Our Easter

I am just so excited to have a working camera and space on our computer...so there will be several postings of pretty much just pictures. :-) We celebrated Easter with good friends, good meals, an egg hunt, basketball games and egg-throwing contests. We love our team so much and had lots of fun with them on Sunday. Thank You, God, for making us alive with Christ...and for giving us good community. I am grateful.

Happy Easter!

"That's what Christ did definitively; suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all, was put to death and then made alive to bring us to God."

1 Peter 3:18
The Message

Christmas in Indiana

Christmas at my parents' house was wonderful. All of my family was together, and we had such a great time spending time with everyone. Caleb especially loved "Mamaw's house." He was often the center of attention due to his being the only grandson/nephew. His vocabulary exploded with essential new phrases such as "Go Boyers!" and "Go Coats!" ** And, he received more presents than I can describe. My parents are amazing. Thanks, Mom and Dad.



He loved building towers with his new alphabet blocks with "Gam-pa..."



...and loved destroying them even more.



He received a set of golf clubs from Uncle Patrick and Aunt Hannah and did the only thing he knew to do with them...use them as microphones. :-)



But then he got a new guitar with real strings!



And of course he had to have a few jam sessions!





And the boys did what they do every Christmas...gamble away their Christmas money. :-) Well, not really. They do what they call "Cross betting." They never really call up the debts. They're so cute.





** Translation: "Go Boilers (Purdue)" and "Co Colts"

Cousins

We are spending lots of time with family as we travel...and it has been so great. We were sad to leave the Carbaughs. It is always such good quality time with Christine and Tony, and Caleb loved playing with his cousins: Makkedah, Seth, Courtney and Emily. We would love to live closer to them. This morning, we took these pics of the kids before we left.

And Sarah, to answer your question, I bought a piece of black velvet at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon (love those!). I just hang it in the background with binder clips. So easy and it makes backgrounds so simple and undistracting.

Our Christmas Card

Happy December! I thought I would post our Christmas card on here because we never seem to order enough...as was the case again this year. :-)

We have been super busy these last few weeks. After finishing the semester up and looking forward to a break, we all got sick. I hadn't planned on that, so I didn't get anything done this week that I had planned. But, I got to spend some good quality time with my sick family all week. :-) We are hoping to go to the doctor...Caleb for the second time...in Kansas on Tuesday.

Our yearly travels begin tomorrow morning. We are going to Kansas, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends, and, as of now, I am looking forward to the trip. We are driving, and it will definitely be an adventure. Please pray for us.

I am right now procrastinating packing, and so I had better stop and go get that finished. Hope you're all enjoying the Christmas season. I love this time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We...as a nation...are so blessed in so many ways. We...as a family...are unbelievably blessed as well. I pray our lives would be characterized by gratitude for all that God has given us...no matter what our circumstances may be. I have a long way to go.

Thank you, Lord, so much...for our sweet family and wonderful friends. Thanks for our home and all that you have given us. Thank you most of all for the incredible gift of Jesus. Thanks that you made a way for us to be called your children when you sent your Son to take our place on that cross and make us right with you. May we all understand the significance of that gift even more this Thanksgiving and Christmas season. I love you.

Minnie Mouse, a Spider and a Little Fireman

Tonight, Caleb and I went out to kids' night at Texas Roadhouse with friends.  The kids dressed up for the event, and the restaurant had candy and games ready.  We had lots of fun.

Caleb was a fireman.  We had the yellow coat thanks to his cousin Seth, so we just bought a hat. Kaylee was the cutest little spider ever...and Taylor was Minnie Mouse.  They were hysterical. 

Leah and her husband Jason went through childbirth classes with us, but it wasn't until we met her again at Toddler Time at the library that we became friends.  They're adorable, aren't they?

Sidenote:  Thanks for the prayers and comments, friends. I/we are so grateful for you. 

 And Mrs. Mitchell, if you read this again, would you please give me a way to write you back.  I was so excited to see your sweet note, Rachel, and I would love to catch up with you again, my friend. 

 

Happy Father's Day!

Hope you had a great day!