Andrew Isaac Niclasen

Andrew Isaac Niclasen joined Ryan and Kara's family on February 18, 2010!!

I feel so blessed to be here with them for this special occasion.

Drew weighed 9lb.14 oz. and was 22 in long.

A few hours after he was born I was able to meet this little prince.
Selah watching me getting him dressed.How fun to have a cuddle sooo soon!
First family photo of the 5 of them. Proud daddy.

Yea, he is home! He received a warm welcome from his big brother and sister.

Couldn't even wait until he had his coat off to get another hug.

He sure is loved by his bro and sis.

"What do you think, Selah?"

Noah's drawing of his new brother.

Brotherly love.

So sweet to have him sleeping in my arms!!

One week old!!

First week in Canada

I feel so very, very blessed to have 3 weeks in Canada at this special time. My trip across the pond went very well, and it is always so wonderful to see Ryan's big smile after going through the airport rituals. The next morning found me out playing in the snow with Selah and Noah. Since I haven't been in Canada in the winter since 2000, not only was it fun to have that time with them, but I also enjoyed the white fluff.

Noah was up for a 'hockey' game.

The timing was perfect for me to be here for two birthdays - Kara's was on the 12th.

Then it was Noah's 4th birthday on the 14th. He is enjoying his special breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes.

A wooden crocodile I brought him from the Philippines.

He was soooooooo excited about his football birthday cake.

"This is exactly what I wanted!"

It was also an exciting day for his Omma - my first time to be with him for his birthday.

Our Tim Horton date!

It was fun to be there for their Library hour.

Acting out their songs.

And a wink for Abbi!!

Ellie & Rebekah's Visit

We were so happy Craig, Claire, Ellie and Rebekah were able to squeeze in a visit between our time with our American friends, and my date to cross that pond again. We can never have too much 'Omma and Abbi' time!!

A game of chasing Omma around the living room. Cuddles from Rebekah, my living doll,
and Ellie, my bundle of joy.
Rebekah fell asleep in my arms and I so enjoyed the following hour,

followed by some entertainment.

Special Friends

As we were watching the airplane coasting to a stop at our local airport (which obviously isn't very big) we were sooooooo excited, knowing that we would soon see our friends, Scott and Cindy Nelsen. We had known they were coming for a long time, but it still was difficult to actually believe they were on that airplane. Soon we would have a few days together to get caught up on our families and how our ministries were going. We would have lots of time to reminisce our fun times together in the Philippines - watching our sons play soccer in High School, the fun Christmases we spent together on our flight center and the fishing trips Ragnar and Scott enjoyed on the east coast. Soon we were back at our home. They did an amazing job of staying awake the rest of the day, despite the several hour time difference (they had arrived from USA). Maybe the walk down to the sea, taking note of all the birds along the way, helped a little. The next day we went to the catherdral city of Lincoln - about one hour away.

We enjoyed wandering around the huge cathedral - the structure was simply amazing.A very informative guided tour of the attic was so interesting. What was able to be accomplished without all of today's modern equipment was basically unbelievable.

Beautiful stained glass windows.

Saturday came too soon, and the four of us were once again in our vehicle, on our way to the other side of the country. They came across the pond for Scott to study Tropical Medicine in Liverpool. We so trust that this was just the beginning of lots of fun times with the Nelsens over the next 3 months that they are here in Great Britian.