Happy Bike Day!!!

Here is Isha in one of his favorite places - the tragatuch. Once he gets all wrapped up he is in for a good sleep.

Two beautiful folks!

Isha almost never rides in a kinderwagen (stroller), but he has been restless in his sling carrier lately. This was tried out for a day and was moderately successful. Here he clearly enjoys his ride.

Bella has learned how to climb all the way to the top of the really cool jungle gyms at the spielplatz (playground). Though it makes us quite nervous, she loves it!

Here it is! The fabulous birthday bike that Rachel has been waiting for these past few weeks.

It is called a Bakfiets, which is Dutch for "box bike". It can carry up to 4 little ones, or, in our case, 2 little ones and lots of other stuff. These bikes are very expensive normally, but Rachel, in her characteristic enterprising and thrifty way, found a really great deal on one in The Haag, Netherlands. Our newfound friend Kevin (father of Minnie and Dottie) actually picked it up for us in his van. He is our hero! This bike makes is so much easier for Rachel to transport our family as well as other things like shopping. We do not own a car here so this is really a big help.
Here you can see Rachel and Bella on the bike in the park. We have already used it for park trips, a trip to the lake, and shopping around town. There will be many more photos coming soon!

We would like to thank all of you who contributed to our fund for the bike. It would not have been possible without your generous gifts!

Last but not least is Bella in the center of Leipzig enjoying her new umbrella. Umbrella's are one of her favorite items.

Rachel's Birthday Part I and More Park Pics

Here is Rachel looking beautiful on her 30th birthday. Though it is difficult to tell, Bella looks beautiful, too, hiding in her "cage".

Isha has begun to eat solid food lately and here papa feeds him some good stuff in the kitchen.

Here is Isha looking adorable while longing for mama's birthday blueberry pancakes. There will be a Part II to the birthday pics coming soon with lots of good stuff!

Another relaxing day in the park found Isha and Bella together. Bella eats popcorn and Isha engages in his other favorite new activity - crawling.

Happy Isha!

Hello everybody!

I can't let a blog post go by without showing some of Bella's many expressions. She is really quite good at them all.

Sometimes you just have to be silly.

Day in the Park

Here is another update post so that everyone can see what we have been up to lately.

We spent a lovely day in the park recently and Isha enjoyed the good weather!

Leipzig has many beautiful public flower gardens in the park. Bella did some serious posing in the flowers.

VERY exotic!

Here Bella tries her hand at flying, at which she is actually quite good. Pointing your fingers straight up in the air is what gets you up really high.

This is a very serious model pose.

Here two of my favorite pretty flowers, mama and Isha, enjoy those in the park.

Here is another update post to catch up on recent events in our lives.

We'll start off with a photo of Isha in his new carrier, out for a walk in the park.

We took a trip with Caitie, Vaughan, and Neave to the Sachsisher Schweitz (mountains on the border of Germany and Czech Republic) a few months ago. Bella and Neave got to have all kinds of fun together. Here they are enjoying the train ride.

Perhaps the most exciting part for these guys was running around the hotel. Here they lounge around on the bed after jumping furiously on it for some time.

During our period of extended sickness we missed some great street festivals here in Leipzig, which made us sad. We did, however, make it to one really good one and Bella got her face painted as usual.

Bella's uncle Mark was here to visit and help from May to July. He spent a lot of time with Bella reading books, playing in the back yard, and, of course, putting on costumes!

Here is a lovely picture of mama and Isha out and about.

Long-awaited Update!

Hello again. We apologize for another long delay but we have had quite a tough time lately. We were all quite sick for along time. It is still hard for us to believe that everything is back to normal now, but we are certainly enjoying it. Much has happened in our lives and now everyone is thriving. Here are some photos to catch you up on our lives. There are still plenty to come in order to cover all of the significant events of the last several months.

Bella enjoys a grand costume at her friend Minnie's house (pics and stories of those two coming soon).

Isha is just the happiest guy in the world.

Did I also mention the cutest?

Here Bella is practicing being a good big sister.

And yet more practice. Isha loves Bella tremendously.

I call this series "The Many Faces of Bella". She is quite an actress!

Bella and Buck's (a.k.a. Isaha's) grandfather Bob came to visit us. Bella was absolutely delighted. Her she plays with her new crayons and coloring books.

Bob and Buck - need we say more?

Bella shows off her new cowgirl outfit that grandpa Bob gave her. I don't think she has taken those boots off yet...