Baby Cousin!

Last week, Jackson got his first baby cousin, little Charise Elizabeth Young! She is so cute and perfect and we are all in love with her, especially Jackson. He was quite taken with her from the start and can't wait for her to get big enough to play with. For now he just watches her and tries to grab at her. It is really cute to watch how interested he is in her. He'll be a good big cousin and watch out for her as they grow up together.

5 Months Old

(The shirt says it all!)

Jackson turned 5 months old yesterday! I can't believe how quickly he's growing and the milestones he's already reaching. He's already eating cereal and will have his first vegies next week. He's rolling over both ways now and likes to pivot around on his exercise mat. He's starting to sit up but can't quite hold himself up for very long. If he holds himself up he's bent so far forward it looks painful, but he seems to like it.

When we moved home, our family had a little "Fiesta" party for Jackson. It was kind of a welcome home party and belated baby shower. We all had a really good time (Jackson slept through most of it) and he got so many great toys. When we left Thailand we could fit all his belongings in one small suitcase and diaper bag. Now he's got bouncy seats, swing, bumbo chair, strollers, and all sorts of other gadgets to keep himself entertained. He's gotten a little bit spoiled, but that's OK. One of his favorite things to do (and ours) is to get into his new jogger stroller and go for walks around the neighborhood or down to the river. We sometimes take our dog Roxy too and we all have a good time together. We love just being able to walk out our door and safely take a walk. We lived in a 14 story building in Thailand in the middle of town, so taking a walk wasn't quite as easy or enjoyable as it is here. We were constantly dodging pot holes in the sidewalk or scooters and lightposts. We are thankful for those simple convenient pleasures that we have here, but we still miss a lot of the conveniences of Thailand too. (Like $5 foot massages and a house helper to do the mopping!) So we're learning to be content wherever God takes us and count our blessings in each circumstance.

Here are a few recent pictures of Jackson:

"I love taking a bath!"

"No, my parents did not buy me anything purple...I'm just trying out my little cousin's bumbo chair until she decides to get here. I fill it up pretty good, huh?"

"Having some tummy time with my favorite toy, Elbert."

"Hanging out with my mommy in my very own big boy room." (Mommy still hasn't decorated it though!)

"New Mexico is COLD!!!"
Enjoying some cereal

Playing and drooling.

Lincoln National Forest

Last weekend we took a day trip to the area where Kit's family has been camping and hunting for years. He's always wanted to take me up there, so we packed a KFC lunch and hit the road. It is such a beautiful area (Guadalupe Mountains) and is only an hour from Carlsbad. I can't believe I've never been to that part of it before. We went with Kit's dad, step mom, and his sister and had a good time admiring the scenery, watching some local wildlife (deer, turkeys, and the occasional cow), and listening to Kit and his dad reminisce about past hunting trips. We're planning to take a camping trip up there in a couple months and the guys are going to enter the hunting draft for the fall. If you're ever in SE New Mexico, don't be fooled by the miles and miles of flat dessert. We have a lot of beautiful places off the beaten path. They don't call it "The land of enchantment" for nothing!

Kit and Kirstie in Hippie Cave
Two proud dads (Kit and Papa Joe)
Too sweet not to put on here for everyone to see.

Hanging out at the family camp site

The view near our campsite

Back in the USA!

We've been back for 1 1/2 months now, but we've been pretty busy so I haven't kept up with our blog very well. We're starting to feel more settled now so I'll try to do a better job. Over the last month or so we had a few weeks of Kit being home with Jackson and I during the days, while looking for a job. We loved it, especially me, but we've had to let go of that since he has a job now. He's working out at the WIPP site outside of Carlsbad, which is where he was hoping to get a job. It is on a temporary basis at the moment, but it looks like he might get a more permanent job soon. The only down side is he has to get up and out the door at 5am everyday! That is quite an adjustment from his last job. But he gets every other friday off, so that makes up for it.

Everyone keeps asking us what our future plans are but we don't really know. So we are just going to stay here until the Lord tells us to do something different. We're happy to be here and around our family so much more, but we do miss Thailand (even more than we thought we would.) We were very blessed to live there for 2 years and to have all the wonderful friends we had there.

Jackson took some time adjusting to living here. We were traveling a lot even before we traveled home so his schedule was non-existent by the time we got here. To make things worse, we moved from a really warm tropical climate to the extreme opposite. Dry, cool, desert. The dust and other new allergens really worked him over the first couple weeks. We ended up having to take him to the doctor for his weezing and get a breathing machine for him. He's doing much better now though, and is sleeping and eating better too. The last couple months have definately been harder than the first few were, but God is good and has made us able to handle it all. Parenting is definately an on-going learning process.

My family surprised us with a weekend with them all in the mountains. My sister Trudi and her husband Grant (whom I hadn't met yet) and my brother Chris, cousin Julie, and my nephew Keiten all made a long trip to be here for it. We had so much fun being with them all again (it had been 3 years) and getting up in the cold mountain air was so refreshing. We are big sissies for the cold after living in Thailand for two years. One day it is warm here and the next it is cold and windy.

Here are a few pictures from our welcoming party at the airport and our weekend in the mountains.

Our welcoming party in Roswell!

The cake from our Fiesta/Baby shower!
Kit partying it up at the Fiesta!

Stacy's family in Ruidoso, NM
The Kleins trying to stay warm in the mountains (there was snow, but it melted before we took the pictures).