Toy Boxes can be Tricky :)

Getting to some of the toys in the bottom of the Toy Box can be Tricky for Levi:



Trust me... He has tried several approaches :)


I mean really:

No Worries~
We bought some smaller baskets for his toys so he can sit on the floor and reach his toys with ease.

* The baskets are really neat and hand made here out of newspaper that they wet, roll, weave, dry and paint, and it's made by some women in a local village.
Cool huh?
I think so :)

:: Trekking ::

During one of our Sabbath Saturdays we decided to trek up the nearby mountains with some friends

We started bright and early- catching our auto rickshaw at 5:30AM,
and beginning the trek at 6:00AM.

One bonus of the early morning:
We got to see the sun rise from behind the mountains
Gorgeous :)




Surrounded by mountains & loving it


Our trek consisted of some roads, some off roading, surrounded by greenery, then through small villages and passing people:

Of course we passed some wildlife: cows, donkeys, monkeys, etc...


Levi was in his glory being outside the whole time.
He was so content in his backpack just looking around, chatting it up, or napping :)

Fun little snapshot of a village:


One of my favorite sites on the journey:
Look closely... this is a gravel TRACK!!!!
Lanes marked & the Olympic rings in the center...
maybe this will be the next Olympics location:)
None the less it brought back fond memories of "the glory days"


Finally, 6 hours later, we hiked through these beautiful pine trees and into this village
where we met up with a few other friends and ate some delicious breakfast.


Whew~ I'm exhausted!
Hope you enjoyed trekking with us.

. Little Stinker .

"It wasn't me"

:: Levi's First Haircut ::

13 months have come and gone without cutting a hair on this little guys head...
But, alas, the time had come and a haircut was much needed :)

Can you tell?


So last Monday we took him to Papa's Barber Shop

We did it later in the evening and it worked out great:
We put two toys in his hands and sat him on the bathroom floor
Craig turned the clippers on and the sound mesmerized Levi- haha.
We watched his little curls fall to the floor (which was kind of sad) but could finally see those precious little eyes without hair in front of them- so it was worth it :)

Levi was tuckered out toward the end and just laid his head down on my lap while Craig finished trimming...
So sweet!

The final results:
One handsome little boy

Craig and Levi both did a great job.

I love spending my days with these two!

"I wonder if today will be the day....."

As we drove home from class on Tuesday, I leaned forward and said to Craig...
"I wonder if today will be the day?"
His response: "The day for what?"
My response: "The day we finally get one of our packages!" :)

Guess What ..... IT WAS!!!!!
The best part about it: It wasn't just one package... or two...
nope not even three.... but FOUR packages arrived on the same day :)

Delivery #1 and #2:


From Nana & Pappy:
(Just in time for me to use the yellow cake mix to make pumpkin pie cake for Thanksgiving)

Levi loved his little car from Nana & Pappy so much he wouldn't even put it down to eat lunch!



From Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Jodi, Uncle Eric & Tate:

Can you guess Levi's favorite part?
Surprise surprise- right?
A TRUCK~ Woo Hoo!
As well as the Alphabet refrigerator magnets...
He will just sit or stand in front of the fridge now and slide them around or fling them everywhere~ He thinks it is hilarious:)

My favorite part- the hard wipes container that I had left behind...
oh the little things that make your heart happy... I know I know.
And Craig's favorite - Starbuck's coffee :)

And just when we thought the fun was over...
we got a phone call that there was another package at the front gate for us.
ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!

Oh YEA :) Delivery #3 and #4:
One from Leah Lou~
Hairspray (still smiling with joy), Chili seasoning packets, sticky note pads, FALL colored M&Ms (yay)
and
the other from Aunt Jodi~
A Christmas Praise Baby DVD
(Christmas and Praise Baby = Wonderful combination)

So the sweetest part about it was before any of the packages even arrived I was sitting there feeding Levi lunch on Tuesday,
and I was just overwhelmed with thoughts of gratitude.

So I just started to thank the Lord FOR...
- A precious little boy whose smile just brightens my day
- Levi's sincere little eyes that look deep into mine and remind me "You are my mama"
- How a little body that's only 13 months old can bring so much JOY to others
- Family who supports us and loves us and misses us :)
- A husband who is gracious and patient with me, and who is passionate for the Lord
- A place that feels like "home" while we learn language and for God allowing my heart to find more and more things everyday to love about India
- A precious helper who looks forward to playing with Levi and teaching me how to cook Indian food.

AND now I want to say THANK YOU for sending packages full of joy and goodies our way!

So as you celebrate Thanksgiving this year... eat a little extra turkey for us ...
hug someone's neck a little longer in our place...
and find a little quiet place and allow the Lord to open your eyes to see just much His goodness is present ALL AROUND you.
I pray you are overwhelmed with a heart of gratitude and humbled by His grace.

~Truly Humbled & Forever Grateful~

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'all :)

T-R-A-C-T-O-R ?

Anyone want to guess what Levi wants for Christmas?

.Back in Action.

One thing is for sure...
This boy LOVES to play.

He just likes sitting and playing. He is so good at playing by himself.
(He kind of forgot about this when we first got here and always wanted one of us nearby,
but he has finally got back into his groove and is "Back In Action":
playing hard- cracking himself up- discovering new feats- Fun Stuff!)

"Thanks for watching me play"
~Little Monkey~