To help celebrate the end of the school year, we took a long weekend and drove down to Memphis (a 7 hr. trip turned to 8 hr. with an infant - but worth every mile!!!) to meet Gemma's newest cousin, Elsie Katherine Brink. She is almost exactly 6 months younger, now 2 months old - and what a sweetie! She definitely sets the standard as a flexible, content baby who is already sleeping 10 hour stretches at night and rarely cries (at least, we never heard her do much more than fuss a bit...). And she is already quite talkative and expressive - as you can see in the photos. Amazing! It will be interesting to see if that element of her personality continues as she gets older.
The first of many times these two will play together...and Elsie graciously let Gemma check out her favorite toys.
Off for a morning walk in our matching strollers! It was uncharacteristically chilly during part of the time we were there, but we still enjoyed strolling through their neighborhood, admiring all the beautiful lawns and huge azalea bushes.
On Saturday we trooped down to downtown Memphis to see a few sites. Here we are outside the motel where Dr. ML King, Jr. was assassinated. It is now a Civil Rights Museum (hopefully we can go through on our next visit - it is undergoing some construction right now). It felt a bit strange & sad to stand and take our photo here, but this is a significant place in our country's history.
The mighty Mississippi River!! It is currently at its widest - 3 miles! - since 1927, due to the heavy storms across the midwest in the past weeks. It has already receded somewhat but many places are still flooded (like Mud Island, on the right side of the photo - maybe you remember the museum scene from the film, The Firm).
A couple of fun scenes from part of the area near the Civil Rights Museum. Also on our next visit we will have to take the Trolley. 
And of course no visit with Katie would be complete without scrumptious baked goods! In addition to homemade banana pudding and oatmeal-molasses cookies, we also had Muddy's Cupcakes. They were light and soft and sweet and incredible.
Noah, Katie and baby Elsie, outside after church. Elsie apparently was still in a prayerful mode.
Bye, bye cousin Elsie. See you again soon! 
Our little Gem is 8 months old as of May 1st! She marked the occasion by signing "more" for the first time. I don't think she really knew what it meant but she did it several times during breakfast, so at least she is starting to learn and associate some signs with the thing or event it refers to. Her favorite foods are still oatmeal with banana or applesauce - or just plain fruit. She loves frozen banana and graham crackers, too.
She is also getting very close to an official crawl, now starting to rock on her hands and knees, and just starting an army crawl. She is already prolific with rolling over, squirming around, crawling backwards, and standing by herself while holding on to the windowsill or couch or crib rails. Fortunately last weekend I went to a consignment sale and got a gate for the top of the stairs, and we suddenly are realising that we need to do some crawler-proofing/safety around the house. Yikes. Watch out! Life is going to get even crazier very soon!
Kyle, I had fun with my facial hair a few weeks back. You've always suggested that I would look dashing in a 'stache. But I'm afraid to say that I just couldn't bring myself to do the 'stache all by itself. And, as you can see, it would look pretty hideous by itself. I could be more patient and let it get big and bushy, which might look a shade better. But even then, I think 'hideous' would still apply.
The first of many times these two will play together...and Elsie graciously let Gemma check out her favorite toys.
Off for a morning walk in our matching strollers! It was uncharacteristically chilly during part of the time we were there, but we still enjoyed strolling through their neighborhood, admiring all the beautiful lawns and huge azalea bushes.
On Saturday we trooped down to downtown Memphis to see a few sites. Here we are outside the motel where Dr. ML King, Jr. was assassinated. It is now a Civil Rights Museum (hopefully we can go through on our next visit - it is undergoing some construction right now). It felt a bit strange & sad to stand and take our photo here, but this is a significant place in our country's history.
The mighty Mississippi River!! It is currently at its widest - 3 miles! - since 1927, due to the heavy storms across the midwest in the past weeks. It has already receded somewhat but many places are still flooded (like Mud Island, on the right side of the photo - maybe you remember the museum scene from the film, The Firm).
A couple of fun scenes from part of the area near the Civil Rights Museum. Also on our next visit we will have to take the Trolley. 
And of course no visit with Katie would be complete without scrumptious baked goods! In addition to homemade banana pudding and oatmeal-molasses cookies, we also had Muddy's Cupcakes. They were light and soft and sweet and incredible.
Noah, Katie and baby Elsie, outside after church. Elsie apparently was still in a prayerful mode.
Bye, bye cousin Elsie. See you again soon! 
