Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I'm way behind on, well, everything - as you can see from the date in this post. The thesis is the word of the hour, day, week, semester... here's hoping that my defense will happen on the 16th of April and I'll get to wear my hood around my house in May. Perhaps I'll wear it out to the bars on Mill - sort of a surrogate graduation.
We had a wonderful Christmas with our families. The drive back was long, but made shorter with Hilary's company and listening to Eragon. Roads were mostly clear, and we even made it to Liberal, KS the first day. We got to see snow along the way, but we were happy to return to our 60 degree weather here in AZ.
Lesley was baptized while we were in KC - on December 30th. Lots of family and cousins turned out. That, along with Travis having a cold, really ate a big hole in our visit. Somehow it went really fast this year! On the way back, Bobby followed us in his car - moving to Valencia, CA to start his new job at Textron. Congrats, Bobby!
Lesley has really gotten the hang of opening presents! Not to mention, she's also sitting up on her own, might have a tooth coming in, and likes to giggle and jabber along. She got lots of great presents, including a super-cute sweatsuit from Aunt Betsy, 5 little monkeys books and finger puppets from Grandma and Grandpa Long, and Winnie the Pooh containers and new cloth diapers from Grandma Watson.
I know it's sillly, but I'm really excited about the diapers (as you can see from the other posts). Lesley now has Drybees in Monster Eyes prints, blue polka dots, and sleepy sheep. Aunt Hilary and Uncle Kerry gave Lesley a hemp diaper made by little beetle. I love them ALL! I've also purchased three more little beetle organic velour diapers... Oooooooh. We've completely switched to cloth - and I really like it! Even extra laundry is way better than more trips to Target. :) (don't get me started on cost!)
This weekend Grandma and Grandpa Long are coming to visit, along with Great Grandma Norris. With the highs around 25 in KS this week, they're totally psyched to visit the sunshine... and by that I mean Lesley. :) Mom & Dad are also planning to help jump start our bathroom remodel, which is WONDERFUL. It'll be good to start working on the inside of the house... though there is always more landscaping to do, or garden to plant.
I wish you all the best this year - and I'll write more when I get the chance. Though my research is really cranking up, and I hope to have a draft done on March 3. So... no more big posts until after that... but I'll at least try to add pics to flickr.
Hugs,
Jenny, Travis, & Lesley
