Congratulations To Our High School Graduate

Today we are celebrating another milestone for one of our children. As many of you know by now, I like to use any occasion to celebrate, especially when it involves some thing in the life of one of my children. Whether it was rolling over for the first time, getting a first tooth, walking, learning to read, counting to 100, getting their driver's license, or bringing home their first pay check. Vern and I have been there cheering them on in life. Today will be no different. Today is a day we will be celebrating and honoring our dear daughter who has worked so incredibly hard. Ruth we want you to know how proud we are of you. You have brought us joy beyond measure. It is a thrill to see how God has used you in so many ways whether it is working with our little Cubbies or showing a coworkers that you care about them. God has en gifted you in so many ways. Continue to seek Him and what he has for you in life. Congratulations! We love you and will continue to be here cheering you on in this next phase of life.

Field Day 2009

Today was Field Day at Titus' school. It was a nice sunny day and I came away with a sunburn. All the kids did so well. There was also an incredible crew of volunteers that helped make the day a success. (Thanks!) Here are a few snap shots of the day.

Welcome Damarise and Hannah

After a VERY long time of counting down the days, the day actually arrived. Ruth and I went to the Buffalo airport to pick up Damarise and Hannah who have come for a ten day visit. It is so special that they have come and planned it around Ruth's graduation. They have been such dear friends of Ruth and these ten days will go by way too fast.

Orientation

Yesterday was a full day of orientation at LSSU. It was a cold rainy day. At one point the rain actually changed to some snow flakes. Therefore it was quite cold running around the campus to the different buildings and activities. There was a lot of very good material presented and Ruth and Zachary were able to pick out there classes for the fall. In between sessions we checked out where they both will be rooming. The staff and students who were helping out were all very helpful. However, the picture of Vern and the kids on the couch was at the end of the day of orientation and it pretty much sums up how we felt. We were all tired from information overload.

Lake Superior State University

We are presently up in the "U.P." (Upper Peninsula) Michigan in Sault Ste. Marie. We are visiting Lake Superior State University. This evening they had a family fun night where we had supper at the school and we walked around getting familiar with the school. Tomorrow is an all day orientation. Here are a few shots of the LSSU. The school is right on the U.S./Canadian border so the picture of Ruth and Zachary with the bridge to Canada in the background is a shot from the campus showing how close the border is.

The Gift

We have been so blessed to have people, along the path in life, to encourage our children in their dreams. My faithful blog readers will remember last fall how Ruth was able to shadow our family doctor. It was an awesome experience, and our family doctor was amazing. This was such an encouragement to Ruth and fanned the fire already burning to pursue a career in the medical field. Today she received a surprise gift for her graduation from our family doctor. He gave her a medical dictionary. How cool is that! Ruth will be leaving in the fall for university and we pray that God will continue to put special people in her life to encourage her along the path.

Celebrating Mother's Day

Yesterday I enjoyed a nice day with the family. It was nice being able to celebrate with Kristina as it was her first Mother's Day as a mommy.The kids worked on a wonderful lupper for us. Ruth, Zachary, & Seth gave me a special gift. They gave me a basket for the soon to be "Mother of College Students". It was a tear jerker. The first item I picked up and read was the box of Kleenix and it said, "It's okay to cry, we know you will miss us". So I pretty much lost it right there. I will let you read what they put on all the sticky notes. (If you want to read the notes better, just click on each picture.) It was very special for them to put the time and creativity into my gift. I will apprecaite all the gifts, although the Kleenix will be half way used up during graduation so I will need to get another couple of boxes for the fall. I am REALLY going to enjoy the web cam as I was wanting one for when they are away at university.Maybe the kids won't seem so far away when I am able to see them with the web cam.

Happy Mother's Day

What a privilege to come from Christian homes and to be raised by mothers who love the Lord! At church today it was mentioned that statistics show that Mother's have had the biggest impact on their children spiritually. We are so grateful for our mothers and all that they have done for us and continue to do. We are so blessed. Thank-you to our Dear Mothers, for investing in us and cheering us on in life. Know you are loved, appreciated, and valued. Have a wonderful Mother's Day.

DANGER!!!!

WARNING WILD TURKEY CROSSING, COULD FLY INTO YOUR WINDSHIELD AT A MOMENTS NOTICE!

Finishing Strong

Tonight was our last night of Awana for the year. We had our closing program where the clubbers sang songs and received their awards for the verses they had memorized. This year was a special year for me in the fact that three of my children were working along side of me. It was a joy serving together with them. And it was fun making memories together with them in Cubbies. With Ruth and Zachary taking off for university in the fall it will leave a pretty big hole that will not be easy to fill. Thanks Ruth and Zachary for making a difference in these children't lives!



P.S. I am waiting for a few more guesses to come in before I reveal how many Tabasco bottles we have.