John's 6th Grade Bball Team

One of John's old friends just posted this on facebook and I thought I'd share. John is in the top right corner in case you couldn't tell. What a hunk, even at age 11 :-)

While the parents are away, the cousins will play...

Thank you, Mom & Dad for such a fun time this weekend!!

Easter 2009

Here are some pictures of our Easter weekend:









Someday I hope my kids can also believe what I believe as I reflect on some of the amazing things that Christ accomplished on the cross (our pastor spoke so well on these a few weeks back--see CBC link if you would like to listen. Or you can talk to me if you want to hear more about why I believe what I do):
Forgiveness of sin...the veil of separation between God and man in the Holy of Holies has been torn down...the Law of Moses is no longer a tool of condemnation to me...A place in heaven is being prepared for us...through the cross we receive the peace of God in all outer circumstances...sin's power over me has been broken...demonstrates what God's love is all about...

Feelin the Burn

Will has officially entered the era of skinned knees, skinned hands and now, skinned nose:

While Will spent a special morning at the zoo with G&G Simon, Jane and I played

p.s. In case you were wondering, picture #3 is not an exhibit of Jane's recent experimentation with doo-doo, it is a plastic gorilla.

Doggy Doo-Doo

In the hopes that someday I can print off our blog to have as a keepsake of our early days as parents, I want to document a recent occurence in our household...

On occasion, in the winter months, our pug, Olive enjoys "faking" like she's going to the bathroom outside and then doing her business indoors so she doesn't have to get wet and cold.
Anyway, the other day this apparently had happened before I could discover it. Jane found the present that Olive left before I did and decided to take a taste. I found her mid-bite, smiling. This shouldn't have shocked me, as something similar happened when Will was around Jane's age. He was playing outside and picking up pine cones when I discovered that, Oops--that wasn't a pine cone that he had stuck in his mouth.
For some reason, however, seeing my gentle sweet princess holding dog poop created more of a reacion in me. Afterall, Boys are supposed to eat worms, play in the mud, get really dirty. Oh, well. She survived the incident with no visible damage done. Maybe she was trying to earn street credit in her brother's eyes, who thought the incident was hilarious.

John, meet John

John got to meet our nephew, John for the first time last weekend and it had to be documented:

Here are a few pictures of other events this past week including a visit from Brie, the usual evening wrestle time with Daddy, and of course cousin Clara's first birthday bash. Will was really excited to give Clara the Big-Rig truck that he chose for his present to her. As you can imagine, he was a little more excited than she was about the gift (she would rather play with an empty water bottle than open presents at this age), but it was sweet to watch him get so excited to watch her open it.
I look back on these pictures I take week after week of our life, and I am just overwhelmed by how blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband, two beautiful children, supportive and faithful family and friends and a God who loves me unconditionally and who is my Sustainer, Provider and Savior. Wow.