Turning TWO and {finally} facing forward!

This little sweetie celebrated her two-year birthday yesterday.

The time is really flying by and I will admit, I'm not ready for her to be two yet. She continues to bring so much joy and laughter into our lives and we are thankful for her every day!

We got to start the day with a little park playdate with some of our Leavenworth friends which was great. We have been so so blessed by the friendly and inclusive community here.

Since we were having a warm day without too much smoke, we met Jason at Lake Wenatchee when he got off work for a final beach day there --





































Then home to keep the party going -- Mabel loves hot dogs and so, in the spirit of keeping things simple (since we ARE moving out of our condo in 3 days!!!), we just gave her what she loves!

Her favorite toy right now is her owl stuffed animal, so I couldn't resist making an owl-shaped cake for her :)

Perhaps the most exciting thing about turning two is that she now gets to sit in a forward facing car seat!! Woo-hoo! Because of her small size she looks ridiculously small in Luke's old car seat, but she loves being able to see us and this should be a big help on our upcoming major road trip.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

Moving again .... to (perhaps) the most random place yet!

That's right, I NEVER imagined we would be relocating to this place when Jason began his permanent job search months ago. Even for us, it's incredibly random ...



image from here

Nicknamed the coyote state, it's the home of the only corn palace and the tallest mountains east of the Rockies ... but is probably most well-known for those Mt. Rushmore faces!

Yes! We are moving to South Dakota!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's pretty much the opposite of where I'd been hoping to live (my idea was somewhere tropical - Hawaii, Guam, PR or overseas). But, it's a reminder that God has a sense of humor :)

Jason's job is also incredibly random -- we've affectionately been calling it the "turkey job" because he'll be working as a Forester for the National Wild Turkey Federation. Gobble gobble! This conservation group seems like a fantastic employer and the job is a great fit for Jason's skills & personality; and best of all, it seems like he will actually like what he is doing! Hurrah! That's what the past three years have been all about. Super thankful for God's provision in this!

Now to all those pesky moving details, like finding a place to live and how to get there with our stuff :)