Summer's ending Part II

One of our neighbours hosted a birthday party for their daughter.  We enjoyed the sunshine, swimming, the most delicious cupcakes, a pinata, a bouncy house, and most of all friends.


Here are the girls enjoying pizza and chips while dressed in their princess dresses.

Our soon to be first graders.

 Selah really enjoyed being with the big girls.

 Time for CANDY!!!

 Okay, this picture I took simply because this little man has some of the most beautiful eyes!

 Isaiah got to know one of the neighbour's dog.

The kids loved being scared by "Mr. Bob the Monster".

 

Isaiah observed the fun. 

 Then he and his friend enjoyed the bouncy house all to themselves while the big kids swam.

It was such a wonderful time of being with friends and neighbours.  And yes, it most likely is one of the last summer activities.  (Of course we are hoping that the weather stays nice through the month of September so we can indulge in some after school swimming.)

Summer's ending Part I

Tomorrow Sofia begins first grade.  Knowing this, we enjoyed a family fun Friday this past week at the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It actually was Isaiah's first time to a zoo.

 The following picture isn't a great one but believe I tried and tried to get all three looking at me at the same time.  I really wanted a pic of them near these statues because I have one of Sofia in this same place from when we first began coming to this zoo as a family when she was about 18 months old.  I also have one of Selah her first time to this zoo.:)

 The zoo isn't large or even the greatest one ever but it is free and offers us opportunity to observe God's creations.  This polar bear has always been one of our favourite animals to watch.  The way he glides through the water so effortlessly is beautiful.

 Uncle Kirk and Aunt Tamra had given Sofia a book that is specifically to fill in and answer questions when visiting a zoo.

 This girl hardly ever smiles for me but she posed a bit here.  I'll take what I can get from her.

 Sofia again filling out her book.

            

There were a couple of things that put this special day over the top.  The first thing was look at this picture below.  We are standing at the entrance/exit and our van is right there on the front row.  We couldn't believe it because this particular day it was very, very crowded due to the Chicago Air and Water Show taking place on the adjoining lake shore.  And that is what was the second greatest thing about that day.  The airshow was actually on Saturday but the planes were practicing and rehearsing on Friday.  We sat on some benches outside of the zoo for quite some time just admiring the planes and jets. (You can see six jets in formation above the trees.)

  

Needless to say it was a very quiet drive home after a fun-filled family Friday!!!!

The Father's Heart.

Below is an excerpt from a note my brother, Kirk, sent to us yesterday.  This past Sunday, Aug. 21, two days past the due date, his son Ezekiel Zion was born by emergency c-section. Ezekiel had miconium aspiration thus causing his lungs to not be functioning at the needed level.  EZ (his nickname) continues to be in critical but stable condition.  Many of you have joined our family in prayer for this little one who's name means:  God's Strength.

It's been over 24hrs since Ezekiel has entered our life on this side of the belly. Each minute my love grows stronger for him. I haven't been able to hold him like I want to or show him his new home and room we have prepared for him. A few friends have told me that you will better understand God once you have this baby. The Father side of God as well as the mother side.

To see my wife today standing up in pain and leaning over to sing to Ezekiel and lead him into worship made me cry. I haven't cried in front of him yet but I couldn't hold back because of the presence of God in the place as she sang. Of course that got her crying more. He is so beautiful and I enjoy just staring at him. 

The doctors and nurses say that he is improving but slowly. Of course not fast enough for us. It's only been 24hrs but it seems like a week already. The day before the birth I looked at my wife and told her that I feel like we are about to go on a long vacation. Maybe that was God preparing us?

Tamra has 3 more days in the hospital to recover from the C section. She is in a lot of pain. It's hard for me to watch her in pain because she has a high tolerance for pain. I am so thankful for her and love her so much. We are blessed to be best friends. It sucks that I am goofy because she laughs at my dorky remarks which than cause more pain.

I love each and everyone that has prayed, contacted us, wrote comments of encouraging love, and have been supporting us through this with your lives being influenced by Jesus. Keep praying and while your there with the FATHER, "Stay a while and enjoy His love."

Studying (too) hard.

Boy do I love this man.  He is such a great husband and father.  

Here he is up late one night studying for his class.  Yeah, that's a heating pad on his shoulders.  

A couple weeks ago we as a family began what will most likely be a very busy and stressful four months (so we think).  It began the first weeks of August when Kevin took an intensive four unit seminary course on the poetic and prophetic books of the Bible.  This is a course that he got to put to use those three semesters of Hebrew learning.:)  And now his last semester of seminary begins.  He will be taking 11 units this Fall.  This is a big undertaking considering the many responsibilities he has as a fulltime children's pastor (not to mention husband and daddy) but God willing come December his MDiv will be completed.

Manistee Vacation

Last year my mom and stepdad sold their Manistee cottage but that didn't keep us from once again joining them in Manistee, MI for an August getaway.  This year, Bill (my stepdad) rented a condo for the family.  WOW!   Even though we always enjoyed the 65 year old, rustic, one bedroom cottage and have many great memories from our many summers there, we really appreciated the modern three bedroom condo this year.

Sadly Kevin wasn't able to join us because of an intensive two-week seminary course.  We value our family vacations but being that with Kevin taking that course he can now finish his MDiv this Fall semester, it was a worthy sacrifice.

So on Sunday, August 6 right after church the kids and I made the six hour drive.   And we enjoyed four great days with Gramma and Papa Bill.

Harbor Village Condo

Enjoying breakfast on the deck with Gramma.

Beach time.

Enjoying the sand.

Aunt Kelli and Hannah joined us for a day.

The girls just love being in the water.

It was nice having a pool to enjoy.

And on the rainy day Isaiah loved swimming with Gramma in the indoor pool.

Evenings were spent at the beach playground.

Love the sugar sand on the Manistee beaches.

Love the sunsets behind the Manistee Lighthouse.

The moon was almost full our last night.


Sadly I don't have a picture of all of us.  Hopefully Gramma will send me some.:)

Reading.

I LOVE!

Lemonade Stand

Summer.  Kids.  Lemonade.  Stand.  FREE!!!!

Sofia caught the summer entrepreneurial bug and decided she wanted to have a lemonade stand.  I enjoyed observing how she went about it.

It was Tuesday and Sofia came to me about having a lemonade stand.  I let her know that Saturday would be the best day because our neighbours would be home and not at work.  She figured that mom was right so she went about making flyers.  Yep.  Sofia made about 6 flyers stating she was having a lemonade stand on Saturday and it was free.  She then proceeded to hand them out to our neighbours.

Saturday around noon we made the lemonade and Sofia and her friend Valerie (of course, Selah was there every step of the way) went about setting up shop at the end of our driveway.

The girls endured the heat and finally after about two hours they had managed to give away 14 cups of lemonade.  They were so proud of themselves.

And I was proud of Sofia's heart.  She didn't want to charge anybody money.  She wanted it to be free so everyone could enjoy it.

I spy.

Ever since Sofia was two years old she has loved the I Spy books.  

The other day I came upstairs to the loft to find all these toys on the ledge. 

"What is this?"

"I made an I Spy decoration, mom!"

~~

/

<->

My cheesehead friend stops by.

Okay, note that I didn't write cheesy friend because Darla is anything but.:)  Darla is an amazing woman who has a huge heart for internationals due to her huge heart for the Lord.

Darla and I first met when we were both living and working in Turkey.  I believe she was one of the first people I had ever met who was from Wisconsin (thus cheesehead). I used to tease her about being from a small town in the midwest and putting up with winters. Who knew that I would one day live 15 miles from Wisconsin, in a small suburb putting up with winters?

Anyway, Darla returned to the States the same year as I in 2001.  Our friendship was able to deepen because she came to So Cal to attend Biola for her master's in TESOL (I was working at CBU).  The next summer we became roommates and the only reason why we only did so for a year was because I got married.

Thankfully my friendship with Darla has continued over the years.  Because I do live so near to Wisconsin I was able to attend her wedding a few years ago and I've been able to see her at least once a year as she passes through town on her way to her parents.

Last week was one of those such visits.  My house is a good stopover point for her sweet 2 year old son Noah.  It works out for him to play with my kids, for us all to enjoy a meal and basically just catch up.

We tried our best to get a picture of the kiddos but, well, you know how that goes.

Here is a cute picture of Darla (carrying second child due in January) and Noah.

Thanks for stopping by!  

Hearing God's Voice

The other night Sofia shared with me that she wanted to hear God's voice.  And she wanted to HEAR it, not through His Word. :)


She decided to lay on the couch in the loft area so she could be still.


A couple of minutes later we had this conversation:

S:  Mommy, I hear God.

M:  You do?  And what is he saying?

S:  God is telling me to obey him.

S:  Now he is telling me to read his word.

(A couple of minutes of silence)

S:  God is really talking to me.

S:  He is saying.....S.....P.....A

M:  Sofia, you aren't hearing God's voice, you are hearing your Sparks cd that is playing in your room!

We both had a good laugh about that.

Asking for God's help.

I have the privilege of praying with and listening to the prayers of my girls each day and evening.  The prayers of children are pure, simple, amazing and humbling.  


Here was Selah's prayer:


"Dear God, thank you for my owies on my legs because I know you will heal them.  You are our healer.  And thank you for spankings.  They hurt but I need them because I disobey.  So God please help me to obey with my heart so I don't get a spanking."


And a part of Sofia's prayer:


"And dear Jesus PLEASE help my heart.  My heart can be tangled and twisted and topsy-turvy.  I need you everyday to help me."

Uncle Bruce

This past Saturday, Uncle Bruce (one of Kevin's older brothers) came for a day visit.  It was so fun to have him on our side of the water.  We see Uncle Bruce quite often when we visit Michigan but it had been almost six years since he came our way.

The morning was spent just playing and playing and playing.  Sofia and Selah were so excited to show Uncle Bruce EVERY single toy they own.:)

Being that it was a very hot and humid day, some time at the lake was a must.  For about an hour there was a lot of splishing and splashing.

Uncle Bruce treated us all to ice cream at Oberweiss'.  Sofia had the mango/pomegranate, Uncle Bruce enjoyed the blueberry pie flavour, and Selah kept with the ever so good hot fudge sundae.  

Then we headed to the church to show Uncle Bruce where we spend quite a bit of our time as a family.:)  Of course, the brothers had to enjoy a competitive game or two of table tennis.

Soon after dinner we said our goodbyes to Uncle Bruce.  It was such a great day.  And no doubt the girls in particular loved spending the day with their uncle.  How do I know?  Because come bedtime it was quite the cry fest due to missing Uncle Bruce.