A few more pics of Baby Viviane

We had a very short visit with the Coles yesterday afternoon, and all we lady Bixbys enjoyed the privilege a quick cuddle with Baby Viviane.

"Baby Colette" is finally here!

Viviane Renée Cole
March 18, 2007
1:03am
19.5 in
7.14lb
14 solid hours of labor!
And a very tired "Auntie" Donna!
Just thought you would all enjoy.

They finally meet baby Corban!

SHE PASSED!

I realize that this photo is from two years ago, but I thought you would all like to know that Johanna passed her recital check today, so she is officially "on the road" to her recital which is April 14. We hope to see you all there! Congratulations, Jo!!

readin', ritin' & 'rithmatic

Just thought you might enjoy seeing how studious my family is ...

Well ... sometimes anyway.

Here they are showing off their tongues that bear the greenish/yellowish/bluish hues of the fruit rollups they have just enjoyed.

Enjoy the gorgeous weather!

We had originally planned on going to the parc, but we ended up not having car seats so we took a walk around the block and then picniced in the yard! I don't think Micaiah was convinced that a walk around the block was as fun as the park would have been, but alas, he took it very sweetly! After lunch we got out the kite as it was a very windy day. Just so you know, the kite in the background photo is mine. I actually got it up and staying up for a while. I've never flown a kite before--it was lots of fun! Great day, great memories made! Thought you all might enjoy.

Brian's Bixby Birthday Bash!

A few pics to let you in on the events of the evening.

Sunday morning...

Now she is SIX!

Now We Are Six!!
by A.A. Milne

When I was one I'd just begun,
When I was two I was nearly new,
When I was three I was hardly me,
When I was four I was not much more,
When I was five I was barely alive,
But now I am SIX!!
As clever as clever!
And I thnk I'll stay six now
Forever and EVER!!

Being a Ham

Free Streamline

Dad, you might be particularly interested in this. It is R.C. Sproul's Conference on online video for free - LIVE. You have to register here. I did, although I don't know how much - if any - I'll get to watch. But it should be good.

Happy Birthday, Brian!

How well do we remember your birthday last year when Jo decorated your office and had a picnic (Jo will have to post that picture because I can't find it!)--lots of wonderful things have happened since then. We are praying that this next year will be a great year, too. We love you. Happy 26th Birthday!

Honeymoon Hikers!

When we were in Lucerne, we saw people waiting outside the church for a bride and groom to come out. Then we noticed the "get-a-way" vehicle--a bicycle built for two! A little later we saw them set out on their very creative honeymoon. Why or why didn't we see this before Jo and Brian were married. Just think of how much money they could have saved. Doesn't it just seem so "swiss-y"?

Just FYI

If you want to follow "live blogging" of the conference where I am at, Tim Chailles is doing an excellent job!

Getting her ears pierced for her 6th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our Little Red Head!

Patience, it seems like yesterday that I got a phone call while I was teaching my first hour class to tell me that the long awaited Patience Elayne Bixby had been born. When I walked back into my class to tell them, I cried wonderful tears of joy. I couldn't wait to get down to Greenville to see our newest bundle of joy. To think: it's been SIX whole years! Happy Birthday, Dumplin'!

Thank You, Nati!

We were treated royally and had a wonderful stay at the Guetli. Now it is your turn to come back home!

Bellevue!

You see why the hotel is called "Bellevue"!

Lucerne!

On Friday, our tour guide (aka Nati) took us to Lucerne on the way up to Bellevue. The city is beautiful, especially the old covered bridge. However, I think Crystal was more excited to see a Starbucks! We didn't let her indulge because we were having coffee later, but she still drooled! The girl with us is a worker's daughter that we were taking home.

Friendly Faces from the Guetli

Here are just a few pictures of some of our friends at the Guetli. The first picture is Joshua and his wife Heidi and their little girl Naomi. Joshua is Nati's brother, for those who might not know. Next is Nati's mother (didn't get his father :-(), then Eva, who sends special greetings to Tim and Ruth, then Nati ( still our special swiss son ), most of the Fischer family (who lived with us for several months a couple of years ago), Tabitha Lippuneur (we didn't get one of Lydia, who is quite grown up now), Rachel Fischer, Nati's grandparents and lastly, Cornelia (Emanuel is in Africa). Our goal was to see people and we managed to squeeze in lots of visits in our one day there. It was really nice to see everyone--we hadn't been to the Guetli in almost 4 years!

Around Algrange

We had a really nice week up at Algrange. Monday I was in meetings all day but other than that, I was on vacation! Crystal went to most of the morning classes with the 2-3 year students. Steve Barnes was teaching and it was excellent. Dad, of course, was teaching all week. The Vissers were great hosts and Karyn even managed to take Crystal and I shopping in Germany and sightseeing in Luxembourg (1st picture). On Wednesday John Stauffacher took we 3 and Steve down to Metz to the Huguenot expo. It was exceptional. Very well done and lots of interesting things.

More fun.... more practice.

As you can see, the kids had more fun this long weekend in the snow. Last night, we had company over. There were a couple of teenage boys that helped Ben "improve" his luge track. Needless to say, he was in his glory. You can see some video of his improved track here. Elise chickened out, I guess.

Bottled Music

For those of you who think that you are expert musicians, I offer to you one who is both an athlete and creative musician!

Look at this Croquembouche!

My student asked for a Croquembouche for her daughter's 1st birthday, so Aunt Donna said she would do it. (Not a price most of us would pay for a 1st b-day party!), but it turned out adorable so I thought I'd share. When Judy and I launch our business, we know who we'll call on to make our specialties for us!

Recipe #1

Roasted Chicken Salad

½ c. mayonnaise
¼ c. sour cream
3 Tbs. dry sherry (I used red wine vinager.)
1 Tbs. soy sauce
2 green onions
Salt/fresh ground pepper

Purée in blender.

1 c. petite peas
1 roasted chicken, (4lbs) shredded
1 celery stick finely sliced
1 head of watercress or masche (I used boxed spring mix.)

Mix lightly with dressing immediately before serving.

We "dressed" the plate with a piece of Italian/French bread, a wedge of cheese (brie), and italian parsley (much prettier than curly parsley) at "1:00", and we also put a mixture of green and black olives at "7:00". It made for a beautiful presentation--NOT shown! Somehow we didn't get any pictures. I took the above from a large snapshot.) Too, bad, but maybe next time we'll remember.

Okay, so it's not a theology quiz...

but it is pretty accurate (at least for me, it was). I'm from the "inland, north."

How about you?

Take the accent quiz.

Winter fun!

We are in the second big snow storm we've had this week. On Saturday and Sunday, we got almost a foot of snow. It started snowing again last night during church, and is supposed to continue through tonight. By the end of the storm, we are supposed to get an additional 12-20 inches.
The kids came home from school an hour early today, and I left work early as well. They are hoping for a snow day tomorrow. We'll see.
Click here to see a video of the kids having fun sledding down the deck steps. It is fun snow to play in and the weather is nice, right around 30*.

Corban in one of his new outfits!

We are having aball getting him dressed up every time we leave the house. Last night he wore the blue sweater from Mom Bixby with the tennis shoes... those drew lots of attention!! Our boy is growing and it now in the 3 month sizes.

Corban and Mommy got spoiled at his Baby Shower

We all had a wonderful time. Margaret, Jane, Linda (in her home) and Robin Hayes planned it. I hear that we were 40 in all! Robin planned the food and it was incredible! The dinner room table was full of appetizers of all kinds and then after the opening of presents they served us homemade cheesecakes-- MMMmmmm good! Jane gave the devotional which was very thoughtfully planned. She talked about our journey to get Corban and the mountain and valleys of that three month journey. She read several Psalms that applied to each phase of the journey. Played one game and then opened gifts. It was rightly noted that they don't want to see Corban in the same thing on a Sunday night that he wore in the AM... and rightly so!! Matter of fact as I hung the last outfit in the armoir the bar broke and fell! God is good to us and we are so very thankful for our loving church. At the end of Jane's remembering time she had us sing, "Great is Thy Faithfulness", and that sums up how very blessed we are.