Snapshots of the Lewis'

These are some snapshots of some dear friends who have fed my frenzy to take pictures. April... Robert... thank you so much for letting me capture these moments.

"Soft as Pig's Fur!"

Okay there is no vision or picture to accompany this tidbit... but I am sure you have already begun to draw your own picture from the title of this post....

It began Christmas morning when an unnamed child of ours opened their gift of new winter-warm, cozy pajamies (as they are called in our house). Upon feeling them slowly, first with their hands, then softly against their face. The first words out of their mouth to describe the welcomed softness, and with all the emotion that could be mustered. "Whoa... these are as soft as pig's fur." Everything fell silent as these words began to tickle our ears and then our bellies. The laughter was outrageous.

At the heart of it, this unnamed child has the ability to try too terribly hard to be funny and goofy... all the while seeming awkward. Yet, when the thought of silliness has escaped their thoughts, it abounds without effort.

And again tonight, these words came trailing through the house as the same pajamies were discovered and worn again. "Ohhh, these are soft... soft like a pig's fur." So after a few cycles in the Kenmore... the cozy indulgence we call 'pajamies' was once again put into perspective.

I hadn't the heart to correct the prized sentiment...

Only because I hadn't the strength to catch my breath... out of laughter.

Oh and now I can't resist--

Here is hoping your pajamies are softer than pig's fur.

(Note: The pajamies in question are in fact amazingly soft, as not to be confused with the softness of swine.)

Paul's Mesa pictures...

My dear Paul took a trek to Arizona this last week to help some Amazonians at the Amazon.com facility in Goodyear Arizona. I was bummed when I realized he would be just 30 minutes from a favorite LDS temple of mine in Mesa. The architecture of the Mesa temple was patterned after pre-Columbian temples and the temple of Herod. It is unlike any of the other 125+ LDS temples throughout the world. While Paul was out there he was sweet enough to take some time to snap some pictures of the temple and the temple grounds, and the Visitors Center for me. The Christus that stands in the Visitors Center is especially breathtaking. Take a look at some of the beautiful pictures he brought back for me.... This is better than having Paul come home with a new Amazon.com hoodie... any day. Though I love my hoodies too babe!!

Paul took a picture of this painting that as in the Mesa Visitors Center, as it is by my favorite artist Carl Bloch. This is a model of Jerusalem with the temple of Herod.

These are the words that are written at the entrance of each LDS temple. It is a reminder of what I want our home to be patterned after.

Oh how lovely, a desert garden... and that my friends is why I live in the Midwest... I LOVE TREES!

Oh my sweet Paul laid down on the ground just to get this picture for me. He knows how I love my angled pictures.

Ahhh, the windows are pristine... see how the sky is reflected in the windows. Wait there is another one...

These carvings include depictions of both ancient inhabitants of Central and North America and other carvings of early American pioneer scenes as well.

Ah... you can even see the clouds in the sky reflected through the windows.

What is more serene than the sound of gentle waters flowing... especially in a desert!

Thanks for stopping by to share these favorite scenes with us...

Hannah... Our Builder

So for Christmas Paul was brave enough to give Hannah some KNEX building kits. I say brave because that's a whole lot of pieces to keep track of... and with LittleManMark it isn't going to be easy to keep track of all of them-- and him away from them. So we'll see in these coming months how he fares with a 1,000 pieces on the floor. Not only did Hannah get one KNEX kit, but THREE. And as we are big fans of the Neewollah Fair here in Independence in the fall, the KNEX fair ride kits were a HIT!! (Neewollah is Halloween spelled backwards...) So needless to say, Hannah had a heyday putting the swing ride together. I am amazed at how imaginative Hannah is with building. She definitely gets that visual cue from Daddy's side of the family. So it was a real treat to watch her build and to see her masterpiece unfold. Next will be the double Ferris Wheel...

Along with her imaginative nature... is a bit of goofiness mixed up in there...

Dear Great-Grandma... this is for YOU!

So if you have kept up here, you know that my mama is at home here with us in Kansas now. While we have been enjoying the many faces of Mark we realized it is our responsibility to share our great bounty with Great-Grandma.

Dear Grandma,

This is for you. We love you!

With Love, Aja & Ang (my mama)

Sunday's Best

Sunday is our special day to get dressed up. Only the best for the Lord, right?! We think so. It is especially helpful that my mama finds only the sweetest looking threads for the little ones. While my mom and I were looking through our Sunday pictures, we realized... LittleManMark looks like quite the BIG little man here... oh how he grows!

(Oh and the wet spot on his pants is where he was drooling... ALOT...)

('Nother thought... the gold thread beared chair was a sweet find at the flea market over Christmas break to my Grandma's... ah I love flea market finds. Thanks for passing that love along Grandma!)