the Depot, Bubbles and a Birthday

We are hard at work getting the house ready to move into. Last week, my Dad and I spent the day shopping for the new bathroom. We spent a whole afternoon in the place I now affectionately refer to as "the Depot", picking out tiles, a toilet, a sink and many more things I didn't even know we needed. I have a brand new appreciation for people's homes and every little detail inside of them.

In the midst of lots of number crunching and decision making, we were laughing so hard! I honestly don't know what I would have done without my dad there. It was great. By the time we left the store, we had two carts and nearly needed a tow truck to get outside. We now have everything we need for Operation Bathroom to continue!

I did lots of hard work that day, but pushing the cart wasn't part of it. I couldn't move it if I tried! (Note: spending the afternoon shopping at the Depot is not the same as spending the afternoon at the mall....there is way more labor involved!)

my wholehearted attempt at moving the cart for my Dad. It wasn't even half full yet.

on a mission! We were cracking up at this point. Love this guy!

Back at the house, Joe and Abby were waiting (with some much needed Starbucks) to help us unload. Abby wanted to be up in the trailer helping Papa with all the tiles.

look at my Dad proudly wearing his SU Dad shirt :)

playpen on wheels?

After a long day, we celebrated with Uncle Cory's arrival and Dad treating us to family dinner! Yum! Cory arrived in time for dinner, hung out for the night and woke up early to help Joe with the house. The guys finished gutting the bathroom and now we have a clean slate to work with.

Cory hard at work

after all their hard work

In the meantime, Abby and I have been working hard on this end: packing and playing. We try to go over and visit in the afternoon, but while the house is a little hazardous it's really not the easiest place to have her. So, we spend mornings outside playing in the grass and having snack on the rocks. We spend afternoons visiting the pool when we can and of course making dinner for Daddy to enjoy when he gets home tired and hungry.

eating raisins on the rocks. I think she's ready for her first real picnic.

Abby loves her BUBBLES! There's lots of squealing and excitement when it's time for her bath every night. When it's time to get out, Abby stands there waving and saying "Bye-bye" as the bubbles disappear down the drain.

daddy adds lots of extra bubbles

Yesterday, we took a fun break from all the work we've been doing around here and visited Papa and Uncle Cory to celebrate Cory's 19th birthday. Woohoo! My little brother is really not little anymore. Due to the rainy forecast, we canceled our annual trip to the lake for a low-key and relaxing day at home. Though it was sad to not be at the beach and riding the jet ski, we had a great day. We had lunch, hung out at the house, took Abby and Cody to the park and went out to dinner.

lunchtime with Ra-Ra

time to eat off of Papa's plate now

sitting in Papa's chair watching cartoons

Abby spent much of her afternoon chasing Cody around and loving on him. Whenever Papa left the room, Abby would call and call for him until he came back. When Cody left the room, Abby would follow him until he came back to her.

my two babies

praying for him

kisses for the pup

real life pillow pet

laying down just like Cody

my buddy!

after dinner

Now for those of you eager to see some before and after house pics:

Before: the overgrown swamp that was the backyard

After: all filled in and waiting for our grass to grow in!

We're so thankful for our little yard!

Sweet sweet videos

Abby is talking and expressing herself more and more each day. This is only a small glimpse of some of the things you would hear around our house lately. And as a BIG bonus you'll see lots of Abby's sweet personality!!

Home Sweet (New) Home

We're home! After saying goodbye to a great summer assignment and everything that came with it, we headed back east. Ahhhhh! It feels so good to be home. Here are our last few pictures from Colorado:

Uncle Joe's last day with Emma

came around the corner and found sneaky girl in my luggage

oops...caught red handed

On Friday, Grandma came to visit and spent the afternoon with Abby while Joe and I went to close on our house. Within minutes of her arrival, Abby started pointing at her toes, ran into my bedroom, picked up a bottle of nail polish and brought it out to her Grandma. All the while communicating that she wanted her Grandma to give her a little pedicure. Only the beginning of their fun afternoon together.

"Daddy, look at me!"

All dressed up and ready for church. Today was our first Sunday back at our home church in six weeks. Abby reunited with all her little friends in the nursery.

Abby got a boo-boo on her knee and she makes sure no one forgets it. For two days our sweet little emotional girl would remind us every ten minutes that she had a boo-boo that needed kisses. (example in the picture below!) It's actually almost healed, but she still makes sure it gets kisses often!



Big news: We bought our first home! We're excited and thankful for the Lord's provision. The story about how everything came together is such a reminder to us of how God's hand is in the details even when we can't see and how even when we don't understand all the twists and turns (or the waiting and timing) God's plan is even greater! Our prayer is that we would faithfully use this home to serve the Lord and lots of people for His glory. Right now, we're in the process of fixing it up and making it ours before we move in a few weeks. Lots of fun and LOTS of decisions to make.

our soon to be home sweet home

We're so thankful for family who have been helping us with it all! We couldn't do it without you! Yesterday, Casey worked so hard to get the ball rolling. Thank you, "ACEY"! Check out his hard work in the bathroom:

Stay tuned for the "After" picture

Today, my Dad and brother arrive to help! Abby's excited to see "Papa" and "Roary". Joe has been at the house faithfully working hard all weekend! So today, Abby gets to spend the day with her Daddy while I take a turn working at the house with my dad. But, that's after our first real deal Home Depot trip! It's funny how spending money in Home Depot really makes you feel like an adult.

I told you once that I was quite the Crayola kid getting excited about all the new colors and their fun names. Well friends, this week I discovered the adult equivalent: picking paint colors from the Martha Stewart Collection. Seriously, with names like Ballet Slipper Pink, Almond Butter, Glass of Milk, Cornbread, Lily Pad, Pencil, Cloudless Day and Washed Denim, could picking paint be any more fun?

I'll keep you posted about the progress! For now, I'm off to Home Depot...

Week #5

Can you believe it? It's our last week here! Only 5 more days until we board a plane and head home. Definitely bittersweet. We're excited to head back home for so many obvious reasons, but will miss so many things (too many to count) about our summer in Colorado.

This week, began our national staff conference. Thousands of Campus Crusade for Christ staff arrived and our days have been filled with outstanding teaching, lots of time spent in worship, hearing stories about how the Lord is moving in hearts all over the world, vision for the ministry and good time connecting with friends. Needless to say, we look forward to this conference every two years.

Before the schedule filled up to much, we made time for a much needed afternoon poolside with good friends! Abby stayed in the water until her fingers were prunes. Then, she followed Hayden and Hannah's lead of jumping fearlessly off the edge.

Abby is quickly developing the reputation of Serial Hugger among all her friends. She is so sweet and affectionate and just can't seem to help herself. Abby walks into a room, spots a friend and walks right over to embrace her (even those who tend to like their space)! If she meets a new little friend for the first time, she literally opens her arms and pulls them in for a big hug! My little sweetheart. The same was true in the pool the other day...

loving Hayden
They held onto each other for a while and when they released Abby went in for another one.

hot tub

To kick off the staff conference, Campus Crusade organizes a private county fair for all the families to enjoy. It was Abby's first fair-like experience. We walked to the fair with our friends. Of course, Abby and Katie held hands.

We ate dinner at the fair, got some sno-cones and then headed for the rides. Abby rode with her Daddy on the choo-choo train and the merry-go-round. She cried and cried....but only when the ride stopped and we had to get off. She loved it and would have gone all night.




Here's a glimpse into a morning during the conference. On the first morning, we took Abby for the first part during the music. She danced, clapped, loved the lights and looked around at the thousands of people filling the seats.


Only a few more days left....we're off to make the most of every minute!

Happy Birthday Papa!

18 months old

Hello world! I'm 18 months old today!

Favorite foods: raisins, popcorn, cheese sticks, beans, pepperoni, eggs, raisin toast with cream cheese, mixed veggies

Favorite books: 10 Little Ladybugs, The Belly Button Book & Moo Baa La La La

Activities: any and everything with her babydoll (including putting Baby to bed, feeding her and washing her face), taking walks around Fort Collins (in stroller and out), swimming, happy hours at Sonic with Daddy and Starbucks treats with Mommy, talking to family on Skype, walking around the neighborhood in F.C. and knocking on all her friends doors to see if they can come out to play, dancing, TALKING!

Newest words: trying to say everything! There are new words everyday.

Songs: Hokey Pokey, Mr. Sun, Wheels on the Bus, anything on Barney, the ABC's, Jesus Loves Me and all the songs she sings to herself in the back of the car.

In the DVD player: Baby Einstein's Baby Wordsworth-First Words-Around the House: She is learning all kinds of new words and sign language from it! We highly recommend it!

Week #4

Week in review:

Abby brushes her teeth every morning at least two times (by her insistence)...once with Mommy and once with Daddy. She sits right up on the counter and keeps us company while we each get ready.


Abby and I spent lots of afternoons at the pool this week. The storms finally stayed away. We stayed in the water until our fingers were prune-y and then laid out on the chairs watching all the other little kids play. Abby has become a big fan of jumping off the edge into our arms and loves dipping her head back to get wet. It actually cracks her up!


At the beginning of the week, Abby got a package from her Grandma filled with all kinds of fun stickers and a little notebook to stick them in! Abby can peel, stick, repeel and restick for so long that I only give her one sheet at a time. Not only does she like to stick stickers in her book, but all over us too!

sticking stickers all over her face...

...and getting a kick out of it!

As always, Abby finds a way to help with the chores OR feel like a princess!

off to do the laundry

"Hey Mom, look at me!"

We just love our mornings and afternoons spent with good friends. We will definitely miss our daily play dates. Especially since we are all just a few doors down!

**Challenge: What is your best caption for the photo below? What do you think those girls are thinking/saying to each other? Let me know in the comment section!**

Emma, Abby, Katie and Grace (not pictured)

It wouldn't be a day in the temporary Cassel/Swanson home without Abby giving Emma as many hugs as she possibly can. She just can't get enough! I can't blame her. Who wouldn't want to wrap their arms around that sweet baby all day long? Abby must take after her momma. And though Emma loves Abby and likes to play with her, she makes it known that she is not the biggest fan of the headlock hug! Ohhh I can't wait to show this to them years from now.

Abby & Emma

Kids eat free at Beau Jo's on Thursday nights, so we couldn't miss the opportunity to go out with our friends and catch up over a yummy Colorado pizza dinner. Abby loves pizza and loved it even more sitting next to her buddy Grace. Not to mention, Super mom Susie brought play-doh for the kids to play with while we waited for our food (genius!). It was Abby's first time with play-doh and she was fascinated. I'm loving this new discovery! Then, the lady came around and made balloon animals for kiddos!

elephant for Josiah, penguin for Grace and...

...monkey for Abby!

Every morning we head out for our walks. Abby waves at everyone we pass and sadly every time we walk past Starbucks my daughter starts pointing and making it clear she would like to stop (though we only do so every now and then). Yikes! What have we started. You can tell how much she enjoys her surroundings: the cars, birds flying everywhere and any animals. Today she saw a squirrel scurrying through the grass and starting "Ooooo Ooooo Ahhh Ahhh Ah-ing". She thought the squirrel was a monkey! Hilarious. I never would have put the two together, but think about it. It totally makes sense. Monkeys don't look THAT different. It's amazing to see the ways the little wheels in her head process life.

Ready to go on our walk

Today, we were thankful for lots of quality time with Daddy. You can see Abby enjoying her time snuggled up with him reading books. Precious!

Then, Joe took his two girls out on a lunch date to our favorite Mongolian BBQ restaurant downtown. Yum! Abby told me everything she wanted put in her plate and we brought it to the grill to watch them cook it up. I couldn't get it to the table fast enough. She chowed down on a noodle and rice plate loaded with black beans, corn, peas and edamame (just to name a few)! She was such a big girl and ate so well. Abby also loves ice. When she is done eating in a restaurant, she picks all of the ice out of our water glasses and munches on each piece. At least it keeps her busy while we finish up our meals.

Of course, it wouldn't be a social outing without Abby trying to make friends with every table...including the cute little 4 year old boy a few tables down. I tried to catch it on video and got a little bit of it, but keep in mind she was doing it consistently for about five minutes before I even got the camera out. Our social butterfly and little joy!

lots of noodles and chocolate milk to wash it down