Our 14th Anniversary

Fourteen years. A lot can happen in fourteen years...5 children, moving 6 times, blessings, heartache, laughter, tears, maturity, growth. June 7, 1997, I changed my name forever. I couldn't begin to describe how the Lord has done a work of grace in my life and in the life of my hubby. We are just a testimony of what the Lord can do in the life of one yielding to Him. In celebration of our marriage, Shawn took the reigns and planned our entire evening (and kept it a surprise). I was grateful for his thoughtfulness, as we had just been through a very busy couple of weeks. I didn't really have it in me to plan a romantic evening! A friend of ours came over and watched all 5 of the kids!! Shawn bought me a new dress and shoes (the shoes ended up not working) and whisked me away to a wonderful evening.

We went downtown to enjoy a dinner riverboat cruise! It was a perfect evening for it, since it had been warm all day, the cool breeze on the deck was just right. We had dinner inside and once we stuffed ourselves full, spent the rest of the evening enjoying the view and each others company. As we left the boat, the baseball team playing across the river scored a home run and the sky exploded with fireworks!! What a great way to end the ride! We then went over to the downtown square and enjoyed a walk, good atmosphere and Starbucks :) I am so blessed to have such a thoughtful and loving husband.

My handsome hunny!

We realized later that the paddles were just for show.

The boat really had engines, but it looked nice!

Such a beautiful night!

The Reds stadium...we won!

The last stop...Fountain Square!

My last Cubbie?

For the past 6 years we've been at Urbancrest, I've had a Cubbie. For those of you unfamiliar with what a Cubbie is exactly, I'll explain. AWANA(Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) is a kids club that our church is a part of, which includes Scripture memory, games, crafts and Bible lessons. A Cubbie is a 3-5 year old child in the AWANA program. Now, like I said, I've had a Cubbie ever since we moved here in 2005. This year may be the last of the Cubbies for our family (sniffle). Ava is not old enough to be a Cubbie next year, and our move to Hawaii will likely be before the end of spring! That being said, Joshua's Cubbie graduation made me feel a little nostalgic.

Joshua loves going to Cubbies every Wednesday night and especially loves his teacher, Mrs. Marlene. He has told her how much she's going to miss him when he moves away (heehee).Joshua has learned many Bible verses this year and I love the fact that he is hiding God's Word in his heart at this age. I pray he would continue loving and treasuring God's Word his entire life.Here are some fun pictures of his last day being a Cubbie!

Joshua and Mrs Marlene

Going fishing for a goodie bag

Joshua got his award for completing Book 2!

The first steps of obedience

One of the best days in a parent's life! Being a witness to his birth was one blessing, but to be a witness to his second birth was one I can't put into words. Caleb has know for a while about being a sinner, seperated from God and could tell you that he believed he needed Jesus. But until recently, he has been very afraid of professing faith in Christ by being baptized. At our missions home briefing in March, Caleb pulled Shawn aside and said, "I want to get baptized now." Shawn and I both talked with him further and asked if he wanted to wait until the next week when his grandparents were in town. He said, "NO, I want to be baptized NOW". The next Sunday, Shawn had the honor of baptizing our oldest son. Here are some pics and also a link to watch a video of this special day here!

Some big changes coming!!

WE'RE MOVING TO HAWAII!!!!

OK, I just had to get that out of my system! I'm not very good at beating around the bush when it comes to giving news (good or bad). Shawn and I have begun the process of becoming church planters in the Aloha state. Now, this process is likely to take several months, and God working out many details. This entire thing may seem as quite a shock to you, but honestly, the Lord has been working this out in us for over a year. It is amazing the roller coaster of emotions a person can feel all at the same time. Fear, excitement, worry, peace...

Shawn began blogging about this journey recently. Hop over to our church blog and read about some of the journey of Grace Community Church. I promise to write a little more about this later. But for now, we are praying for our hearts to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading.

Easter Sunday

Look how big I'm getting!

You'll hear me say this so much, but it seems hard to believe Nathan is two months old! But, it is true and he's made some exciting milestones this month! Nathan is sleeping about 5 hours at a time at night, which means I only wake up about twice at night to feed him. Believe me, that's a big deal for this mom! Also, at about 6 weeks old, he started smiling :) He has the sweetest smile and it really is fun to watch him respond to you. He is also cooing and making sweet baby noises and giggles. Honestly, I could sit and do nothing but talk to him all day long! I've also discovered this month that when I eat dairy, he gets an upset tummy. So, this nursing mommy has been dairy-free for a few weeks now, and it is making a big difference! Well, here are Nathan's stats from his two month check-up:Weight: 11 lbs. 6 oz. (45%)

Height: 22 3/4 (45%)

Nathan grinning at Haleigh

Nathan frowning at Haleigh...he really is figuring out how to work those facial muscles!

Ava turns 2 (Better late than never!)

Our little girl is 2?? I must say, this age is one of my favorites, even though it can be quite a roller coaster ride! We celebrated Ava's birthday at home with just our family this year since I was three days away from having our newest addition...Nathan! One of our family traditions for birthdays is to let the birthday boy or girl choose their favorite breakfast for the day. Ava's choice was a very popular one...doughnuts! She loved her sprinkle doughnut and ate every last bit of the icing and sprinkles. In the evening, she had pizza for dinner and birthday cake. Her favorite presents were the Elmo plate, bowl, fork and spoon and also her BIG SISTER shirt.

Ava is such a sweet little girl. She has a smile that can melt your heart (just as Daddy). She has great speech for a 2 year old and usually speaks her mind without hesitation! Her favorite things are Elmo, and little pets, and playing dress up. We love you Ava Leilani!!