New Favorite Pasttime: Painting!

Raegan got some paints for Valentine's Day. She could paint every day, I think!

Aunt Melli Visits!

Aunt Melli came to visit on Friday the 13th! We absolutely loved our time with her. She is the easiest person to have around, and we are so thankful we get to have her for a chunk of time. She loves us all so well as she endures the busyness of our life. We watched Jackson win third place in his tournament. Here, Melli is helping Raegan to get a shot.
Reading books.

We got to sample Sydney's creation. It was yummy!
It was so hard to have her leave which is evidence to the quality of time we had when she was here. We all love you, Melli!

Super Bowl Sunday

We had our good friends over to watch the Super Bowl. Their son, Joshua, loved riding on the backs of Sydney and Jackson.

Jackson scores six points today!

We ate lunch at my grandma's house before Jackson's game today. My brother Brian told Jackson to eat onions and blow his bad breath on the guy guarding him. So, Jackson ate some onions even though he hates them. Better yet, he was actually blowing on the kid guarding him. Who knows what that kid was thinking. It must have worked, though, because he scored three baskets today, the first baskets of the year. Here are a few game shots.

Air Hockey & Knights!

We were blessed by finding this $20 air hockey table. The kids are loving it, and we can't wait to share it with anyone who wants to come play!

When we lived with Grandma LeFevre, we realized that Jackson's favorite toys came from the recycling bin. He would often emerge with several new swords and doo-dads. If you look back at the swords he painted this summer, you might recognize the handguard on one. It looks suspiciously like a Clorox bottle.

Anyway, we have started recyling ourselves, and Jackson found these treasures in our pile. We marched out with Sydney to meet her bus, and all the kids on the bus felt safer knowing that Knight Jackson of the Square Box was protecting their lands.

A New Adventure

We are excited to "announce" that we are going to be adopting from Ethiopia. We applied to Christian World Adoption on December 24, 2008. Then, we sent our first packet of information/funds on January 6, 2009. We are now accepted as official clients and are starting the paper process.

We have seen several of our friends adopt, and as we have walked with them, God has put the desire in our hearts to be involved in a more hands-on way! Really, this journey started several years ago, but we are so excited to be at this point today.

After we moved in to our home this fall, we prayed intentionally that God would confirm this desire and that he would give us direction. He has done both, and again, we are so excited and thankful to serve such a personal God!

Good buddies

For New Years Eve, we had some friends over for some low-key fun. Here, Calvin and Jackson pose with their matching p.j.s. They are great buds who enjoy doing pretty much everything together.