Daddy/Daughter Dates

This year for Valentine's Day, Aliyah, Ava, and Anna heard the doorbell ring and found Dad waiting to take them to the restaurant of their choosing . . .


Aliyah, for breakfast, was excited to rise early
and head to the Waffle House . . .
 

Ava, for lunch, was thrilled with the buffet at Pizza Hut,
 especially her big Valentine's day soda  . . .
 

. . . and Anna, for dinner, indulged in the Golden Corral!

Each girl received a gift in the car.
Here Anna is admiring her bouquet of lollipop "flowers".

 

It's amazing we have not been to the emergency room!

So ... I look out the window and snap this picture of Blaize and Brodie improvising since we do not have a tee for tee-ball.

This is what it looks like close up before a big swing with the crowd cheering on.

Program in Kansas

He Knows My Name

 

Cristo Yo Te Amo



The Bench Skit

 

Pebbles Skit

 

 Echo System Skit



Last week, we traveled up to Kansas and presented a program for a fantastic and fun-loving group of people in the community where Jon grew up.  They invited us to present our story, so we shared through speaking, skits, and singing.  Many of the songs and skits we did were used on our mission trip to the Dominican Republic (pictures hopefully coming soon).

 

Orphan Sunday - "Children of God"

November 4, 2012 is National Orphan Sunday. As a family, we sang "Children of God," which explains the great truth of how Christians are all adopted into God's family through believing in Jesus.  John 1:12 - "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God."

Mission Trip Movie Night

We just returned from a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Christian International Fellowship, Inc. While there, we (Jon, Christi, Blaize, Brodie, and Anna) stayed with our dear friends, Bill and Peg Pearson, who run the mission from their apartment in the middle of Santo Domingo. Their home is an open door to people from all over the city. It is quite common for them to feed 20-30 + people on a given afternoon and/or evening. We had a wonderful trip with many great experiences, both in Santo Domingo and out near the border of Haiti.

One evening after we ate supper, the kids went back to brush their teeth and get PJs on for bed. After a little while, I went to check on them since it was very quiet. Upon arriving, I saw the door closed with the light off and thought, "Wow - they must really be tired if they went to bed on their own already!" As I quietly cracked open the door, this is what I saw: all three kids perched by the window watching a movie from the open window of a room in the adjacent building, sound and all.


The "guilty" party - thoroughly engrossed.



The view out their window to the next building.

Brayden describing his accident . . .

We recently returned from a family vacation in Williamsburg, VA.  Jon's parents and Christi's parents (from Kansas & Michigan) met us on the east coast, and all stayed together for a fun week of learning about the founding of America.  On our drive back, Brayden had a bit of an accident in his pants before we could whisk him into a restroom.  After this little episode was rectified, I took a short video of him as he came back in the van.

Following is a bit of history on his informative monologue:
You will hear him recounting how he kept dropping a golf ball.  This happened at the beginning of the week while playing miniature golf.  I told him he could carry his own golf ball to the course, as long as he was careful not to drop it.  Well, the poor guy just couldn't keep hold of it as much as he tried, and he kept saying how silly it was that the ball wouldn't stay in his hands.

Next, he reflects on dropping a sandwich.  This happened while eating a picnic lunch outside.  All of a sudden, half his sandwich popped out of his hand and found the ground.  Sheepishly, he recounted how the other day the same thing was happening with the silly golf ball.

Finally, he couples the whole thing together to include the recent "potty" accident.  Well, it delayed our trip a few minutes, but it was well worth the joy of being entertained by his quizzical explanation!

It's shower time!

Shower time is ALWAYS a highlight for Brayden and Brennan.  You should see their smiles and excitement when the announcement is made, "Get ready for your showers!"  Each time, they never fail to have some new and exciting activity.  This day after we finished, I sent them to get dressed.  Well, upon hearing snickering and the all-familiar sounds of "up-to-no-good", I turned around the corner and found this - a proud new hat design.  The "little boys" (as we call them), provide loads of entertainment for us, and them!