Another month, another year

First of all, a few days ago, on December 29, Natalie turned 15 months old. See what a big girl she's getting to be!

 

Second, it was our turn to spend Christmas this year with Sarah's family, and so we went to Iowa, where we were hosted by Sarah's parents. Here is our immediate family on Christmas Eve:

Sarah's sister, Miriam, spent Christmas with us in Iowa as well and came with her husband, Andy, and two daughters, Olivia and Nora. The cousins had a great time playing with each other, since they are close in age.

Nora, Olivia, Lexi and Natalie

 One night we made krum kake, a traditional Norwegian Christmas cookie.

Lexi with one of her cousins - before and after

When we were in Minnesota with Sarah's family a couple of weeks ago, Lexi got to be with all of her first cousins (all cousins in this generation so far are girls). Look at these two pictures of Lexi with one of her cousins, the daughter of Sarah's brother Brian and his wife Jen. You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

Lexi with all of her first cousins

When Sarah and Lexi returned to the U.S. on May 7, they entered the country at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport because that's the largest major airport for Sarah's mother, who had been with them for their last two weeks in Nairobi so Sarah could have some help with Lexi when flying home. Because they were entering the U.S. there, they and the rest of Sarah's family used the occasion for a family reunion from that day through Saturday. Sarah's father drove up from Iowa, I flew in from Washington, D.C., her sister and her family flew in from Salt Lake City, and we all stayed with Sarah's brother and his family in the Minneapolis area.

There were eight adults and four kids (ranging in age from 10 months to 2 years) in the same house (luckily it's big and has a few bathrooms) for a few days and nights.

This was the first time we met our youngest niece, Nora, and we loved having all of the first cousins together. Here they are:

From the left:

• Lexi
• Sofia, daughter of Sarah's younger brother Brian and his wife Jen
• Olivia, eldest daughter of Sarah's younger sister Miriam and her husband Andy
• Nora, youngest daughter of Miriam and Andy