A big bonus on our trip over the States was having a long enough layover in Atlanta to go to Joel and Mary Stuart’s for lunch. It was a sweet time to introduce Martha to her Aunt and Uncle and get to see their new house!
Reuniting with Martha was such a treat and so special to get to be with her as she prepared for her wedding. While it was such a busy busy time, we did get to steal a few moments here and there. We enjoyed being with her and Ian so much!
Noa had been OBSESSED with her cousin Liam for months before we went and just about every day asked if we were going to Liam’s house. It was so special to finally get to be with him. They had a great time togther!
Technically they’re second cousins, but from they looks of them, they could be brother and sister, don’t you think?
cleaning grandma’s floors… endless fun!
getting ready for nap time
Martha loved her special time with Grandma Chase, and her bracelets 
This Martha also loves her time Grandma Chase
I got to watch Liam one morning for Carly. He and Martha enjoyed getting into my diaper bag… already partners in crime!
We also got to play with Jude Lookabill, and the 4 kiddies had a grand time together. Here are the three oldest jumping on the bed. Next time we see these families, we hope it will be in Japan, and there will be six kiddies, jumping on futon 
Carly, Martha, and I with our babies… well, mine and Carly’s babies… Martha still wasn’t married at this point 
We were SO THANKFUL to get a long weekend in PA with Eric’s family. The weekend was made of precious moments and was just what we needed amidst the business of life here and Iverson-wedding crazies. What a refreshing and special time. See for yourself. Here are the girls with Grammy, getting in some snuggle time
On a walk with Great Nana. We got to have dinner and Laura and Clayt’s new house… what a treat!
Noa with Aunt “Yawa”(Laura)
5 Noll ladies
Reading with Grammy and Grandpa
I love these of Martha with her Grandpa
I think you can definitely tell she is his.
With Aunt “Kayin” (Karyn)
On a side note, Noa now thinks every brunette is Karyn. She always like “Kayin” in a super excited voice…and then I tell her it’s not Aunt Karyn and it’s kinda sad…
Anyway, we had a little early birthday party for Noa while we were there. Here is the cake that sweet cousin Abby decorated for Noa:
Here she is enjoying some of her new gifts from Nana – Dr. Seuss boooks!
Giggling with Uncle Clayt and Aunt Laura
More of Martha and her grandpa
We had a fabulou lunch out on Nana’s patio overlooking her beautiful yard
Eric and his Nana
Then, it was back to VA for us. It was a whirlwind week leading up to the wedding, and so much fun! We were blessed to get time with some precious friends, the Weavers who let us stay with them. Noa, who proudly wears Waver-girl clothing 90% of the time, wants to be like them in more way than one. This evening, as soon as Sophie got onto the floor to color, Noa copied her. So fun to have thses “big sisters” to look up to.
In fact, having spent a year watching these precious girls and getting to hang out with them so much, I pray my girls will be very much like them, both in their sweet spirits, but also in their precious relationships as sisters. We loved our time with this sweet family!
Some other amazing friends who we were blessed to grab just an afternoon snack with: the Masts. It was so great to see them for a bit and get to visit. Reuben and Hannah are just the greatest caretakers to Noa and Martha and it so fun to watch them just love on them. It wasn’t long enough, but it was special nonetheless.
Aunt Maggie and Annie came up a few days before the wedding and we had some sweet times together. Noa is also obsessed with her cousin Annie and was thrilled to finally get to play with her (last time they hung out, Annie was only 8 weeks old, and couldn’t quite keep up with Noa). They had a blast playing in Grandma’s yard, learning to share, and listening to their Mamas gab away. Baths, course, are very much in order when cousins get together.
Maggie made all the girl cousins matching dresses. Aren’t they precious??? (LTR: Annie, Trinity, Noa, and Martha)
And of course Daniel Josiah, the only boy in the mix so far (that we know of), was just as sweet as could be with all his little girl cousins. He and Noa, like last time they were together, absolutely LOVED being together.
And I have many more photos still to post, especially of all these sweet kiddies, but I am way to tired of blogging at this point. This is hard work! It will have to wait til later…
Continue reading about a million photos of our trip to america
It worked out that we managed a quick visit with Danny and Kimberly on Friday before heading down to VA. It was wonderful to see our precious family, including Mark who has been in Newark since March. Grandpa Iverson met us there and it was so great to visit with him. Daniel Josiah and Trinity have grown in many ways since they visited us in January, and of course it was great to introduce everyone to Martha.
As always, it was so fun to watch the little cousins interact. God has blessed our girls with cousins very close in age to them, and it seems that every time we are together, these friendships develop a little bit more. Of course, the four Iverson cousins that were present really missed the fifth amiga, little Annie, who couldn’t make it up from Florida for reunion 
Next time they will all be together will be September at their Aunt Martha’s wedding!
I
God blessed us with an amazing 4 days at Nana’s beach house with Dad and Mom Noll. It was a special time of refreshment and being together. The girls loved their time with Grammy (”Mimi”) and Grandpa (”Papa”). We just relaxed and enjoyed each other. We played on the beach, walked around town, ate great ice cream, had two intense games of Spades (girls vs. guys), and took some photos to capture the precious memories. Eric and I even got to sneak out for a date at the Lobster House. We spent part of our honeymoon at Stone Harbor so it was special to be back there with our growing family.
Thank you, Nana, for your generosity and hospitality in letting us use the house! And thank you Mom and Dad for such a wonderful time together. We treasured every moment with you two!
Well, we are home safely in Japan, after a wonderful time in the States to celebrate Laura and Clayt and get some special time with family and friends. I will try to put up photos to catch up these next few days.
It was absolutely wonderful to get to be with our families. The girls got to see (and meet, in Martha’s case) all of their great grandparents! What a treat! Here they are with Great Nana, getting and giving some love:
We also got to stop at University of Delaware to see Aunt Karyn, her house, and her school. The girls even wore their UD t-shirts for the occasion. It was so special to be with Karyn and Steve and get to now have a picture in our minds of where she is. 
Here are some of our pictures from a wonderful visit from Grandma and Grandpa Chase. We were so thankful for their sweetness in coming to stay and love on us. Noa loved getting re-acquainted with them and it was so special for them to meet Martha for the first time.
Martha is 10 days old today!!!! its hard to believe how the time flies when you’re having fun And we ARE having fun. Life with two is harder than we expected but such a joy. Eric and I will have moments where we’re both holding a crying daughter, both changing a diaper, or both snuggling one of these cuties and we’ll just look at each other and laugh. I can’t believe the Lord has brought us here, to this place in life, but I am so thankful he has! Here are a few pictures from this last week. I will try to post more later.
Martha getting ready to leave the hospital, in the same going-home outfit that Noa wore (sniff sniff). 
One afternoon Martha was just smiling away while my mom was talking to her. She is so much more alert than I expected her to be, and just takes in the world around her. Even though we haven’t seen anymore, and Eric and I can’t seem to get them outta her, these were definitely real smiles, not gassy or poopy smiles. It was hard to catch them on camera, but here is a little grin:
Noa having a little “nas” (snack) after a bath. She loves to brush and put things in her hair right away, even before getting dressed.
Here’s a sweet photo of Martha with my mom on the day she was born. My mom has been an amazing blessing – cooking, cleaning, and caring for all of us so well in this adjustment time. I am most thankful, though, for her companionship and the wisdom she passes on. She is so good to remind me how quickly these sweet days of new babyhood go by and to just let me enjoy them. She’s always encouraging me to just sit and hold my baby and not worry about the house and/or other activities. Noa loves her time with “Baba” but my mom will also take Martha so I can have some special play time with just Noa. I am so blessed to be close to her in this time and to get to learn from her. I also love the chance to just talk about any and everything while she’s busy around my house and I sit with the girls. What a blessing from God! I told her I never want to have a baby far away from her 
