THANK YOU!!!

I love writing thank you notes. I am one of those people who still loves snail mail and still writes letters that require an address and postage. It's just so fun to get a letter in the mail and I love the option of providing that simple joy to someone else. That being said, I simply do not have time to get a card in the mail to everyone who has sent us cards and gifts since Emmett's birth. I would like to use this space to say an enormous THANK YOU to every single one of you who have been so very thoughtful. We hardly bought a thing for Emmett (diapers, a pack of gowns and a mesh sling - that's all - oh, and some pacifiers) and have been so touched by all the gifts, donations (my coworkers on 7N rock! Also my moms' Bible study - amazing), hand-me-downs and things that have been leant to us. We have lacked nothing. From onesies to snowsuits, all the bases have been covered. There's also been the emotional and moral support with the addition of a second child, to moving to a foreign country and all that entails. I truly think we have to be in the top 1% of "most blessed and fortunate people to exist." So sorry for a generalized message, I would have preferred to send cards, but from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

This Laugh is Addictive

Hannah's laugh is addictive. When we hear her laugh, we just want to make her laugh more. Joy is the perfect middle name for her. We joke that she also could have easily been named Hannah Fun Bettinger, but Hannah Joy sounds so much better. We had a great visit with my sister Shannon and after she was here for a few days, she took Hannah back up to Seattle to hang out with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Sammy so Rees and I could do our garage sale. Well, we didn't get our garage sale organized in time, so we are using the time to get all the stuff sorted so that next weekend we can set it up quickly. So much stuff!!! As crazy as it is to be getting rid of all our stuff, it's also pretty cleansing. And let's be honest, it's so easy to accumulate stuff that when we live in the states again we'll probably have enough stuff to do another big garage sale within a year. Anyway, thanks for your incredible help, Aunt Shannon!

Aaaah Chelan

Here are a few pics from our latest, and one of our last, trips to Chelan. Hannah loves going to "The Pine Nest" as it's called. She went swimming, to the beach, ate chips, swung on the swings and drove around in the golf cart (well she didn't drive it, but she rode shot gun) and, of course, got lots of attention from Nanu, Papu, Leesy, Uncle Tony (one of her favorites), Aunt Jilly, Uncle Rick and Auntie Meegs.

We also got to see Cody and Carmen and their new baby, Adeline, who was born 10 days after Emmett. Hannah liked playing in the water with their 2 yr old, Jackson.

Rees and I got to go to the Prayer Center in Winthrop for 24hrs and let Hannah stay with Nanu & Papu. It was beautiful, refreshing and so encouraging to be there after 8 yrs of having not visited. "Peaceful" takes on a whole new meaning there and catching up with old friends (especially without a toddler - you know, uninterrupted conversation and all) was food to our souls.

It was so nice to get away and rejuvenate (even with a newborn) and we came home feeling ready to tackle our stuff and get ready to move to Central Asia.

Also of note was getting to spend the 4th of July with my family - all my siblings were in one place! Shannon did a seafood boil and jambalaya and my mom made blueberry pie - mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm! We are an eating, drinking family and had a great time together. Here's to good food and great company!

Kickin' and Laughin'

Myles' laugh is infectious - what baby's isn't?

But his is particularly adorable. He has to be the

sweetest baby around. I thought Hannah was sweet

(still do) but Myles has shown us that there's a whole

other realm of sweetness. We love you Gooey!

Readys are gone

Troy, Jenny & Myles left for Central Asia June 30th. We are planning on joining them in mid-September. We miss them terribly! They are in the midst of their month long homestay so we won't be hearing much from them (they're in a rural area) but we know they arrived safely, Myles is doing great, they are really enjoying the team that's already there and they are trying to adjust to the dramatically different way of life (their guts in particular). Please pray for their transition. Hannah keeps asking where Myles is and I'm so thankful that when we are finally on our way there, having said goodbye to so many people we love, she can look forward to seeing Myles, Troy and Jenny.
I've been so touched by so many people reaching out to me after reading my last blog entry. Thank you so much for helping keep me from feeling isolated! I definitely felt my toes hanging over the precipice of depression and feel like I've taken a step back (or forward, depends how you look at it). Which is good for a number of reasons - one of which is we have so much packing and purging of our earthly possessions to do, there's no time to be paralyzed by a dark cloud hanging over my head! Our house is crazy right now with piles everywhere - garage sale piles, Goodwill piles, storage piles and tons of stuff to just toss. Troy & Jenny were an inspiration (as they always are) in valuing simplicity as they packed and sorted and such. Just a side: they traveled all the way to Central Asia with 9 month Myles as a lap infant, having stayed within the two 40lb bags per ticketed passenger limit. Wow. I think that would be impressive even if they were just going for a visit but they/we are planning on being there for three years! Anyway, we are all surviving, can't say we are doing a whole lot more than that, but I'll take surviving over drowning any day :) By the way, my sense of humor re-emerged today (at least for a little while). Rees and I were really happy to discover that it hadn't vanished forever :)