Party,Party

We attended 3 birthday parties during spring break.....this was at my 7 year old niece's party :)

My mom's 71st Birthday

Had my mom and Harlan over for a BBQ last week.....

Amelia's 1st trophy!............Jody

Amelia won her 1st trophy! 2nd place at the AWANA pinewood derby. She had so much fun!

It's gonna be a crazy week.

Pray for me, friends. I've got a power-packed week and I'm praying I can shave off every little thing that isn't essential. Pray I know the difference between essential and non-essential things, and pray for Alan as he shoulders a lot of the home-base load in the midst of it.

AWANA goes wild!

Recently we had a great presentation at AWANA by a group that uses wild animals to illustrate various spiritual and Scriptural truths. Evelyn's favorite part is always at the end, where she waits in line to "wear a boa."

Tie Dye

The girls have been working on tie-dye today.It was a fun project for them :)

My favorite place

Took my girls and one of their friends to the beach today :) We are on Spring break this week.

Rooted

Exposed tree roots bring a whole new level of impact to that verse from Ephesians 3, "and, being rooted and grounded in love, I pray you'll experience all the dimensions of Christ's love..."

Opposites Attract..............Jody

This is Amelia and her cousin Elizabeth putting on a play. Amelia is the farmer, Elizabeth the ballerina. They are total opposites! and enjoy each other so much!

kitchen addition...........Jody

thrift store coffee carafe and a beta fish is the new addition to our kitchen...

wish this was a better shot...this rope is at my mother-in-laws...gene pulls the kids up and down and swings them side to side...including his adult nieces...they love it!

A Walk in the Woods

It was a beautiful weekend with warm weather, so we hiked two days in a row. Yesterday, it did not take long for the girls to wade into water that was higher than the tops of their rain boots--lessons in outdoor living! :)

TPing

We had a great time at 2am TPing a couple of church friend's houses :)

Our Kenyan living room/dining room.

Can you tell I've enjoyed looking through this album of pictures from my mom's trip to Kenya in December, 1984? :) Many an afternoon rainstorm was waited out under that corrugated tin roof.

Breakfast with friends

I made chocolate chip pancakes,bacon and scrabbled eggs for my guests this morning.We had a lot of fun :)

Amelia at Grandma's.............Jody

Amelia enjoys spending time with my Mom (85 years old)...there's frozen dinners, ice cream, tv, and grandma's walker.

We built this.

There it is, friends. This is where we met. We built this building over 25 years ago, and the friendship we enjoy today started on that plot in Kenya. I love it.

Waiting for sunshine

Random....

An every day moment

This just made me smile when I found it on the camera. It's always more fun to get ready for bed with a camera in hand.

God is moving

Nana getting baptized :)

need an uncomfortable bed......Jody

I am thinking of put a scratchy wool blanket on our bed for a few weeks so that the kids think our bed is really uncomfortable! I've already bought comfy blankies for their beds....it didn't work.

Mid-way through.

Why...does...it...feel...like...forever...since...we...started...this? Because we are not handy people and home-improvement projects, no matter how small or simple, always have a few hitches and snags. We're on a little hold for the moment. Alan bought the ONE tile we needed (yes, only one!), but we are not able to cut it, nor do we trust ourselves to do so. But anyway, what do you think of our Mark Twain Gray Brick color? (Feel free to be honest, although we probably won't change it if  you don't like it. :)

low tech media house.............Jody

We moved our tv into our dining room for 6 weeks for our small group sessions...we are doing a short videoo series...all small groups in our church going through the same series....and my computer has a bug and I haven't taken it in yet.....I found this image so sweet...the kids dug out old cartoon dvds and have been watching them together. 

painful ballet........Jody

When you tell our niece Olivia to dance on her toes this is what she does...SO painful looking! She's 3 years old, so I'm assuming she won't be doing this for long!

legos!! Jody

Gene brought the legos up fromt he basement...one of the only "toys" (not counting outdoor stuff) that my kids do together....

Happy B-day, Alan!

Last week when Alan turned 40, we all rode the 1700 foot triple zip line at the Ranch--it was so fun! When you guys come I'll take you on it (or if we ever have a Kenya Reunion here!)

BTW--River Valley Ranch is looking for a new Food Services Coordinator. It's a full time job with benefits and housing, and starts immediately! If anyone knows someone looking for a job who has restaurant/large kitchen experience and wants to serve the Lord, go to .www.rivervalleyranch.com

Pancake Party

A friend of mine had a bunch of young people over for a pancake party Friday night.Clint and I helped chaperone.I was jumping on the trampoline too but no one took my picture :)

The Music Man

Our attic, looking from the front of the house to the back, from the "control room" to the drum set. My Bob Cratchit desk is in the back off to the right under the eaves. I'll have to take a picture of it some time, but right now this room is a mess--like most of the house at the moment--and not photogenic. :) This picture was taken when Alan had a trio recording a CD up there--the one guy had a cool guitar.

owls are cool! ...........Jody

so the 70's are back...will not be wearing any 70's clothes! but I love that Owls are back IN! A friend of mine bought these for me....aren't they adorable!

Birthday Party last weekend

We had a birthday party for my nephew and niece,they just moved back here from Idaho.

I love my neighborhood!

Jody, I'm so sorry you're sick! I hate the stomach flu. Worse than having a sinus infection for 2 weeks. So here's a mural walking distance from our house. Joining the House Exchange network has me all charged about my neighborhood since I'm sort of advertising it to prospective house exchangers--talking up why vacationing in Baltimore's Hamilton neighborhood would be great! And Becky, if you know ANYONE who might want to vacation in rural NY State in a huge farmhouse while the farm family lives in their Portland-area home, let me know! My upstate NY friends want so much to spend as much of their summer in Portland as possible, but so far no house exchange folks seem to want to vacation in the middle of nowhere. Do you know any people who need somewhere quiet to work on a book or dissertation or just get away from it all??

bad view ..............Jody

sorry no pictures from me lately...I have had the stomach flu and the view is not great!

Please pray for my mom

My mom had breast cancer 16 years ago and has been cancer free for 15 years....she had to have a biopsy today so we are waiting to hear.....thanks.

AWANA twin night

Last night the girls were dressed alike right to their socks for "twin night." Evelyn was pretty upset that they didn't win a prize (she's won prizes before on various AWANA theme nights) since they had so much fun dressing in twin clothes. So afterward I bought them gummy worms and gummy bears and told them they were MY favorite "twins" of the night. (And I love how they are standing next to the "Circle of Love" candle holder embracing one another.)

Wanna trade houses?

Good friends of ours in rural upstate NY are looking for someone in Portland to trade houses w/them for the summer. They joined a "House Exchange" website and are currently "on the market" for a trade. That inspired Alan and me to join, too!! We're looking for ANYONE who wants to trade houses for anywhere in the world (preferably Europe or somewhere exotic! But would THEY want to come to Baltimore?) Anyway, this is one of the pictures of our bedroom for the site. :) And I will NOT trade houses w/either Jody or Becky. I want you THERE when I come. :)

Taco Bell

The girls decided to run to Taco Bell at 10pm...you would think I never feed them......

Spelling Counts!! Jody

IMAX

Our Science Center membership includes a free IMAX movie on Friday nights through the winter, and we try to make the most of it. This past Friday it was about Ernest Shackleton--my FAVORITE survival story of ALL TIME. Incredible. Amazing. I could watch movies and documentaries about that story for the rest of my life and not tire of it. (I'm dramatic, I know. But I do love this story.) My kids called it "The Boy Movie" because, well, there were no women on that ill-fated 1914 exploration of the South Pole. I'd never really thought of that before. Leave it to my kids to notice.

Amelia ...5 years ago..........Jody

found this old picture taken 5 years ago...I just loved this picture...her little Hannah Andersson clothes.

Photos

Teenage girls take lots and lots of pictures of themselves.... :)

spending time with a 13 year old...............Jody

My 13 year old! Spending time with him always involves music....he's singing or moving constantly!

Evening Walk

One of my favorite things w/my girls is to walk to the playground. The weather warmed up a tad this week and we enjoyed an evening of play--I can't wait until it warms up even more and the days lengthen and we can have our picnic suppers out there!

Kitchen help

It's nice having 3 girls to help with the cooking and cleaning :)

Favorite Coffee Shop

"Zeke" is what the owner's dad called all his boys. They do their own roasting and we love hanging out. Free wifi, too!