The Road to the Final Four

Rick sent me two text messages this morning while Piper and I were out. They were equally important in his eyes (maybe leaning more towards the second text).

1) Jetstar has your wallet
2) Final Four

That's right - the Kansas Jayhawks are going to the Final Four! This is the first time since 2003 that we've been to the Final 4. It's about time. I only have two things to say about that. One, it will be very loud at our house during the next game. Piper even says "loud" when Rick is doing all of his yelling and clapping and stuff. And two, rock chalk. (For those of you that don't know, Rock Chalk is what KU fans yell when we've clinched a win. Now you know.)

Since we were away for Easter Sunday Piper wore her Easter dress to church yesterday. It was a gift from her Great-Aunt Mary. I had to include the photo of Piper with the dress over her head; it gives you an idea of the funny girl we have on our hands.

Our Easter break

I apologize for the long delay in sharing our Easter pics. My cousin Natalee was in town visiting and we've just been enjoying spending time together. We went to the Great Barrier Reef for the long Easter weekend (it's a four-day weekend in Australia). The weather was great most of the time so we could enjoy it.

The trip didn't start too well though with me losing my wallet somewhere between our house and the airport in Cairns. We've been keeping an eye on our bank accounts and credit cards while waiting to hear back if anyone had found my wallet. I was just about to start replacing everything when Rick got a call that the airline in Sydney found it. An answer to many prayers. Now we'll have to see if everything is still in it.

I'll have to post more pics when I get copies of Natalee's photos. There is a funny one of Piper from the day we went snorkeling.

Piper and Natalee chilling on the couch



Piper and Natalee chilling on the boat

Great Barrier Reef







Rick swimming with Marvin the maori-wrasse


We saw clams like these on the reef. It's really cool when you see it breathing.

This is just about the only good photo we could get of Piper on Easter morning. She loved what the Easter Bunny brought her. She said "Jesus" when she picked up one of the eggs in her basket. I think that some of what we've been teaching her about Easter is getting through.

Here's the family in the Daintree Rainforest.

Rick and Piper on the boat trip through the rainforest

If you look closely you can see a mother crocodile in the middle of the photo.

These are some amazing mangrove trees in the rainforest.

Here's a photo of us on a stop at the Daintree Ice Cream Factory. They grow all of the fruit they use in their ice cream.

A view of the rainforest from Alexandra Peak

Welcome

Partly due to Rick's complaining, we've removed the need to login to our blog to view it. We'll see how it goes.

That's our girl

Tonight as I filed through some recent photos of Piper it struck me how quickly she's growing up. She's not a baby anymore, really, she's a little girl. And maybe it was the sappy music I was listening to at the time, I don't know, but I was overwhelmed by the blessing I enjoy of not just being a mother, but being Piper's mother. What a beautiful and precious spirit Rick and I have been blessed with to watch over, protect, and love! It's such an awesome responsibility and a privilege at the same time.

That smile just melts me. How lucky we are to have such a happy girl!

A girl and her daddy


Taking advantage of the slight bit of sunshine we've had this summer, Piper and I went to the beach on Thursday.

Piper is reading an engrossing article in TIME.

"M" - She's pointing out the M to me.

I know the photo's fuzzy but what a crazy getup. I can see the resemblance to Grandma Mum, although Mum might have passed on the pirate's hat...maybe.

Love, love, love this picture of Piper. The smile and the pigtails are just too much to resist. Now if only we could ditch the bandages that keep her from scratching her arms to bits.