Finally, the sun is coming back.

(The following is an old post that I discovered I had not published.)

Finally the sun is returning and the snow is melting. After 18+ inches at the beginning of February, I am truly tired of winter. And we are already dreaming of time outside on the porch and grilling again.

February was a busy month for us. Bryan safely made his trip to China. He came home pretty jetlagged, and it took the better part of a week for him to recover. With all Bryan's travel this year, I've actually had to clean the driveway on my own. There's a trick to running the snowblower, and someday I'll figure it. Fortunately, we missed additional snow while he was gone, but it threatened.

Laurel keeps us busy with her daily activities. Right now she's really into her Polly Pockets and painting. In addition to sorting through my fabric while I sew, she also is working on riding her tricycle. She can do it, but its not her favorite. I'd like to get her a 2 wheeled bike for her birthday this year. She now knows most of the letters of the alphabet by sight and sound, speaks more spanish than I do (two years of spanish in high school is not much); she can skip, can almost dress herself - but what she picks out to wear is a whole different topic; she can cut shapes with scissors. What a change we've seen in a year. I know I repeat this often, but I can't get over how quickly kids change. I've been recording these activities and funny statements she makes to me, and nearly everyday I have something to write about. She talks nearly non-stop, so I have lots to talking to write about.

I've been pretty busy with work myself, but in a good way. I'm not doing as much sewing as I would like. But I plug away at it when I can.

In February, my Dad found himself back in the hospital with an emergent need to replace one of the stents he had placed in late December. But keep him in your prayers. He'll need to be attentive to any futher angina, as reccurance is very high.

And finally the newest member of our family is settling in nicely. She's a little more mellow, but still enjoys 5-6 hours of playing fetch per day. Other than barking with sympathy at our neighbors dogs (who were left out at 2 am this morning, and barked for an hour), she's gotten used to the cat and the many, many squirrels in our ravine.