Preschool Graduation

It's hard to believe Jacob has made his way through a whole year of preschool. Here is a picture of Jacob's first day of school. And I took a picture of his last day/graduation day in the same spot outside our apartment as a comparison to see how he's grown/changed. What do you think? Is he taller -- if not taller, I know he's definitely wiser! :-)The whole family went to Jacob's preschool to watch him graduate. They processed into the church wearing mortar board caps to the traditional graduation music (not sure what it's called -- if I could record my voice, I'd sing a ditty but I'm not sure how to do that...). You'd think I would remember the name of this piece of music seeing as I played it 4 years in a row while I was in high school at graduation. Pat and I both had to chuckle a bit at the extravagance/formality of this preschool graduation ceremony. But seeing all the kids in their little caps was pretty cute....

I don't remember anything about the end of my year of preschool. It definitely seemed like it was for the parent's benefit. Jacob had much more fun at Water Day on Monday and the ice cream party on Wednesday! But I guess this ceremony is a way of marking the end of the year for the parents and their children.CONGRATULATIONS, JACOB!
You're ready for Kindergarten!

Family Time

Luke and I had a fun visit to Ohio! The cousins had a lot of time to be together. Luke felt right at home having the other kids around. In fact, when it was just him alone, he seemed lost. The plane ride on the way out to Ohio was uneventful and it helped that there was a young family with two children in the row across from us. We all had dinner together the first night at Mom and Dad's. We lined up all four kids at the table -- it was fun to see them all lined up. Luke had his first taste of pizza and loved it!

Here are some pictures of the kids playing the first night:

Kailyn, Caden and Xayne - tickle time with Uncle Kenny/Daddy

Caden adores Kailyn - he did a good job holding her and he loves to give her kisses!
The boys began playing as soon as Caden and Xayne arrived.
Day 2: Pool with Carrie and Kailyn and Mom

Here are Luke and Kailyn riding together to the pool.
Both Kailyn and Luke did a lot of observing when we first got to the pool. They loved watching the water. Luke crawled right in as soon as I took his cover-up off.
Carrie and Kailyn by one of the spraying water areas
One more picture from swimming!
Day 3: Amish Country
We all went to Amish Country together -- to Yoder's General Store (Amish Wal*Mart), a neat toy store, and the Ashery. We had a yummy lunch at an Amish restaurant. We brought home two pies -- Strawberry Cream and Apple -- they were delicious! Grandma and Grandpa came over for dinner when we got home. It was a treat to see them too!
Here are pictures from our Amish outing:

We saw three baby calves -- about3-4 days old. They were cute! I couldn't resist taking their picture.
Here are some shot of us standing outside the store:
The kids had fun playing together again after dinner at Nana and Papa's house. Xayne is such a ham!
Day 4: We headed to Carrie's on Sunday afternoon and we all gathered there to play together one last time
Here are the three newest additions and their mommies
Thanks for all the fun memories from this past weekend! We miss you guys. We look forward to another fun visit to Ohio in August - this time with the whole family!

Lead Me Home

As I read Uncle John's e-mail today and thought about the situation at hand, I kept thinking about Christina's heart and the pain she is carrying. My prayer for Christina is that God would change her heart and fill her with His love, peace, comfort, mercy and grace and she would come home and be restored. A song came to mind as I prayed -- Precious Lord, Take My Hand (this is on an album by a group called Selah). It was originally composed by Thomas A. Dorsey after he lost his wife and child. He wrote this song while in the healing process.

Here are the lyrics:

Precious Lord, take my hand.
Lead me on, help me stand.
I am tired.
I am weak.
I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me Home.

When my way grows drear'
Precious Lord, linger near.
When my life is almost gone
Hear my cry, hear my call
Hold my hand, lest I fall.
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me Home.
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me Home.

You are in my prayers - Christina, John and Lynn