Not until you're at least 35 young lady!

Yep... a short time of distraction on my part and out surfaces Hannah from our bathroom with my mascara more proud than any of the olympic winners!

Promoted!

Build, build, build.... Clean, clean, clean..... Then build some more... then, yup you guessed it... keep building (and of course more cleaning after that... mixed in with a lot of prayer!)! We are finding out what it takes first hand to build a church! Both physically and spiritually! Man who would have thought that we would take part in such an amazing process... And through it all we seem to be getting our socks blessed off too!

Transition:
1. the act of passing from one state or place to the next

2. an event that results in a transformation

Definitely describes the season our church is in right now! And also definitely describes the season we can't seem to get out of! (Not a bad thing!) Hannah and I decided to bake cookies again today to bring to the new building for everyone working (We've baked about 90dozen cookies so far!) I am just amazed every time we go there. I think of all that will happen there and I can't wait for it all to get started!

Here the girls are taking a break from all of the sweeping (kicking up dust) they were doing. They have claimed this job as their own and immediately head for the brooms anytime we visit! Today Pastor Steve thought they did such a great job sweeping and have been so faithful to sweep with every visit that a promotion was due! (Which is where the first picture came in... Yep Hannah in a skid steer... or whatever it is called?) Anyhow she was thrilled at the opportunity to drive all by herself! (Not really...she just has a great imagination!)

The sunbeam caught the peak of their dust production today.... The girls really do a great job! ;)

Welcome to McCall, Idaho!

Okay... So my camera battery died and I don't have very many pictures from our short trip this Friday and Saturday, but we sure spent our time there having a blast! Who knew such a beautiful place was so close! We must do more exploring! Above are the two Hannah's on the first night we were there... I'm pretty sure Hannah Grace was trying to steal Hannah Joy's heat as it was 35degrees or something like that during the night hours!

Today we spent part of the day on the Lake. Hannah took multiple rides on the speedboat with John... I braved one (since I didn't have any dramamine) and all she kept asking for was more!

Hannah also spent some time trying to convince David they should find some waterskis and take turns driving the boat until they learned the very fine sport!

She finally settled for hanging out in the tube while John pushed her out and pulled her back in!

And just in case all of the watersports weren't enough fun.... There was the zipline! You guessed it! Little adrenaline girl jumped at the first opportunity to "Do it myself!" As is the response to most tasks needed to be completed these days and her third birthday begins to creep up!

Way to go Papa running along to make sure Hannah holds on!

She would have done this for hours! John had a definite workout!

Hannah didn't lag behind on the walk back up to the start of the zipline! If only we could get her to walk this fast in the stores!

And this video is not for the faint of hearts (Grandma's in particular!) Remember.... I wasn't around when all of this started! Hannah pulled on John's heart strings with that sweet little smile and the big ol' Pleeeeeeeeease Papi!

The Next Olympic Hopeful?

Ok... So it was so hot today! I filled up the pool this morning with freezing hose water and by afternoon it was as warm as bath water! We had to add cold water to bring it back to refreshing... Ahhhhhhhh..

In the meantime Hannah came up with a great new sport! All I can say is that even at 2yrs old, one can be inspired by the olympics!

Over and over and over she practiced... Goal to land on the fish ring without falling off! Whether butt in the hole or bellyflop, Hannah got better with each attempt to land on the fish!

And let me tell you... this little girl catches some air! She is truly impressive!

Jesus walked on the water.... Hannah slides across on her knees! ;-)

After a hard day of training.... What is there to do but relax!

Here is some live training for your personal viewing...

Yep you can say you saw it here first folks!

Hiking in the foothills...

As I awoke this morning I realized with the craziness of this summer we have made very few trips to the foothills. They are only 20 miles away and a place we can get away from it all. Sadie can run free (on most trails), Hannah loves to explore, and I love the peacefulness of it all. It's not hard to imagine you are in the middle of nowhere (as I often did while on adventures as a child), and you don't have to hike too far before you are on your own. As you hike to the peak of any one of the foothills, you are able to see a portion if not all of the beauty of the Treasure Valley. I love it here!

Today we took a new route. I have a general sense of directions while hiking in the valleys of the foothills and if I start to get that "lost" feeling, I am definitely not too proud to turn around! But today brought us to a half peak with a crystal clear view of the Capitol building and some of the other high rises. I began to think of the craziness and hundreds of people working downtown today and was thankful to be in the quiet foothills with Hannah and Sadie.

If you look close there is a beetle on the center flower. It must have stunk because Sadie followed the scent and was determined to eat this bug!

Not a complete trip without the funny face!

We hiked for about an hour and when we rounded back near the car Hannah got to hike and explore for the next 20 or 30 minutes. It's always great to see what Hannah pays attention to. Most of the time it is phenominal discoveries that I never would have found had I kept her in the stroller.

Oh the footprints... Every size, shape, animal, person, all on various modes of transportation... all crossing the same path but in general at very different times. That is a whole other blog in and of itself! I began to wonder... Why did they come here? Were they happy... sad? Running.. walking? From something... to something? So many stories written in that sand... all erased in the sand and replaced with the most recent. I wonder who's at the very bottom?

We have obviously failed in teaching Hannah the art of fishing.... She was determined to catch on with only a stick... Help?

We had an amazing day enjoying the beauty of the foothills!

Life amongst all of the dry grasses.... Absolutely beautiful!

All in a day's work...

Since I've started working 1 day a week, Hannah has really obtained some new skills! What Hannah and I do for fun is great, but what John and Hannah do for fun has brought a whole new meaning to the word! I got to observe this on Sunday as John asked Hannah if she wanted to help him in the shop. I watched and listed as Hannah yelled some form of language I could not understand (because she was so excited) and took off into the house. I looked to John for translation and he calmly said... "Oh she's going in to get her apron." As if that were obvious! Back in a flash she asked me to help get her apron on and promptly went to work. I guess Hannah has taken the role as "assistant" in the shop on the days that I work.... she loves it! Above she is helping carry some wood (what will be a stair) out to get all of the dust off.

Now don't worry it's not child labor... I don't think! ;) I hear plenty of stories including parks and water and hiking and kite flying amongst an array of other fun things. But Hannah lights up when she gets to help her Papi in the shop! It was great to witness! Currently they are working on replacing carpeted stairs with the wood stairs that John is building for one of my co-workers.


So excited! And sure she knows exactly what she's doing... I believe the quote was " I can do it! No help me Papi!".

Sign of a good Dad.... He lets you dip the entire brush into the finish.... even though he is so careful to only cover the tip with finish!

And if Becky ever sees this blog... Don't worry Hannah only put finish on the bottom of the stair. You will never ever see it (Unless you rip them up) which is also why you might notice the gigantic X on the bottom! She had a blast doing it though!

Definite Woman! Multitasking already!