Electrical cord road

I think Lucas may be a Civil Engineer. He is always turning the most unusual items into roads for his vehicles. Here he's using my vacuum cord. He also used his train track, wooden blocks,
toilet paper, the edges of my circular chair, or the back of the couch. He must get that active imagination from his beloved daddy.

Children's Museum

Lucas tried his hand at "fishing" today at the Children's' Museum in Walla Walla. He caught a fish and an alligator.
Playing in the mud wasn't quite as fun...
Here he's playing with a magnetic train set. (Auntie Jenilyn notice his shirt? )

Here are our friends the Kyle family. Tim, Laura, and "little" Peter.

Her Winning Chubby Cheeked Smile

Her Winning Chubby Cheeked Smile....

Abrianna 10 weeks

Abrianna Lynn Drake
10 Weeks Old
People tell me I have a beautiful daughter. I didn't realize how beautiful until I was taking pictures of her in her sabbath dress this afternoon.

my cherry eater

We went cherry picking ( thanks Laura). Lucas and his friend Josh played in the dirt and ate cherries while their parents picked them.
He was so filthy and sticky! The bath tub had dirt in the bottom after he was clean.

Job update

Good Morning Friends and family,

Praise God! We're finally out of limbo! As much as we love Walla Walla, it doesn't seem that it's in God's plan for us to stay here. Rick will be starting work at the China Lake Naval Base in Ridgecrest, Ca on August 4th. I will be staying here until the house sells. We listed it yesterday. The Navy will pack and move our things for us ( Thank God). We will miss all of you here in Walla Walla. I hope we can keep in touch via email or facebook.

My cool 2 year old

The Cool Dude!

The Wave

Riding his motorcycle

Lucas is riding his motorcycle. We didn't bother to tell him that he's too big or its too small. :-)

Bubble Gun

Lucas loves his bubble gun. Thank you to Savannah and Alison Scruggs. He got this for his second birthday. Daddy just set it up for him.

Loving my sister

Lucas loves his baby " shister." Frequently when she's sleeping on the couch... Lucas come to cuddle and love her. So much for me getting anything done. :)

Abrianna 2 months

Here she is... She will lie on her back and wave her arms and legs while making cooing noises.
She's getting out of the slug stage :-)

First smile

Yeah! I caught her smiling on camera! She looks just like my baby picture.
No doubt about it. She looks like an Anderson.

smiling

Abrianna started looking me in the eye and smiling on
June 8th. She is making cute cooing baby noises too!

He-Man Lucas

To start with, I believe in angels. I also believe its very important to pray daily for your children's safety- especially if you have more than one.
Lucas has been wearing a shirt today with the words , " I get my muscles from my dad" I think he's set out to prove it.
I was in the kitchen putting food away. I'd left Abrianna sleeping on her tummy on the couch. I happened to glance in the living room to see her two year old big brother merrily bouncing his sister in the bouncy seat. He had picked up off the couch while she was sleeping and deposited her in the bouncy seat! She had not made a peep!
A little while later, she was sitting in the bouncy seat once again ( I put her in there this time) screaming as I had to take care of a cloth dirty diaper. Her screams quieted down some. Low and behold, Lucas had put a pillow and 3-4 bath towels on top of her, sigh...
I put her back to sleep again on the couch. Then I went into the kitchen to wipe off counters. This time Lucas deposited her face down in the bouncy seat. She didn't appreciate it and was starting to squawk. I rescued her again.
I'm trying to be nice and tell him how glad I am that he wants her to enjoy that seat but he's NOT to pick her up without mommy's help.
Please keep her safety in your prayers.

Jobs

Happy Sabbath to all,
We were all set to move to Ridgecrest. Than we noticed that the job offer was a tentative one. Maybe there is still hope to stay here. Rick contacted The China Lake Naval Base a week ago to tell them that he'd accept their offer. The caveat is that there were 20 + pages to be filled out and turned in. Then they will go over them and make a "firm" job offer. So, we aren't locked in yet.
Thursday Vista Engineering ( where Rick had been working at a temp. job) contacted him to see if he could back as a temp. employee.
Rick had done an interview with them 2 weeks ago about getting on as a permanent employee. He emailed them back saying he was available and what was the chance of coming back as a permanent employee? Jim replied, "very good." Rick is supposed to meet with him on Monday and discuss the possibilities.
I hope I'm not getting my hopes up too high. I want to stay here so badly for so many reasons. You guys living here are such good friends. Lucas has friends here. We've got a great church family. We have a nice house- I don't want to sell it. I don't want to have to set up another massage business and go through the licensing process in another state. There are green trees and green grass here. It isn't a desert with snakes and cactus and sagebrush!
If you all would keep this matter in prayers we'd appreciate it immensely. I wish God had a bill board telling us where he wants us. But, I suppose that if He did we'd just thumb our noses and do what we pleased. I know ultimately we'll be happiest with where ever He wants us.
Oh, if you all were wondering why I wasn't at church today. My kids have colds. I figured you wouldn't appreciate us "sharing" that with you.
-Rachel

My "big" baby

I had Rick get this chair down for Abrianna. She doesn't like it. Even when we turn on the lights. Mom is so much warmer and snugly. Lucas loves to turn on the lights and climb in. I wonder if he remembers it from when he was a tiny baby. Oh well, I guess that isn't something I'll ever know.

My decorated bike

Here's Lucas riding his "bicycle barn".
He put at least a half a roll of toilet paper on the seat and back wheel. Its cheap entertainment!

The Toilet Paper Road

Lucas creativity.
A toilet paper road.
It works for construction vehicles
Mack Truck
and cars.

Abrianna's recognition potluck

The Happy Family

The Cake

The Guest of Honor. Abrianna Lynn Drake