Today is a sad day. Connor is now climbing out of his crib and will not take a nap. I'm not ready for this!

"My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
And gave me life again;
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness
And clothed me in His light
And wrote His law of righteousness
With pow'r upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who walks beside;
Who floods my weaknesses with strength
And causes fears to fly;
Whose ev'ry promise is enough
For ev'ry step I take,
Sustaining me with arms of love
And crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To him who reigns above,
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,
Whose ev'ry thought is love.
For ev'ry day I have on earth
Is given by the King;
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow him.

Brandon's first Ohio State football game

Cute!!

Where's your mouth?

Where's your hair?

Where're your ears?

Where's your tongue?

Happy Birthday, Connor

I forgot to post on October 20 when Connor celebrated his second birthday. We are so thankful for him! !

Some days are like this...

Meditation for today

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow'r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

 

Here's what happens when the cereal boxes get left out!!!

Sunrise

I finally did it! I figured out how to post this slide show to my blog - I'm having sooo much fun. This is the view out my bedroom window every morning.

Another musician in the family?

 

I'm having a lot of fun with all the new things I am learning about posting pictures to my blog. I'm still working on posting my own slide show. (Ron did the last one.) It may take me a while, but I'm going to get it!

 

Ohio Caverns

 

I have been very envious of other people's blogs - all their fancy collages, slideshows, video, etc. so I talked Ron into figuring out all the fancy stuff and now I'm having fun with all the special stuff.

We had a chance to take Jim, Jolene and their kids to the Ohio Caverns in West Liberty and had a really good time - it's a little scary to be underground that far - we tried not to think about it too much.

Fun at the Beach

 

Connor loves the water.

Graduation

On June 1st, Andrew graduated from Emmanuel Christian Academy. All of his grandparents were able to attend to hear him give the welcome, open in prayer and receive his diploma. The next day we held an open house to celebrate his accomplishment and Ron put this slide show together and then figured out how to post it to my blog.

April 9 through 17 we (minus Connor - thank you Lindmarks) had a wonderful, action-packed, fun-filled vacation to sunny (and sometimes rainy) Orlando, Florida. (A great big THANK YOU to Grandma and Grandpa Smith.) Beside visiting Sea World, Universal's Islands of Adventure, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Kennedy Space Center, MGM, Discovery Cove and Wet N Wild here are my top ten favorie things:

10. NOT Mission:Space at EPCOT (scared me to death) if you ever go just remember you want to be part of the Green team (think GREEN)
9. the fireworks at Magic Kingdom (positioned perfectly behind the castle)
8. snorkling the coral reef at Discovery Cove
7. watching Tyler watch Shamoo

6. Ron's swim with a dolphin

5. wonderful, sit-down-be-served lunches at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT & MGM

4. not losing Brandon, Tyler or Andrew even once

3. a cup of tea (explanation coming in a later post)

2. Soarin' at Epcot

1. being with everyone without having to worry about anyone's schedule

Fun in a box

Who needs toys when you have a big box and big brothers? Isn't it fun to watch your toddler explore new places. Connor was in heaven in a big box that he could have played in for a long while until he was joined by his big brothers :( I'm not sure if the look on his face says "Get me out of here" or "Get them out of here".