Formal

Yesterday was "Formal Day" at a place that my daughter takes some classes, so she got into the spirit of it and put on this beautiful dress a friend had given her and added lots of "bling" to complete the look.  When I dropped her off for her first class, we did not see one other girl wearing a formal dress.  In fact, we did not see any girls wearing dresses at all!  They were all wearing jeans!  Oh, no!

She didn't have time to change, so Kate held her head high and walked into class.  I waved to her, drove away and quickly called my husband to tell him to join me in praying for her!  Junior high can be rough and kids are sometimes not very kind to someone who looks different.  My daughter already is on the shy side and does not like to stand out in a crowd, so I was hoping this would not negatively affect the way she feels about herself.

When I picked her up, she was all smiles.  She had received lots of compliments on how pretty she looked and, although she was the only one dressed up in her first class, there were lots of other girls dressed in formal wear in her next class.  Whew!

Thank you, Lord!

Grand Canyon

We finally made it back to Arizona!  It had been 15 years since we had been there and that is WAY too long!!!  Anyway, it was so great to be back and to show my kids all my old stomping grounds. :-)



After a mini-hike into the canyon. (About a mile and a half down and then back up.)  Hiking up is certainly a lot harder than the way down! ;-)

Tea Time

                                                                   

Vacation Memories

My Guys

14th Birthday!

It really seems impossible to me that 14 years have passed since a gorgeous baby boy was placed in my arms... He was, and is, an amazing gift from God ~ my SON!  We named him Grant because God had finally granted our request for a child.  He was the fulfillment of years of longing and praying.  And just as the proverb says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life," (Proverbs 13:12), the aching and heartsickness of my empty arms and wanting a child was replaced with joy bubbling up and overflowing into my life with the arrival of this SON.  It has been a wild ride so far and Grant has definitely kept us on our toes!  He approaches life with so much energy and passion!  His father and I often ponder what God has in store for him as he grows.  We pray that Jesus will be King in his heart and that Grant will trust Him to direct his path.  Happy birthday, Grant!  You are loved more than you could ever imagine by God, and by Dad and me, who are SO blessed to be your parents!!!

Perspective

‎"Jesus Christ is my model. This means a different set of ambitions, a different definition of happiness, a different standard of judgment altogether. Behavior will change, and very likely it will change enough to make me appear rather odd--but then my Master was thought very odd."  

~Elisabeth Elliot   (from Keep a Quiet Heart)

Birthday Lunch

The calendar page turned over to a new year for me and my husband took me out for a consolation ~ I mean celebration ~ lunch. :-) We ended the meal with espresso and chocolate truffles, which was the perfect end to a wonderful lunch date!

March 2012

Every March Grant starts talking about wanting a Shamrock Shake from McDonald's.  Usually, on our way to our annual staff retreat, we stop and get him one.  Well, not just him... Kate and I get one, too! :-)  (For some reason I cannot fathom, my husband does not like the combination of ice cream and mint!)  Anyway, darn those shamrock shakes are SO good!  I confess I have had 2 this year, since I recently took Grant to the mall to get him a few early birthday gifts, and we just had to enjoy another one of those shakes.  It is a good thing they only have them during the month of March!  (I generally stay away from McDonald's for the other 11 months of the year!)



We have had the most gloriously sunny and warm March that I can remember for as long as we've lived in this state!   Kate likes to jump on the trampoline at her piano teacher's house before her lesson starts, but usually it is way too cold to do that at this time of year.  Here she is last week after a good jumping session! :-)

Guess where we went...?

Yes, we finally took the kids to Disney World! :-)  


We hadn't taken a vacation for the past six years, so it was really wonderful to get away as a family and just have fun!

Ears pierced!

My daughter got her ears pierced as an early birthday gift.  She will be 12 on Saturday.  She is looking so grown up these days but she is still my baby girl! ;-)