America with George * The Woodlands * cousins

For the next few weeks I am going to be using this space to communicate with my kids,
please excuse the change of tone and content. George is Jude's stuffed dragon.

This is crazy... a few hours before we arrived at the cousins house their swimming pool got finished. We got to play together and take some silly underwater picture. Swimming pools in Texas, are a little bit like lemon trees in New Zealand... if you don't have one your neighbor probably does. It is HOT. HOT. HOT. I actually thought I was going to melt (and I breath fire for a living).
Good news Smith family - it is good luck if a dragon swims in your pool.

On Sunday morning we got to go to church together. It was really special. Mom cried a little bit... because she was happy. There are lots and lots of things that we have prayed about as a family - some of those things have turned out the way we hoped they would and others haven't. It was nice to reflect on all the ways God has listened and cared for us. One really BIG answer to prayer was Blake. Mom couldn't stop picking him up and kissing his little cheeks.

Do you remember when Blake was born? He was 24 weeks old... babies are supposed to be born when they are 40 weeks old. He weighed 1 pound and 5 ounces... that is very, very, very, small for a baby. He was in the hospital for four months. For a long time we thought that he might go to Heaven (the doctors did too)... but God wanted Blake to be a part of this family and we are so thankful he did (I think he wanted Blake to swim with a dragon).

I sure do love these kids... here are a few reasons why I think they are cool. Drew is very coordinated and athletic. He is great at skateboarding and soccer and when he was REALLY little he knew how to cast a fishing rod by himself (without getting it tangled). He is also very thoughtful and kind. Sarah is an awesome roller skater (check out the video) - she is super fast and when she skates it looks good - sort of like dancing. She is tough (roller derby?) but also very sweet... I think tough and sweet is a good combination for girls. Blake is learning so many things right now. He is curious and interested in sharing what he is learning. He is little guy with a big heart... and really good at snuggling.

At bedtime mom hid under the covers between Sarah and Drew. Aunt Joy got really scared when she came in to sing songs... it was funny. It would be great if we could play pranks on Aunt Joy more often. We are going to miss these guys!
P.S. Aunt Joy is a really great mom and one of my favorite artist... and Uncle Ryan is an all around great guy. We love you people.