Oh, kid!

This last week we were excited to have Sarah come to visit. While she was here, we did some fun things like paint our nails and go to the pool. We also found Anaïs doing some "baking" while we were trying to get ready one morning. Here she is "baking" some "rice".

We were also able to get a fairly good recording of Anaïs singing a hymn - finally. She does it so well for us without the camera, then, as soon as she sees someone taking her picture, whe loses concentration. This is her singing "Come Thou Fount" - one of our nightime lullabies.

She is also getting really good at calming Giselle down if she gets upset by singing to her. It is one of my favorite things so far about being a mother. I hope you enjoy it too!

Top Five of Our First Five

Yeah for us! July 11th, Friday, was our fifth year wedding anniversary! As many of you know us intimately, you know that these five years have been filled with many joys and many struggles. So even though five years isn't fifty - it is a big deal for us!



A really nice guy from François' class and his wife watched our girls while we went to dinner at Zentner's Daughter - arguably the nicest restaurant in San Angelo - for a quiet dinner. We just enjoyed being together for adult conversation and reminiscing about our last five years as a married couple.

While we were talking, we came up with the top five things that have happened to us or we have done together in the first five years of our marriage. We decided it would be fun to share it with everyone! So, here we go. First, of course, are both times we found out we were having a baby and the arrivals of our beautiful daughters, Anaïs Jolie and Giselle Nicolette. Secondly, we are so blessed to have been able to worship together, both leading at church and through the musical Lisa directed the summer of 2007. Third, we were so proud to move into our first apartment - not just because we finally had a place of our own - but because we had paid off all our debt at the time. Learning to manage our finances together was a huge milestone. Fourth, we really treasured our time at Big Cedar Resort with our best friends, Kristin and James DelMul, in fall of 2006. We needed a getaway for ourselves and our marriage, and we can't think of anyone we would have rather spent that week with. Their friendship has been and still is invaluable. And last, but certainly not least, was our individual graduations from college and the transition that followed, allowing Lisa to stay home with our children and cement François as the breadwinner and leader of our family.

All of things, plus many more memorable events have made our first five years so special to us. We know we would not have made it here without so many people's love, guidance, prayers, and support. To our families, James and Kristin DelMul, Ken and Laura Miller, Blair and Diana Abbott, and Mark Munden - we especially want to say thank you for coming along side us as a couple to help us when we needed your guidance and friendship. We love you! And thanks for celebrating with us!

July 4th

July 4th was fun! François got a four day weekend, so it was really nice for the girls and I to get to spend some extra time with him. I think he mostly enjoyed the extra sleep he got. =)

On Friday, the 4th, my parents and Jessica and Daniel came out to San Angelo to visit us. They arrived around lunch and the girls were ecstatic to see them! After nap, we piled everybody into cars and headed out to Lake Nasworthy to the Rec Camp run by the base. We rented a speed boat and jumped in. I had to drive the boat because I was the only person licensed, and I was so nervous the whole time. Because of the holiday, there were many other boats on the lake. We mostly rode around, wind in our hair, enjoying being on the water. Daniel tried to wakeboard, but the lake was really crowded and because it is always windy here, the lake is also really choppy. It wasn't the best of conditions. =(

Anaïs wasn't feeling well, so my mom stayed home with her while the rest of us went to a BBQ hosted by a guy in François' class. The food was good and at the end of the night we all enjoyed some funny fireworks!

Saturday morning, Jessica wasn't feeling well, so Anaïs decided to sing her lullabies. It was so precious. She sang "Come thou fount", "Amazing Grace", "Jesus" and "Baby Mine" to try and make her feel better. My dad, François and I sat at the dining room table listening, and I think it is safe to say those tender moments were the highlight of our weekend. There is just something so beautiful about a little child singing hymns. Sigh.

We just relaxed the rest of the day and everyone left Sunday morning because Anaïs was still to sick to go to church. We had a great time the next two days just relaxing as our little family. That is the best way to spend time off!

Our girls are such good laughers!

So I am loving this new thing the girls do. Anaïs will laugh at Giselle. Then Giselle laughs at Anaïs. Usually, Anaïs says, "She's laughing!" then laughs again. And so on. Here is a little clip, although I think it is much cuter in person.

And I can't help but include another one of Giselle laughing since a lot of you haven't seen that yet.

The girls are just such a blessing to us! I hope it makes you smile.