Happy Birthday Christopher!

I can't believe I became the mom of a teenager today!  My baby boy turned thirteen.  With a house full of moving boxes, we had to get creative about how we could celebrate such a momentous occassion.  So we drove our birthday boy over to the coast and soaked-up some sun and ate some of Christopher's favorite food.  Perk #1 to being a teenager: no longer having to order off the kids' menu!

Tim and I are often told these days that we will hate the teen years.  That we will pull our hair out parenting a teen.  That life will all-around be terrible with a teen in the house.  But we have assured Christopher that he has two choices in life now that he is a teen...to spend these years rebelling against God and pulling away from Him, or to spend these years growing to know God better and bringing glory to Him.  I like to believe that although there are certainly going to be bumps in the road (and on the face), Christopher's journey into adolescence is going to be a wonderful and exciting time of joy.

By request, Christopher's cake was VERY chocolate:  triple chocolate chunk cake, chocolate fudge icing, and chocolate sprinkles.  With Mrs. Fields Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream.  THAT'S a lot of chocolate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!!

(Oops.  I mean teenage boy!)

-Mom

Happy Mother's Day

The kids and I had the wonderful opportunity to spend Mother's Day in West Virginia, and we had such a great time!  Being in the middle of a move, it felt Heavenly to step away from packing boxes and just sit on my parents' screened-in porch, cross-stitch, and REST.  No boxes, no packaging tape, no bubble wrap.  And I will admit that I took more than one nap while I was there...

And as a very special Mother's Day gift myself, I received WONDERFUL news that day.  Our realtor called to let us know that we got the house we were trying to lease!!!  It may not sound like a big deal, but in the area we are moving, rentals are tough to come by.  We had looked at many houses to no avail:  they were all either already rented by the time we saw them, they were too far from the church, or there was some other type of problem.  The one we got was our favorite of them all, and we are so incredibly excited to move-in and start ministering there...

HAPPY  MOTHER'S  DAY  TO  ALL!!!

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving

Meet Our Family

 Welcome to our family blog!  

Hard to believe we're coming up on the 5th anniversary of our blog.  

Some of you have followed our happenings for years.  But if you've never met us before, let us introduce ourselves...

I am Kara, the keeper of the blog, the mom, the cook, the homeschool teacher, and the wife.  I like to take pictures...especially family pictures.  My wonderful husband Tim and I have been married for 17 years.  He is a pastor, an outdoor lover, and an amazing husband and father.  Tim likes to play basketball with his boys and he attempts to play dolls with Anna, although she often informs him that he doesn't play dolls right...because he is, after all, a boy. :)  Other than spending time with his family, absolutely nothing gives Tim as much joy as preparing and delivering sermons.

This is our oldest son Christopher.  He is 12 years old, but he would undoubtedly want you to know that on the 15th of May he will celebrate his 13th birthday and will finally become a TEENAGER!  Christopher loves to play video games, paint, draw, ride his bike, and do anything with technology.  He is a big fan of Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, but he has never lived near one of their stores, so he usually only gets his 31 Flavors on vacation.

This is John, who is 10.  John is very outdoorsy and loves animals.  He also likes to play basketball and to watch both college and NBA basketball.  His favorite teams are Duke and the Chicago Bulls.  And like his older brother, John also plays video games.  John enjoys talking about the Bible and listening to his dad preach.  John's favorite food is...well...anything.  John loves to eat!

And this is our daughter Anna, who is 7.  When God gave us a girl, he REALLY gave us a girl!  Anna loves anything pink, she greatly enjoys playing with dolls, and she likes to sing and hopes to begin taking voice lessons.  Anna likes to play with other girls her age and to read chapter books, her favorite of which being the Thea Stilton books.  Anna loves to eat any kind of fruit, and she is learning to cook by helping Mommy in the kitchen a lot.

In our free time together, our family loves to hike and take long walks through the woods.  We enjoy playing board games and watching movies and making homemade pizza.  The five of us have all trusted Jesus as our Savior, we feel privileged to serve Him in full-time ministry, and we are looking toward the bright and exciting future He holds for us!

We hope you won't be a stranger to our blog now that you have met us...