:: Victoriously Clean ::

This may sound silly, however tonight was a huge victory for us.   In short, since the week after Analise was born, we have bathed her at least every other day, if not every day.  It used to be her FAVORITE time of the day.  We would ask if she wanted to take a bath and she would RUN to the bathroom and bounce up and down, try to take her clothes off - so eager to get in to the bath.  Well, since our trip back east a month ago, she has hated the bath.  She would cry, yell, whine, anything to avoid it at all costs.  One of us would have to get in with her and wash her as she STOOD UP in the tub the whole time and whined and cried.  Where did my bath loving girl go?  Would she ever come back?!

The other day I was finally able to get her to at least SIT down in the tub.  How you ask?  Her shoes.  Yes.  Her shoes.  Whenever we put her shoes on, she sits down, so I asked her if she wanted to wear her shoes in the tub.  She quickly responded "Yea" and sat on her bottom.  So after two days of crocs in the tub, tonight was the first time in a whole month, she sat in the tub the whole time by herself.  In fact, she didn't want to get out!  She was having fun in the bath again.  It was a silly, but great victory for us!  

:: Ashes ::

Most of you know by now that there have been terrible wildfires in Northern California the past few weeks.  Unfortunately another fire broke out on Friday, June 20th on Trabing Road in Watsonville which just so happens to be the street our dear friends the Cecy's and the Ollenburger's live.   Amazingly, only one of three houses on the property burnt down.  The firefighters were fantastic and saved all that they could.  

Tragically, Ryan and Renee Ollenburger's house was reduced to ashes.  It is just devastating to see what was once a house is now just ashes and to know that they were not able to get anything.  No pictures, nothing.   Ryan and Renee have been dealing with this loss so wonderfully.  The community has come together in unbelievable ways.  I have been inspired by the generosity of people to support this family, and more inspired by the peace and grace that Renee and Ryan have had through this situation.  

We went to their property today and looked around.  It looks completely different.  It is a crazy contrast to see two of the houses still standing, untouched by fire, and the other 46 acres just burnt to a crisp.   Here are some pictures of the property.

This was Ryan and Renee's front door!

This used to be their guest house bedroom!

This was the guest house kitchen:

Some of the upper property

Desolate

Thankfully no one was hurt at all.  God had been gracious to them all in this time.  Feel free to pray for them as they start sorting through and processing all that has happened in the past few days!

:: Lady Like Things ::

We have had some toasty hot weather here in the past few days.  It has finally cooled off, however it was fun while it lasted.  Analise wore shorts, tank tops and dresses for quite a few days.  here are some pics of her playing outside with water and in her favorite dress. 

We went to our dear friends, Ryan and Renee's house (or lack thereof after the fire) today to see the property.  Analise always LOVES going there and playing with Kendall and Caroline.  Today the girls dressed her up like a fairy and drove her around in her stroller.  She was laughing and smiling the whole time.  In these pictures she wasn't too sure about the whole get up until they showed her that the wand made a special fairy sound.   It was too cute.

What a princess!

:: Fork Fed ::

This past week has been pretty difficult with Analise as she was fighting a virus.  We took her to the doctor yesterday and found out she has Parvovirus, otherwise known as fifth disease or slap cheek(not the kind that dogs get).  In short, it is a virus that made her pretty miserable for the past week.  All she wanted was to snuggle and cry on my shoulder.  It got old quick.  The virus make her achy, tired, whiney, nauseous, and ended with a rash on her cheeks and upper body.  Apparently once the rash arrives, they are no longer contagious.  Strange.  On top of that, she has been teething...two teeth coming in at once.  Today was a better day.

All of that to say, despite the difficult week, there have been moments of joy and laughter.  This week Analise decided that she wanted to feed herself with her fork.  Tonight she ate a whole bowl of avocados and cottage cheese with a fork.  It made for some funny pictures.  Here is a string of pics of her with her fork.

:: Radichen Sandwich ::

Every now and then Markus will make some type of food and say something along the lines of, "this is what poor Austrian kids ate when I was a kid".  Last night our neighbor gave us some fresh radishes, so he decided he wanted a Radish Sandwich.  Strange?  Yes.  Very.

The words out of his mouth last night were, "Nini, I will show you what us poor Austrian kids ate when we had to find something to eat."  He proceeded to make a radish sandwich that simply contained sliced radishes, butter, salt and pepper.  It is called Radichen (pronounced rad-ees-e-en).  Interesting I say.  Interesting.

Please note the picture.  Markus did make me take this and we did have to re-shoot the pic with the knife in perfect position. :-)

:: Airport ::

Last week we went to the Watsonville airport to look at airplanes with Jessica, Sammy, and Joey.  We had a good time, especially once we were able to get inside the gate and see the planes close up.  Here are a few pics Jess took.

:: Boy Oh Boy ::

Today was a great day!!  We had an ultrasound today and were able to 'meet' our new baby.   From what we were able to see, the baby is growing as it should be and is healthy!  The technician was fantastic.  The first question she asked us was, "do you want to know the gender?"  We quickly replied that we did.  

Without exaggeration, the very moment she placed the wand on my stomach, this is the first view we got.  (I added some labels so you are able to grasp what it is you are seeing.  I suppose pictures like this are only appropriate when they are in the womb :-)

She quickly said, "Well, I am glad you wanted to know the gender...he is not being shy!"  Both Markus and I were able to tell within seconds that we are going to be having a son!  We are both very pleased and excited!  It is nice to be able to refer to the baby as a 'him' now.  The next fun step is coming up with a suitable name for our little man.

Here are some other great pictures of baby boy Lettner.  The first is a profile picture and he has his fist in front of his mouth.  You can see his arm and elbow, and his tummy.  The second is a great profile picture.  

We are looking forward to meeting our son, and we're pretty sure Analise is looking forward to having a brother around. 

:: Water Girl ::

Analise was trying her hardest to drink from a 'big girl' water bottle today.

She almost got it...

Tomorrow, if we are lucky, we will find out if she is going to have a brother or a sister.  Most importantly, we are praying for a HEALTHY baby!

:: Home Again ::

We are back from our trip to New Hampshire. It is always good to get away, and always good to get home. Our flight home was MUCH better than the way out, so we are thankful for that. Before I walked out the door of my parents house I was looking at some old family photos. I snapped a few pictures of pictures because I liked them. I would have liked to get more but time wouldn't permit.

This is my dad as a baby and a young boy.

This is my mom in the early 70's. So pretty.

This is a picture that my dad took of my brother Hass. I think it is a great photo...good plug for Coca-Cola.

:: Maine Attraction ::

On Tuesday we headed out to the coast and up to Maine. It is such a lovely little drive, and the coast of Maine is just magical. We drove along the water almost the entire time seeing beautiful, ginormous houses that have a full ocean view. One of the many great things about the East Coast is that everyone has yards. These homes sit on beautiful green grass that surrounds the house on every side. These yards are not just a few square feet...there is some serious lawn, garden, play space. For those of us that live in Santa Cruz and love walking along West Cliff Drive...this Maine scenery makes West Cliff look like the ghetto. Really. It is just beautiful here.

The first place we stopped was Nubble Point Lighthouse at York Beach. It is a lovely little lighthouse that sits about 20 yards off the coast on a rock island. We stumbled upon this place about two years ago with my brother Ib and his fiance Lisa, so we wanted to visit again.

Analise was so excited to see the ocean again. It had been over ten days since she had seen the ocean! As soon as we got out of the car, she wanted to go explore and get close to the water. Markus went with her to explore the tide pools and let her touch the Atlantic for the first time. It wasn't the most comfortable position for her, I am sure!We continued to meander up the coast and decided to head for Kennebunkport. As soon as we got close to this quiant little coast village, we fell in LOVE. It is SO hard to capture just how lovely and CLEAN everything was here. I am not on my normal computer, so I am not able to crop this picture, however I loved the sign that welcomes visitors. We ate at a clam shack and walked all around. I wasn't able to get as many good pictures as I would have liked. As I mentioned, it is really hard to capture a town on camera...with a 16 month old nonetheless! Analise loved looking at all of the waterfront shops and she liked the brick sidewalks too.

Markus and I decided that if we are ever able to, we would love to open a bed and breakfast here in Kennebunkport. It is a lovely place and the people we encountered were so kind--very reminiscent of some small towns in New Zealand. Needless to say, visiting Kennebunkport has been the highlight of our travels on this trip.

:: Fields and Flowers ::

This is the view from the house and property my sister lives at and takes care of in Vermont. I grew up just about 10 minutes from here. It is beautiful! It was fun watching Analise prance around in the fields with the flowers.

Here she is with her Auntie Rohana

We decided to smooch her on each side...she wasn't too excited about it. Analise is finally warming up to her grandparents too. Here she is giving Nana a big, long hug tonight.

:: Vacation ::

We have been away on vacation for the past five days. Last Tuesday night we packed up our bags and left on a jet plane for the East Coast to stay with my parents in New Hampshire. We are having a splendid time here!

The first day was one of the hardest days we have ever had with Analise. She usually gets at least 12 hours of sleep at night and a 2 hour nap in the day. Well, we thought for sure she would sleep on the plane, but alas...no sleep for her. We were THAT family with THAT kid that doesn't sleep on an overnight flight and cries most of the time. Oye! So, instead of her normal 14 or so hours of sleep in a 24 hour period, she only had about 4 hours within a 36 hour period. Needless to say, the day we arrived was hard, but once she went to bed at 6pm and woke up the next day at 8:30am, she was happy as can be...and on the East Coast time schedule. Phew!

My mom went crazy with getting some really fun toys for Analise and making the house a fun place for her to be. Analise is loving it here. Her favorite thing so far is the swing that my mom hung up on the apple tree.

We have been laying low and enjoying some down time--taking a few car rides to neighboring towns here and there. The weather has been beautiful and the trees are so many shades of green. The backyard is more like a feeding place for all the local wildlife here. Every morning we see wild turkeys, ducks, all sorts of birds, chipmonks, squirrels, dragonflies, and even butterflies. Analise is partial to the ducks of course.

Today we headed to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery where they house Clydesdale horses. We were lucky enough to get to watch some of them being groomed. Analise was fascinated with how big and beautiful they were. She simply stared at them in amazement and every now and then would say, 'wow'!

Tomorrow we are headed to Vermont to visit my sister, then in a day or two we are off to Maine to enjoy some real Maine Lobster. I will be sure to get more pictures!