Lots and lots and lots of news

News, news, news - where to begin?

Immediately after our last post Graham and I went to Costa Rica for a week. Miss Claire had a fantabulous time with Grandma Dede, Grandpa Guy, and five, yes five doggies while we were away. We got to talk to and see her over Skype almost every night so she didn't even miss us.

"Why did you go to Costa Rica?" you might ask. "Vacation?" No no, dear readers, this was a scouting trip.

Since Graham and I met we've been talking about taking a "sabbatical" abroad "someday" for a few years. It occurred to us that we were entering a window of opportunity, and someday was now. This has been a dream of Graham's for 20 years - go to another country, learn the language well, immerse in another culture... "So why Costa Rica?" you ask. Well, we want to learn Spanish, as it seems the most useful, practical language to know in the U.S. It's much closer and less expensive to get to than Spain, plus it's still in the Central time zone so keeping in touch is easier. Cost of living is much less, so we wouldn't have to work full time. It has a very stable democracy, the people are very friendly toward Americans, and everyone we talked to who has been there had nothing but glowing things to say. Graham traveled there about a dozen years ago, but I had never been, so we went to check it out,  meet with some language immersion schools, and get a feel for some different areas.

Graham on the beach in Tamarindo

The trip confirmed our desire to go, so the current plan is to move down once we sell the house. Claire starts kindergarten in three years, which is part of our open window. We'll at least stay one year, probably two, and maybe even three, but we'd like to be back before she starts school. She's such a sponge she'll be speaking Spanish before we will! She's already in a Spanish class for kids class on Saturdays and just loves it. Between that, Dora, and Diego her vocabulary is already pretty decent and she can count to 12 in Spanish.

The big kicker is that we still have to sell our house. We dropped the price again this weekend and had an open house with some serious interest - here's hoping!

The aforementioned house

We're incredibly excited about our upcoming adventure...! Please keep us all in your prayers on both the house and the move... And yes, we most certainly welcome visitors! =)

We had a fun Father's Day with our special fellas: Daddy and Grandpa Guy. Claire enjoyed helping her Daddy open his presents.

Trying on Daddy's new shirt

"It looks cuter on me, Dad."

In June we got to go on a train ride in North Kansas City with Claire's Sunday school class (the under 3 set). The tunnel was a bit much for the little-littles, but the older siblings loved it. I think Claire's favorite part was blowing bubbles with Miss Catherine.

On the train with Daddy

Blowing bubbles with Miss Catherine

For the record, we no longer have a baby on our hands - as of July 1 Claire is officially potty-trained and a big girl - and will tell you so! We threw her a "potty party" where she trained a doll, got the hang of it herself, and we threw away all her diapers (symbolically - we gave them to her cousin). She still wears a pull-up (a.k.a. "disposable big girl pants") for naps and nighttime, but otherwise it's all big girl panties all the time! (Although her favorites are boy underpants with Diego and Nemo on them.) We're very proud of her and she's very proud of herself!

Throwing away the diapers - woo hoo!

Claire's preferred potty method - surrounded by books

My birthday was right after the potty party - talk about a great birthday present for Mommy! I had a lovely day with my sweet sweet family topped off with a yummy Mexican dinner.

This month I took a trip by myself while Claire and Graham had some Daddy-daughter time. I went to LA for a long weekend to visit my amazing, wonderful friends and got to be there for Tracey and Peter's baby shower. Big thanks to Daddy for the ticket!

Enjoying the carousel with Daddy while Mommy was out of town

On a more serious note, we lost our special Mam on July 22. She passed away peacefully and surrounded by family, and I'm thankful she's no longer suffering. We will miss her very much and thank God for the life of the fiery Molly McMahon Borchers Painter.

Mam and Claire - Christmas 2007

We will be traveling to Idaho soon for two grandmothers - we'll be in Coeur d'Alene for one last "Grandma Day" in memory of Grandma Wiegele (who passed last October), then we'll drive to Boise for a celebration of Mam's life at Mom's house. It will be incredibly special to get to see both sides of my family before we move.

I know this has been a long post, but there are some too-cute-not-to-share pictures must be shared:

Dress-up is a new favorite activity, especially Mom & Dad's shoes

Training for her career as a recording artist

Claire's joy-filled first time at a McDonald's play area during a house showing

The next one won't be as long and news-filled, I promise!