We celebrated Katie's fourth birthday on the 18th of July. Ever since we were in Germany, she had been hoping for a pink camera of her own. Thanks to Grandma Strei's generosity, she got her wish, and has been taking photos ever since. Grandma Becker sent Katie a gorgeous dress with netting under the skirt to increase its twirlability. Katie wore it immediately out of the package and then slept in it for at least two days straight. I neglected to take any photos of her in it though.
Isaac is enjoying his varied recreational options now that we are back on the home turf. In Germany, he was either hanging out on the floor, or in the stroller. Now he has his choice of the exersaucer (his personal favorite), the walker (we know, not safety-sanctioned, but it works for us), the bumbo chair, or just sitting up on the floor and hoping Grace doesn't come along and give him an overexuberant hug that results in him tipping over.
Katie also received a two-wheel bike for her birthday, which she uses every day out on the back patio.
Isaac in the aforementioned walker. He now has two teeth and thighs of amazing size.
Isaac's blue eye color seems to be remaining. I marvel at how all four of our kids' traits are dominated by Dave's features, even though Dave's genes (blond and blue eyed) should be dwarfed by my brown hair and brown eyes. I guess it is due to my dad's lighter features sneaking through.
Grace is all over the place these days. Here, she scooted herself under the couch and couldn't get out. On her stomach, she only goes backward, but on her bottom she scoots like a ball of fire.
We had a party to celebrate the graduation of Dave's second Ph.D. student, Meri Hughes. 
Grace showed off her new standing skills. She can pull herself up to standing now. This morning at church, she kept giggling as she used the back of the pew to practice her up-and-down technique. She is pretty proud of herself.
A rousing game of twister. The kids just finished up with swimming lessons. Sam went from a dog-paddling fool to learning some good strokes and diving off the diving board. Katie went from walking around the shallow end to jumping off the side into the deep end with confidence. Grace even became a bit of a fish, enjoying "jumping" off the side of the pool. Our friend Kristen taught the kids, and our friends the Glenns let us use their backyard pool every morning.
Dave gets in the twister action.
Tomorrow morning (Monday the 10th), Grace has surgery to have tubes placed in both her ears. It's a minor surgery, probably less than 15 minutes, but it will be her first time under anesthesia, so keep her in your prayers that all goes well.
Isaac chilling in the bumbo.
Sam's looking long and lean these days. On Friday, we went out to eat at Moni's, a local restaurant, and Sam's principal and assistant principal were at the table next to us. Sam immediately went into undercover mode, making sure he was hidden behind Dave and out of view of Ms. Coulter and Mr. Gallagher. After lunch, Sam overcame his shyness to say hello to them and tell them he did his journal everyday in Germany. 
My friend Rachel has a conference in Austin this week, so she flew into DFW for the weekend. She was a big help, especially with Dave gone. Here she is, feeding Grace and holding Isaac, while I was eating bon-bons and having a pedicure. (Just kidding, I think I was unloading the dishwasher.) Today, we dropped off Rachel at the Amtrak station to catch a train down to Austin.My mom comes into town on Tuesday to join in the fun. How we manage to draw these Midwesterners to Texas in August is a mystery to me, but we sure enjoy their visits.
You're back - this is great!! We were lazy this morning and "skipped"!!
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