Our Little Firecracker

Rebekah is definately our little firecracker. She is so expressive, joyful, and lights up a room. Her laughter and her smiles are contagious. Right now I am working through Beth Moore's study called "Loving Well." It is a study of 1 John 4 and focuses on loving others. One of the main premises is that we have to accept and believe God's love for us before we can truly love others. As I have been reflecting on God's love for me, I keep thinking of my love for Rebekah. It is so hard for me to grasp how much the Lord loves me and that there is nothing that I could do to make Him stop loving me. But when I think of how much I love Rebekah, it helps me begin to grasp just how much God loves me. There are times that I just sit and watch Rebekah with such pleasure and with a huge smile on my face. I am so thankful that I know a God who loves me even more than I love Rebekah (which is hard for me to imagine because I love her so much)!!!
This past weekend when we were in Sedona, Auntie Joelle gave Bekah a little firecracker shirt. Even though it was way too small, I had to put it on her. It gave both Bekah and I a good laugh. We have been joking with Auntie Jo that she gave Bekah her first crop top.


When Bekah was just 4 weeks old, we bought this Leap Frop table at a church garage sale. Just yesterday, she began to lean on it and play with it. What a great new toy!

Father's Day in Sedona

This past weekend we met up with my sister, Joelle, and her husband, Jim, in Sedona, Arizona. What a wonderful and fun trip. We loved getting time with Joelle and Jim. Sedona is only about 5.5 hours from Albuquerque so it was not too bad of a drive and Bekah did great in her car seat. When we found out that Joelle and Jim would be in Sedona (they live in Spokane, WA), we knew that we would do anything to drive there and get a couple of days with them. We spent time lounging at the pool, playing cards, laughing, and eating yummy food. It was really relaxing and refreshing. Thanks, Jim and Joelle, for a perfect weekend - we love you both!
Nelson is such an amazing daddy! I love watching him play and laugh with Bekah. Rebekah has her daddy wrapped around her finger. Nelson sure loves his little girl. Happy Father's Day, Nelson. Bekah and I love you so much!!!

Sedona is known for its red rock formations. They are incredible. Here is our little family in front of some red rock.

Joelle is a fabulous cook and she made her famous pad thai for us. Delicious!!!




We got Bekah this floatie for the pool. She loves it. The trick is trying to prevent her from gulping all the water. She licks and swallows the water any chance she gets.



Nelson bought Bekah a little shirt that said "Hug me I am a Hot Chili" in Sedona. So cute!

Joelle and I

Jim and Joelle

All weekend, Auntie Jo and Bekah played a mimicing game. Who is mimicing who? It was hilarious. It was so great to see Bekah get some time with her Auntie Jo and Uncle Jim.

Office Time

While I work on the computer or in our office, Rebekah loves to either jump in her jumper or play on the floor with her own keyboard. We had kept an old keyboard that no longer worked, and one day I put it in front of Bekah and immediately she started pressing the buttons. Another things she loves right now is playing with paper.






Bekah always seems to curl the toes on her left foot. I call her "monkey" when she does it. She also has really narrow heels. I love kissing her little toes.

Happy Feet

Our little Bekah Boo is discovering just how much fun it is to walk while holding on to mommy or daddy's fingers. She loves to march around the house and just last night experienced how fun it is to march in green grass. While Bekah still shows no desire to crawl or roll, she sure loves to walk - maybe she will skip crawling all together and go straight to walking? Bekah is so expressive and I love to catch her expressions on camera.

Marching to Harley





Recently, she loves to point at things and it is often with her right hand. Maybe we have a right handed little one. I like to think that she is pointing to Jesus in this picture. :)


This expression said to me "No more pictures, mom!" :)

Easy Spinach Lasagna

After I had Rebekah, my friend, Beth, made us a fabulous lasagna. When I asked her for the recipe, she said that it was the easiest lasagna to make. She was correct. It is both delicious and simple! I love recipes like that. So here is the recipe for those of you who want to try it. Bon Appetit!

Spinach Lasagna

1 egg
10 oz. thawed squeezed chopped spinach
15 oz. ricotta cheese
32 oz. spaghetti sauce
¾ lb. mozzarella cheese (grated)
½ lb. lasagna noodles (I like to get the “no boil” lasagna noodles so I do not have to boil the noodles before making the lasagna. Saves a lot of time and dish cleaning. If you use regular lasagna noodles, you have to boil them first.)

Combine egg, spinach, and ricotta cheese in a bowl.
Layer in a 13x9 inch baking dish as follows:
1. ½ sauce
2. lasagna noodles
3. ½ spinach mixture
4. ½ mozzarella cheese
Repeat layers and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (take foil off a few minutes before done)

* I like to brown ground turkey or beef and add it to the spaghetti sauce. Makes it a bit heartier and adds protein.

Crawfish Boil

Yesterday was our friend Jessica's 30th birthday. To celebrate, she and her husband had a crawfish boil at their house. They flew fresh crawfish in from somewhere and boiled them alive. I had never been to a crawfish boil or anything like it, so it was a fun new experience. Some of you may know that I have a phobia (well maybe that is a strong word) of eating meat off of a bone, so ripping apart the body of a crawfish and peeling off its shell was quite a stretch for me. But the meat was so delicious that I had to. Here are some pictures of our fun afternoon.



Jessica and her husband, Dathan, had their first baby, Barrett, about a month before we had Bekah.


Bekah and Barrett