Daddy pile

I'm not even sure how this happened. There was much giggling involved and bam! There was a daddy pile and Caleb climbed it all!

Hiking

Hiking was a lot of fun!

Here is Hannah with a BIG baby on her back. Ali and Micah hiked but the big kids enjoy giving them breaks. Thanks Hannah!

We love to hike so off we went. I'm so glad to have Mark home! We went with Roberta and Josh, Rebecca, Hannah, Tiana, Sarah and her friend. It was great fun! Here is a pic of Berta and I carrying the babies. It is great for burning the extra butter! Let me encourage you all; hike up a mountain with your baby on your back :)

Mark and Lucas

Here is a pic of Mark and our friend Lukas. He is a senior in high school this year. This was some kind of inspection and Mark went out to see Lukas. Fun times.

Baking

Some of you may know my love for baking and also my love for healthy living. Well, for about a year now I've been using a natural sweetener called blue agave. It is very similar in texture to honey or maple syrup. It is much much weeter than sugar and pretty easy to use. I've started experimenting with cookie recepies! We all know how I love the chocolate chip cookie. I'm really excited about it. Blue agave does not have the side effects of sugar. My kids are so naughty if they have sugar so we don't use it at all and we try to limit the foods that have it in there. Blue agave is my new best sweetener. I'll let you know when I perfect my chocolate chip cookies. It has whole wheat, oats, wheat germ and flax seed in it! There is no sugar or white flour. They taste great! Even the nighbors love them :)

Random Thoughts

Well, here's the story. Mark is leaving again for two weeks. Hahaha what is two weeks. Well anyways, we are trying to plan a trip for March to go to NC so Mark can get tested out by JAARS. We're still trying to figure out the logistics of the whole deal. It would be most helpful if we could find some kind of RV to travel cross country with. We'll see. Maybe we can find enough friends to stay with along the way. We're just thinking it through. Airfare would be pricey for all five of us. Caleb could ride on a lap but there are some more stops to make on the way so it would seriously add up. If you all could pray with us about the best way to get there and really that we could borrow or buy a trailer or RV and that God would make it clear on what the best way to travel as a family. We've never traveled as a family of five before and definitly not cross country. We'll keep you posted. Gotta go make diner.
Jess

Just another shout out to cloth!

I just love my cloth diapers. Not only are they easy and CHEAP! But they are just so cute. Doctors are always commenting on the cutness of our diapers. Random and silly I know but how many people get compliments on their diapers? I'm really looking forward to cute undies on Micah instead of diapers though. We'll see how that goes.

Thats right folks, I am BACK

Hey everybody. I just wanted to take a quick oppurtunity to say hi to everyone on my own. I have finally returned to my family, after being gone for over 20 months. What a journey it has been. My family has all grown so much. Except my wife, who I am pretty sure has gotten smaller. Which is very exciting. I can't wait to see everyone again and I am sure that we will be having a party soon. So wait for the word. We will be in touch. I love you all and thank you for your prayers. Talk to you soon,

MARK