IT'S A BOY and Catch up

The biggest news to tell is from Ryan and Tanja. They said I could tell all of you that the ultrasound picture this week shows that they are having a boy! They gave me permission to tell you all here. They are all okay about it and are truely excited. The baby and Mom are both fine. Tanja is about 16 and a half weeks and due around the time of Andrew's birthday. (Feb 22). Tanja is feeling well and is grateful that her new doctor is willing to try a VBAC. So all is well with them.

Tammy and the girls are doing better. The girls are all well, but Tammy is having a harder time fully recovering. It's hard to recover from pneumonia and it takes time. We wish them well.

Becca is having a little pre-school in her home to earn extra money. Elijah is one of her students. Owen and Liesl started school and they're doing fine.

I'm heading out to Milwakee a week from today to babysit JC and Nikki while Brad and Netta go to DeMoine for a job interview. They also will be going to Tulsa, OK for another job interview at the end of the month, and taking the kids with them on that one.

Dad and I will be going to the Larkin Family Reunion at the end of the month. We're looking forward to it. We're staying a few extra days and visiting with my siblings in the Provo area before we come home.

Shawn and Kim came for most of last week. We watched Elijah for a couple of days while they went to San Diego for a little R&R. He was such a good boy for us. We entertained him by taking him to the mall, twice. Following are some photos from his visit with us. He did okay, but was sure ready to have his Mom and Dad come back. We love and miss you all. Mom

What a funny kid. He discovered this circular area on the floor at the mall and he must have gone around it 20 times, his Grandpa following along behind. When Grandpa stopped, he wasn't too happy. I love this photo. He was waiting for his Happy Meal at the McDonald's in the food court.

There were a lot of ride-on toys near the play place at the mall. We didn't need to even put a quarter in to make Elijah happy. He's just discovered Bob the Builder on TV so this made him happy.

There was a little train ride at one end of the mall. Elijah wasn't too sure about riding it alone, but after about 3 times around he really began to enjoy it. He loves trains and talked about it a lot after we got home.

Elijah would have ridden the escalators all day. He was very obedient and didn't give us any trouble, but he never wanted to stop!

Elijah enjoyed the pool much more than he ever has. He was not afraid as long as he had his vest AND his ring on. He went in the deep end with Grandpa and loved kicking his feet in the spa.

Grandma and Elijah enjoying the outside.