Baby Elephant

Our week:
~A quiet visit with Gramma and Grampa Murphy on Wednesday. We got to tell Grampa how much we love him. He wasn't able to talk, but in the last day or so he has spoken a bit.
~Anna Kate and I came down with the flu. We had a miserable day of it, trying to care for a toddler while almost unable to walk. It's been a decade since I've had to take care of a baby while I was sick. I'm so glad we were only sick for one day.
~At the end of our sick day, we decided we had just enough strength to walk around part of our block with our baby elephant. He was a big hit. This is a costume I made 17 years ago for my friend Maryjo's little girl, and Maryjo graciously gave me the costume after Kendyl wore it. Every one of my parents' grandkids from Julia on down dressed up as the baby elephant.
~Last weekend we saw our big boys when they came to visit their Grampa, and today we will get Julia home for the weekend. She wants to visit Grampa too.
~Nate and I spend lots of time talking about his Dad, remembering some of the ways he has blessed us. We keep the Kleenex handy in every room of the house now.

Malachi Jude, the skeptical elephant. His head is so big that the velcro wouldn't stay fastened under his chin.

I love these baby elephant ears.  And I love the baby elephant! 

Malachi was bent on impressing his big brother Isaac. He said all his words, played peek-a-boo and So Big, walked, danced, and generally showed off everything he knew.

Every year save one, since she was eight years old, Anna Kate has been a prairie girl for All Saint's Day (haha, we aren't fans of Halloween...but we love to dress up). This is her current prairie dress. Malachi was deciding that her puzzle was better than his. She was so weak and sick on the 31st that she didn't put on any costume. Honestly, we could hardly drag ourselves the last hundred yards home.

There have been many tears this week, but also some sweet days of making new memories.
Blessings on all of you supportive friends. Thank you for your words of love and encouragement, and for your prayers on our behalf.