Bits & Pieces of April

April was FULL!

Full, full, full... so I'm only going to give bits and pieces of it here and then a specific post for Papa and Mama Rink's visit next time... :)

 Diego turned 9! 

We looked up cakes online and this was the one he wanted, so... he got it!

 (l-r) Marshall, Diego, Joel and Bryan holding Diego's gifts!

 And then, of course, we had the arrival of this little guy!

ERIC GEOFRI RINK... bienvenido!

 Just to give an abbreviated version, I went into labor Friday afternoon (without knowing if it was truly labor... ha!), ate burros in town with the kids and my in-laws at 8:00 p.m., then we finally went to the doctor's office at 10:30 (where he promptly sent us to the hospital with muffled exclamations) and little Eric was born at 11:40!

 7.5 lbs, 19.3 inches long... not quite as big as Ithan!!!

 Dr. Madrid and his second Rink baby... :)

 From the time we got home, Candi was asking to hold him -- so Big Sister was the first!

 Letting us know what he thinks from an early age... ;)

 Diego and Baby Eric...

 Aron and Baby Eric...

 ... and Marcos and Baby Eric!

 Wow... six kids; this was definitely not in my life plan way back when, but I'm glad it's happening!

 Ithan was getting pushed around by Papa Rink in this pic -- can you tell he was slightly tired and had chapped cheeks???  :)

He looks like a little German doll!

 Awwwwwwwwww... :)

 Diego was taking horse-riding lessons from Cassidy and he loved them!

He's now planning on participating in the horse-riding competition for EXPO Esperanza!

 Ithan showing some love to his baby brother -- can you tell how baby brother felt about it?!?

 We went to Momo's the last weekend Jim and Jeanne were here and Ithan was "reading" the menu -- and boy did he study it!

 BIRTHDAY TIME!!!

Joel turned 31 and we got Las Chicas fish and shrimp tacos to celebrate!

 Joel and Papa Rink have the same birthday... so we got to celebrate with them both!

 And Mama Rink made her traditional chocolate-tiered cake with yummy frosting... thanks!!!

 Ithan wearing Papa Rink's shoes to walk around the living room...

How blessed are our kids to have these two for grandparents?!?

More on their month-long visit soon... :)

March 2013

Today Joel asked me what I was going to do when I ran out of months to update from... 

... and I told him there would just be more words and less pics!!!  ;)

 I think Ithan was enjoying this, don't you???  :)

 We babysat Juana (Endi & Alisha's little girl) one night, and I snapped this photo as Marcos was giving them rides... I love the fact that they both have binks in and both look slightly stupefied!

 We had the Wulfs over for dinner one night and Candi was so excited to be able to hold Victoria!

 I'm not that worried about his immune system... ;)

 Ithan turned 1 in March -- holy cow.

I saw these fun treats on a website after Aron suggested we go with a goldfish theme since those were Ithan's favorite snacks!  Joel was amazing and helped me make these the night before Ithan's party.

 Goldfish party snacks!!!

 He was definitely not that excited about his cake... didn't even want to try it!

 We had lots of little kids around and lots of fun!  We are so thankful for the "cloud of witnesses" here at CVE -- such a blessing for our children!

Seth also celebrated his birthday in March and the kids stayed up long enough to wish him a happy birthday before the rest of the guys arrived for snacks and games!

PRE-BABY TRIP TO TUCSON

 Two weeks before Eric was born, Joel and I headed up to Tucson for a pre-baby trip!  We stayed at a B&B (Joel's first time!), ran errands, made the round of the second-hand stores, and went to a performance of "Wicked!"

 Enjoying oranges from the trees outside of Savers!

 A stop by our favorite Chinese restaurant -- The Lotus Garden!  It is seriously amazing... and the service is prompt and super-friendly.  I recommend it to anyone, anytime, any day... just invite us along!  ;)

 At "Wicked"... Joel's first time seeing the performance!  While I was waiting in line for the bathroom at Intermission, I was talking with another pregnant lady about the pea-size of our bladders; her husband was also waiting for her and he looked at Joel and said, "So you got dragged along to this, too, huh?"

Ha!  I think it did get a little long for him at the end... three hours of musical can be a little daunting for anyone!  Unless you are a Bahr sister... ;)

 One afternoon Aron & Diego were "burying" Candi and saying the eulogy over her... this was how they decorated her casket!  I know... slightly morbid... but they were having lots of fun "doctoring" her, then her almost dying, then reviving her, then having her finally die!

 I love it that there are moments like this around our house!!!

(Especially because they make really funny pictures... :)

 Thanks for the outdoor lights, babe!  They look great... worth all the sweaty crawl-space work!  :)

 We are, thankfully, a household of readers!  The kids do 20 minutes of reading time every day (required by the school, which is great) and, of course, Ithan sees that, sees Joel and I reading, sees everyone else on campus reading... and he loves, loves, loves his books!  One of my greatest pleasures is to watch him waddle out in the morning, bink flipped up under his nose, head straight for the bookshelf, come running over with his favorite book of the moment, and frantically sign "please" so that we can read it!  Or to see him plop down in the middle of all his toys with a book and just study it... :)

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of literacy!  Help us to be aware of those who don't have it, and to do our best to open wide their worlds to being able to actually read the words of Jesus... what a blessing this is!

January - February 2013

Yeah!!!  We're finally in 2013 on this blog!!!  :)

I had to combine January and February because, turns out, I must have been slightly camera shy and don't have a lot of pics to share... so enjoy the slightly random ones that were captured!

 Bowling in Nogales:  we decided to take the kids up to Nogales one afternoon where we first went to check out the new Home Depot store (I really wish I had pics of all five of our kids carrying around orange Home Depot balloons!), then bowling!

I really enjoy bowling... however bowling while pregnant was a different story and I had a very bruised knee (and pride) afterward... clumsiness incarnate.  :(

 Marcos and Daddy...

Pure cheese.  :)

 We continue with the Monday night dinners with work teams in the CVE houses and we were able to host "Grandpa" Fred from Cissna Park who insisted upon giving our kids horsey-rides and delighted us all!!!  I have an incredible video of Ithan's laugh while this was happening!

 Joel and I headed up to Tucson one morning and saw this on our way!  This being a blanket of snow over everything in Nogales!!!  I've never seen snow like that in this area (although I know it's happened before), so I snapped a few photos -- especially of the palm trees covered in snow!

 It was actually really fun to see snow piled up on top of everything... but, of course, by the time we drove home that afternoon it was all melted off!

 This is the reason that we now have child-proof safety catches on our cabinets!!!

Just too much fun... ;)

 A date-night dinner:  Camaron a la Boston!

I really enjoy cooking with my husband... he's usually game for anything!!!

(unless it's vegetarian or has cucumbers, that is... ;)

 Candi turned 7!  Wow!  She invited a bunch of other giggly little girls to go out for pizza and then back to the house for a film and dessert!

 With her very girly gifts... :)

 The face-smashing!!!  

She is really into kitty-cats right now and would gladly adopt one!!!

Speaking of face-smashing...

... he really likes doing this!

I really like this photo -- I think it gives a glimpse into each of our kids' personalities!  :)))

Happy Monday!