Happy Birthday Joseph

It was 10 years ago that I became a mother to my first son. He was named Joseph after Joseph Chester H., my husband's grandfather whom he never knew. His middle name Nathanael comes from the Bible in John 1.

45Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about
in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph."
46"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael
asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47When Jesus saw Nathanael
approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing
false."
48"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I
saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the
King of Israel."

We have always prayed that Joseph would have a sense of humor like Nathanael. We pray that he would be a man in whom there is nothing false. And finally we pray he will know Jesus is the Son of God.


Joseph is a special kid. He has a great capacity to love and is just so cheerful. I enjoy that he will give me a hug and a kiss for no reason. He is so sweet to tell me thank you when I cook something he likes or help him with his schoolwork. He is a great older brother, helping and playing with the littler kids. Other younger boys at church or other meetings/classes look up to him and are excited to see him. He has always had to work harder at things until he gets them, but he never gives up.



He is such a blessing to our family. I can't wait to see what the next 10, 20, 30 years hold for this boy.

Christina Ballerina Take 2

Couldn't get my pictures of Tina to load the first time so here they are:

Happy Halloween

That is a cake John made to take to work today. It was a joint effort on the cake and icing, but the decorating was his work. I wish I was going to get a bite. It was chocolate cake with peanut butter icing (black and orange). Yum!

There is a lot of excitement here this afternoon as we get costumes ready for our party tonight. The kids have been wild since they woke up this morning and we haven't even started with candy yet! I think it is hilarious that one of my girls is going as a "school girl". They all pretty much came up with their own costume ideas and did a lot of planning on their own. Taryn wants to write all about costumes and post pictures on her blog, so I won't tell any others but I will say that David won't be going dressed like this:

(Thank you Tina for that lovely outfit)

I also wanted to mention that this is why we don't have family pictures made very often. Well that and the fact that at least one person always needs a haircut. This is what Tina's hair looks like right now:

Have a great weekend. I plan to!

Christina Ballerina

Yesterday during Tina's dance class it was so beautiful outside, the kids and I went out rather than sitting in the crowded little waiting room. There is a huge pit that I guess is meant to hold run-off water, but our drought persists and there is no water to run off, so it was very dry and made for a nice (dirty) play area. So here are several pictures of the kids exploring a new planet, racing and generally being much more pleasant than they would have been inside.

I caught this one just as Samuel was busting it. No tears, though he did ask to wash his hands and the good mother that I am told him to just brush the dirt off his hands onto his pants.

And of course, pictures of Tina. Yes, we took them on the bed because it was 1) the only clean spot, 2) had the best light, and 3)it was pink background (of course!)

The Economy

Of course I knew the economy was having trouble. But all the market numbers and rate cuts and housing price % drops can all go over my head. A few nights ago I saw a commercial for Kmart Layaway. John was next to me and we just looked at each other and I said, "Wow. Layaway? Our economy really is bad isn't it?" (A couple years ago Wal-Mart discontinued their layaway service because it was rarely used.)



I read the following verses this morning which seemed fitting for times such as these:

Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what
you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and
leave you," we can boldly quote,

God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?

Hebrew 13:5-6 (The Message)

Just a couple pictures from yesterday

A picture of Taryn blogging. This is just crazy to me. When I left home to go to college, my family had never even owned a computer. And though the internet existed when I was in college, it was so obscure I never even used it once (even though I was studying in a technical, computer field). And here is my daughter who has never known life without a computer and the internet. What things will she remember and tell her kids about? Can we even imagine? (I remember when we had to use light switches, gas pumps and had a telephone attached to the wall.)
And the following I hope Uncle Shawn will see. I took these as we were getting ready to leave for karate. Of course he wouldn't normally be wearing sneakers.

Camellias

I don't claim to be a great photographer. I'm only posting these camellia pictures because they make me smile. They are growing outside of my screened porch door it cheers me up as I come and go.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Matt 6:29