Our New to Us Suburban

Our New Suburban (new to us!)

A few months ago we learned our van was going to die.  It wasn't a matter of if but of when.  I truly didn't want the "when" to take place when I had the van.  So we parked the van, and we all squished everywhere and anywhere in our little Honda Civic.  We are so thankful to only have one child in a booster seat still!  We prayed for the Lord to open the right doors for us in the car search endeavor.  We made some contacts to some Christian car dealers we knew, and we waited.  Just before our school graduation, the Lord gave us the opportunity to purchase our suburban.  We are so pleased.  Dan and I had both desired to buy one, and we had discussed it numerous times, but the market for them here doesn't work for this pastor's family income.  The Lord provide far and above what we ever thought we would be able to afford.  The girls are so excited to have room to stretch out and be comfortable, and it makes for much happier kids as we travel more than the ten miles back and forth to church.  I am so pleased to not have to squish all my Sam's Club purchases in the back of our Honda. LOL..

I wanted to be sure to share this special blessing along.  Truly, God will give us the desires of our heart!  I am so thankful to serve an amazing God!

My fondant experience

So, we decided to have a little graduation party for Sarah Joy.  I needed to make some kind of cake.  I wasn't really sure how so I asked an expert.  So, after some great coaching, I stepped out on a limb with the help of my hubby to make some homemade fondant.  It was definitely entertaining to say the least.  After all that hard work, I was able to put this together for my first attempt.  I am not overly pleased, but I will take it for my first try.

My Lollipop Gerbera Daisy

With our recent deck project, I needed just the right flower that would be perfect for it.  I happened upon this unusual daisy at Lowe's over the weekend.  With all the additional lumber pieces from the deck, Dan made me a very nice planter stand!  He worked really hard to make it just perfect. 

My Graduate

Ok, so I thought that having my baby go off to Kindergarten this year was hard.  It wasn't so bad.  Working as the school/church secretary, I actually got to see more of her then I would have if she was still in preschool.  I was wrong. 

On Monday, graduation practice began.  Although the K5's only wore their caps to get used to that tassel flying around, it was still tough.  Thankfully, on Wednesday, I had a preview of my emotion as we had a full rehearsal.  BUT NOTHING prepared me to see my little girl walk down that aisle. She actually appears shy in this picture!  She was so cute.  She did exactly what she was supposed to do.  She was so adorable.  It was like this whirlwind of my little girl is growing up emotion!

Her class did a presentation of poems, verses, and songs they had learned throughout the year.  It was so cute to see them all do the motions.  My favorite was their "Graduation song" they did as a finale.  It goes like this:  "1 plus 1 is 2, 2 plus 2 is 4, 4 plus 4 is 8, 8 plus 8 is FIRST GRADE!"  Too cute.  I love how none of their tassels are correct during this presentation.  They had all been jiggled around.  Thankfully our K5 teacher fixed them before they left for the platform. :)

One of the great privileges that all of our children have had is having Daddy as administrator.  Dan has been able to give all of our girls their K5 diplomas.  I can't imagine how hard it will be if he has to give them their high school diplomas.  It was so precious as he bent down to take his moment of being DADDY.  Sarah was so surprised.  He hadn't practiced it that way.  Wow, that was another great moment!

Of course, no graduate is ready without her tassel turned and her diploma in hand.  We had this great photo diplomas for our K5 students this year.  As the cover opens, on one side there was a graduation portrait , and on the other a very nice diploma.  They looked great!

Of course, we had a wonderful photo time following graduation.  One is never quite sure exactly what smile Sarah will give.  We have to work on the natural pose smile for a while.

No Greater Joy

I often think of the verse, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." It is really so true.  We talk to our kids a lot about the privilege they have to grow up in a Christian home.  Funny how now I view that a little differently then I did as a kid who often didn't get to do everything else my friend's were. 

We are so thankful to say that all three of our children have now come to a point of salvation in their lives.  Our oldest two had begged and begged to be saved.  I know that sounds horrid to think that we let our kids beg to be saved, but we really wanted to be sure that they understood what salvation really meant. 

On Sunday morning, Sarah Joy, who has never mentioned wanting to accept Christ, surprised me.  She came to me immediately after church, grabbed me by the hand, and insisted that when we got home Daddy and she could go to the deck cause she needed to get saved.  I asked her why she had decided this, and she simply replied that it was her sins from yesterday.  She had been in quite a bit of trouble Saturday evening.  She was so sincere.  Previously, we had to resolve arguments in the car that if our whole family died Sarah wouldn't go to heaven.  Oh how fun to explain that one. 

Sarah rode home from church with our friend who was joining us for lunch.  I asked Dan if Sarah had told him the same she had told me.  So we decided that we would let her talk to Dan.  That way it would really be a decision she felt she needed to make. 

Sure enough, I had begun to put lunch together, and Sarah came in the kitchen and told Dan exactly what she had told me.  Off the two of them went to the deck, and they didn't return until Sarah had "gotten the gift."  It was quite cute to hear her explain to me what happened.  I don't think she was prepared for all my questions.  At one point she was quite clear that it went like this, "It's a gift.  You know like a present, and you just take it.  You just take the gift."  So cute.  I am so thrilled that all of my kids have come to a point when they realized their need for our Savior in their lives.

Now we would covet your prayers as they continue to grow that they would grow in their personal relationships with Christ!

Red or Yellow

For Mother's Day my dear hubby and girls fed my love for hibiscus. I had purchased an orange colored tree earlier, and they all knew I was dying to have a yellow one. After searching the produce store where we buy our plants, Dan brought home this beautiful tree with all yellow blooms and some beginning to form. After planting it and seeing it grow, as new blooms begin to form, I now have a red and yellow tree. I absolutely love it. It is like a double blessing cause I had such difficulty deciding against the red. My theory is that one of the three braids of the trunk was red and thus giving the variety. Rare I am sure, but I am quite pleased!

Our little graduate!