My Two Front Teeth

Elizabeth had her first visit to the dentist this month, and I am so thankful for a GREAT visit! The hygenist was fabulous at helping E to feel comfortable with the whole process, and she even introduced E to a new friend, "Mr Thirsty." It's the little water sucker thing that gets out all the excess water and toothpaste. E even got to hold it; she LOVED that thing!









For those interested (like Grandma and Siti), the dentist said her teeth look great. She has all 20 like she should at this age, the alignment is right on, and there is good spacing, all the better for brushing. She does have a bit of an overbite, but that will be easily corrected in a few years. Yeah! I was so proud of her, and she was so proud to tell Matt how well she did. They gave her a pencil, a cool new toothbrush, and a balloon.

An Ode to Jeff and Stephanie

In a previous post, I gave you a quick reference guide to all of Elizabeth's friends. There was one huge gap in that post: her dear friends Jeff and Stephanie Harrison, whom some refer to as "Jeffanie."

There really are so many things I could say about this sweet couple and what they mean to our family and to Elizabeth in particular, especially Stephanie. We long ago adopted Steph into our family. Before she even lived with us for a summer, our individual relationships with her were each so precious to us that she became in some senses a daughter, sister, and aunt. (To my knowledge she doesn't sign "Morton" after Harrison on her checks and official documents, but in our hearts she is definitely a part of our family.) We really love her so much!! If you know her, you know why. Steph is so good at loving others, encouraging them, being open and honest, and being your fan. She laughs easily and is incredibly easy to be around. We couldn't be more blessed to be in HER life!

And her relationship with E is priceless. We pray that there would be godly older women who would befriend E throughout her life and lead her closer to Jesus. Steph is one of those women and can probably claim to be the first one!

Here's a little story to illustrate their relationship. This past weekend, we all celebrated as our dear friends Ricky and Sarah got married. Steph and I were both in the bridal party and had spent the night at Sarah's house as well as the next day getting ready for their 5 p.m. wedding. Because of this, I had not seen Elizabeth for almost 24 hours. Certainly, she would miss her mom!!

When we got to the church and she saw me and Steph, do you know whose hand she wanted to hold first? STEPHANIE'S!!! I mean, can you believe that? Though I sound offended, and honestly for a moment I was, there was also another part of me that was so happy that E still holds Stephanie so close in her heart.

This pic pretty much sums it up.














Here are some more pics of them together from a previous weekend. They illustrate the relationship that Steph and now Jeff have with our darling one.








Okay, not sure what happened to these pics, but I think you get the idea of their fun friendship. We love you, Stephie!

Boston #2

So sorry for it taking me so long to put up the last pics from Thanksgiving, but here are they are! Great memories from our great time in Boston! These are from Friday when we went to the mall all together, and the girls got time to cavort at the indoor play area.

Elizabeth and Rachel began hesitantly on the slide.














Soon they were pros!














Even teaching each other new tricks.



















The laughter was infectious. :)














Even Joshua got to play!






























Peek-a-boo






















































Can you believe how limber she is? Her foot is close to the same height as her head. (I miss those days!)














The end of a successful climb



















Finally, all the cousins together. Yea! They're all smiling, and Elizabeth is putting her full weight behind her "Cheese!"