missin' disney...

last week i got a phone text from a long time friend matt... he was at the airport... with his family, about to board a plane for sunny california... and my favorite destination... disneyland

next week, some family friends from the kids school are leaving for a vacation with their three kids to disneyland... first time for all of them...

a week after that a good friend of mine from work and his family are goin to head down to... you guessed it... disneyland

dont get me wrong... im left feeling very happy for them and yet there is a part of me that wishes we were going to be heading down there this year... but, it is not to be... we are planning our next trip for spring 2009...

2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, for all of these trips i know i should be thankful, and i am... we have had four unforgetable trips in the last five years... and i am so excited about all of my friends being able to go and make their own memories... but that doesnt make it any easier...

mickey... i miss ya

The Shack

I just finished reading The Shack by William Young. While I'm not sure that I'm ready to say that I agree with absolutely everything in this book, it most certainly has a very powerful message. In short, the main character (Mackenzie) comes to a place where he meets God in the three separate persons in the Father (Papa), Son (Jesus), and Spirit (Sarayu). Following is part of one of my favorite conversations that takes place.

"But don't you want us to set priorities? You know: God first, then whatever, followed by whatever?"

"The trouble with living by priorities," Sarayu spoke, "is that it sees everything as a hierarchy, a pyramid, and you and I have already had that discussion. If you put God at the top, what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go on about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more?"

Papa again interrupted. "You see, Mackenzie, I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day."

Jesus now spoke again. "Mack, I don't want to be first among a list of values; I want to be at the center of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be the center of a mobile, where everything in your life - your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities - is connected to me but moves with the wind, in and out and back and forth, in an incredible dance of being."

I know that I have "bought into" the idea of God being "first" in my life, AT the top of a pyramid. Though this was certainly a conscious (and, I thought, "righteous") choice, I don't think that I consciously realized that having this type of view also separates God from the rest of my life. But how much better for Him to be IN the center of my life, a part of absolutely everything.

This book definitely challenged my view of God, humbled me in my realization of how much I limit Him in my own little mind, and encouraged me beyond words with the realization that He is "especially fond of me."

A Haiku to Grandpa from Cole

Cole at the dentist

Why does Grandpa live so far?

He could make me smile

anderson island fun (ode to karla)

haiku 1
handfuls of blessings

eleven faces of joy

great time on the beach




haiku 2
anderson island

more fun than should be allowed

God gave us great friends

haiku 3
cole zach and matthew

pretending to be ninjas

wow, they had great moves


haiku 4
old man in the green

two hooded youths right behind

who will get thrown in?




haiku 5
lagoon walk went smooth

jed sol and ethan moved fast

we found life out there

It's All About Jesus

This post is honestly and most sincerely not intended to be a debate on home-schooling vs. public schooling. I am not "for" or "against" either. I think that either or both can be completely the "right" answer for each child and each family. Mark and I talk about it and pray about it each year, and make our decision based on what we feel God is leading us to do. So, for now, our oldest three children have all gone to our local public school. And one of the things I love about that choice, is that they are able to share their faith and their love for Jesus with their unchurched friends at school. Their boldness has amazed me so many times. It has encouraged me and inspired me. I love that, because our faith is so much a part of everything that we do, that it's completely natural for them to share that faith with anyone and everyone.

Here are a few of the projects that Abby has done for school this year, which have reminded me that, no matter how or where our children go to school, or how or where each of us as adults spend our days . . . it's all about Jesus.

This was Abby's "dream" on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.



This was Abby's response to her first grade class project of drawing a picture of what they love the most for Valentine's Day. This picture was posted on the bulletin board in the main hallway of the kids' school for the month of February. (As a side note, this project was to be done at home. When Abby drew her picture, her big brother Noah looked at it and said, "Abby, that's not what Jesus looked like." Abby, without having to think for a second, said, "when I close my eyes and see my Jesus, this is exactly what he looks like.")

This was Abby's response just this week to an assignment in class to write a paragraph on how they could change the world and make it a better place.

Ethan is 9!

Ethan celebrated his 9th birthday on April 12th! We spent Thursday through Sunday of the kids' Spring Break over at grandpa Millers Anderson Island house with our friends the Fears and the Brases, so Ethan got to enjoy his special day in a very fun place with very fun people, including his two best buddies Jedi and Soli!

Here's Ethan at the Brase's (Stanton's) island house with his cupcake, ice cream and pop. Does life get any better when you're 9?



All smiles with his dad and big brother Noah. (Why can't 10-year-old boys just take a normal picture???)

Happy Birthday, Ethan! We love you and are so incredibly thankful that God has put you into our family. We love your patient and gentle nature. We love the way you love your friends and your family. We love the way you notice the small details of God's amazing creation that so many of us miss. We love your hugs and kisses. We love your smile and your laugh. We love that you love Jesus and are not afraid to share the message of His love with your friends at school. We are so excited to see what God will do in your life, and how He will use you to further His kingdom as you grow into the man of God that He wants you to be!

pump it up...

for ethan and abby's parties we decided to do a combined shindig at pump it up... in tacoma... it was incredible...

one of the inflatables in the first room is a big bouncing boxing arena... you are given boxing gloves and head gear(that must be worn) and then you are able to go at it... in this picture... the birthday boy is beating up his big brother... go ethan...
another cool inflatable is the large slide... this is large... steep... and a total blast... mom and dads.... are more than welcome to participate... it is actually encouraged... so here... mom, abby and cole enjoy a hair-raising experience sliding the big slide together...
abby and her friends were not to be outdone by the boys... so they mastered the obstacle course inflatable pictured in the background... pictured here are abby and her good friend biz...
ethan and gabriel are tuckered out after the second room( with 3 more large inflatables, different from the first three)... 80 minutes total bounce time... crazy...

the party concludes in the birthday room where the birthday kids sat in an inflatable throne and opened gifts from their friends... we also had an insane amount of costco cake and some pop...(:

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friends pictured(right to left)... sol, jedi,big brother noah, colton, biz, evie, mason, birthday girl abby, birthday boy ethan, cole, gabriel, ethan(not the birthday boy), alex, madi, emily, zach, selena, boots(kristina), lila, and evan

Abby is 7 on the 7th!

Today was a big day for Abby, as it was her golden birthday! She turned 7 years old on April 7th. She was a bit bummed, because this week is spring break for our school, so she didn't get to celebrate her birthday at school with all of her friends. But, we tried to make the day special for her. I asked her yesterday what she wanted for her birthday meals, and she said, "pancakes!" I said, "for every meal?" and she replied, "YES!" I agreed, so this morning for breakfast she had a giant pancake with a candle, and afterward opened a few gifts.



Then her wonderful big brother Noah made her this beautiful crown, so that she could be a princess on her birthday. He did it all on his own, and I thought it was so incredibly sweet of him!


Then, time for lunch, so . . . . more pancakes! Does the strawberry make up for all of the syrup???


Lunch was followed by a little jump rope with Noah during a brief time of sunshine in between all of the rain!


Mark had agreed to make Abby swedish pancakes for dinner, but . . . when dinner rolled around, even Abby agreed maybe three meals of pancakes would be a bit much for one day. So, she chose McDonalds instead, followed by getting together with our friends, the Fears (and her two best buddies Biz & Miki), at Cold Stone for a special treat. (Sorry, I forgot the camera for this part of Abby's day!)

And, the kids ended the day by having a sleep-over in Noah's room and watching Curious George. They have a Friday tradition of the sleep-over, moving from one of their rooms to another. But, since it was spring break, and Abby's birthday, we let them have one on a Monday night! And we love that they still love this tradition and want to hang out together!

All in all, a pretty special day, I think!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL MARGARET! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Just one more reason why the kids all love Daddy better than Mommy :-)

Sleepover Fun

Our niece, Lila, came over for a sleepover on Wednesday. We all had so much fun!

Uncle Mark picked up Lila after work on Wednesday afternoon and brought her home. Noah, Ethan & Abby were still at school, so Lila walked in the door and announced, "Cole Henry! I'm here!" So sweet! So Lila and Cole had some fun play time waiting for Abby to get home.


Then Abby, Lila and Cole had some fun coloring before we all headed off to Awana. Lila thought Uncle Mark deserved a beautiful rainbow picture!

And after Awana and a bedtime snack, Abby and Lila crawled into their sleeping bags and (eventually!!) went to sleep.

I didn't grow up near any of my cousins, and Mark doesn't have any cousins, so it's so awesome for us to see our kids and their cousins having so much fun together, and making memories that will last a lifetime. We are blessed!

Thanks for coming over Lila! I hope we can do it again soon!