Today, Sarah asked to play with “engines.” So we brought down all the Thomas the Tank Engine tracks and trains for a little afternoon fun. She seemed to enjoy herself very much and refrained from eating the tracks…most of the time.

Mom tries to make sure the kids don’t get a sunburn when they go for a walk. Here is Sarah getting ready to venture out. She enjoys her hat and seems to realize it makes her look cute.

Sarah is now in the habit of putting her hand to her ear and saying “hi, hi, hi!” If we mention we were talking to Grandma or ask her if she wants to talk to Grandma, she immediately puts that hand to her ear. The real phone is a different story. If Grandma is on the other end she won’t say a word. Looking at the phone and smiling is the most we have seen so far.

I wanted to find a creative way to document our first winter in Watertown. I think this slideshow captures most of our experiences so far. Merry Christmas from the Harpers!

Everyone in the house enjoys being around Sarah. She is happy, even when we are struggling. It is not too much to say she brightens every day with this, typical smile.

The kids love letters. They have a magnetic set and a set of stickers too – their newest, favorite things. Tonight we spent some time on this project, putting all of our names and ages on paper. They loved it.

The church Family Retreat was one of the last events we attended in Fairbanks. All the children had a good time, including Sarah, who spent most of it just looking around. We weren’t able to attend the entire weekend, but enjoyed the few hours we spent.