Hello Friends!
Well, we hope the summer is going great so far for all of you! It’s gorgeous weather here in England this week (for once!). We’ve been out in the sun every day this week. Pippi doesn’t know what to think being barefoot and sleeveless! She’s been covered up since her birth in January!
She is growing so much, it’s hard to keep up! She has found her hands, and is just starting to reach for things now. She is also a little obsessed with putting things in her mouth or tasting things or sticking out her tongue. This mostly includes chewing on her hands, but can also include “eating” anything that comes remotely close to her mouth. If we are holding her she automatically starts to lick our shoulders or arms. We all end up with soaked shirts (our shoulders or her own wrists). It’s pretty funny.
She had her first real laugh just this week. She was giggling so much as I was wiping up her mouth with a cloth. Jason was in the other room, and he came running in when he heard her giggling! It was so cute, we couldn’t stop laughing. She is generally a happy baby, and as most people still comment, she is very “alert”. Her big blue eyes are always searching for interesting things. She is always moving (almost scooted out of her stroller just yesterday! Jason caught her just in time!) and wriggling. She is a busy baby if there ever was one.
We have a lot of fun together every day, going to the park or for walks or to play groups or the grocery store. I am becoming proficient with my slings that I use to carry her around. They are easier than the stroller and Pippi likes to see everything from way up high on my front, hip, or back. Jason and I have started taking her swimming each week. She is not sure what to make of it, and basically just looks bewildered the whole time!
In other news, Jason ran the London Marathon in April. His goal was to run it in under 4 hours, and he ran it in 3:58! He was so proud! It was a great day, even if it did rain buckets! It was apparently great weather for the runners, but us spectators got soaked just standing around clapping. The saddest part of the day, though, was that when Jason crossed the finish line of his best marathon ever, no one was there cheering for him!! We were stuck on the tube about a mile away…London was soooo packed with people, the tube stations were overflowing and we couldn’t get to Jason in time! He called us from the meeting point we had planned to see him at at the end, and he was just shivering in the cold rain alone, wondering where we were! So sad, but we cheered later when we finally met up with him in the hotel about an hour and half later! (PS, in the photo, he's wearing a red hat!)
We spent the whole weekend in London with Claire and Jez. We explored Greenwich village, and visited the Royal Observatory where the Prime Meridian is…very cool!
Another thing we have just done is have a church fete, or festival. It was an outreach day in a neighborhood near our church where we provided a BBQ, bouncy castle, live music, face painting, etc…There was a big turnout, and we had a great time. Now, the funny thing is that Jason dressed up like a pirate for the day! He went around passing out balloons and candy to kids, and telling his favorite pirate joke: “Why are pirates so mean? Because they ‘Aargh!’” I was on facepainting duty with Pippi. She had such a nice time on her blanket in the shade just playing and looking around. (That is the first picture shown above.)
Jason and I are about to complete a Parenting Course at our church, too. It’s been very good, taught by a Rob Parsons DVD. We are some of the youngest parents there, of course, so we are basically there to stockpile info into our minds for later years. It’s been nice talking to other parents, though, and seeing how they have coped over the years in bringing up Christian children.
We’re excited about our upcoming trip to Vienna, Austria next week! Pippi’s first airplane ride (I’m a little nervous!!). We’ll be spending 4 days there. We’ve also booked another trip for June…Disneyland Paris!! We’ll be taking the Eurostar Train from London to Paris and spending 4 days with Mickey and Minnie. Of course, we say Pippi will love it, but really, how much is she going to take in?? It’s for us really!!
Well, as usual, please update us when you can. We love to hear about your lives, details and all. We will be going through our email list soon, too, and deleting anyone off the list we haven’t heard from in a long time. So if you’re one of those people who read our emails but do not reply, could you send us a line to tell us not to delete you? If you’ve written us lately, don’t worry about it, we’ll keep you on!
Much love and prayers to you all,
In Christ,
Jason, Sarah, and Pippi Suel
