Our Birthday Girl!

Happy 8th Birthday to our littlest cutie pie! Poor kid - 2nd year in a row her birthday has landed on Memorial Day weekend (in a normal family, that might not be a big deal, but in our current life that equals insanity!) . . . she is a sweetie and has been very patient and understanding. We love our Anna girl!

Mother's Day . .. Snow!?

Not what I really wanted mid May, but it's still coming down! What a BLESSING as we head into the hot, dry, 'wildfire season' that CO is becoming notorious for. (I'm also glad that my vegetable plants are still safe in my window sill . . . maybe by Memorial Day they'll get in the ground!)

Beauty

I LOVE this photo that Kevin took of Emily at her dance performance last week. Not sure which I find more impressive - his photo editing prowess or how darn beautiful that young lady is!! I can't help but think it looks like a 17th century painting!

AWANAs

We wrapped up another year of AWANA tonight. No more "Sparks" at our house after tonight . . . and only a few years away from a Citation Award! ~ how can that be???! Proud of our kids for working so hard and thankful for really great leaders!

Aftermath

Our family is at a conference this weekend in Estes park and had the privilege of participating in a work project yesterday doing clean up in a flood ravaged community (just outside of town). It was heart breaking to see what devastation remains (even after 8 months of intense clean up). If you're looking for a meaningful outreach, with a group who isn't afraid of getting dirty, consider helping them. They only have until mid May to get debris pulled out into piles near the road (in order for FEMA trucks to take it away) after that they are on their own

Oh my!

My Saturday started with "I think I need more homework, that way when I'm bored I can do homework" - this from my 12 year old (who's been asking about taking college courses - as a 7th grader - and is currently obsessed with building a geostationary satellite). I think I need to research our options, pronto!

Silly Anna girl!

Heading out for a (delayed) Valentine's dinner date and our 7 year old hugged me and asked with exasperation "why do you guys keep going out on dates?, you're ALREADY married!"

Valentine's Day . . . and True Love

Ten years ago our oldest daughter, Emily, asked Jesus into her heart on Valentine’s Day – doesn’t get much sweeter than that! Remember on a day like today, beyond the chocolate and flowers, the pink milk and heart shaped pancakes, that God loves YOU far more than you can ever imagine, just the way you are! His thoughts toward you (of absolute love and adoration, NOT condemnation and judgement) outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore! Your life has meaning and purpose because He created it. Happy Valentine’s Day

20th Anniversary Cruise!

Kevin surprised me with a cruise for our 20th anniversary!  He arranged for everything, including the care of our children and our pets. It was our first time away from the kids, for more than an evening, since before Anna was born (do you think we were overdue?!!) We flew to Miami to board the ship.We went from Miami to Key West then on to Cozumel, and back to Key West.  We had a fun and relaxing time, even if we didn't have the sunshine we'd been dreaming of.  It was the first cruise either of us had ever been on and we had some pretty yucky weather.  At one point the entire ship was rocking back and forth on very rough seas.  We decided that one of the benefits of that is that if we go on another cruise the weather can probably only be better! :-)  We enjoyed our time away, but were definitely happy to see our kids when we returned (having to readjust to the world of shopping, cooking & washing dishes was a decidedly RUDE awakening after several days of having virtually no responsibilities!)

Operation "Helping Ham" 2013

Operation Helping Ham 2013 was a success.  We were blessed to share the experience with some wonderful friends too.  Ice skating (at the cute little downtown Denver rink) was a fun (albeit FREEZING way to end the adventure!

Anna's half birthday!

We enjoyed a special time celebrating our Anna girl's half birthday today.  Steak n' Shake, Chuck E Cheese and the movie "Frozen" with an awesome 7 1/2 year old!