Andrew and Jacob may very well be having the best summer of their lives, as they so thoroughly enjoy playing with Caleb and Josh (Nathan and Amy's older boys).
The other day we had a rare hot sunny day...it warranted breaking out the swimming pool, a.k.a. the baptism tank. I started the video camera because the boys were actually "playing baptism." But what I caught on camera instead could very well be a finalist on Funniest Home Videos! All I can say is that Jacob and Josh are two peas in a pod...or something!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Andrew's Baptism!
One of my favorite parts of church life is the privilege of seeing people get baptized...people who have started a new life in Christ, and they choose to follow Jesus publicly! We had six people who have been wanting to get baptized...and Andrew is one of them! We were able to have a baptism service on June 27th...and it was special to have so many family member here for it.
Andrew has been wanting to be baptized since shortly after he made the decision to trust Christ as His Savior. We decided to have him wait a year or so to make sure he realized the significance of the decision to be baptized...that he truly did want to obey Christ and follow Him. We have been so grateful for the spiritual development we have seen him go through, and he truly has been ready to make a public proclamation of his faith and desire to follow Christ!
Now here you can take a look at the trouble it causes to have the baptismal water be only 43 degrees! The video of Andrew's friend Lane being baptized is nearly identical...nothing like trying to baptize an octopus that's clinging to you!
And Lane's baptism, just because it's pretty hilarious, too!
Float Plane Day
The theme of the summer reading program at the library is "Splash Into Reading." So our wonderful volunteer librarian has planned a water-themed program for each month of the summer!
The kids all enjoyed having one of the instructors at the local float plane school teach them all about the planes and piloting. Then they all got to sit in the plane and move the rudders and check out the controls.
There were about 15 kids there, and they all took their turns. Andrew liked being able to sit in the pilot's seat (he has taken a flight before in a float plane for this 4th birthday).
Anna wasn't shy at all about climbing in there and talking with the pilot.
And Jacob? He climbed in but wasn't content to just sit there! No, he wanted to stand right up and see all there was to see! That is so indicative of Jacob's personality!
The kids all enjoyed having one of the instructors at the local float plane school teach them all about the planes and piloting. Then they all got to sit in the plane and move the rudders and check out the controls.
There were about 15 kids there, and they all took their turns. Andrew liked being able to sit in the pilot's seat (he has taken a flight before in a float plane for this 4th birthday).
Anna wasn't shy at all about climbing in there and talking with the pilot.
And Jacob? He climbed in but wasn't content to just sit there! No, he wanted to stand right up and see all there was to see! That is so indicative of Jacob's personality!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Craziness
I simply can't believe how quickly this summer is going by, and how much is being packed into one summer.
New church building!
New daughter!
New job for Mark!
Mark starts his new job on Aug. 2nd...and it's all good! Today is his last Friday...next Thursday will be his last day! Then we'll spend next Friday in the basement getting his home office/basement squared away a bit. And possible butchering chickens. But that's another post.
Today, three of my four kiddos are sick. Anna and Jacob were fighting each other and were in general being horrendously behaved all yesterday! I should have known...Anna woke up from her nap with a fever and a headache/tummyache, and Jacob started it in the middle of the night.
And Karis is fighting an upper respiratory tract infection with a bad cough...I know that snuggles and smoothing their foreheads doesn't actually help make kids better, but I would feel so much better if I were there to comfort her while she's sick. And since I was there, I'd just bring her home, of course! :)
Prayers for my kiddos would be appreciated!
New church building!
New daughter!
New job for Mark!
Mark starts his new job on Aug. 2nd...and it's all good! Today is his last Friday...next Thursday will be his last day! Then we'll spend next Friday in the basement getting his home office/basement squared away a bit. And possible butchering chickens. But that's another post.
Today, three of my four kiddos are sick. Anna and Jacob were fighting each other and were in general being horrendously behaved all yesterday! I should have known...Anna woke up from her nap with a fever and a headache/tummyache, and Jacob started it in the middle of the night.
And Karis is fighting an upper respiratory tract infection with a bad cough...I know that snuggles and smoothing their foreheads doesn't actually help make kids better, but I would feel so much better if I were there to comfort her while she's sick. And since I was there, I'd just bring her home, of course! :)
Prayers for my kiddos would be appreciated!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
WE HAVE A BABY GIRL!!!!!
Just in case you don't follow our adoption blog, there's joy and excitement to spare around here...we have a baby girl!
She is precious, and I so wish I could share pictures with you! But, she's not legally our daughter until we pass court in Ethiopia, so until then we can't post her picture publicly.
More details here!
She is precious, and I so wish I could share pictures with you! But, she's not legally our daughter until we pass court in Ethiopia, so until then we can't post her picture publicly.
More details here!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Long-awaited visit!
Over the river and through the woods, to our house Grandmother came!
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit back in June with Mark's parents and with Joe and Marge...though they came with the work team, they were able to spend a few days ahead of time with us, and they stayed in our basement apartment. So we were able to spend more time with them than we otherwise would have with as busy as the team was! (See all of 'Week 2' posts here for proof)!
Time with Grandpa...
and Grandma...
and Uncle Joe...
and somehow we didn't have pictures of the kids with Aunt Marge! :(
We did all go to Exit Glacier together, which was fun! I'll post another good picture from that day in another post!
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit back in June with Mark's parents and with Joe and Marge...though they came with the work team, they were able to spend a few days ahead of time with us, and they stayed in our basement apartment. So we were able to spend more time with them than we otherwise would have with as busy as the team was! (See all of 'Week 2' posts here for proof)!
Time with Grandpa...
and Grandma...
and Uncle Joe...
and somehow we didn't have pictures of the kids with Aunt Marge! :(
We did all go to Exit Glacier together, which was fun! I'll post another good picture from that day in another post!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Fun visit!
While Mark's parents' team was here, we also had a unexpected but delightful visit with some friends from West Grove!
When we got married, Mark's dad was pastoring the church at West Grove, and Mark and I were youth leaders, blessed with an amazing group of kids!
Now, Lisa M. is leading the youth group, and she and Melissa R. led the group up here on a missions trip with our friend Scott Kirby! They had hoped to work with us this summer, but the nature of our construction project doesn't work well for a group of teenagers. Both Lisa's and Melissa's daughters had been a part of our youth group while we were there, and it was special to have them drive down from Anchorage to visit with us for the evening!
When we got married, Mark's dad was pastoring the church at West Grove, and Mark and I were youth leaders, blessed with an amazing group of kids!
Now, Lisa M. is leading the youth group, and she and Melissa R. led the group up here on a missions trip with our friend Scott Kirby! They had hoped to work with us this summer, but the nature of our construction project doesn't work well for a group of teenagers. Both Lisa's and Melissa's daughters had been a part of our youth group while we were there, and it was special to have them drive down from Anchorage to visit with us for the evening!
Thursday, July 08, 2010
An evening with Timmy!
While the team and Nathan's family went on the wildlife cruise last week, Anna and I stayed behind to watch Timmy! (Trust me, it was far more fun for Anna and Timmy to be playing at home than stuck on a boat for 4 hours). And Timmy was such an angel-baby, that it was more fun for me, too!
Vacation Bible School
Every summer, Vacation Bible School is a highlite for our kids...and this year was no exception! The kids loved having Grandma and Aunt Marge there, and the program this team pulled off was top-notch! They used the Wordless Book colors, so that each day, the Gospel was presented solidly.
As a pastor's wife, I'm delighted that the parents in the community had such a quality program for their children through our church. As a mom, I'm blessed that the kids are still singing the worship songs as they go about their day, and remember the lessons they learned.
Andrew did a great job with him memory verses, as usual, and loved the team and the missionary story the best!
It was exciting to see Jacob "finally" start to bloom in this kind of setting. He can so often find it difficult to change the beat of his drummer to match the beat going on around him, but he really enjoyed VBS and even put a lot of effort (which worked!) into his memory verses. And he LOVED the missionary story that was told in segments each day. It was so sweet, but sad, when he was getting sick with a cold on Friday and I debated keeping him home. "But mom, I need to find out what happens to TiPhom!" (I'm sure I don't have the spelling correct, but that was the character they were following in the story). Followed up by genuine tears and a begging session to be allowed to go that day...he's a different boy than he was a year ago! (Phew!)
It was almost odd to see Anna so thoroughly involved in VBS...she's certainly no baby anymore! I had other pictures of her doing the crafts and such, but I just love these pictures of her at the closing program, singing her little heart out! She still sings "Mighty to Save" all the time!
It has been fantastic partnering with this team this week...they are greatly missed!
As a pastor's wife, I'm delighted that the parents in the community had such a quality program for their children through our church. As a mom, I'm blessed that the kids are still singing the worship songs as they go about their day, and remember the lessons they learned.
Andrew did a great job with him memory verses, as usual, and loved the team and the missionary story the best!
It was exciting to see Jacob "finally" start to bloom in this kind of setting. He can so often find it difficult to change the beat of his drummer to match the beat going on around him, but he really enjoyed VBS and even put a lot of effort (which worked!) into his memory verses. And he LOVED the missionary story that was told in segments each day. It was so sweet, but sad, when he was getting sick with a cold on Friday and I debated keeping him home. "But mom, I need to find out what happens to TiPhom!" (I'm sure I don't have the spelling correct, but that was the character they were following in the story). Followed up by genuine tears and a begging session to be allowed to go that day...he's a different boy than he was a year ago! (Phew!)
It was almost odd to see Anna so thoroughly involved in VBS...she's certainly no baby anymore! I had other pictures of her doing the crafts and such, but I just love these pictures of her at the closing program, singing her little heart out! She still sings "Mighty to Save" all the time!
It has been fantastic partnering with this team this week...they are greatly missed!
Monday, July 05, 2010
If you build it...
...they will come!
This is perhaps our busiest summer yet, as we're in full-swing on our church construction project. Remember when we moved in to this place? The whole point of our church buying this property is finally coming to fruition...and it's downright exciting!
At any rate, it's enough fodder for it's own blog, of course! Keep track of what's going on at our new church blog!
I'll post a link in my sidebar tomorrow...for now, enjoy reading how God is moving in big ways in a tiny town!
This is perhaps our busiest summer yet, as we're in full-swing on our church construction project. Remember when we moved in to this place? The whole point of our church buying this property is finally coming to fruition...and it's downright exciting!
At any rate, it's enough fodder for it's own blog, of course! Keep track of what's going on at our new church blog!
I'll post a link in my sidebar tomorrow...for now, enjoy reading how God is moving in big ways in a tiny town!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)