9 on 9-9!!

Nine months, that is! Our little girl is getting so big! Just today she stood for about three seconds on her own without holding on to anyone or anything. She has us laughing nearly all day long with her adorable and inquisitive personality. When she hears us laugh then she'll start laughing, too, which only makes us laugh more! There's a lot of laughing going on these days. This reminds me of a Psalm we printed on our wedding program: "Our mouths were filled with laughter,our tongues with songs of joy...The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." (Psalm 126: 2-3). Speaking of our wedding, we just celebrated our three year anniversary on September 15th and are truly filled with thankfulness and joy!

The first month of school has been filled with lots of excitement and activity. The Welcome Back BBQ in August included a massive game of tug-of-war, which just seems painful to me!

Our first Nav Night (the large group gathering on campus) was on the first day of class and meets in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union (easy enough to remember at the University of Kansas!)

The first few meetings centered around the story of the Prodigal Son (the son, the older brother, and the father), and Jason spoke on the son. I had a babysitter that night (thanks Grandma!) so I was able to go and hear him speak. He did an amazing job and really is an excellent public speaker.

Two of Elisabeth's student friends, Roshni and Kaitlynn, saw her this past month and I wanted to post some "then and now pics" of her with them. The first set are when Elisabeth was about one month and the second set are of her at nine months. It's so fun to see how much she's changed!

Kaitlynn and Elisabeth:



Roshni and Elisabeth:



Happy Fall!
With love, The Rosses

And we're off!

What's one way to tell that the students are back and we are in full swing? Cooking mass quantities of food! This week included baking eight dozen cookies and almost breaking our can opener opening a 117 ounce can of baked beans! We hosted a BBQ for our student leadership team on Monday evening as we welcomed them back to campus and discussed what this year could look like to labor together on campus.

The Fall semester classes began yesterday and the week has been full of welcome back and recruiting activities. On the first day of class we always host spiritual interest survey booths, and yesterday Elisabeth and I went up to visit the booth in front of GSP and Corbin, the two women-only dorms. Below is a picture of Elisabeth helping out!
This weekend we have our welcome back BBQ for all students, and we are praying that new students will feel welcome and that the Navs is a place they can call home for their time at KU.

We are constantly grateful for your love and support of us as we reach out to college students. Have a wonderful fall!

Eight months and the end of summer

Elisabeth celebrated her eight month birthday on Sunday and has grown so much this past month! She is crawling (rapidly) all over the place and loves to chase her kitty all around. She would really love to pet her, but we have to explain that Annie is a "look don't touch" cat as she still has her claws and has been known to be a swiper in the past! Nevertheless, Annie provides lots of entertainment for Elisabeth and I think Elisabeth really likes being able to follow her around.

Elisabeth has quite the healthy appetite and has been doing great with new foods. This month we introduced bananas, carrots, oatmeal, peas, and applesauce. I bought her the Jongold variety of apples to make applesauce and they are so delicious! I'm usually indifferent towards apples but these are amazing! Her favorite food is still her cereal which she eats before bedtime.

Her eighth month included another wedding of former students as well as her first trip to the zoo. Her first animals to see were the lions (notice them in the picture below!) She also rode on Daddy's shoulders for the first time and sat in a baby swing at a playground--two big occasions in the life of a child!

The KU Fall semester begins a week from this Thursday and we have our student leader welcome back barbecue on Monday. The summer reading assignment for our leadership team was "The Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney, which is a mini but mighty book on how to keep the Gospel at the center of everything. I will most likely be re-reading the chapters many times!

Enjoy the remainder of your summer!

Seven Months in the Summer time!

Since we've been married, we've spent every summer at our Summer Training Program in Jacksonville, FL with students and staff from around the country. We really see the value of training programs as they are life-changing for all involved. This summer we were only there for two weeks in the beginning and have been back in Kansas traveling and working on funding and other projects. Jason took a trip to Houston just a few days after we returned from Florida, but the girls stayed behind as we thought it would be too much back-to-back travel for Elisabeth. We missed Dad but were so excited to pick him up from the airport on Father's Day! Elisabeth is so blessed to have an amazing Daddy like Jason. They are big buddies!

We spent a week in Wichita around the 4th of July visiting friends and family, and Elisabeth made her crawling debut at Grandma and Grandpa Kester's the day we left to come back to Lawrence. She's now officially mobile! While in Wichita she also met her Great-Grandma Reba for the first time and also visited Grandpa Pat at his office. He had such a great time showing her off! (See pic below) It was too cute. Elisabeth also made friends with Grandma Donna's sweet kitty, Snow, and fun petting a real cat's fur for the first time! Our cat, Annie, has claws and has been known to have a "cattitude", so we're a little nervous as to how the two "sisters" are going to get along. Elisabeth sure does get excited every time she sees her, though!

This summer has gone by quickly but we marvel at how much we've already done. We are looking forward to having the students return!

PS-Rice cereal update: after a week, Elisabeth became a rice cereal eating champion! We're now ready to move on to mashed bananas!

Six Months Old and Rice Cereal!

Elisabeth turned six months old the day after we returned from Florida, and we celebrated by offering her some tasty organic rice cereal for the first time! We are now on Day Five of solid food training and so far she hasn't really taken to it, but does enjoy spitting out her tongue (cereal included). Day Three of solid food training she was holding on to a spoon and actually stuck it in her mouth the correct way. She looks so cute sitting in her new high chair with her new bib!

Mom and Dad celebrated her six month birthday by visiting Sylas and Maddy's, a local ice cream parlor that makes homemade ice cream with flavors such as "Kansas Twister" and "Rock Chocolate Jayhawk". Yummy! Here Jason and Elisabeth celebrate with a waffle cone!

Our trip to Florida was quick but good, and it was interesting doing life with a baby in a dorm. If we go back for a summer in the future, I've taken lots of mental notes for how to "nest" with a young family in a dorm! It was fun to connect with the staff and students and see the program off to a great start. Elisabeth enjoyed wearing her sun hat, even in the dorm, and playing cards with some KU students.


May you have a wonderful and sunny summer!
Love,
The Rosses

Beach Baby!

We arrived in Jacksonville, FL last Tuesday after two flights that went great with Elisabeth. She seemed to enjoy herself and even made friends with a flight attendant who nicknamed her "Smiley". It was cute to see her stop the beverage service to make faces at Elisabeth!
This past week Jason has been busy helping launch the Summer Training Program and preparing for all the students to arrive. On Saturday around 35 Team Leaders arrived and then tomorrow around 140 more students will descend on Jacksonville! It's neat to see the dorm come alive with excitment.
Saturday morning we took a short family trip to the ocean for about 30 minutes and Elisabeth was the Belle of the Beach! Below are a few highlights of her first trip to the ocean. She's wearing a sundress and sunglasses her Grandpa Kester bought her and a sunhat that her Daddy bought her. She was so cute that she was even turning surfers' heads as they ran by!

First Mother's Day and Five Months Old!

Last Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day for the first time with Elisabeth Anne and on the same day we celebrated her five month birthday! The three of us traveled to Wichita to spend the weekend with family, and it was an extra special trip as Elisabeth met her Great-Grandma Kester for the very first time (see picture below). What a blessing to have four generations from one family together at the same time!

Elisabeth continues to amaze us with her development and the way she's constantly learning. One of her new feats includes rolling all the way over, and over, and over...we have to lay down a "landing strip" for her as once she starts to roll she just keeps on going until she runs into something! It's quite the amusement! She gets lots of praise and seems quite happy to have the attention! She has also started to reach for and grab at things, which is so sweet to see her interact with us. We took a trip to campus to take pictures with the beautiful red tulips in bloom, and Elisabeth looked so sweet in her matching red outfit.

This weekend is KU graduation and Elisabeth attended her first graduation party yesterday of one our dear students. In the picture below she is at the party with the recent grad, Sally, wearing her "future Jayhawk" t-shirt. A few weeks ago we attended a wedding of one our former students and Elisabeth made it through the entire ceremony!

We can hardly believe another school year has come to an end. We will head to Jacksonville, FL on May 25th for two weeks to help get the summer training program up and running. Coming up next month: photos of Elisabeth on the beach!