Family Times

Ben and I love being around our families. This past weekend, we were blessed to spend the weekend and change w/ my parents. They, of course, soaked up all the Rachelness they could get in 4 days, and Ben and I enjoyed a night out and time looking at some houses. Which, by the way, we have an update.....for once, we are staying put. So, no new addresses to send out. This will be the first time in our marriage that we will be at a place for more than a year (we've moved 5x in the past 5 years). Granted, it's still an apartment, but after much prayer, we felt like this was the right decision given the illogical economics that explain the DC housing market (Ben's more equipped to write on this due to all his research he's done over the past few years). If we could have bought a house down here about 5 years ago (before we even moved down here) or we knew we would be here long term, we'd have a house, but given 1 is a past tense thing that can't be changed and the other is a future thing that can't be foreseen, we're calmly relying on the Lord's sovereignty and provision.

So, back to what ya'll are waiting for anyway:) Now for some pictures of Rae-Rae, Rachelina, Pea Sweet, Punky Poo, and many many other nicknames:)

Rachel received a cell phone from her Nana and Grandpop this weekend - it's definitely a favorite for her. My mom thought it might make her want my phone a little less....which it did for a while:) Opening the package was just as much fun as the cell phone itself!
We also enjoyed some swimming and looking around the Torpedo Factory on Saturday. Rachel is really liking the pool (as long as it's minus her inner tube I got her - oh well, we'll keep trying). It was nice that Nana was there to hold Rachel while Ben and I had to get each other back for squirting water at each other w/ Rachel's toys. Actually, I squirted him, so he of course, had to dunk me...and, he knelt in the 4 foot water, and after a few minutes, I was actually able to dunk him - yay!

"Yikes, this sun is bright!!!!"

And last picture....taken Sunday morning before church. Of course, when she gets older and tries to sit on the table, we'll tell her she needs to get down:) And, I had to put this first picture in....totally cracks me up. She can be such a ham sometimes....other times (like when I took her to Kiddie Kandids), she was relaxed and all perfect smiles.