Time for a brief update (pun intended)

Mike has not been able to post a blog update recently, so I thought I would take a stab at it.

First, the news on Anna. She has been learning how to dress herself. For a 21-month old, I think she's doing a fine job.



And yes, that is Laura's underwear on Anna's head. Laura occasionally sports the "unders hat" as well.

Anna has also made leaps & bounds in her relationship with Grandma Becky and Grandpa Bud's standard poodle, Koke. Last week, when she found Koke relaxing in the sunlight, she laid down face-to-face with her for some girl-talk.

Then she brought over a book and a drink for the dog.

Apparently unsatisifed with Koke's reading of the story, Anna took over and read it out loud herself -- in Anna-language, of course.

Next, Laura ... With our busy summer, we are grateful that she is such an adaptable girl. She doesn't even mind sleeping on the floor when we're traveling. Here we had made her a nice bed out of cushions, but despite my attempts to continually remake her bed for her throughout the night, I kept waking up to find her like this:

Laura loves assisting Mike with his vegetable garden. Here she is showing off today's harvest.

Anna is also very enthusiastic about the garden, but she indiscriminately picks whatever she wants, whether it's ripe, not quite ready yet, or hanging on the vine half-eaten by some other creature. I thought I had her under control this afternoon until I found her coming around the corner of the garden, with a tell-tale stream of tomato juice dripping down her chin and a huge smile on her face.

And lastly, the sisters together. While they do their fair share of squabbling, they can occasionally be caught in a moment that shows their sisterly bond growing.