Trip to Maui Day 2

I woke up this morning to a beautiful site out the back window. WOW! We are staying in Ma'alaea on the south bottleneck of Maui. What a beautiful and breathtaking view of the ocean! Wow!! We basically spent the day unpacking, organizing, and stocking up on food from Costco (the cheapest place to buy just about anything here)!! Later in the evening we took a stroll down the beach from our place. Scott and I walked a bit farther than the rest of the family and by the time we turned around, we realized they had turned around to go back! It was crazy though-we saw a TON of sand crabs that kept running into small holes they dug as we walked by! I'm determined to catch one tomorrow morning during my run :) Overall we had a great day and we also enjoyed hearing from Tirzah as well! I guess she watched the movie "Bolt" with Micah's family today! :) We're certainly enjoying the relaxation here! - M&L

Trip to Maui Day 1

For those who don't know, we (M&L) were offered a FREE trip to Maui, Hawaii, compliments of saved airline miles by Lauren's parents! Here's a short synopsis: Years ago, Lauren's parents had a dream of taking their two girls with them to Hawaii someday with their airline miles. Fast forward several years and many airline miles later, and a new addition to the family (myself)! Now, with the rising cost of flights, coupled with increasing points for longer flights, they decided that they needed to cash-in their miles. Nine months ago they booked a two-week trip with the whole family, and here we are today! Even though Lauren and I both have homework while we're gone, we have had an amazing time enjoying the weather and the company of family thus far. Our first day was a long one - we left late Tuesday night for MN (via car) and dropped off our daughter with my (Micah's) mom (thanks Mom!!). She offered to watch Tirzah for the entire duration of the trip! What a blessing! The next morning we woke up early, went over any last-minute details for Tirzah's care, then made our way to the airport, after stopping a couple times for snacks and purchasing a bladder for Lauren's Camelbak @ REI in Roseville. We arrived at the airport and was invited by a stranger to the Delta Sky Club while we awaited our flight. This gentleman was really friendly and we were blessed to have the opportunity to relax in a wonderful environment with complimentary services. The flight itself was pretty uneventful. We flew via Alaska Airlines to Seattle, waited in the USO for a few hours playing games and eating snacks, then took the 5 hour flight to Hawaii @ the island of Maui. After arriving late at night we picked up a rental van, then proceeded to the condo that Lauren's parents had rented. We unpacked and crashed, and I realized we were on a crazy time difference compared to back at home. This is going to make my homework deadlines interesting! Enjoy the photos below of our packing and arrival, and also of Tirzah back at home!

Daddy Daughter Tradition

Micah and Tirzah have developed a routine date-night every evening (no exceptions), where they frequent the local (organic/natural) grocery store behind our apartment. Tirzah has learned the routine:
As they enter the outer doors of the store, Tirzah holds out her hands and asks daddy for money (it's really cute). Micah hands her 50 cents (maybe a dollar at times) and Tirzah will take the money in one hand, then run to the fruit section of the store where she throws her little hand in the kiwi basket and takes the first one she touches. She then proceeds to the check-out area where daddy lifts her on top of the check-out counter for her to finish the process. She then hands the money to the cashier (who in turn always says something complementary to her) and then waits for any change.

It's quite a lovely sight! Lauren didn't fully believe this process until she saw it with her own eyes just yesterday. Tirzah knows exactly what to do, and leads the way! This is a great way to give mommy a few minutes of alone time in the evening after dinner to relax and kick-back. Sometimes Micah will take Tirzah to the park afterwards, or to the wooden horse across the street (see picture below)!
Of course, there is also an added bonus to these date nights. Every time Micah and Tirzah purchase something from our local grocery he uses an app which accumulates points, thus allowing him to redeem them every 12 days for a $10 gift card. In the end we end up MAKING $ (even after their daily purchases since kiwis are cheap) and we have an abundance of kiwis to eat! We then use the gift cards to buy Tirzah's whole milk there (the best stuff we've ever tasted)! It's a win-win-win situation!! 
Win win win
-M, L & T :)

Tirzah's Latest Antics

Stacking Groceries (all by herself)

Balancing on the coffee table. Short legs are good for some things.

She walked down the hallway appearing like this the other day - wearing 10 grocery bags. 

Maybe she wants to go shopping?

Squeak!

We didn't have time to go trick-or-treating, but got this little girl dressed up anyway.

Snacking Mouse

Exercising Mouse

Pumpkins without the Patch

Last week Lauren's mom and Micah's grandma came to visit. On Saturday we all met up with Lauren's aunt and cousin at a pumpkin patch in the 'burbs. Tirzah was the most interested in people watching, and didn't notice the pumpkins.

It was probably better, as there wasn't much of a pumpkin patch but lots of carnival games and rides. As well as, uh...camel rides...? We all enjoyed the hay ride and some apple cider mini donuts.

Micah acquired some free cotton candy for us all. A little boy dropped his cotton candy on the grass, which apparently rendered it inedible. His dad bought him a new one and gave the old one back to be thrown away. Micah stepped in to rescue the cotton candy before it reached the garbage. :)

We had a fun time!

Pumpkins - photo slideshow

One Year Later...

So, it's officially been over a year since we last posted on our blog. That was right about the time Tirzah became mobile, and well, we've been rather busy since then.

Micah works full time and is a full time student. He is still a chaplain candidate in the Army Reserve, though is in the process of transfering to a different unit. He relinquished his post as president of student council at Moody to have more time at home. He began an internship with our church, First Free. He absolutely loves his job, his internship and work as a chaplain. He's not the biggest fan of school at the moment and is looking forward to completing his education to begin full-time ministry.

Lauren is a work at home mom, caring for Tirzah and nannying for a little boy. He is here for almost 10.5 hours a day, 5 days a week, so Lauren stays quite busy. She is still in school to finish her graduate degree and has only 2 classes left until graduation!

Tirzah is a happy, busy almost two-year-old (how did that happen?!?). She enjoys playing with baby dolls and helping mama clean. We're hoping this cleaning trend continues for years to come. She likes to climb and get as high as possible. She loves going outside and going on walks, but isn't a fan of the stroller. She wants to walk and doesn't get tired - she'll go for miles. She can read books and do puzzles for hours, but doesn't care for coloring (putting crayons in and out of the box is much more fun). She is quick to laugh and smile and is quite cuddly. We love her to pieces!

As far as the last year goes, we will recap it with pictures. Look for a giant photo album on our blog in the near future!

Love,
M, L, & T

Neglectful blogging

Yep, it happened again...we stopped blogging for a while. Good news is - the apartment is ALMOST finished. So we are ALMOST ready to posts pics of our new place. Just have to nail in some trim, paint a little, and get some pictures on the walls. We are having a housewarming party this weekend, so it has to get done by then!

Tirzah is mobile and still as cute as ever. She loves to clap and wave. There are plenty of videos to upload, but those will have to wait for another posting.

Micah is busy with school, work, and all his (many, many) extra-curricular activities.

Lauren is busy as a stay at home mama and is enjoying her classes (but not the homework).

These are long overdue, but here is a slideshow video from Tirzah's 6 month photoshoot.

Kitchen - before and after

New News

So, while Tirzah and Mommy wait for a phone to charge before running errands - there's a little time to update this blog.

We have been busier than ever!

Biggest news - Micah got a job at our church.

Also big news - we are moving into a bigger apartment next door RENT FREE!!!

Micah is doing facilities work for the church and his first task on the job is to renovate our future apartment. The place needed to be gutted in a few rooms and there was no kitchen - lots of work to be done! You can see it here (the living room is missing from the video - the ceiling needs to be re-plastered and the walls need some repair):

We are on a time crunch to get this place finished by the end of this month. Why the time crunch? First, the church has planned for the apartment to have been finished already and really want to see it completed ASAP. Also, our friends Kelly and Nicolas have been wanting to move back to Chicago, but have been waiting for the right opportunity. With us moving out, our current apartment needs new tenants. Kelly and Nicolas already know what our place looks like and know that the church rents this place for a low price. So, they were really excited when they heard our place was available. They had a small window of time when they could move soon or it'd be a long wait before they move. So, Micah thought he could finish everything in time for them to move here quickly.

So, we'll have our friends as next door neighbors - along with a playmate for Tirzah, their new baby girl Clara.

This past week Micah's dad and his friend Scott came down to Chicago to help with the renovations. They were such a big help and did a lot of great work. So, the kitchen is done! (Pictures soon!)

In other news, Lauren and Micah will continue their graduate studies this semester. Lauren will begin nannying for a baby boy in December. He'll be coming to our place, which makes caring for Tirzah while nannying so much easier. Lauren knows the family from caring for their daughter at her previous job. She still babysits for her from time to time. The parents are such a nice, down to earth couple and will be a pleasure to work for.

Tirzah is growing right along and is quite the talker. She can make most consonant sounds and loves to point at things with her little index fingers. She still loves music and is very smiley. We think she's adorable.

She did great on our lastest trip to MN on the Greyhound (we went to see her new cousin, Ethan) she was quite enamored with the handicap sign on the bus as you can see here: