Zoe Grace is now 19 months old . . . and is talking more and more every day . . . and learning every day how to better create and get into trouble :D . . . she is a ton of fun and we would be missing out greatly in life without her . . . what a joy she is!! My favorite thing that she says is "I nawna doe", meaning: I wanna go . . . she says it all the time, cuz she always wants to be part of the action. Another one of our favorites is when she raises both fists in the air and then pulls them down and says "Yeth!!" meaning Yes! . . hahaha. Just double click on the photos if you want to see them bigger.

ALWAYS into something :) She loves stickers, hence the smiley face stickers that she put all over her onesie and neck.
Last month we went to the St Louis Zoo with my (Bethany's) parents and had a really great time, here are some of photos from that day. We are having a wonderful time with my parents, cherishing the time together before we head back over to the other side of the world. Time together is something we never take for granted.

Acting like monkeys on the gorilla's back!

Papa and Eli looking for the big cats hiding below . . .

Zoe LOVED the goats . . or in her words "goaks! goaks!"




Zoe along for the ride all day :)

We had an awesome day!!

Stateside So Far . . .

I don't think that I have ever taken this long in between posts!! It has been a busy time so far here in the States and we have been thoroughly enjoying our friends and family here . . . what a blessing to be able to spend time with my parents and Andy's parents and other family and friends!! It had been such a long time apart!! Here are just a few of the photos that we have taken since we arrived . . . there are so many more . . but here is a taste. I will be do my best to be more diligent with blogging!! Love to ALL of you!! To see the pictures bigger just double click on them . . .

Gabby and Eli decorated the cake for their Daddy's Birthday last week . . . they had fun!

Zoe Grace is 17 months old now and growing way too fast!! We are loving every minute of the passionate little lady that she is becoming!!

Daddy and Zoe snuggling . . .

Our gorgeous Gabby girl . . . she turned 7 this past March 27!

Zoe learned how to climb onto the couch . . . she is always into mischief!!

Handsome Eli man . . . he will be 5 in July!!

The men giving their best tough-guy faces :)
Buddies for life!

bubbles bubbles bubbles!!!

The three musketeers . . . we are so in love with our sweet kiddos!! Thanks for taking the time to check out our blog, we are having fun here in the States, but are really looking forward to getting back to our friends and family in Malaysia!!!

Sorry I have been SO pathetic at keeping this blog updated . . . we are headed back to the States in a little over 3 weeks and I am feeling quite overwhelmed (emotionally and otherwise) so much to do and so little time (as it always feels before a big trip) . . . we will really miss Malaysia while we are away . . . we have really grown to love it here, it has become a home to us in so many ways! We are really looking forward to seeing all of you that we love so dearly in the US though . . . it will be AMAZING to hug all of you once again!! Please be lifting us up as we pack and get everything in order before we jump on that plane, and be thinking of us as we say our goodbyes (see you laters) and make the trek over the ocean with our 3 little tykes for our time in the States (from our KL, Malaysia doorstep to Andy's parent's doorstep in Ormond Beach, FL it will be a travel time of about 34 hours) We fly from KL to Beijing to Washington DC to Orlando. Here are some recent photos of our Benezette crew . . . the first few are of us celebrating Hari Raya here, the kids are growing way too fast . . and the last two are photos of the cutest 9 month old I know . . . thanks for checking out the blog and we are SO excited to see many of you VERY soon!!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm . . . .

VACATION IN THE PHILIPPINES!

Here are a bunch of photos from our amazing vacation the the Philippines with my sister and her husband and their 3 amazing kids!! What a blessing to be able to spend such sweet time with family! The beauty in the Philippines is awe inspiring, we love it there! (Just double-click on the picture to see it bigger.)

Andy doing the zip line in front of the volcano, Mt. Mayon.
My turn at the zip line, it was really cool . . those are trees below me . . . it was pretty high up!
5 out of the 6 cousins . . . we couldn't get Zoe to hang there . . . she was being very disobedient . . hehehehe ;) ! (left to right, Kayla 10, Ben 6, Eli 4, Gabby 6, and Zach 8) It was sooo special to be together!
Eli and Kayla at the wakeboard park . . . the kids had SO much fun there and really surprised both Andy and I with their bravery and willingness to try it out!
Gabby kneeboarding all on her own, she was a pro!
Gabs and Kayla on the kneeboard.
Andy and I in front of Mt. Mayon . . . it was a beautiful day!
Daddy's littlest girl :)
The kids climbing on the ruins there by the volcano . . . so much fun!
I love getting a good family photo . . it doesn't happen very often!
ALL the cousins this time . . . Zoe too! :)
Another picture of the gang!
The boys!! SO TOUGH!
My (Bethany's) Dad showed up and surprised me!! It was so great to be able to spend some time with him, and he had fun being with all his grandkiddos!
Tubby time!!! We don't have a bathtub at our house here in Malaysia, so when we are on vacation and there is one, they REALLY enjoy it!!
Andy at the wake board park . . . he had such a blast . . . he ripped his hands up and got really sore muscles . . . but he said it was very worth it!
The kids hanging in the backseat of the car on the way to the wake board park . . . bunch of goofballs!
Hope you enjoyed these photos . . . we are looking forward to seeing a lot of you this upcoming year when we are stateside!!