Mother's Day Cont...

Here is the video of the girls and I singing on Mother's Day...

Mother's Day

Kaitlyn played the piano during our Early Worship portion of our service on Mother's Day. The girls and I also sang together during the service, will post that video soon...ENJOY!!

Summertime...oops, I mean Springtime

We have enjoyed some VERY unseasonably warm weather recently...I'm talking temperatures in the 90's!! Just about unheard of for this time of year as our region broke the past record for high temperature by 5 degrees!!

So, despite Caleb getting strep before this 'heatwave' we took every opportunity to get outside and have some fun. Here are some pictures from our evening picnic at the park.

Easter Fun!

What a great weekend we had...and it wasn't just because of the summer-like weather we had either...although, that didn't hurt! :)

On Friday night, the kids had a sitter and Jeff and I went out to dinner together and then to band practice to get ready for Easter Sunday. Thanks to our fellow band members for paying for dinner and the sitter! We were/are truly grateful for that!!

On Saturday our little friend Sierra came over so her mommy could get some much needed rest. We had a GREAT time playing with Sierra and having an Easter Egg hunt...why don't the older kids let the little ones find the eggs??? Why do they feel it is necessary to find them all, then tell the little ones where they are??? :) Oh well, next year, the little ones will go first -- we won't send them all at the same time!!! We decided to give the kids their Easter baskets on Saturday as well, knowing just how busy Sunday would be. They LOVED their little gifts...the girls have been jump roping (they broke the ones they got last year b/c they used them so much) non-stop -- even in places they shouldn't! Caleb hasn't let Prince Naveen or his alien go since he got them, they now go everywhere with him!

Sunday was a GLORIOUS day!! It started for me with a sunrise walk with Daisy. The sunrise was amazing! I truly have never seen a sunrise so beautiful!!! It made me wonder if it was even close to the sunrise on that Resurrection morning...I don't think it would have, I have a sense the one that morning was even more beautiful! But, it was beautiful, and I enjoyed it despite the time! Then, we headed to church for our Easter Sunday service at the local high school. It was a GREAT service! Our pastor gave a great sermon about how the Resurrection broke all the rules of how the world says life should be lived -- ie. Life is tough, then you die...Christ's resurrection broke down those rules and says that Life is worth living, can be lived now, and life will continue with Him! (that was my paraphrase :) )

After church we headed over to the home of some friends of ours. They graciously invited us to share Easter dinner with them and their extended family. We had a great time, the kids had a great time, and it sure beat sitting at home wishing we had someone else to share the day with!

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy of our celebration of Easter! The great thing is the celebration doesn't have to end, we can celebrate Easter EVERYDAY, for HE IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

HE IS RISEN!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

I know Easter is still a few days away, but we have an incredibly busy week ahead, so I wanted to be sure to get this post out.

We are so excited for Easter again this year. We will be heading to the local high school to have our Easter Sunday service, it can seat 1000-1100 people and we are expecting every seat to be full! It is the once-a-year opportunity for our church to meet as a whole...during the year we have 2 services with Sunday school in between...there are people that attend the 1st service who don't know the people that attend the 2nd. This is the one time of the year you get to see ALL the people that attend Community Chapel! In years past it has been such an energizing, exciting service...all of those people there for one purpose, to celebrate the Risen Lord!!!

The girls helped prepare for Easter this week in our Palm Sunday service, they read the scripture readings to start off the service. They did a great job! Hannah read her scriptures with such enthusiasm....'HOSANNA, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, HOSANNA in the Highest!'

We have already taken pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits...we did that this weekend while Margaret was here, we got some great pictures of all 4 kids, oh, and Daisy joined in on the fun too!

Our prayer is that wherever you find yourself this Easter you will find yourself celebrating that the tomb is EMPTY! He is ALIVE!! Because of this truth we have HOPE! It is the Hope of Easter that I am clinging to these days, especially with the things going on in our lives right now. If I didn't believe in the empty tomb these situations would seem bleak, like there is no hope to be found, but I DO believe!! Despite what is going on around us, despite what the world tells us, despite what the enemy would want us to believe...HE IS ALIVE and BECAUSE HE'S ALIVE, I LIVE and HAVE HOPE!!!

Could it really be true??

Is spring almost here?? I am sure enjoying the 'signs' of spring being just around the corner! Today the kids were begging to go outside, so I, of course, obliged! Not only did they get in some great play time, but I also got in some peace and quiet and let me tell you after a long winter like we've had, some peace and quiet was just what the doctor ordered!!

Here are some photos of the kids enjoying the signs of spring...even Daisy got in on the action!

Yearly Power Outage

Yup, you read that right! Just about once a year (sometimes more) we lose our power for multiple days in a row...not just a couple of minutes/hours. We are not sure why this is, but you could go to the bank with it -- sometime during the year we will find ourselves throwing out everything in the fridge/freezer, finding a hotel, or staying with a friend.

It is the most frustrating thing in the world to have this happen, especially when you have kids! It just messes everything up! But, try doing all this with a new puppy! Well, that adds a WHOLE NEW dimension to it all! Although, Daisy did VERY well with all the adjustments, considering! The kids on the other hand, I think we will be trying to make-up for the lost sleep for a couple of days to come!!

As frustrating it all is, the kids actually said they like the power outage because we got to have a 'family sleep-over' in the living room. (Mom did NOT like this, not that I didn't like being with my kids, but there was not much 'sleeping' being had, that and it was REALLY cold!!!)

So, here are some photos from this year's outage. We are praying this will not be a year of MULTIPLE outages as in past years! Enjoy!