Elizabeth. Elizabeth will be 7 on April 4th.

Andrew is posing with his Valentine's Day LEGO mini figure. He will be 9 in less than three weeks!

God, grow with them and in them!

Hannah's 4th Birthday Party!

Yes, we celebrated a couple of days early.  She will actually turn four tomorrow, January 17 at 5:30pm.  Yesterday, she was able to share her birthday not only with all of us, which is notable, but also our friends the Chambers who were in San Antonio for the MLK weekend. It is most notable that all five of us were together for the celebration, and will be for her birthday tomorrow, because David was not able to be present for her 1st, 2nd or 3rd birthday! He was very determined to give her a great birthday party! And it was great! Andrew was in charge of games and Elizabeth in charge of crafts. Andrew made an obstacle course and hid rocks for a rock hunt; Elizabeth cut out objects for girls to color and glue onto paper.

We asked her what kind of cake she wanted. After much deliberation, she decided on a dolphin cake. She called it A Dolphin Tale cake. (Side note: A Dolphin Tale is a great movie about choosing to respond positively to life when life deals you very difficult circumstances. We recommend it.) The pictures of her dolphin tale cake follow. And, yes, David and I were up kinda late on this one, but it was worth it!

Hannah's Two!!!

Somehow my little baby girl turns two years old tomorrow! We had her party tonight, though. She had a very special (not to mention delicious) Snowman Cake her mommy made for her. It was fun to make and even more fun to eat! We also pan fried some yummy Ling Cod (David's 2008 catch),which everyone enjoyed. Hannah had a really great birthday party. We missed David terribly, but he and Hannah got to do a lot of talking on the phone. After we sung her "Happy Birthday" she kept singing, "Happy Birthday, Hannah!" Then, "Song." explaining to us that she was singing the birthday song. She's really growing up, whether I like it or not. Right now, I think my vote is "not". I want her to stay my sweet, compliant one-year-old forever! She's starting to show signs of being a little bit too opinionated...I've learned that comes with turning two. She's a joyful girl and a blessing to us and all who know her. David's about out of his mind waiting to spend time with her! Thankfully, he doesn't have to wait much longer! "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" Song.

Love,

Rachel

Slice of Life

I'm not sure when Hannah started pulling her shirt up to put her finger in her belly button while she sucks her thumb, but I've caught her doing it twice today! What enables a little kid to come up with such a combination? I've watched her growing fascination with her belly button, which is very common in babies her age, but when I picked her up from church and she was walking around with her right thumb in her mouth and her left fingers in her belly button with shirt up, I realized this was the real deal. Tonight, she pulled her nightgown up and and started fingering her belly button before popping her thumb in when I laid her in her bed. It's just so funny what makes a kid think these little actions up. I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I remember being two and wondering to myself why some of my friends sucked their thumbs. So, I was in my favorite teacher's class, "Black Ann's" class (as a two year old, I had two teachers named Ann, and of course, being two years old, they were simply and accurately known to me and all the other children as "Black Ann" and "White Ann". I know that sounds terrible, but it was not at all, and she still watches the two year olds in the nursery and has watched Elizabeth and loved her dearly also.) and I decided to try out sucking my thumb and see what the big deal was. I couldn't imagine enjoying it, but I gave it a half-hearted try anyway. The Ritz crackers and apple juice were being prepared when I popped it in, awkwardly, and tried a few sucks. It really uncomfortable and yucky! And while I always wondered why so many kids did it, I knew it would just have to be something I had to accept not understanding. Little did I know that a virtual family of thumb-suckers had already begun passing through that church nursery years before and their were two more in the family that would go through Ann's class. Now they are my dear, dear husband and in-laws!
And now my two daughter's suck their thumbs. Good thing I learned to accept thumb-sucking at an early age! Elizabeth does hers with her "Baby Bear" a very well-loved pink and white bear with a long cap. She is only permitted baby bear at sleeping times. I know everyone worries about their teeth growing out in the front and their bites becoming messed up. I even saw a neat device in "One Step Ahead" magazine that puts a plastic piece over all but the tip of the thumb that is attached to a bracelet the child wears on their wrist. You know, I'm just not worried, though! None of my dear siblings-in-law had to wear braces because of their thumb-sucking! They may have had a few crooked teeth here and there (who doesn't?), but did not have the gross mouth problems associated with thumb-sucking. So, I'm not worried! They'll grow out of it! And they'll have a wonderful memory of being a child in a very distict and tangible way.
I know each and every one of you appreciates me sharing this little slice of our life and my thoughts about it. The bottom line is that children are a precious gift and they only are little for such a short time. It seems long at first, but in light of the rest of their life, it is very short! Handle your kiddos with great care and use the time wisely! And hug 'em and kiss 'em like crazy!

"Tractor, Tractor, harvesting the corn..."

...or something like that. Well, maybe no tractors, but we are bringing in and eating up some pretty good corn! And, boy, the grape tomatoes were without question the sweetest tomato I've ever eaten. Elizabeth kept "packing them in a suitcase" to take somewhere. It was actually a basket she put them in. Yesterday, before dinner she finished them off. Though she shouldn't have, I really could hardly fault her, they were so yummy!

I don't think I shared my worm battles, but I did find a few that survived and were just in the top of the ear, right under the silk. This is a picture of the biggest one. Don't worry! I got rid of them! We ate three for dinner tonight, ears of corn that is, and they were good. Not great, not terrible, just good! I'm positive that it is the fault of the grower (me) because I grewthis corn from Missourri corn kernels, and it's always been my favorite.

Hannah, by the way, loves getting her picture taken. She says "Cheese!" and then without really stopping, toddles up very quickly to the camera to look at the picture. She was on her way to doing this in this picture. Thankfully, I'm learning to be quick!

Hannah's Newest Pics

Here are a few new and precious shots of our third Joy-girl. Yesterday, she decided it was time for her to climb up the Little Tykes playgym...all by herself when her mommy wasn't looking! I turned around to see her on the top! After some instruction, she eventually figured out how to maneuver her feet in front of her to slide down the slide. She was so excited about it...and so worn out!

I hope you enjoy her sweet smile as much as we do!