Time does fly ...

Wow ... it has been over 2.5years since I have posted anything. Joe and I now have a 2yr old Lucy and almost 4yr old Julia. What a joy they are! Joe and I lay in bed at night often and talk about how amazingly blessed we are. The girls are wonderful and interesting and challenging in their own ways. I have started reading my Bible at night while putting Julia to bed (a sometimes hour proccess). I have been reading the New Testament to her and she loves it and I love it too! My built-in time with her and God. Julia likes to pray and last night she prayed for a baby brother and made me pray for one as well. Her prayer was simple: "Dear God, please bring me a baby brother." Mine had a caveat, "Dear God, if a baby brother is what we need, please bring him to us."

Joy, Joy, Joy!

International Youth Convention in Orlando, FL with the Church of God, Anderson, IN was amazing! God moved in mighty ways! I am so thankful for the experience and the amazing students we have! They were so sincere and honest! Praise the Lord! Sometimes it is hard to know what God is asking you to do but they truly listened for His voice and direction! We are now embarking on reading the book "Purpose Driven Life" for a total of 40days. We are expecting huge things!

Angie is in Zimbabwe - we are praying for lives to be changed and people to know the Love of Christ through their trip and the local missionaries there!

Emily and Keith just had a baby boy - Douglas Tage Tucci! So amazing - I saw 2 pictures and all I want to do is kiss his sweet face! Can't wait until I see him over Labor Day!

Julia is a joy as always! Her teachers are telling me that they sing songs and list each child's name and she knows everyone. Her favorites are Charlie and Ashley which she pronounces "Ashie." Seriously cute ... if we have a girl we might just have to name her Ashley. When I came home from IYC it was like she learned a ton of words. "bite" "show" "paci" "rock" She gives her baby the pacifier and bottle, wraps her up in a blanket and burps her. Thanks to grandma Cherie, Joyce, and great-grandma Towle for all the learning experiences!

Yesterday Julie and I emptied the dishwasher together and after she handed me each piece of silverware she said "thank you." So helpful and polite! Although, Julia and I went out to eat with Jackie and Alyana and the whole time I think Julia was testing me. She would hold food out to the side of her high chair to drop on the floor and unless I specifically said "No Julie, we eat [insert food here], we do not drop it on the floor."

We are getting excited for baby mayerik #2 gender reveal party! Aug 1st at 2pm - Come join us! I tried to look through the envelope until Joey accused me of having no integrity ... I try to be full of integrity so of course I put it down right away. Next time I post ... I'll try to add pictures or videos.

June and July

So yesterday I turned older than 29 :-) It was a wonderful day of breakfast at Mimi's, lunch at Miso and dinner at Texas Roadhouse! Love those restaurants! The last couple of months have been crazy, the Passat broke down so we bought a Ford Flex which I absolutely love! While we were in the car buying phase we were conscious that there will be another Mayerik baby added to to family so we wanted a mini-van or something bigger than a car. The Flex will be perfect! Also, everything is breaking down. I.e. Passat, garage door, weed whacker, grill, A/C, and the last straw for Joey - a fan! I think it's funny but he believes "fans should last forever!" We had a wonderful 4th of July in which we took no pictures - we are crazy. Mom, dad, Cherie, Scott, Brenda, Josh, Ethan and the girls all came in with no A/C. Thank goodness for the pool to cool us off and about 10 fans. We had a very nice time and Brenda, Josh, Joey and I got to go to dinner and a movie while the grandparents babysat. I also am so blessed b/c mom and Cherie have cleaned my whole house and done all my laundry - they are such humble servants! Thank you!

Julia is 16mo and absolutely a delight! She understands almost everything we say and now has developed the skill set to ignore - amazing! FYI ... All the quoted words she now says. She likes to go "outside" to the "pool" and afterwards put her bathing suit in the "shower" and get a "towel" to dry off. We throw away "trash." She loves putting on her "socks" and "shoes." Giving her "baby" a blanket and pacifier. She is still very giggly and eats close to the amount of what I eat. Loves fruit, especially "nanas", asparagus, edaemame and meat it really depends on the day. She loves "ice" and when we go out she wants her "hat." When we try to get in the car and it's locked she asks for the "keys." She can say "yellow, blue, green" but doesn't categorize them with actually colors. Julia is a dancer! She sways to music, lifts up her feet like she is in the marching band, and occasionally twirls!

Much more events and change expected in the future! I will post as appropriate!

Julia at 13.5 mo

Ok, so Julia is the cutest for sure!! Let me detail some things she is doing! She knows what a cow, sheep, horse and cat say! She says "no" with all types of inflection ... great huh? She also can show you where her head, nose, mouth, ears, feet and shoes are. She really likes her mouth the best and about half the time I ask where her ears are, she points at her mouth. Ok I must go now because we haven't turned in our taxes yet. And we are getting Miso for dinner - love their Pad Thai and Pineapple Fried Rice with Jessica, Wes, and Grace!

Oh my ...

I refused to set up a blog ... but now my dear sweet Emily has persued me once again to do something I vowed I would never to do! I'm so glad that she is a Christ-centered influence in my life or I could be in a world of trouble! Love you Emily!