Happy Birthdays! #1 and #11!

Happy Birthday Natalie and Nathan!

We love you both bunches!!!

August 28, 2007

Natalie was so excited to share her 11th birthday with her little brother!Natalie is stylin' in our family's birthday hat.
Nathan the BIG #1! Tastin' some yummy cake.
Sharin' tunes.
Opening presents with Daddy's help.

The Lord has blessed us greatly! What a joy to celebrate Nathan's first birthday with him! He is everywhere these days, pulling up and now taking away one hand when hanging on. He has some of the funniest facial expressions, and knows it!

Natalie is now 11 years old and in so many ways is really growing up. She has such a sweet and thoughtful spirit.

We are overwhelmed by the blessings the Lord has bestowed on our family.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

A Full Heart

My heart is full of emotions and my brain is a little on overload this week. The older boys are starting school tomorrow. Allison is off to college on Saturday and the Park Homeschool Academy re-opens it doors on Monday. Yikes, I better get organized!

This past Sunday we had Nathan dedicated at church. What a great reminder of the task we have ahead of us as parents and of the awesome brothers and sisters in Christ that will come alongside us to encourage and spur us on. After our usual after-church stop at McD's I had this great idea to go down the street to the Botanical Gardens and snap some pictures of the kids.


Well, as you will see Nathan slept through the entire thing. We had taken him to the nursery for the first time at church and his nap schedule was thrown off. He was like a rag doll. Oh well, we'll try again later. So, here you go, some shots of our wonderful kiddos that the Lord has blessed us with. I am in awe when I see them all together that the Lord would entrust them to us for a time.

Our Crew

Our Darling Daughters

My Wonderful Husband with our Very Tired Little Boy

Our Handsome Boys (and Nathan is still asleep).

I Want to Be Queen!

Molly, Molly, Molly.

Molly is the optimist of the family. She is a girly girl. Molly loves her older sisters and following in their footsteps. She puts us in stitches often. For some time Molly had been talking about what she wanted to be when she grew up. We would talk about it off and on but her answer was always the same. "I want to be a princess when I grew up." In Preschool they were to dress up like what they wanted to do when they grew up and continuously her answer was the same - "I want to be a princess." So I spoke with her teacher and she said that would be fine, so she was a princess.

A couple of weeks later we were again talking about what Molly could be when she grew up: teacher, doctor, mommy, etc. A little bit later she said to me, "Mom, I know what I want to be when I grow up." And I thought, finally I have gotten through to her. Molly then announced to me, "I want to be Queen!" Guess I still have some work to do.

Posing in the backyard.

Who me? I didn't use Allison's camera. (Busted!)

She never misses a picture moment.

Molly often asks us to pray for someone she has heard is sick or when we see an ambulance. She continues to pray for "the kids in China", that she heard about in Sunday School. She is precious and we look forward to how the Lord will use her life as she grows in her knowledge of Him.

I

Our Middle Daughter

A Young Lady

Some time ago I started introducing our children to you and somehow I got sidetracked, something easily done in our home. So I thought that I would take a little time to introduce you to Natalie.

Natalie is the dalmation. :)

If we have a Type A personality in our home she's it. She keeps track of things, is unusually responsible for an almost 11 year old, and is truly a self-starter. When Natalie was younger we could always tell who was playing with the Little People because she would have them lined up perfectly or divided into perfect little groups. Natalie is great with Nathan and I think that is because she had years of practice with Sweetheart and Tony, her first baby dolls that went everywhere with us for years. When packing the car for vacation it has been as important to take Tony as it has the rest of the family.

Her sport is soccer, she also enjoys swimming and plays the piano. She is great with her younger brothers and sister as she often is the ringleader for a game or putting together a play for the family. Nat loves to bake and often bakes up something in the kitchen.

A Fish

While Natalie does a great job in most everything she attempts her heart is the best thing about her. From a young age she has had a teachable, tender heart and that is what makes her so special.

Family Fun Day or Two

For a long time we have had what we termed "Family Fun Days". It has been our attempt to not let our schedules take over so much that we don't spend time together having fun as a family. Most of the time they aren't very elaborate days - taking a hike in the fall at the Nature Center, biking on the trail and getting ice cream, checking out a fish hatchery, or Lincoln's Home. You get the picture. Well as the years have passed it gets more difficult to do this as our older kids have become more active with friends and youth activities, not to mention ministry, sports, and jobs. Life itself just takes over sometimes.

What a skyline!

So we spent a couple of days "relaxing" in Chicago. Now I must tell you that when Molly was three she knew the ramp we needed to take to go to Chicago as many Family Fun Days have included a day trip into the city. The funny thing is that as our children continue to love being in the hustle and bustle it doesn't hold my interest the way it used to, (does that mean I'm getting old or that we have a lot of hustle and bustle of our own?) but it is still a great place to visit.


I thought I would share with you some pics from our trip. It is good to be together as a family, but it was a little sad because with Allison leaving shortly for school things will be different.
Brandon looks like he isn't too sure the cage is secure.


Brandon, Molly, and Natalie - how nice of them to dress alike so we could keep track of them better. :)

From one paddle boat to another.




Natalie and Nathan hanging out together, they have a strong bond, maybe because they share the same birthday.



You can't actually see them, but Ken, Joel, Daniel, Molly and Brandon took a spin.



Hanging out while Allison and Daniel took a ride on the swings.