Machu Picchu, here we come...

Tomorrow, we're off! We leave Friday morning, nice and early. Maybe not "nice," but definitely "early." We're taking the opportunity of being slightly closer to Peru to go to Machu Picchu. Zachariah's Uncle Randy and Aunt Pat decided rather last-minute to meet up with us at some point in Peru, so we're looking forward to seeing them, too. We're so excited, we've always wanted to go to Machu Picchu!! I don't think we ever thought we'd be taking two 11-month olds with us, though...It's only a four hour flight to Lima, then a 45-minute flight to Cuzco, then a 3-4 hour train ride to Aguas Calientes, the little town right by the ruins. The thing is, the departure times for all these different legs of the journey don't line up nicely at all, so the traveling bit of it will be a little more drawn out than we would like with such little ones. That's okay, they're pretty good travelers. The key is organization. And lots of prayers. And a little bit of bribery with really yummy snacks.

Also, as I'm sure you're all wondering...my novel could be going better, but at least it is going. I have just under 10,000 words. The goal is 50,000 by the end of November, and seeing as how we're halfway there, things are not looking good, especially with us leaving for a week. But, the way I look at it is (and Zac, too, he's doing it also but didn't tell!), I wouldn't have written any words if I hadn't signed up. And the month's not over yet. And even though I totally want to change my entire story, I'm having a lot of fun writing it!

So, goodbye for now, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we will see y'all next week! And to tide you over, here are a couple of baby pictures:

They like to crawl in and out of this basket. Bran is not as adept at it as Nuala, and often demands assistance



Nuala loves tomato sauce, among other things.






Bran has totally taken to "talking" on the phone.










Kickin' back with a nice, cool watered-down juice...