One Month and Growing

Remarkably, yesterday marked one month since Phinn's birth. He is a great baby, very sweet and beautiful. At this point there isn't much of his personality, but he is definitely growing and developing. Much of his days and nights are spent sleeping. He is starting to smile and makes some high pitched cooing noises to show his pleasure with things. He loves Hilde and is a little wary of Enoch who can be too active for him. He has intense gazes and spends a lot of time just checking out his surroundings. His neck is incredibly strong and you have to be careful when holding him or he will pitch backwards. He futs right in and we think he is perfect.

The Famous Mr. Coates

Here is a picture of Mr. Coates from Darley's website.

Darley Taster Day

On July 15th Darley Primary School had their taster day for the kids going into Reception (think kindergarten) in September. Enoch knew the uniform since Hilde wears it everyday during the school year, so he demanded to put on dark pants, a white polo, and one of Hilde's jumpers (sweatshirts). We spent almost 3 hours there. He got to go to his classroom, meet his teacher, play with the kids that are there now, meet other kids going there next year, etc. The parents meanwhile met with the headmaster, Mr. Coates. Mr. Coates is a short, fairly young guy and very nice. Hilde (and the other girls at her school I am sure) has a crush on him. He went through the school's values, how things work, etc. Then we gathered Enoch up and ate a school lunch together. Enoch left thrilled to start school in September, so I would consider it a good "taster" of what's to come. Oh, and we did confirm that he will be the cutest kid in his class, no surprise.

Happy 4th Birthday E!

On July 11th our little boy turned 4. It is hard to believe that four years ago we held this tiny little infant in our arms, especially when today we can compare him to Phineas. Enoch was really hoping his brother would be born on his birthday, but he waited another 9 days. In the long run that will probably be for the best, but Enoch was a little disappointed. Enoch got to plan the day. We didn't have anything set up in advance and didn't invite any friends in case we had to rush off to the hospital, but it was a perfect day for him anyway. He ended it with a trip to the Squinting Cat (a kids play place/restaurant), an all chocolate castle cake (which was demanded weeks in advance) and presents. Each year he continues to amaze us with his quick intelligence, clever communication and love of life. He is truly a wonderful kid who we are lucky to have in our home. We love you, happy birthday E!

Knight in Shining Armor

This is a common look for our little boy these days. Sir Enoch is ready to protect you from fiery dragons, napping monsters, ugly trolls, and silly daddy which are all abundant at our house as it turns out. His sword is sharp, his armor strong and his smile and giggles contagious. You have been warned.

Plumpton Rocks

Just a few miles from our house, tucked away where it was a little difficult to find, was this little gem Plumpton Rocks. To get in you turn down a "road" which our car was very nearly too wide for. Then you pass a little shack with a person sitting in a lawn chair collecting money for your entry. After that you have to find parking in an area not remotely resembling a parking lot and then navigate your way to any type of path. Once you get past all that, you are rewarded with quite a nice scenic area. It is mostly a small lake with large rock outcroppings and a path around the lake. It was very beautiful and we would have spent a significant amount of time there, but Hilde was stung by a hornet, her first sting ever, and we made a quick exit. The poor girl was pretty scared by the whole thing, but she was brave enough to ask if we could stop on our way back and have daddy say a blessing for her to get better. She doesn't want to go back any time soon though.


A nice view of the lake, and my pregnant belly a couple of weeks before giving birth. We think we can take the kids fishing here sometime.



The hornet sting swelled up right away to the size you see here, but within an hour the swelling was gone and you had to look to find the spot where she was stung.

Janet visits Fountains Abbey

Janet came through town on her tour of England and Scotland. It was nice to see her and the kids loved showing her around. Here are some pictures from our trip to Fountains Abbey.



Enoch was being Kung Fu Panda in the two pictures below.

Younce kids in flight -


We had some of the best weather of the summer, a perfect day out.