SLS Puppet Show

The girls are looking over schools for their educational future. SLS hosted a puppet show to entice new families to consider the blessings of Springfield Lutheran. At times the puppets show was scary as you can tell by the looks on these little girl's faces. Hope we can talk them into attending. These girls seem very bright and could enhance the image of the school

Benching the Girls

Grampa heard the cry for a window bench for his twin granddaughters. Here are the two trying out the new bench near the kitchen window. What fun!

Phoenix in January

The middle of January we were invited to travel to Phoenix/ Scottsdale, AZ to present a parenting workshop for Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church and School. Suspecting that AZ would be oh so much nicer than Missouri in January we went a day early and stayed a day late. Dennis and Becky Moyer, who spend six months of the year there, were great hosts. Here you see us at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens where the glass scupture of Chihuly was on display among the cacti and other vegetation. Our photos probably don't do it justice, because it was truly beautiful. We also marveled at the wide variety of cacti. Here you see us in front of a suguaro cactus--something Dennis called the "Roy Rogers" cactus because it is often what we think of when we think of a cactus.

Chihuly mimicing cactus and other vegetation

Sawyer's Quilt

Last April I picked up a bag of coordinated scraps at a quilt shop in Iowa while I was there with some friends. These served as inspiration for Sawyer's quilt. Since his room has a barnyard theme, I thought the ducks and puppies would be perfect. Here you see him, his mom Sarah and me with the quilt. I was very happy with the finished result and even more pleased that I could get it done by Christmas.

A Table for Tea

Addie sips a cup of tea with Nanna and "Sissy" at her brand new table and chairs on Christmas morning. As you can see, it's very good.

Drinking tea with Nanna is way more fun than drinking it alone, especially if Nanna give you little bits from her actual tea cup. Nanna is trying to bring the girls along in the correct way in honor of their African grandparents who definitely know how to make a proper cup of tea.

"Yes, Jasmine dear, this table is just what we needed. Now everyone will want to sit at the little table with us."

Tinsley/Haas Side Christmas Party

Jennifer's cousin, Alan, gets some help from Addison during the family Bingo game. Maria, Alan's wife, can be seen in the background. Alan and Maria were terrific hosts for this gala event. They had everything, including six different kinds of homemade pie and lots of toys that toddlers enjoy--something for everyone!

It should be noted that Alan once again tricked Miriam into winning the varnished bread centerpiece. She managed to sneak the old version back into Alan's house, but he was ready with a completely updated and newly varnished model which she just "happened" to win in the family Bingo game.

Addison and Jasmine enjoyed the rocking horse, which was just their size. Here Jasmine enjoys some face stretches for the assembled relatives.

Paul has adopted Jennifer's family as his own. Here he can be seen with Jennifer's cousin, JoAnn--one of the Baptist cousins. As you can see, they're on friendly terms.

Thanksgiving Fun

Yes, this is Thanksgiving Day, outdoors for lunch. You'll note that Andrew and Paul are wearing sunglasses and that no one is wearing a coat. It was a lovely lunch. We saved our big meal for the evening indoors.

Here's the whole Baker clan plus Sarah's sister Elizabeth and the Hays family from St. Louis. If you start with Alex and go clockwise the people you see are as follows: Alex, Miriam, Addison Green, Gretchen Hays, Jerry Hays, Elizabeth Wehr, Noah Hays, Andrew Baker, (Sawyer is just out of view), Sarah Baker, Jennifer and (Jasmine Green behind Jennifer's head.) Yes, we had three children under the age of two. Lots of mealtime excitement. Paul is taking the photo.

Poor little Sawyer was not himself for most of Thanksgiving as he had a bad ear infection that necessitated a visit to pediatric urgent care on Friday afternoon. His usual sunny disposition had its challenges since he could not eat or sleep well. When the medication he received did not include any flavoring his poor parents had their hands full trying to get him to take it. A kind pharmacist was able to remedy the problem on Saturday morning--the day Andrew and Sarah discovered their car had been broken into (two windows smashed) and their computer, etc. stolen. Fortunately, they were able to borrow Paul's van to return to Texas and the improved flavor of the medicine helped Sawyer to get some in his system.