Emily's Tooth

Emily has had two loose teeth for a few weeks now, actually about a month. Today one of them was loose enough she pulled it out on her own!!! What a brave girl. I have to admit, I was getting really tired of watching her play with it and it sticking out of her little lip when she played. So I said, "Emily, why don't you try to pull it out?" So she did and it actually came out. She was quite surprised that it did come out and very proud of herself too.

First day of Kindergarten

Emily went off to her first day of Kindergarten today. She was very excited. Once we got ready, I dropped her off in her classroom. She got a bit nervous once we were actually there; as you can see.

Emily's teacher, Ms. Ginn, posed with her this morning. Josh and I waited at the park for a few minutes before Emily's bus came.

Here is our big girl!!!

She had a good day! The best part of her day was seeing her friends.

Anniversary

Will and I celebrated our 9Th anniversary yesterday! We had a fun time and even found a small way to do something special for each other. I surprised Will by planning a dinner for two at home and sending the kids out to our friends house. Will was so surprised. He walked in and the way our house is set up, you can't see into the entire house from the front door. So he came in and changed out of his uniform and didn't know anything was going on. Randy, or dog, kept going over to him while he was changing and getting all excited and trying to have him come into the rest of the house. Will kept saying, "shh" to Randy. He finally came around the corner and saw me all dressed up with candles lit at the table and NO KIDS! We had a nice quiet dinner and after just a few short hours, started missing the kids. The best treat was to eat in peace. Will brought me some beautiful roses and a wonderful card. We had a special time and are so thankful for the many blessings God has given us over the last nine years. We look forward to many, many more!

Family Time

Hi Everyone,
We hope you are all doing well. We are just fine. We've started doing a family Bible time every week with the kids. They have so much fun that I had to take pictures. I haven't taken pictures every time, but here are a few.


This one was building a firm foundation on Christ, so they made graham cracker houses, we read the Word and sang the song the wise and foolish man.





This one was building up treasures in heaven, and we went on a treasure hunt for ice cream, they loved that. A funny note about this one, I was telling the kids as we were eating our "treasure" that Earthly treasure goes away, but heavenly treasure lasts forever; which is why we want to build it up, just like the ice cream goes away when we eat it. Emily sat and thought for a moment about what I had said and I was so thankful that they were listening and we were having a fun time. Then she says, "Well, if you puke up your ice cream, it won't be gone." It was too funny. I replied,"Would you want to eat it again?" She said, "NO! That would taste like puke and not ice cream!" It was funny!



Here is a picture of Emily's new adult teeth. It is pretty hard to see, and it was tough to get this picture as clear as it is. They are growing behind the row of baby teeth. It looks kind of funny. We went to the dentist last week and he said she will be fine. Her teeth will push forward over time and her baby ones are loose already.

Lots of Love,
The Akers

July 2008

Here are a few pictures from this month. I can't believe how quickly this month has gone by. The kids are well, growing and getting along well. We have had great weather this month and have enjoyed lots of playtime at the park and after dinner walks.

Josh and Emily also play a lot with their little friend Lucas, this day they decided all to wrestle around.

4th of July was a bit of a bust. We waited in line for almost an hour to get Emily's face painted, then we walked to the PX for an early dinner. The kids didn't stay up for fire works; maybe next year. Emily loved getting her face painted and the lady doing the painting was talented. Josh didn't want his face painted because he said, "Don't want be messy."

This is a picture of Joshua before the "midnight adventure to the pool" happened. He decided it was too dark in his room and he would go into the play room (the maid's quarters) to sleep instead. Shortly after this, we put the gate up because of the pool adventure and he got over his fears.

The kids have played a lot at the park with the weather being dry and warm, not too hot. They just looked too cute playing I thought I'd take a few pictures.

Last but not least, Joshua is fully potty trained! Praise the Lord! We've had three nights in a row with no accidents and almost a month of dry days. We are so proud of him.

June 2008

Here are a few pictures from our visit with Mom and Dad. We started out in Germany, saw some of Austria and ended back in Italy. Our time went by so fast. It was of course wonderful to visit, but sad to send them off.

The kids are doing pretty well. I don't have any pictures from when the kids and I went to DC, before coming back to visit with Mom and Dad. Josh is doing well. He seems to have caught a bug that kept him down for a few days, but this morning, he woke up feeling very good. Emily seems to be fully recovered from her horrible ear infection - we have yet to follow up with the doctor and while we are there, we need to get her a check up so she can go to school. She is very excited about starting kindergarten, she has grown up fast.

As of now, we don't have any new adventures planned in the near future, but you never know! We will keep you posted and try to keep up with updating photos of the kids - they keep growing!

We love you all lots! Will, Jackie, Emily & Joshua

Miscellaneous

We painted with potatoes


Once upon a potty - literally for us, Josh was fully potty trained before we left for DC in March. He has struggled ever since. At least we know he can do it, it is just a matter of time.
In February, we went to Asiago so the kids could see some snow, there wasn't much left.

The Party

Sweetie Pies - Emily was doing a fashion show of all the clothes she got for her birthday and this was too cute.
Lining up for the pinata

The guys were holding the pinata from the balcony - this event turned out to be the longest ever to break it open for the candy.
Present time!
Happy Birthday Emily!