the big day in pics

birthday-donut-wakeup call!

it's a bloomin' boomerang, mate!

"I could get used to this sugar high

every morning..."

dinner @ 5 Guys

"hmm...lego or nerf wish?"

how absence makes the sibling heart-love

grow fonder. so glad Ali could be here for 

Quinn's big day!

miss Diane!!!!!!!

lego wish...granted

thank you Grammie & Grampie!

  thank you Aunt Sue...my birthday buddy!

nerf wish...Bam!

eleven

today our

handsome

funny

adventurous

compassionate

daring

smart

loyal

lego-lovin'

nerf-totin'

Spirit-filled

baby boy

turns eleven!!!!!

happy, happy birthday Quinn Samuel!!!!!!

twenty-one

today Brian & I celebrate 21 years of marriage.

really?

that makes us sound so...old!

old enough to have a child in college?  check

old enough to both need reading glasses?   check

old enough to both have gray hair?  check

old enough to not get upset over the "little things"?   check

old enough TO get upset over the "little things"

because "he/she should know me by now"?   check

old enough to know exactly what the other person

is thinking or about to say?   check

old enough to have been through more

better/worse, richer/poorer, sickness/health

than you can begin to count?   check.check.check.

we feel blessed beyond words at how Father

has loved and cared for our marriage over the years.

He is the Source of our love, the Giver of the lives 

of our children, and the 

Sustainer & Master of all we have.

Happy Anniversary honey!!

Justice

Read THIS article

and praise our Heavenly Father 

for an amazing act of justice

on behalf of the unborn in China!!

God has acted on the prayers of those

crying out for the unborn.

Hallelujah!

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. 

Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

home again, home again jiggity jog

we've dusted off the 'ol schoolbooks around here

for one more year of home schooling for Quinn.

5th grade.

oh my!

needless to day, he was thrilled

to start attending a co-op this year,

so he gets an official

"first day of school, 

not in pajamas

sitting @ the kitchen table 

with my sister" picture.

what is he looking forward to the most?

dissecting animals with his science teacher.

this mama would never attempt that

at home....Ne-vuh!

"you mean I get mommy all to
myself one day a week?!"

Gracie also started up again with 

speech therapy one morning a week.

we'll be heading into a season of dental work

for this little one soon...

prayer would be greatly appreciated,
as well as any spare starbucks gift cards
or dark chocolate in any form you
may have lying around...
Gracie needs a well fortified
mama after all, right-o?!

happy weekend!

the first one to fly

the weekend I've dreaded has come and gone...

Ali moved into her dorm this weekend.

it truly was a great experience, but

YUCK!

i don't like the way this feels!

goodbye Sarge!

Erin = not. happy.

the face we got when we told Gracie Ali was leaving...

my thoughts exactly

the new roomies!

how can she leave moi?!!!

beautiful & quite a bit taller

than her mama

every freshman class walks under the
main univeristy archway as families
line the way to the front lawn.
when they graduate, they will symbolically
walk out of the campus under the same archway.

sniff*sniff

"i don't want to share my sissy with anyone!"

church service for freshman

& their families

this building will practically be Ali's  

home two years from now!

home away from home!

 free snacks!

the first thing you see on Ali's hall -

love it!

ugh

so, OK,  as i'm processing

my feelings, i think it's not so much

the fact that she's moved away.

in reality we'll see her often as her campus 

is about an hour away.

it's the significance of the change it stands for.

the dynamic around here will never be quite the same,

and this feeling of letting go just isn't

a natural one for my heart.

we couldn't be more thrilled for where she is,

for the provision from the Father - down to the last

penny- for her tuition,

and for the amazing experiences the will have

 over the next 4 years.

we're so proud, and we can't wait

to see the blessings God has 

in store for her!

Ephesians 3:14-21

 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.