ABC's...

(*Be sure to turn your volume up)

Callie's rendition of the ABC's.  

Be sure to listen to the end.  

She has an interesting line that comes after "Now I know my ABC's..." :)

Who needs toys anyway?

Callie spent over 30 minutes alone in her room doing this last night.  Come to think of it, this is how she spends 95% of her day, everyday.  I hope she always loves reading this much.

To Thailand, with love

I've started a new blog.  Go check it out!  

And if you know of anyone else that may be interested in following our journey to Thailand, be sure to send them the link! 

http://esausinthailand.blogspot.com

Adding a little sunshine to your day...

Now if that doesn't make you chuckle, I don't know what will.

Escape to the land of sunshine...

Jon, Callie and I had the awesome privilege of going to Palm Springs for a week at the end of March/beginning of April. Jon's parents were heading down for their annual holiday and offered to treat us to some time away. Of course, we happily accepted :)

This was Callie's 3rd time on a plane, but her first time as an almost-2-year-old. When we flew to Thailand, she was only 5 months old-- therefore, a piece of cake. When we flew to Saskatchewan last Easter, she was about 9 months old-- also a piece of cake. But this time, I was NERVOUS. We had a 1 hour flight to Calgary and then a 3 hour flight from Calgary to Palm Springs. I was pretty concerned that with the busy-bee stage she's at, this would be a complete disaster. But... I was wrong... thankfully :) She was awesome on the flights. Thank-you WestJet for Treehouse & Bits n' Bites.

Having breakfast at the Abbotsford airport.

You'd never know we had woken her at 4:30am for this flight. She was bright-eyed & ready to fly...

It ended up being a scorching hot week in Palm Springs. The day after we arrived, they hit record temperatures for this time of year... over 106 degrees F. That's well over 40 degrees C. Jon and Callie weren't big fans of the intense heat, but I soaked it up. I live for hot, hot heat! Plus, its good practice for Thailand :)

The week was full of golfing, swimming in the pool, shopping with Gramma, BBQing, visiting the Living Desert zoo, very few naps for Callie and late nights (also for Callie). Although Callie made the vacation a lot less relaxing than previous ones, it was still a delight to have some time away from 'real life.'

Cooling down with some Haagen Daz...

One of the highlights of our trip was getting to visit with our dear friends, Tracy & Cecil and their son Solas. We went to Thailand with them in '09 and anticipate having them as MB Mission teammates someday (Lord-willing). They live in Bakersfield, CA and made the long 6 hour trip down, just to see us. What a blessing!

Callie & Solas reuniting...

They're only 9 days apart & I'm sure, will be great friends for life! :)

Complete & utter delight to be playing in the air-conditioned mall on a VERY HOT day...

Our last day in Palm Springs was spent at the Living Desert Zoo.

It was another very hot day but we had lots of fun!

Getting the low-down from one of the zoo curators...

Listening very intently...

My attempt at a picture of Jon & Callie with his parents.

Terrible attempt, I know...

So much to see,

even though half the animals were hidden away for their afternoon naps...

"I see dat Daddy!"

Taking a quick snack break...

Callie's zoo highlight: riding on the carousel with Grampa.

Every time the carousel came around to where we were standing, she would SHRIEK with pure excitement. It was priceless! I'll try to get the video on here soon.

Classic Daddy face, classic Callie face.

Visiting my personal favorite... the zebras!

Meeting the goats...

The giraffes were another highlight...

This picture makes me chuckle...

mostly because it brings all new meaning to,

"like father, like daughter." ;)

The true sign of a good day at the zoo... :)

We felt so blessed to get to do a vacation like this, one last time before we head overseas. I think both Jon and I would say we feel refreshed and ready to tackle the last half of our internship & fundraising. Hard to believe we only have another 2.5 months left to go!