Summer Camp

Lydia and Kiera waiting for Chapel
 

Sweet Lydia went to Summer Camp for the first time this year.   She has been talking about it for a long time, counting down days and planning.  Our church did a Dessert Auction and this sweet girl wanted to auction a plate of Chocolate Chip, Molasses and Sugar Cookies. 

The day finally came, one which my heart had been excited for but dreading, and we drove her to Lake Retreat.  We hauled her stuff up to the cabin and were greeted by most of her cabin mates and her Leaders, Karissa and Olivia.  She was excited beyond belief.  We got her settled in and finally I asked the question..."Do you want us to leave, now?"   She looked at me very sweetly, not wanting to hurt my feelings, and said "Yes."  I was sad, but so happy that in that moment there were no tears only joy, anticipation and excitement in her.  I knew this was the right time, right moment that she was ready to be on her own for a whole week.

Poor Elyanna cried and cried as we left her and on the drive home.  She said, "I am going to miss her, she is gone for a whole week, 5 days."  This little sweet heart caused me to cry too, but not enough for her to see.  Not that it was the first time I had cried.  Before we left for camp, we stopped by to see Daddy at work and as I gave Jaime a hug, cries just came out of both of us.  We both knew that this was going to be so good for her, but were going to miss her so much.

When we didn't get a call on the first night, I knew that everything was going to be alright.  She did amazingly well.  She loved Chapel, even sensing the presence of the Holy Spirit and activities which included swimming, campfire making, song writing and of course crafts.  She even enjoyed the food, amazing!!!

Finally the time came when we got to pick her up. We all were so excited to see her and hear all the stories.  We joined the kids at campfire and then met them at the basketball court.  As all the kids were coming to meet their parents, we saw sweet little Lydia's face.  Elyanna ran to her and gave her a huge hug.  Lydia came to us, hugged us and cried and cried.  It probably was the first time she cried all week.  All the emotions, tiredness and excitement flooded her little heart and overwhelmed her.  It was one of the greatest moments in my life, to hold that little girl in my arms again.

I am so thankful for Summer Camp.  For all the great experiences that Lydia had;  the fun, the independence and the coming to know God for herself.  And for all that it did in me; teaching me to trust and depend on Jesus more and more.   We are excited for next year!

Elyanna Grace is 7!

Sweet Elyanna Grace is 7 years old now.  It is so amazing to see this sweet, outgoing, expressive,creative little girl growing up.  She has had a sense of humor since before she was 1, teasing and playing with us.  She would call from her bed, "Mama, Mama" when she wanted to get up and now she snuggles with her Daddy any chance she can get.

The night before her birthday she was so excited and could not sleep, so we put her in our bed, hoping a change of place would  help her settle.  But around 12 o'clock she was still awake and called for us - so I told Jaime, "Lets go in and sing Happy Birthday to her."  We did and she was all smiles.  She said in her cute voice, "I can't believe I am 7! It feels the same as 6."  Ha ha, the cute thoughts of a 7 year old.

She wanted to have a fairytale party - so she dressed up as Belle and had a Tinkebell cake and lots of fun.  She is a great present opener and loves every gift.  

 

Elyanna loves people and everyone is her friend.   This is such a great quality, yet at times it causes her to be a follower and not a leader.  Something we are working on in her - she will get there. 

Elyanna means "my God has answered me."  My prayer before she was born was that Lydia would have a sister - I wanted to have sisters that would grow up together and be the best of friends.  When we found out that we were having another girl, we were so excited and knew this was her name.  She and Lydia are at times like Night and Day, but they are the best of friend and I know this will continue and grow. 

I am so thankful for this sweet girl that brings so much life and excitement to us.  Our prayer for her is that God's grace would fill her and overflow on whomever she has contact with.  That her boldness will be a blessing and a witness to all who know her.

Elyanna Grace - you are an answer to my prayer and a love of my life.  Happy Birthday Sweet 7 year old!

Lydia the Determined One.

We have been kind of slackers on teaching our girls how to ride bikes.  We have a few in the garage, ones with training wheels and ones without.  Lydia has been bugging and bugging us - to teach her how to ride.  I get to say - that is Daddy's job.   Which, of course, I could teach her but I just know this is a Daddy job - one he desires and delights in.

So about 3 weeks ago, Daddy pumped up the tires, took her out to the culdesac and showed her how to ride.  He ran behind her holding on to the seat, back and forth, back and forth.  By the end of the night - maybe a couple hours later - she was riding by herself.  What a proud moment for Mommy and Daddy - amazing!  It is amazing to see this determined little girl - wanting something so bad that she tries and doesn't give up.

 

March 30 - Lydia's first time riding without training wheels.

Now she is a pro!

 

Lydia has been this way since she was little - trying and trying til she got what she wanted.  This has been her M.O. even in trying to get things that we have said "No" to.  We would give her a special treat and she would say to us, "Can I have one more and one last one?"  Maybe she will be a lawyer one day!!!  There were many times that she wanted to say something but just couldn't get the words out - she would try and try and try til she got it right.  She has been that way in every area of her life.
What a wonderful quality this is.

Yesterday, Lydia received a Certificate of Achievement given to her by the School Board of the Federal Way School District.  Amazing!  Our little girl was recognized not only for doing well academically but for going above and beyond what has been asked of her, in school work as well as in friendships and day to day school stuff.  We are so proud of our little princess.  She is a delight and a blessing to our heart.  Even though we don't want to see her grow up, we are excited to see what God has in store for her.  We know it will be awesome and she will touch the lives of so many people.  Lydia Elisabeth - WE LOVE YOU!!!

These Crazy Kids

I just thought that I would post a picture of the kids outside - it is a not as cold winter day and they wanted to play school.  Funny - the girls are at school all day - then when they get home - Adelai wants to play school.  She sure does miss her sisters.

I love these kids.  They are such a blessing to me.  I love the way they make me laugh and bring so much joy to my life.  They are a gift from God. 

Jaime and I love this adventure of being parents and wouldn't trade it for anything in this life.  Lydia, Elyanna, Adelai and William - you all make us the happiest people in the world.  We love you.

Looking Back.

 I thought I would throw in some old posts I was working on and didn't get finished.  As you can see - Snow Day is about 1 year old - amazing to look back and see how much the kids have grown.  Posting is a great way to look back.

Snow Day

Jaime playing with the neighborhood kids.

In the midst of writing my other post - An Ordinary Day - this day came about.  A Snow Day!  I love the snow.  I love how it makes everything white and beautiful and so clean looking.  I don't like driving in it, but I love having an excuse to not go anywhere.  It has been fun having the girls home from school, but unfortunately more days of school will be added on at the end of the year.  Oh well.

Sunday we started our adventures in the snow.  We woke up to beautiful snow and went on our way to church.  After church we had planned to go to my nephews birthday party in Indianola, so we headed on our way.  We left Federal Way with a little bit of snow and went through Tacoma - no snow- Gig Harbor - a bit of snow - Port Orchard - no snow - Poulsbo - no snow and then turned on a major road to my Brother's and Parents house - so much snow!!!!   There was so much snow cars were not making it up the hill.  So we turned around - almost getting stuck.  We tried a different route, just to be stuck in traffic because someone had slid off the road because of the ice and snow.  The more we prayed and thought - the more we felt uncomfortable with going on - so we turned around and headed home.  My sweet family tried to think of different ways to get us to the party -but although it was so sad and disappointing we knew the right thing was to go home.  So we stopped at a wonderful donut shop in Poulsbo (Sluys Bakery - if you are ever there - get some donuts - they are amazing!!!) and then headed home.  We came home, made homemade Pizza, watched The Lion King and worked on our Peanuts puzzle.  It was a fun night! 

I am so thankful that the Lord speaks to us in His still small voice - most likely everything would have been ok, but you never know and we will never know - because we obeyed His voice we are safe!!!  Also, the amazing thing was the girls were disappointed but there was an amazing Peace in our car when we headed home and no complaining.  Elyanna even said to Jaime later, "I prayed that we wouldn't get stuck or in an accident."  God speaks to all of our hearts, no matter if we are young or old.

Little did I know when I first started writing this post that the snow day would turn into a snow week!  It was tons of fun, but we all got a little stir crazy.  Jaime had to take my van to work so we were stuck at home all day for a week.  We had fun though and it was great to have snow - even Baby Will got to see it.

Here are more pictures of the kids in the snow...

All that snow started to melt and then it froze - branches were breaking all around us but thankfully nothing came down on our house or any of our things.  God was truly watching out for us.  With branches going down everywhere we lost power, but only for a day.  We had fun playing games, shadow plays, finding our flashlights and playing hide and seek (otherwise known as "hide and glow seek") - eventually it got cold though - so when the power came back on in the early morning we were very happy.

 

The power was out and still wonderful daddy read the kids a story.

Pumpkin Patch

We were incredibly blessed this year and given a gift of going to Remlinger Farms in Carnation.  The kids had so much fun.   There was a petting zoo, rides, hay maze and hay jump, a train ride, pony rides, pumpkin patch and corn mazes.  We had an amzing time with Amazing People! 

Adelai got the Bulletin Insert in Sunday School Class and carried it around for weeks.  Her sisters have gone to a pumpkin patch but she hadn't yet - She was so thrilled that she got to go too.  It is so fun blessing your children.  I know this is what the Lord feels about us too.  He loves it when we are blessed and when we go around declaring how wonderful He is. 

This reminds me of a song by Phil Whikham - At Your Name

Lord of all the Earth
We shout Your Name, shout Your Name
Filling up the skies with endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh, Yahweh
We love to shout Your Name, oh Lord.

Adelai's first ride on a roller coaster.

 

Girls getting so big!

 

 

First time on a pony - for all the girls.

Baby Will hung out in the back pack most of the day.

Here I am - lost in the hay maze.

 

Thank you Lifepoint Church for blessing us.