Potty training!

Eva decided she was done with diapers. Every time we put one on her she would whip it off and tell us, "No!" She also insisted on using the potty often. We decided to seize the moment and potty train, even though we both think she's a little young. We had our potty party today... Drank tons of juice, ate salty snacks, drank more juice... Elijah thought it was great fun! Eva wasn't so into the song and dance, but liked the juice boxes. She went a lot. Like every 15 minutes! Yikes. No wonder I'm exhausted.

Here she is helping her doll go potty, and the kids cheering for doll's potty success!

At nap she snuck out of her crib twice to change out of the pull-up I put her in and back into her new Hello Kitty underwear. We'll see how another day goes, when the novelty wears off...

The Greatest Gift

Today, while Eva was still napping, Elijah wanted me to read from his children's Bible. One story ended with the question, "What's the greatest gift God has ever given you?"

He thought for a minute before responding, "Eva!"

I wiped a tear...

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sent from my mobile phone

A Southwest stop on the migration West

After completing his phD (yeah!), David's brother Hank and his family started their move back to Los Angeles.  We got to be an extended stop along their way, and loved every minute of it!  It was a blast having Hank, Johanna, Samuel, David, Renee and Isaiah all to ourselves for five days! The kids loved playing with their cousins, and we loved staying up to talk with Hank and Johanna and playing some Spades. We tried to give them a little taste of Albuquerque, and go on some fun hikes as well.

We took them to see the Petroglyphs. The cousins enjoyed climbing around on the rocks, and Eva was not to be left out. Thankfully, her cousins were great at looking out for her and helping her along. She adored them!

They agreed that aliens must have visited ABQ and made these self-portrait stone drawings.

A happy pile of shoes shows the full house!  Eva delighted in trying on the shoes and hats she could find.

One of our favorite hikes, Tent Rocks, was another event. They were fast and adventurous climbers, as you can imagine from this picture!

Making our way through the narrow canyon.

Hank and Johanna at an overlook

At the top!

As we left, a thunderstorm as moving in. We had to clear out in case of flash floods. The dark clouds over the top of the mountain were truly spectacular.

the Dam 2 Dam run

Before: Jessica, me and Tiffany about to do our 10 km!

(We are holding up 10 fingers... 10 km... just in case you didn't catch that!)

The Dam to Dam run was one of the more beautiful courses I've run-- from one dam to another and back again. The terrain was rugged and full of hills. The sun was HOT, and there was very little shade, but the spectacular views of the city made it absolutely worth it!  I ran with a few friends from Cor.e, the faith-and-fitness group I am a part of here.

After sending us off, our cheering section relaxed at the Starbucks next to the starting/finishing line. Elijah savored the lemon cake David bought him-- quite the treat! Katie usually runs with us, but is recovering from an injury. Mike and David decided that us girls should keep running races, and longer ones at that, so they get a better chance to hang out!

This was my favorite part of the course. You could see for miles.

We did it! Tiffany, me and Jessica at the finish.

Eva was inspired. She grabbed my arm band and headphones and shouted "Run! Run!" and she ran back and forth on a section of the course.

She and Elijah did such a good job cheering. It was so sweet that I could hear Elijah's voice above the crowd shouting "Go, Mommy, Go!"

I loved the 10km distance. It was long enough to be a challenge and something to train for, but not a crazy commitment. :)  I'm excited to continue training with these ladies. It is such good accountability and encouragement to be faithful in exercise, and faithful in my walk with God.

First night of AWANA

Elijah and Eva were sooo excited for their AWANA Bible club to start up again this year! Eva wasn't quite old enough (you are supposed to be two at the start) but we were able to squeak her in!  Normally, I'm quite the rule-follower, but we really wanted Eva to be able to go with her brother.  So I submitted the paperwork and pushed back a bit at the rule... "Oh, but she would love it..." so now I'm a true Voss, right?  Hahaha!

Elijah in his Cubbies vest and Eva in her Puggles shirt...  She was delighted to find out that she got to join her brother.  Last year she would cry and cry at the door when he would leave in his Cubbies vest.  This year she shouts "PUH-GUH!!" (Puggles!) and runs to the car with him.  And sure enough, she's doing just fine!
And David and I get a date night!

A spontaneous jig... can't you just see the excitement?!

Happy kiddos!

Fishing... Again

After the success of yesterday we decided to go fishing again; first because it was fun, and second because Eli had asked approximately a 1000 times when we were going fishing again. This time we headed down to the Rio Grande to give that location a try. Eli once again did a great job with the casting and kept wanting to go out into the water so his hook wouldn't keep getting caught on the grass of the bank. Next time we'll have to come prepared for the water.

We found a part of the bank with a bench near the water so we could watch him fish. Now we just need to find something for our little monkey (Eva) to do and Jamie and I might have a quiet(er) moment.  

Hiking back out to the car as a large storm started to roll into the area.