Fixer, Upper

Lloyd's dad is visiting for a few days -- not just for pleasure; we are putting him to work on our bathroom. There was a leak which caused our tiles to become soft so we needed to get it fixed before we sold the place. Now we wish we had done it years ago and enjoyed it ourselves:-) We put up really pretty and clean wall panels - mildew resistent! Here are a few shots of the progress. Dad is putting the finishing touches on it yet.

A View from the Sky

Lloyd took a recent, whirlwind trip to Ripon for 24 hrs or so. He shot a couple of beautiful pictures of Mr. Rainier from the plane. (I'm sure going to miss those mountains!)

Christmas Parade

Another Lighted Farm Implement Parade has come and gone. The kids really enjoyed it this year. It was quite cold but we bundled up as best we could and enjoyed the hot chocolate that our church handed out. It was a beautiful night and the snow began to fall just as the last float passed us by.

Church volunteers handing out free hot chocolate:

Anika and Andrew sat with their good friends Ryan and Tyler:

The kids favorite float was this steam tractor dressed up as Thomas the Train!

Snowman Fun

We couldn't stay away from the snow so I bundled up the kids this morning. (As well as I could manage - we don't get much snow or rain so we were lacking in the waterproof pants/shoes department.) It didn't stop us from having a great time though. Most of the time we don't get great packing snow but today was different. Anika can't get over our snowman - she has to tell everyone that it has a black hat, a carrot nose, shovel hands, and rocks for a mouth. (Mom had a lot of fun too - until we had to come inside and take off layers of cold, wet clothing. . . ah, well.)

The "Big" Snow

I'm so excited. We haven't seen a snow like this in Sunnyside since the year we moved here. They were projecting 1-3 inchs but this morning they were saying 6-9. I think you can see by the pictures there there is more than 3 inchs:-) And it's still coming down. For those of you in the midwest, I know this isn't anything special but we sure are enjoying it. Even Scout can't get enough of it. (See her smiling in the picture!)

Weekend Fun

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we wanted to have some fun with our friend, Dana, and our kids. We had talked big - Seattle, etc. but we ended up heading for the Tricities. I was excited to take the kids to the Children's Museum. We planned to spend the morning there so that Andrew could still get his afternoon nap. Well, the best laid plans. . . They don't open until noon on Sat. So after adjusting our plans we just went to Chuck E. Cheese for fun and lunch. They had a blast and didn't miss the museum at all:-) Here are a few pics of the day - Dana isn't pictured since she was taking the pictures!

Anika was a precious big sister. Andrew has always been scared of the big slide but with her help he went down it - again and again and again. He couldn't quite manage climbing up by himself but she helped lift him up every time. After about the twelfth time, Anika said, "Andrew you follow me this time." She got pretty tired out lifting him up.

A Time for Everything. . .

A time of change for the Wickers. We've made the decision to accept Almond Valley's call to be their next pastor. It has been a hard few weeks as we've made the announcement and started plans to move. We would continue to covet your prayers as we make this transition.

Imagination

I'm loving this!!! Anika has watched only minimal TV since we returned from Oregon for Beppe's funeral. (With my less than wonderful first trimester, I'd been "plugging her in" way too much). Lately, her imagination has been occupying her. She puts on her costumes and plays and plays and plays. . .
Here she just finished making me a spectacular birthday cake. (This had to be done during Andrew's nap as it just called out for knocking over - even Anika had to try about a dozen times before it stayed up:-))

Anika is lighting the candles in this picture.

It's True

Some of you guessed from my comment about the "3" on the rocking chair that we are expecting a new baby. Today Daddy, Anika, and Andrew joined Mommy to hear the heartbeat.
Our little princess, Anika, thought it was pretty cool. Her first question today when I told her we were going to the doctor was, "Is the baby going to come out?" She lives in her princess dresses and ballerina costumes so she is "pretty in pink" in this clip.

(I hope this works - you might need to turn the volume up)!

Harvest Fair Fun

Anika has been anxiously waiting for the opportunity to wear her "Little Mermaid" costume. And last night was the night:-) Anika was a mermaid and Andrew was a clown. He was not at all fond of the wig but he managed to keep it on for a picture or two. We went to the Harvest Fair, played games, and filled up on candy. Then we came home and had the youth group over for pizza and games -- and more candy. I didn't think my kids would ever go to sleep. It was a really fun evening.

Princess Wishes

Our little princess was spoiled this weekend. I saw already this summer that Disney on Ice was coming to Yakima and I knew that Anika would be amazed at the skating and, of course, the princesses. So we decided to have a special "date night". Daddy took Mommy and Anika out to the show and Andrew got to stay home with the babysitter. What an amazing night! When asked what she liked best, Anika said, "The skating." And her favorite princess is Ariel, the little mermaid. A highlight of the night was Anika getting to dress up as a princess. Our friend, Linda Werkhoven let Anika borrow a Sleeping Beauty dress. Anika had a great time!

Belle and Luimere:

Snow White and her prince:Jasmine and Aladdin (by far the best skaters!):

Mickey and Minnie Mouse:

Cinderella and Prince Charming:Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip:Ariel and Flounder:

Stress?

To explain my lack of posts is to explain the turmoil of the (adult) Wickers' minds. Lloyd has received a call to pastor a church in Ripon, CA. Yikes!!!! We have been and will continue to spend the next few weeks on our knees discerning God's call and will in all of this. We covet any and all prayers as we wade through these waters.

We woke up to this sign (from God?) on our front lawn this morning. Our loving friends here are clear in their desire that we continue to be used of God here in Sunnyside.
(If you can't read the forks, they say 'STAY'.)

Kids, kids, and kids?

Hello! It's been a long time (but I'm happy to say I'm in under the wire and it has been less than a month:-)). It's been a crazy time around the Wicker household. Just living life is busy enough but we've added plenty of stress to all of it.

Might she have a touch of a dramatic streak????

Those baby blues hide a LOT of trouble:-)

Of course, I couldn't catch the perfect moment just before this when Andrew was sitting nicely as his sister read to him, but . . . here is the next best thing. (Do you think there is room for three on that chair????)