Happy Birthday Pappy!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful dad, dad-in-law, and Pappy. So today we celebrate this wonderful man who brings so much joy to our lives. Hope your day is full of walks in the park and lots of Starbucks coffee!

Holly and her big girl bed

Above are a couple of pictures of Holly's new room. She's been sleeping in her big girl bed since last Friday, and has adjusted wonderfully (to my amazement!). I was terrified of taking this step, as this girl LOVED her crib. But she was super excited about the transition and has slept through the night every night! She can climb in and out of her bed through a gap between her bedrail and footboard, but she hasn't been brave enough to try it. Until today...

When I went to get her up from her nap this afternoon, I noticed a lot of light coming from under her door. I thought it was odd, since I had closed the blinds before walking out of her room. I opened the door and this is what I found (see below). Blinds open, hat on her head (and a few in her bed), toys and books all over the floor.

She has discovered freedom. I am just hoping I don't walk in tomorrow morning to find her curled up in her bookcase...

And she will be called...

Anna Caroline Rife!


After a process that had to be more grueling than vetting for the VP nominee, we finally chose a name. And it was all by the grace of God - truly - because we were about to pull our hair out and just call this poor child Number 2. A couple of people asked it we had prayed about her name, and our answer was "no" - it seemed such a trivial thing to pray about when there are much bigger things on our hearts. But we were reminded that names are important to God: "As his name is, so is he" (1 Samuel 25:25).

Names were so important to God that He often changed people's names to reflect their new identity in Him. Abram means "father," and God changed his name to Abraham which means "father of a multitude." And we can't forget Saul, who before meeting Christ on the road to Damascus was a persecuter of Christians, and whose name meant "demanding." After his encounter with Jesus, his name became Paul, which means "worker." And what a worker he was! From persecuter to the perescuted, from Christian hater to one who would give his life to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth...

So we prayed about it, and a few others did as well. And within a few days, it was clear to us both. No arguments, no disunity - having been through this twice now (Holly was no piece of cake!), that's a miracle in itself!

Anna (gracious, merciful)
Caroline (beautiful woman)

Some cute (I think) Holly videos

A couple of weeks ago we visited my parents in Nashville (Mt. Juliet). In this video, we're at the John Deere park and Holly's wearing - gasp - a John Deere t-shirt. Am I even spelling Deere correctly? During our stay in middle Tennessee, I even found myself dropping the "g" off of participles such as "eating." Instead, I did a lot of eatin' and sleepin'. I love it! Lots of thanks to Nana and Papa for a great weekend, and to Uncle Drew and the boys for making my car as good as new!

We're in the process of putting Holly's new room together. Still waiting on the headboards/footboards for her twin beds, and excuse the lack of wall decor. It's coming. But we have the pink shag rug, and really, what more does a girl need?

Not a burp, but a...

I apologize in advance for the crudeness of what you are about to read, but I can't help but share. Here is an actual scenario that took place at our dinner table tonight:

- Holly passes gas...loudly

- I tell her to say "excuse me"

- Holly instead says "I burped"

- Me: "No, you passed gas."

- Matt: "We are not saying 'passed gas' in this house."

- Me: "What are we saying? I'm not allowing us to say 'fart'."

- Matt: "We'll say 'toot'. Holly, you tooted."

- Holly: "Toot. I tooted."

There was more to the scene, which involved Matt telling her how a toot is different than a burp, but I'll spare you. I'll also spare you a photo that corresponds to this story, and instead share a sweet, smiling photo of Holly.

I hope I haven't scared you away from this blog.

I'm back!

Do you ever feel so behind that you just don't know where to begin to get caught up? That's how I've been with the blog lately... I let a few too many days go by, and all of a sudden I've taken a full blown summer break. Well, here's a quick summary of what's been going on in the Rife household over the past few weeks...

1) Beer-tasting day finally arrived! For those of you who are curious, and not close enough to get a taste of the home brew for yourselves, it turned out really well for a first attempt. Matt's already made notes about how to improve the next time around...

2) Dori came to visit us (or should I say to visit Holly?). I hope she doesn't kill me for posting this picture of her in yard clothes - she was helping me plant some flowers in pots (BTW Dori, when she sees her Dora the Explorer coloring book, she says "Aunt Dowee!")

3) The Bonassos came from Pittsburgh. They left us last August to return to their PA roots, so it was a fun reunion! Holly and Louis are the same age and had become pretty tight, but I'm not sure if they remembered each other. But Holly's still talking about him...

4) Holly started school! Well, she started Mother's Morning Out two days a week, but since it requires a lunchbox, that's school in my mind.

Sorry for the long hiatus, and I'll do my best to be more consistent with updates from now on!

Holly in concert, Part 2

She could seriously do this ALL DAY.

At the end she says "Cheese!"