Our "First" Day - April 6

Sleepy head...

The next morning sound asleep in her bed.

We could have slept all. day. long. We were exhausted!

Mom and Emma sitting on the couch while Emma tries to wake up. Poor thing, her schedule was all out of wack!

Lunch at my favorite restaurant in Imatra, Finland: Butenhoffs. It is DELICIOUS!!!!

Emma showing a "Moiku" (I'm sure my spelling is incorrect)

She LOVED them...you eat the WHOLE fish...head to tail.

I think I left the tails off. They were really tasty...believe me I was really hesitant at first but sitting her writing about it makes me hungry for them! Yum!

Chowing down!

Please note, these pics are not all of her eating the same fish, but of MANY fish! :)

Dad took a picture of all of us.

Buttenhoffs is right in the center of town where they have a little park area. Emma enjoyed working off her fish by slding down the slide...a million times! :)

Mom and Dad sent Josh on a little two night trip to Tallin, Estonia. I had ridden a little cruise ship over there for the day the last time I was there with mom and dad. This time, Josh was able to come and they sent us on a plane ride over. It was a nice little get away. We had alot of fun and it was a nice time of rest after a really stressful few months! Anyways, when we arrived in Tallin this is the trashcan that we saw in the airport.

Yes We Can, what?

Little Evangelist

We are taking a break from the regularly scheduled blogging to record a conversation that occurred in the car on the way home from church tonight. :)

Emma: "When I grow up I'm going to tell people about Jesus."

Me: "You don't have to wait until you grow up to tell people about Jesus. You can tell them right now."

Emma: "Okay. When we get to Palsies (a local sweet shop we were meeting our friends at) I'm going to tell Elizabeth (Emma's best little friend from church)!"

Me: "What are you going to tell her?"

Emma: "That Jesus died on the cross for our sins. And you're my best friend."

A few minutes later...

Emma: "When I get older I'm going to go to China and tell people about Jesus. They're going to have to sit down and listen to me. They better make sure their listening ears are on and they can't talk. After I tell them, then I'll take them to the park."

I LOVE HER!

Headed to Finland

We left RDU about 6 or so on Easter Sunday evening (April 4) and arrived in Helsinki, Finland Monday (April 5) about 3pm their time. We had a short and uneventful layover in London. ;) Thankfully for this trip, we traveled at night so Emma slept a decent amount of time and did pretty well.

When we got off the plane and gave our hugs to Mom and Dad we immediately went to the bathroom to change Emma's dirty clothes. I'm convinced she is a food and drink magnet when traveling. Once she came out she wanted to "ride" on the fire truck...she was happy just to sit on it and 'think' she was riding!

We got in Mom and Dad's car and drove about 3 - 3 1/2 hours to their town of Imatra. Emma played with her Leapster and read books...I think I slept the whole way. Best sleep I'd had the whole trip! :) Emma's dramatic reading of Barney.

Easter Egg Hunt

Bayleaf hosts a massive Easter Egg hunt every year on their Creedmoore Road Property. This was our first year we have been in town and able to go. Emma was in a strange mood that day and did not really want to hunt eggs, jump on "jumpy jumps" or do anything else other than eat.

Here she is enjoying some delicious nachos! :)

After the hot day at the Easter Egg hunt (Emma was DETERMINED to wear a sweater) we decided to stop for a sweet treat at one of my favorite ice cream places: Brusters! YUMMY! Kids get a free mini cone (which is the perfect size for Emma). Emma had birthday cake ice cream with little eyes! :)

Isn't it cute? She enjoyed dancing around while she ate!

Creative Eye Makeup

We were bus packing and getting ready to go see my parents in Finland. While I wasn't paying attention Emma got into my makeup. I think she's quite the make-up artist. What do you think? I'm really glad she didn't stick the mascara wand into her eye!

It Is Finished!

This is "THE BOX" that I spent MANY MANY hours working on. I did not start the process until sometime in October. We decided the beginning of November we were moving so I didn't do any work on it then because I was so busy packing. We were gone the whole week of Thanksgiving, came back and Moved December 1. Our family came in town December 12 and December 17 to attend Josh's graduation on December 18. We were still in the unpacking mode at home so...once again another month of lost work on THE BOX. January, February and March were STRESSFUL months as I tried to complete the box and finish everything up. There were MANY sleepless nights because I was working, many looooong hours away from my family but FINALY by March 31 (the due date) at 2:37 PM I was at the post office ready to mail THE BOX. My hands shook as I handed it over. I spent two months resting and doing nothing until June when I went crazy studing for my big National Boards Test I had to take. The results should be in sometime after Thanksgiving....who knows what will happen.

"THE BOX"