Dinner with the Dontje's!

I have worked with Sally for almost 10 years now.  She is one of the greatest ladies on the planet.  Tonight she and her husband, Bob, had us over for supper at their place.  It was so fun, so relaxing, and we had such a great time.  When we arrived, we took Hope upstairs and put her down to sleep for a couple hours.  So the pictures below are from when we woke her up, just prior to leaving.  

Hope was taken with Bob, who made all kinds of cool noises for her.  He was like a tractor beam... sucked her right in!

She smiled and smiled and seemed to have a good time with them.  

And all the while, Gideon was playing with toys that Sally's sons Matt and Nathan played with growing up (so they were some of the toys I played with growing up).  Such a fun night.  Our God, and our church family, are so good to us! 

Does Gideon Enjoy Being a Big Brother or Not? You Decide!

Other than reminding him to "be gentle with your sister," Gideon does very well with Hope.

And he even goes in for a smooch every once in a while.

EXTREME CLOSE UP!!!!

Taken with the Play-thing

In the last couple of weeks, Hope has really enjoyed playing under this thing.  She likes to hit the danglies as they make noise.  She smiles, and even gets excited verbally.  We think it's pretty awesome!

Bagel Boy!

Every kid has dreams and aspirations to be a super-hero, or at least most do.  Gideon and I have made up a super-hero family.  The name you need to be aware of is Bagel Boy.  In times of breakfast need.  When something is missing.  When something has gone a-rye (pun intended).  When the milk has soured on the early morning, there's one person to whom all should turn...duh-dah-dah-duh....

Gideon Teaching Hope How to Play

Hope and Gideon at Hope's Doctor Appointment

Hope LOVES her big brother (and gives him the biggest smiles of anyone in the family)!

Gideon is taken with his baby sister.

I talk to him about protecting his sister, and here he is warning her about the shots that are upcoming.  He is just letting her know he's there, he's been in her position, and that she'll get through it (or maybe this is not exactly it, but I think it's a cool thought).  

The coolest part was watching Hope try to crawl to her brother Gideon.  She was workin it!

Lunch with Bob and Sally

Today we had Bob and Sally D over for lunch.  I have worked with Sally for the past 10 years, as she serves as the church secretary.  She has become one of my closest friends and I love her dearly.  In July of 2010, Sally married Bob D, a missionary our church has supported for a long time.  We had a blast today eating together and talking about life.  

Here Sally holds our dear baby Hope.  Our God has been good to our family, bringing Hope into our family, having a great co-worker in Sally, and a solid married couple who we want pouring in to the lives of our children (and to us).  We are truly blessed.    

Gideon Talks on the Phone with Rhonda

Gideon loves talking on the phone. Tonight, he got to speak with Rhonda, one of his buddies (she is almost one of my youth leaders and watched Gideon while we were in the hospital with Hope)!

Cow Tongue Sandwich!

We were given gift certificates to Belgian Village during Pastor Appreciation Month, so for my day off today, we used them!

Here Kathee and Hope wait for the food!

Gideon and I mess around a bit waiting for our food to come!

Naturally, I ordered the cow tongue sandwich (due to ordering it the previous times I've gone).  They put it on raisen bread.  So, like I did when I was a kid, I ate the tongue on the plate.  I asked them for a side of horseradish, to which they obliged.  IT WAS SO GOOD!  However, my family disagreed.  Kathee said I was sick.  And upon asking Gideon why he didn't want to try some of my lunch, he said it was because "it looks disgustin!"  The little troll.  MY SANDWICH WAS AWESOME!!!

Afterwards we walked around the mall.  I pushed Hope (as usual).

And Gideon got to be carried by Kathee (after his feed started to hurt...AS USUAL!!).  

All in all, a great day off!

BLANKET TIME!!!

Hope has been having more and more blanket time, which is really helping her build head and neck strength.  Today, for the first time, she rolled over!  Gideon LOVES Hope's blanket time.  He runs and grabs his blanket, throws it down next to Hope, and shows her how it's done.  Here they are this afternoon! 

Gideon decided that his blanket was just too far away from Hope.  So he had to move his blanket closer.  

He also thought she needed some reassurance that she was doing it correctly.  

See, he's not ALWAYS up in her face!

When he's not in Hope's face, he's all up in Mama's!

My Nephew Turns 10!

This past Saturday, we joined my brother Nathan's family at Famous Dave's in Davenport to celebrate my nephew's birthday!  It was SO MUCH FUN!!!  Here is some video of the staff at Famous Dave's singing to him.  It was great having them all in town, and even better to spend time with them.  Thanks for coming down.  And thanks for letting us join you!

And as Gideon has been very much into singing "Happy birthday!" over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed that he had to pipe in on the "honk, honk!"

Brother and Sister

Gideon continues to love being Hope's older brother.  

Gideon settles in...

I think there's a possibility that she looks at him with fondness...

And might even like him...

Or even love the daylights out of him!

Papa, The Room Is Spinning!