And Elizabeth Ali DeWilde makes six

While we were in Minnesota, I intended to sift through my old keepsakes, treasured away in my parent's farm house. My was I a pack-rat! (This from a woman who has now become such a thrower that I threw away our marriage license.) As I was sorting with my mom and finding my old barbie toys for the girls, I came across a baby doll I got from my parents while they were in California. I looked at my mom and got her approval to throw the doll away (as to not hurt her feelings) and we put the doll in the trash bag. Breanne immediately took the doll out of the trash and started playing with it.

Let me explain this doll. She's bigger than Aliya. She's quite life-like with little pig-tails. Breanne has not let this baby out of her mind since then. She rode home with us to Billings. She nurses. She now wears Aliya's clothes. Breanne changes her clothes twice a day. She has pajamas. She used to sleep in Aliya's crib with Aliya. Then she got a "perfect spot" made in the guest room and now she sleeps in the pretend pack-n-play in Bre & Madi's room. Breanne holds her on her hip. This baby is part of Breanne's life!

Breanne keeps telling me that she's a mommy like me. Last night at a barbeque party, Derrick fixed a plate of food for Breanne but Breanne was not eating. Derrick asked her if she wasn't hungry. "No, I'm just waiting for someone to hold Elizabeth (so I can eat.)" When Derrick tucked Breanne into bed last night, Breanne was praying for Elizabeth. Derrick took Madi and Bre on a errand this morning, and I got asked to babysit Elizabeth.

This past week, she said, "Elizabeth has another name." I asked her what that might be. "Um, Elizabeth Ali DeWilde." I guess, that makes us an even six.

These thousand miles..

August has been a blur. But I have to highlight a couple things. The second weekend in August, Derrick's parents came for a visit. Grandpa brought presents: t-shirts for the girls that say, "Mess with me, Mess with my grandpa," and "I'm never in trouble when I'm with Grandpa." They look pretty sweet. It was Aliya's first t-shirt. 

They also brought Minnesota sweet corn. Or as the girls say, "sweet on the corn."

Then we went shopping. I don't know if all little girls like to shop, but Madison & Breanne are pros! It's quite fun...they just need to work up their stamina. I love it when they find something then ask, "Is it on sale?" I am training them quite right! I also love the "style show" when they get home and have to try on all their clothes for daddy. They get so excited and twirl and spin.

The gifts didn't end there, for our anniversary, his parents gave us an ice cream maker. This has been a really fun treat. We have enjoyed making (and eating) the ice cream. I was so excited, I went right out to buy ingredients to start a batch. I didn't even know I wanted one. Madi said, "Now we don't need to go out for ice cream, we'll just make it at home." (That was until we went to Culver's...)

On Sunday that weekend, we visited a National Monument in our "backyard." It seems like when you live close to that sort of stuff, you seldom visit, if ever. Pompey's Pillar is about 30 miles out of Billings. William Clark stayed there with his team while exploring the west. It was a gorgeous day to be outside.

Aliya started a  new trick. She takes a towel or washcloth and places it on her head, and just looks at me and smiles as if to say, "I'm so funny." And it is pretty cute as long as it's not a pair of undies...or at least not dirty ones.

On August 13, we headed up to Glacier National Park to take in the sights and camp with the Sechler cousins who were on vacation there. The drive was nice up there and we saw some new parts of Montana. When we got there, it was cousins, cousins, cousins! It's so fun to watch Caleb, Rebekah, Madison & Breanne all play together.

Unfortunately, it was rainy and cold the whole time we were there. We drank plenty of coffee and the good thing is, the weather made us stay at the campsite and then the cousins really got to play (as opposed to drive from place to place.) I got to play dominos with my oldest nephews and Aliya loved little Abigail! It was almost like Aliya chased her and hugged her.

We left Glacier on Sunday (probably as the clouds started to move out and the temperatures warmed up) and headed to Moses Lake, WA with Derrick on Highway 2. Again, it was fun to see a new part of Montana. We stopped at a county park briefly and the pine trees there were gigantic!

On Monday morning, my phone rang early with news that Grandpa Veldkamp had passed away. Thankfully, it seemed he went peacefully in his sleep. We left Moses Lake on Tuesday at 11:30am and drove straight through, arriving in Minnesota a little past 1pm Wednesday. The visitation was Wednesday evening and the ceremony was Thursday morning. I have great memories of grandpa and remember talking on the phone with him from time to time and always exchanging,"I love you"s before hanging up. It was unique to have the family all together and we were able to take grandkid and great-grandkid pictures...everyone was soooo excited about that!

Since we were in Minnesota, we decided to make the most of it and stayed until Saturday. We had the traditional pizzas (Dar's and Pizza Ranch) and took back lots of Minnesota grown produce!

All in all, we put around 4000 miles in the 10-days we were gone. On Sunday, after our journeys, we were getting ready to go get Madi's school supplies when we got in the van and it wouldn't start. God is so gracious and faithful! The battery was dead and we were able to quickly replace it, but thankfully it died when we were home, not on the reservation at 10pm on a Saturday night.

And on a parenting note, don't wait until three days before school starts to buy school supplies. I believe Derrick said, "It's like the day after Thanksgiving, for school supplies!" What a month!

The first day

I recall holding her in my arms for the first time. Her tiny cone-shaped head and that deafing scream...Doctor Treece saying, "Get yourself a copy of 'The Strong Willed Child' right now," just a day after being born...crying when we brought her home to a huge house and I was all alone with this baby...I remember chasing after her-what a busy toddler she was...moving into our duplex and then our house in Montana...breaking her arm, again and again...watching her teach herself how to ride bike with no training wheels...and just this summer learning to swim. And now, she's off to Kindergarten. I'd be lying if I said I haven't shed any tears. But as I sent her off this morning I realized, she's not alone. Jesus is with her. This morning, I pulled her aside, praying Jabez prayer over her: "Oh, Lord, bless Madison indeed. Expand her territory of learning. May Your hand be upon her and keep her from evil so she does not feel pain." She said, "I remember when you and Breanne went on a bike ride (around the block) this summer and I stayed home alone. I wasn't even scared." And so will it be at Kindergarten, but she won't be alone, not even for a second.

As we arrived, we took her picture in front of the school and then she found and hugged two friends from preschool (Shelby and Olyvia S). Instantly, my heart felt better. And she lined up with the others in her class. I saw one little girl crying and the teacher hug her in. But God made my little Madi Joy so brave! She waved as she went past us. And we'll see her again at 2:20...

Charlie's Choice

Getting down and dirty...

Our camping trip was quite the expedition for a 10-month old. Aliya was delighted to crawl around in the dirt and chew on pine cones and the occasional pine needle when mom and dad weren't looking. She does better now and since she doesn't put everything in her mouth, we let her do a little exploring on her own.

My favorite is listening to the big girls get so excited about anything and everything. Breanne yells in to the camper every time we put it up, "Hello, gorgeous!" They each put down 2 jacks each on the camper. While we were exploring around the campground, Breanne found litter (and these girls "hate litter!"). She was very determined that we should bring the pop can home to recycle it. When I finally let her do as she wished, she picked it up and started to empty its contents. When she realized it was full, she said, "Or not..." dropped the can and kept on walking.

On Saturday, our friends the Ottenbachers joined us (Toby & Karissa) and we didn't really see the girls after that...they were just off playing, coloring, wading in the creek. On Sunday, we hiked to Mystic Lake, "It's just 6 miles," they say casually. It may be a new tradition that when a DeWilde girls turns 4, she hike the trail to Mystic Lake. Breanne was all thumbs up when she got to the top. 

All the kids did great and we're super proud of them!

We provide an endless supply of gatorade to our girls when they hike. By the time we got to the lake, Madison was modeling a beautiful fruit punch mustache.

Aliya seems to love hiking. She rides beautifully and we don't hear her fuss at all. She even catches an occasional nap. She watched us use the "camel back" with the bite tip on the way up the trail and by the time we got to the lake, she was ready to try it herself. My, she learns fast!

On Monday, Madison started swim lessons. When I ask her, what was your favorite part today, every day is the same answer, "All of it!" "I just love swimming lessons!" She has admitted that Ring Around the Rosie and catching rings is her favorite part. Just now she told me we need a bigger and deeper pool in our backyard so she can practice her swimming lessons. Ummmm, dad...