Super Heroes in my living room

The girls have friends over today to play and my living room is currently being overrun by various super heroes and villains wielding swords, giant bouncing hopper balls and the dreaded hairbrush of doom (which didn't really instill fear in the boys). According to Noah it's not fair because he and Abbie each have all the powers in the world and so neither of them will ever be able to win.

Noah (playing the part of a bad guy): "Marry me or die!!"

Abbie (resident princess, laughing as I prompted her to say) : "I'd rather die than marry you!"

Another Canadian

Silas is officially a Canadian! We finally received his letter from Canada stating that our request for his Canadian citizenship has been approved. Yay for Canada and congratulations Silas!
Leah is feeling quite left auot.

Back again!

At long last, we are back to the blogging world! The end of last semester flew by as did the summer and we are all back in school mode again. Leah and Geoff took turns working part time over the summer with Geoff getting to be a stay at home dad for the month of August while Leah had an unexpected job opportunity that was very much a provision from the Lord. Geoff only has two semesters left until he is finished with the Biola bachelors of Nursing program. We can hardly believe the end is finally in sight! Although there is much work to be done and many tiring days ahead, we are hopeful and our hearts our full of gratitude to our Great God who has not left us alone on this journey. Even today, we received a grocery gift card from a very unexpected source that is another reminder that we need not fear for the future and what we will eat or wear because God know these tings and is providing them for us.

Although our summer seemed to fly by, we were able to take 2 camping trips as a family that were so much fun. In July we went to Bass Lake with friends from La Gracia and spent a week there swimming in the extremely warm lake, visiting Yosemite for a day, hiking treacherous waterfall trails and avoiding yellow jackets who wanted to eat our food and children. Then, in august we spent a few days near Lopez Lake with our Grace Group and others from church. There were 18 or 19 kids 6 years old and under so or kids had a blast. We went with this same group last year and it is a highlight of our summers. We always leave wishing we could stay much longer!

Other highlights of the last 5 months include celebrating our 30th birthdays, Silas turning 1,Abbie turning 6, and ten years of marraige! We think the following picture pretty much sums up the greatest accomplishments of our 20's:



Camping at Bass Lake with La Gracia

But I don't speak any Spanish!!






Yosemite!







































Giant sequoia roots and half dome!
























































Leah officially wants to live right here!














Camping at Camp Mabel French (A.K.A. Lopez Lake)

Government

So this past week in history Abbie has been learning the basics of the birth of the United States of America. From time to time I orally quiz her to see if anything is sticking. Wanting to see if she could remember the word democracy I asked her at breakfast.."Abbie, what kind of government do we have in America?"

Her reply..."A Catastrophe?"

Brilliant. I just knew she was gifted.

Darth Curious and Questions of Faith

The girls like to play Star Wars. No, they have never seen the movies and only know bits and pieces of the story. But Princess Leah and Queen Amadala, Luke and Darth Vader often run through the hall, living room and kitchen blasting and light-sabering on their way to the next adventure.

2 days ago.....

The kids and I were sitting on my bed waking up for the day. Keely climbed down and we didn't see her for a few minutes. From the foot of the bed comes a deep Keelyish voice proclaiming, "I'm Darth Curious!!!" A strangely fitting description.....

Today at lunch.....

We were talking about Jesus and God's wrath being poured out on sinners (us), but Jesus taking it on himself so that we can adopted as God's children. The conversation seemed to be keeping both girls engaged. Abbie was understanding and following along and so was Keely it seemed. And then the questions from Keely (a.k.a. Darth Curious) "What if the cupboards said " I don't beleive in God? What if the cupboards wear diapers!, Did Jesus toot?"
I pray that one day her curiosity will lead her to ask the right questions and to have them answered by the One who designed her to be curious, but for now I'm left thinking that blessed are the curious for their parents shall never be bored.


A few more recent Keely quotes:

"What if Satan comes to our house?"

"I heard a car in my mouth mom, it went down my throat."

February Highlights

The girls love Silas and he loves them!

Fun with Tabitha while mommy and daddy got to go out on a date....

Plumbers......


Helping daddy....

The boys fixed our leaky sink for us. Thanks guys!

Still smiling =)















Silas at his first hockey game. He nursed like a champ through the first goal.


If Keely had to be contained in a flipbook, this is what her life would look like:

















Lost "Toof" #4

Back in the swing of things!

Both Geoff and Abbie have started their 2nd semester of school and so far things are going smoothly. We had a wonderful visit with family over the break and it was so nice to have a break from school for all of us! But now we are back in the swing of things. Geoff's first rotation is on a Labor and Delivery floor (the same floor where all our kids were born!) and he is enjoying his time there. Abbie is learning to read, and both the girls are taking Suzuki violin lessons. Silas makes his way around with his fast army crawl and he enjoys coming to violin class and watching the fun.

Thrills, Chills, and Spills

The last few days have been full of thrills, chills, and spills!

Thrills.....taking the kids iceskating for the first time! Geoff had Silas in the baby carrier part of the time so he even got a bit of the thrill. Both girls enjoyed it as well. It was a special kids rink next to the big rink with these cool plastic "walkers" that the kids could hold onto as they skated. Abbie surprised us and skated on her own about half the time, falling occasionally and getting right back up! She was also enthralled by the hockey game going on at the big rink and exclaimed "Mom! Those are kid hockey players!!!!!!!"

Chills.....it's still snowing! It has snowed all but 2 of the days we have been in B.C. We now know how to use chains for the car. Geoff is getting pretty speedy at putting them on and I even took them off once by myself. Keely isn't so fond of the cold.....although who can blame her when the snow is up to her waist!

Spills....On New Years Day Silas fell onto a wood floor head first. Yikes! No blood and no concussion. Praise God! He is fine and his normal happy self. Yesterday Geoff's sister hit a patch of black ice on the freeway on the way to work and her car went off the road and flipped onto the passenger side. She has some bruising from the seat belt as a result of hanging sideways but Praise God the pressure from the seat belt was on her legs and not her abdomen (she is pregnant) and her and the baby are in good health. A RCMP officer came along right after the accident and helped her climb out of the car. (The car was ok too which is also a praise). An then finally, later that day, as we were preparing to leave the iceskating rink, Geoff stepped onto the ice and fell backward (Silas was no longer strapped to his chest). He hit his neck/ head on the ledge onto the ice. Thankfully it seems that he did not have a concussion and didn't have to make a trip to the ER. The ice skating rink was part of a larger recreation facility with a pool so a couple of lifeguards came and assessed him ( in shorts and t-shirts on the ice...brrrr!). He is pretty sore though.....we think he might have whiplash.

Mighty Thanks

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we had a chance to sit and reflect on this last year as a family and wow has this been an amazing year! One passage of scripture that our family remembers often is Psalm 105:1-5.....

"Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!

Seek the LORD and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

Remember the wondrous works that he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he uttered"

A mighty Thank You first and foremost to our great God for our salvation through Jesus. What an awesome God we have to reconcile us to himself through his own son! 

A mighty Thank You also to so many of you who have helped us this last year. Thank you to our parents for generously helping us every month! Thank you to the many who have given us monetary gifts over the past year to help cover our expenses, thank you for the groceries, the prayers, the babysitting, the odd (and not so odd) paying jobs, the gas for our car and trips up north, the anonymous gifts found in our bags, mailbox and envelopes handed to us at church. We have kept a list of all of those who have helped us out this past year and we are amazed! Thank you, thank you, thank you!