Our Easter 2008

Three great buddies!

Dad and his boysPreston enjoys crawling around outside




Tony and Amy and kids
Our sweet 10 year old Stealing quick kisses

We had a wonderful Easter day! Our church service was inspiring and caused us to reflect on why we celebrate Easter. Our pastor spoke on one of my favorite verses, John 3:16- simple yet so profound.


We had dinner with our dear friends, Tony and Amy. We met them 9 years ago on Easter Day and have spent many holidays with them. We always enjoy their conversation and laughter. True friends indeed!!! We were originally going to go to their house, but changed plans this last week and we had dinner here. So...Amy brought most of the food for dinner as she already had purchased things. It was a feast!!! We had an egg hunt for the kids, and although the weather wasn't perfect, it was nice and much better than snow for Easter!!


We were reminded of all God's blessing this year as we thought of last Easter and how Preston was in the NICU and we were not together as a family. What a treasure we have in our family!

Fun Saturdays...

We just ended a very fun and rewarding basketball season - our third season and the best yet. Here are some of the things I love about the Upward Basketball program:

• watching Robb coach the 2nd and 3rd grade boys...he was so patient and full of encouragement (encouragement is one of his top gifts and it was very evident during this season). Today he received a "thank you" card from the parents and they all said how he had made this such a positive experience for their boys. He was great at making sure that every boy at least had the opportunity to score during a game.


• the testimonies at every game. I loved hearing the stories of how people in our church came to know Christ. Many times my eyes would fill with tears as I heard their 4 minute stories. Many times in a church of our size we miss hearing personal testimonies.


• the lessons the kids learn, not just about playing the game, but about winning graciously and losing graciously, about getting up when they foul or make a big mistake, about seemingly unfair calls by the refs. And the biggest lessons my kids learned this year was about teamwork (especially Lauren) as she learned that it's not all about stealing the show or having the ball all the time...it's about working together so that everyone feels a part of the success.

Enjoying the spring weather...

The kids are not used to the bright sunshine (they were not told to close their eyes, believe it or not)... That's much better...we moved out of the sun! The weather has been lovely after a cold winter!

Starting a business...

At our co-op on Thursdays, some of the 4th and 5th graders have been selling things on their lunch break...anything from beads and jewelry to lollipops. Lauren used some of her money to go to the dollar store and pick out some purses. She did her own advertising and her dad helped her stuff them with tissue paper so they looked attractive, and her business began! She sold her first one on Thursday with some on "hold" and orders for more. (I am so glad she does not have my genes in this area...I was a horrible salesperson!)

Brothers... and our growing 11 month old Preston

Winter Happenings...

I thought I would add a few pictures of our winter so far...I have not done well with keeping up with pictures. Our New Year started off with a church-wide Pirates Party from "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" Veggie Tales movie. It has a great message about what true heroes really are! Here Drew and his best bud, Spencer, are making treasure maps.Jayce plays a game with our senior pastor, Pastor Darrell Wiseman. Later in Jan. we headed up the mountain with dear friends, the Mullins, to stay in a lovely cabin and play in the snow. The kids had a blast being together, and sledding and snowmobiling. Notice our unique "sleds"- the entire town of McCall, Idaho was sold out of sleds. But these turned out to be the best!!!! They were very fast!


In January, the three oldest kids wanted to participate in our school's Spelling Bee. There were about 80 students who participated. We were so proud of all of them for trying! Jayce ended up as the Kindergarten champ...his winning word was "THAT". It has certainly piqued interest in spelling in our house!

All of the kids are enjoying their sibling. Preston is so fun and always seems to have someone playing with him. What did I do when I just had one? Happy winter days to you all! May spring be not too far away!

Baby Update

Thank you all for your kind and encouraging words (and the many emails). God has used you to help give us strength to go on!

We are all doing well and adjusting to the news ourselves! The sickness is minimal. We had an ultrasound today to see how far along I am and saw a very clear picture of the baby. She/He was moving a lot and we got some great pictures. The amazing thing is that it is already completely formed (it is 12 weeks); the Dr. said that it just has to get bigger, a lot bigger (it is 4.4 centimeters right now)! Can you believe we really saw a little leg and arm waving and captured it on film? We have an amazing Creator!



Our little sweetheart should arrive around August 22, 2008. We are praying that it doesn't come too early, like Preston, who had to spend a few days in the NICU. I've never had an August baby...right through the hot summer. What fun!!!

Thanks again for your support, everyone!