BLAST OFF! Discovering the God of Creation

This was Alli's second year participating in CRCC's Spring Musical and she did AWESOME!

This year was a space theme . . . 

Alli LOVES singing in the choir with her buddies and we love learning the songs with her :-)

She began rehearsals back in January and this weekend she had two performances.

She was so excited to have her family there . . . Ducky Gramma, Papa, Uncle Tony, Aunt Jenee and Cousin Bella made it to Saturday's performance (unfortunately, no pictures from the first night).

Tonight's performance was just as cute and the kiddos seemed a bit more relaxed!

Her fan club tonight included Barbie Gramma, Grandpa, Uncle Z, Miss Kaitlyn, Uncle Danny, Rhonda, Cousin Sophie, Mrs. Ferrell and Sammi!!!

The best part about it being the last performance was the kiddos could go up on stage to get pictures with the set ~ they couldn't wait to sit in the spaceship seats :-)

I absolutely LOVE the picture of the cousins!

Of course, Alli also had to pose for some pictures with one of her favorite church buddies!

What an amazing opportunity for Alli and her friends to share the truth about God in such a fun manner!  She did such a great job and we love seeing her shine on stage :-)

Agape League

One year ago, this weekend, we began attending our church.

Our first day there, the children's choir performed during the service to preview their performance that night.  Alli was enthralled.  Fast forward to this January when they were hyping up the children's choir play, Agape League.  Alli insisted she wanted to do it even though it meant changing gymnastics days ~ a huge deal for her as it meant leaving her buddy.  So we signed her up, and since January, she has been rehearsing every Thursday evening.

Well, this weekend was the performance and she had a BLAST!!!

It was adorable and we were so proud of our little choir gal.

 On Saturday, her neighborhood buddies came to see her and they had so much fun posing after the performance.  She was so happy to have her pals there supporting her!  What cuties :-)

She was even willing to pose with Eli, who keeps asking when he gets to join the choir.

The kiddos are supposed to be 6 so a couple more years.  Man was he bummed, I mean it was all about super heroes!!!  Eli came home tonight and put on his cape pretending to be Freezer Burn,

the super hero with the ability of patience who can freeze time!

Lukey was just thrilled to watch it and sing along with all of the songs ~ such a hoot!

Alli had quite the cheering section tonight, as the entire family (minus Ducky Gramma and Papa, who came to opening night!) came, as well as Todd & Stacy, Miss Kaitlyn and Mrs. Otis (her Kindergarten teacher from last year ~ big hit!!!)

Alli was so excited to see everyone before the show while handing out programs outside.

Way to go Alli!!!  We LOVED watching you sing and perform for the Lord!

Saying "Goodbye" to Pastor Joe

Today has been rough. 

We had to say goodbye (okay, I couldn't bring myself to say that word)

to someone who has become a wonderful friend ~ Pastor Joe Smith. 

Alli & Eli both adore Pastor Joe!

We first met Pastor Joe when he was a guest pastor at our church in the summer of 2009. 

Little did we know then that he would soon become our Interim Lead Pastor beginning in September 2009. 

Garrett and I have so enjoyed his sermons, his honesty, his outside-of-the-box views, his friendship

and his willingness to be silly and have fun.

While we understand that his work here is done (he assisted us in finding a permanent lead pastor)

and he needs to keep his distance to allow the congregation to move on,

we feel a sense of loss and pray that our paths will continue to cross. 

His going away lunch was perfect and he seemed to truly feel the appreciation.

Wishing you all the best Pastor Joe!!!

Trunk or Treat

This evening was Trunk or Treat at Church and both kids had a BLAST!!!

Eli definitely enjoyed the treats and spent most of his time "helping" Barbie Gramma hand out treats

by eating all of her treats ;-)

Not surprisingly, given that we heard the same things when Alli was the fish, everyone thought Eli's costume was the cutest they had seen ~ we agree!  We love that fish costume!!!

Princess Aurora Alli had a splendid time going from trunk to trunk to collect treats

before landing in Barbie Gramma's trunk with Eli

 I love that both kiddos have the "uh oh, she caught us!" look on their faces ;-)

They loved the chocolate!

Once the Trunk or Treating was completed, it was time to go inside for games and face painting.

Alli LOVED the purple and pink butterflies on her cheeks!

Eli and Alli both enjoyed coloring and spending time with Barbie Gramma and Pop Pop

A great time was had by all and we are so thankful that our church puts on such a great event!

alli starts sunday school

Our baby girl is growing up!

On Sunday, Alli finally got to participate in Blast Off Sunday ~ the beginning of Adventures in God's Kingdom Sunday School at First Lutheran.

It began with the children's sermon where Pastor Joe gave all of the kids balloons.  Our little sweetie tried so hard but needed Mommy's help in blowing her balloon.  I wish I'd had a picture of her trying to blow the balloon, her little cheeks were working hard ;-)  The kids let the balloons go then raced downstairs for the new year of Sunday School.  Alli was a little apprehensive but did great! 

She loved making crafts and eating pancakes ~ who doesn't??? 

Eli also had a big day as this was his first time going to the Church nursery without his big sister!

Not only that, many of the little ones were in Sunday school with Alli so he was the big man of the room and Miss Kaitlyn let us know that he seemed pretty proud of that :)

He was very happy to come get his big sister and had fun checking out her room

I love that she's looking at him with a "what are you doing?" face :)

Notice Eli's foot, the little man is always on the move now!!!

All in all, Sunday school is off to a great start!

alli's first time at Vacation Bible School

Although she was technically too young to attend VBS at our church this year,

they made an exception since they wanted Miss Kaitlyn to help :)

Alli had a fabulous time doing crafts, singing and dancing

She LOVED the songs and we've been listening to them non-stop

I even woke up this morning to hear her belting out "Baobab Blast"

Too cute!

Here's the little angel at her performance on Friday . . .

I just love that smile ~ she is such an AMAZING little girl!!!

She even did the singing and dancing for most of the songs :)

What a great first time experience at VBS!

She is already asking when she can go back ;-)

Eli, Child of God

Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Luke 18:16

Today was Eli's baptism and it was such a wonderful experience celebrating with family and close friends.  In true Eli fashion, he was very laid back about the whole process ~ definitely an E.Z little man who looked very cute in his outfit ;-)

No fussing at all during the baptism . . .

We had a reception in the church immediately following the service . . . complete with a photo cake :)

Yes, we let Eli have a few small tastes of his cake . . . it only seemed fair!

Having fun with his Godparents ~ Uncle Tony, Aunt Jenee and Uncle Danny

Our attempt at a family pic ~ yep, this was the best we could do ;-)

What a wonderful day and we are so pleased that so many were able to share it with us!!!

The simple life???

A couple of weeks ago, our Pastor asked G and I if we would be willing to share with the congregation during a Lenten service our story of how we are striving to simplify our lives.  We agreed to do this and tonight was the night.  Initially we thought we would just be sharing a quick snippit for his sermon but it turns out, we were giving the message ~ choosing the bible passage and all.

We chose the following passage from 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Most people who know us would probably say our lives are anything but simple given our somewhat ridiculous commutes for our professional lives, and we are likely to agree if that is how you define a "simple life."  Yet, in preparing for tonight's message, we realized that our view of a simple life is more of reprioritizing what is the focus of our lives.

Back in 2007, I heard the song "Two Sets of Jones" by Big Tent Revival and it struck a chord in me.

For those who are unfamiliar with the song and choose not to play the video, it is about two young married couples, one is focused on jobs and wealth, the other is focused on Christ.  I remember thinking and sharing with G that we were the "wrong" set of Jones.  We knew we had to make some changes in our lives, which led to our return to Washington and our decision to formally "invite" Christ into our marriage and our family.

Have we achieved the simple life?  No.  But we have found a sense of peace that was not previously there and we know it is a continuous journey.  We feel we have our priorities straight now and rather than focusing on things we are focused on our faith and our family.  We have far less moments of thinking "we'll be happy when fill in the blank" and are finding the joy of each day.

It's true that in simplifying one aspect of our lives (being closer to our families), we completely complicated our professional lives -- yet, somehow, it doesn't seem quite so much a chore or stress factor because we know what is important . . .

It was such a beautiful afternoon that Alli and I decided to play with sidewalk chalk while Eli napped.  Of all the things she could think of to draw, she wanted us to draw our family!

Ash Wednesday

Tonight we took the kiddos to Church for Ash Wednesday and the kickoff of the Lenten services.  We enjoyed a soup supper with the congregation and then Alli and Eli went downstairs to play with Miss Kaitlyn, Miss Hailey and Mr. Trevor.  We planned to pick them up after the service.  Imagine our surprise when we looked up during the sharing of the ashes to see Eli getting ashes as he was in Trevor's arms ~ too cute!  Just moments later, we see Alli walking up to the alter with Miss Kaitlyn to get ashes.  Alli rubbed off her ashes before we could get a picture but here's cute little E with his ashes . . .

Poor guy was so tired by the time we got home but was willing to pose for pictures with his Daddy ;-)