Happy Easter

“‎He is risen! And O the overflow of that single event. It was the cosmic Yes! from God the Father that the death had done all it was meant to do.”

— John Piper
Desiring God

We had a great Easter. Things have been really busy since returning from MN so it was very nice to have a low key celebration with just the six of us.

Brock has a new job (which is why we were in MN earlier this month) and with that new job is a new shop/retail store. He has been busy getting it up and running. I like being there to help him and the kids love playing outside and exploring everything. We decided to do their easter egg hunt there and it was a huge success. They LOVED it. We gave them their baskets with a couple things in it - one of which was a webkinz. They were so shocked and thrilled and it was so fun to capture it with my camera.

The hunt begins! The kids had painted eggs with grandma the day before so we had lots of eggs to hide and a beautiful sunny day to enjoy while searching.

It was so fun to watch Hannah because she was so excited when she would find one. This was her first egg hunt and she enjoyed it thoroughly.

The shop has a lot of tall grass, a little man made pond, private road for bike riding and horses next door - what more could a kid ask for :-)

Merry Christmas

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! What a blessed gift we have already received in Jesus Christ. May He be a reality to you all this new year and always!

Thanksgiving

We were going to go to ND for Thanksgiving to see my family but bad weather prevented it. We were disappointed but had a nice day with Matt & Donna instead (and a delicious meal).

No "photo shoot" is complete without some silly faces

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas - nice and relaxing. We spent Christmas Eve home with just the five of us and Christmas Day at Matt and Donnas. The kids were so excited to open presents, I don't think we would've been able to hold them off another day! Each present filled them with sheer delight. It was fun to watch. I found several gifts for the kids throughout the year at the thrift store. It was so funny because Hannah remembered one of them (a cute purple elephant flashlight) and when she opened it she said, "Hey, this is from the thrift store!" She had played with it there and then I snuck it into my basket but I never expected she would remember it :-) So funny!

Christmas with Great Grandma

The kids were lucky to have almost 3 weeks of time with Grandma Pat (Matt's mom) while she was visiting Matt and Donna. She left a couple days before Christmas but they celebrated a little early with her. They all got great hats and fleeces, which they loved!

Thanksgiving Day

We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving and had a great time. We didn't arrive until early in the morning (2am) Thanksgiving Day but the day was so busy and jam packed we didn't even realize we were tired :-) We had our meal at my parents church and there were 56 people there! In our family alone there were 17 adults and 21 kids and for the meal we invited several other families. Naturally it was busy getting everything prepared on time and getting it all cleaned up but otherwise it went pretty smooth. The kids played and played, the adults played a game and there was also a lot of playstation video games played (by the young and old). It was a memorable and eventful day :-)

I was pretty busy so didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked but here is a peak into our day. For those of you who can't keep up with who's husband is who's and which child is which here is the color coded cheat sheet. Bekah & Dale (Abby, Ruby, Violet and Georgia), Nicole and Shane (Bailey, Liam, Maggie and Brogan), Levi and Rachel (Chloe, Eli, Lia and Judah), Jesse and Julie (Ira and Simon) and Laura and Joey (Lily, Kiaran, Lyrik and Aiden)

Shane, Joey and Dad during our exciting game of Outburst, Aiden hanging out on the game table in her fancy seat, Jesse, Julie and Ira - I was pretty proud of myself for getting Ira to smile :-) He is usually quite serious

Madison, Bailey and Lily busy coloring name tags for all the guests, Isaac and Kiaran at the video game center, Ira and Hannah (the two quiet ones who can often be found in their own little world, playing and doing their own thing found eachother to be great company). Despite the fact that Hannah does talk alot she is usually pretty quiet when she is in a group.
The high chair crowd! How funny it was to see a big line of high chairs during the meal. Left to right: Simon, Hannah, Lyrik, Georgia, Xavier (one of the guests babies) and Judah

As much of the game crew that I could get in one picture.

The crew from the other side

We played outburst - guys against girls. The guys were pretty proud of themselves - they won two and we won one.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Again, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked - it was busy! There was always a houseful, visiting to be done, dishes to do, food to prepare, babies to hold, nieces and nephews to snuggle, kids to scold, dessert to be eaten, errands to run, places to go and lots of stories to share. Here is a reminder of the cheat sheet: Bekah & Dale (Abby, Ruby, Violet and Georgia), Nicole and Shane (Bailey, Liam, Maggie and Brogan), Levi and Rachel (Chloe, Eli, Lia and Judah), Jesse and Julie (Ira and Simon) and Laura and Joey (Lily, Kiaran, Lyrik and Aiden)

Shane and little Brogan showing us all their tricks while Joey, Nicole and Liam watch. Karmen and Bailey getting Brogan to smile

Bailey, Brogan, Karmen and Samson with Julie and Simon in the background. Lia and Violet attemting to smile naturally - not really working for Lia :-)

Shane, Brogan and Simon; Jesse, Julie and Simon. Jesse often provided the much needed soothing background music :-)
The kids playing school downstairs. From left to right: Chloe, Maggie, Madison, Violet, Lia, Eli, Abby, Isaac and Lily
The three teachers of this wild bunch of kiddos - Lily, Abby and Madison
Ira, Violet, Maggie, Isaac and Kiaran watching a movie downstairs
Hannah and Lyrik were pretty cute together - they played really well. Hannah is 7 months older than Lyrik.

Liam and Aiden; and Maggie all ready for Sunday School. Liam loves babies and when he needed something to do (being the only older boy) he could easily find a baby to hold :-)

Julie and cute little Simon and dad holding another little cutie - Brogan

Hannah and Ira watching my dad's pictures from his mission trip to Kenya and smiley, cute, tiny Aiden

The end of cousins, uncles, aunts and grandpa's pictures until my next visit - which I hope is soon!!

Give Thanks

I am excited for Thanksgiving. I have always loved Thanksgiving. I am so glad that my parents made this holiday very important for us. It was more than food and a day off of work and school - it was time to be with family and be thankful for all that God had given us. We always knew WHO we were giving thanks to and WHO was worthy of our thanks no matter what was happening around us. I am so happy to be sharing this excitement with the kids and look forward to starting new traditions that truly remind them of why we ALWAYS have a reason to be thankful.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

1 Chronicles 16:34 (ESV)

bouquet of flowers from my wonderful hubby :-)

And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

1 Chronicles 29:13 (ESV)

I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

Psalm 7:17 (ESV)

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalm 28:7 (ESV)