Let The Rainy Season Begin!

We have enjoyed rains daily this week. Playing outside in the rain and enjoying the cooler temperatures in the house are some of the added benefits of the rainy season. It truly is energizing!

Dancing & Giggling

Yesterday, we watched a cute video Aunt Betsy put together of Dawson's soccer skills. I'm not sure which they liked more...Dawson's crazy action or Aunt Betsy's choice of music. Their reactions were too cute not to share with the rest of you.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sharing

This stool has become a place of many fights between these two.
However, on this special day I witnessed something different...(by the way, notice that C2 now reaches C1's chin)

Today's Nap

Today, Caden decided he wanted to take a nap in his bed as apposed to my bed (which he has been doing since before furlough). I left them in the room...Corban in his crib and Caden in his bed with a book. A few minutes later, a little boy appeared in my kitchen...

"Look Momma!" he said.


And chances are,
if you give a mouse a cookie....

Dots

Caden: Momma, is that your dots?
(pointing to something on my leg)
Me: That's a freckle.
Caden: Ohhhhhh! A freckle.


This kid is getting great at one-liners and keeps us laughing. He is also quite the polite young man, using his pleases and thank yous on a regular basis. And if you tell him,"Oh, sorry." he'll reply, "That's o.k." So sweet. His other common funny is his response to "no". Now, I blame myself for this one a bit because I was tired of the whiny response to "no". I encouraged him to say "Awwww, man. O.K." but what I usually get is "Awwww, man. Pleeeeeese!" Cute son, but the answer is still "no".

You Know You're In Togo When....

Bumpy road
Uploaded by emersonstogo. - Videos of family and friends from around the world.

Texas Furlough Fun

We were blessed to squeeze in a trip to Dallas. We saw friends, family, worshiped with North Davis Church of Christ and received more love than we ever thought. We had a wonderful visit and would love to make it a regular stop in our future furloughs.


Here's the highlights....Meet Kallie & Klaire...the newest additions to the Staples family.
(Kevin & Laura are friends from HU days)

Kelli and baby Isaac
(friend from Pepperdine, thanks to my brother)

The boys & Uncle Max....love the faces, boys.
(yes, I'll claim him as my uncle -April)

Special reading time with GrannyDot.
(I can still remember her reading to me as a child.)

Your turn, Grandad.
We love you!


(Side note: this is the family Corban Stewart is named after.)

Did you hear????

We're home! and we're relearning how to beat the heat.

The following video contains footage unprompted by Momma.

Yup, they're normal.

The Time Has Come...

to pack up and head back. We fly out of Atlanta on Saturday. It has been a wonderful furlough, thank you to everyone that helped to make it that way.

Please Do Not Disturb

We're both busy right now spending time with our best friends!

Presenting: The Emersons

You will want to see these. Thanks Betsy!

Furlough Face

Brothers?

Nope, just a couple of curly-headed cousins! We often call Caden and Corban C1 & C2, but I realized today that in the larger extended family, Cullen is C1.5 :)

It's True...

They really do love each other!

Caden asked me to put Corban in his lap...
and then Corban actually seemed to like it.

Don't Talk With Your Mouth Full

New Things

New Camera (first picture!) New Shows to Watch New Ways to Go Up & Down New Rides A New Way to go Grocery Shopping!

My Sweet Nephew

I have been blessed to be an aunt to four little boys and sweet girl....but about a month ago, I became an aunt on the Gillespie side. Allen and Sarah had a little boy and I was able to spend a few days with them recently. It was a super quick trip, but I'm so glad I made it. It was special to cuddle a newborn without any other toddlers begging for my attention. Thank you to my sweet husband, Gamma, and Papa for taking care of my family so I could love on little Luke for a few days. Yes, I enjoyed my time with Allen and Sarah....but we all know that babies get the real attention.

An African Kid in a Winter Hat and Jacket?

Must be furlough time! We'll have more pics and updates coming soon, stay tuned...

Get Ready....

Two toddlers FULL of energy coming to a home near you!

Prayers for Our Comings and Goings

Tonight we are leaving West Africa and beginning our journey back to the States for furlough. Please pray for our family as we travel. Hopefully as we scamper through airports and drag luggage with children hanging on somewhere our faces will look like this: Stressed and stretched, but still smilin'!!!

Brothers And Friends

We had a team picture made this morning and took the opportunity to take a few extras...enjoy!Not my favorite picture (my hair was still wet), but I knew everyone would enjoy a new family picture.


But what you really want to see is...Brothers!

I thought Corban looked so big in this picture

Caden, Asher, Gabe


This collage made me laugh...we joked about it being their engagement pictures and Brett commented that from the look of Anna's face, it's an arranged marriage.

Snapshots of C2's Day

With HOURS of mischief and two naps in between!

"Daddy, wanna play owside?" - C1

We've gotten into a routine of being deliberate about giving C1 & C2 outside time together every morning. It helps them get some energy out and they love to play with each other. We love to watch them!

Bubble Face

We thought about giving several sets of statistics and anecdotes concerning Caden's most recent greatness, but two things stopped us. First, we will be back in the States in 3 weeks and you'll very soon be able to see how great he is firsthand. Second, those kinds of posts are overdone anyways and all of our children are great in our own eyes no matter what they do.
Instead, we present to you Caden's face surrounded by bubble bath. Much more interesting and amusing, at least in the short term...