The Growing Groen Kids

      I've been really blessed to see the Groens the last three nights. I couldn't believe how much they have grown in two years. I don't know what I had expected, but we think Hailey has changed the most. They are all still very pretty girls who are very well behaved. I got to keep them one night so Calvin and Alicia could go to Five Senses with Becky, the elderly lady they stay with when on furlough. They were treating her to a nice meal without the kids. While the kids were eating McDonalds for the 1st time in a while, Kate said that she was ready for rice and beans again. Kate kept asking if there were any chores they could do, insisting that they liked doing chores. Hailey wanted me to tell her where to sit at the table when I told her to pick a chair to eat her dinner and Sadie, she was afraid of eating too much again. The night before she stood over the garbage can b/c she ate too much. Sadie said that she really liked my cooking saying "its probably b/c it mostly comes from a box."(referring to why she likes it) Ha! I love missionary kids!!! These girls are the most polite girls ever. They also really like AnnElise! I'm not sure what Sadie was doing with her before dinner but all I could hear was AE laughing really hard with her in our living room. When the girls were watching a movie, AE kept getting in their face trying to get some attention from them and they were all glued to the TV despite her attempts. She can already say Kate and Sadie, which we taught her last night to say. She is talking up a storm lately, and learning new words everyday. When Daniel comes home, I have to catch him up on what she can say. We have successfully taught her poop, but she says it after the fact as she pulls at her diaper. She also has for the very first time gone down 2 steps without holding on to anything or crawling. She mastered my mom's flight of steps without crawling, holding onto the rails by herself last weekend. Just this morning she climbed up in her high chair on her own. I've never really seen her attempt it, but she sat down in it ready for breakfast. One less thing I have to pick her up for.

   I thought this was the typical Duke biting AE's bottom photo.

    They were very zoned in on the movie. Not even AE getting in their face would change anything.

      

 The Groen girls have been talking non stop about a toddler (our friend's daughter, Baylor) on the team thats just a bit younger than AE. It makes me really excited to have them come home later this summer. It sounds like she's a climber too and can really run already. Maybe they can run each others' energy out when we get them together. Baylor sounds like a lot of fun and it sounds like she's on the same level as AE with climbing, running, talking, and adventurousness.