Happy Birthday, Mom!

Mom and Dad are away at a conference in Florida this week, so here's a long distance birthday wish to the BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!!!! I am so grateful for the wonderful example that she has been to me as a person, wife, mother, homemaker, teacher, Christian and friend.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom and I! It was taken in Brazil during their first term as missionaries.


Mom and I during my junior (?) year of high school in Brazil...another Brazilian beach.


On my wedding day (this is the MFBC kitchen!) Mom tried to keep my dress clean while we ate a quick lunch before the ceremony started.


The day that Ally was born. Mom was there for both girls. I don't know what I would do without her.

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Friday through Sunday

Friday:
Marc took the day off from work so that we could get a couple of things done. First of all, we took Sierra over to Ponderosa Elementary School and REGISTERED HER FOR KINDERGARTEN!!!! Crazy. Our first-born in starting school in the fall. I wish that I had taken my camera, but I forgot. She did a fabulous job on all the skills "testing" and we were so proud of her.

After lunch, I popped in for a quick check-up with Dr. Armstrong. Little Miss Valerie seems to be getting along quite well, but I am getting very uncomfortable. The next 5 weeks just cannot go by quickly enough in my opinion.

When we got home, the girls helped Marc wash the car while I made dinner. They were soaking wet and chilled to the bone by the time they were done....but laughing so hard.


That night we had a family slumber party in the living room. The girls love it when we pull out the sleeping bags, watch a movie together and sleep in a big heap on the living room floor.




Saturday:
Most of Saturday was spent at home doing various chores. We took a bike ride over to McDonald's for lunch and then we all took good long naps. That evening, we had a yummy dinner at Chuck and Missy's apartment and then walked over to Ann Morrison Park to feed the ducks and play on the playground. Grandma and Grandpa were there too!



Sunday:
We had a normal (good!) Sunday morning at church, but the evening service was dedicated to the AWANA awards ceremony. Ally was able to join Sierra and her other Cubbie friends on the stage for a song and some recognition, even though she isn't technically a Cubbie yet. We were again so proud of Sierra for all the work that she put into memorizing her verses and finishing her workbook this year!

Okay, this last picture was actually taken on Thursday...but I just had to add it. Savannah Jane is the funniest almost-one-year-old that you'll ever meet. Here she is showing off her bronc-riding skills. You go girl!

Elmo Rescue 911

I heard blood-curdling screams coming from the back yard a couple of days ago. I ran outside expecting to find a gushing open wound, a dead animal in the yard, a swarm of wasps attacking my children, or some other such horror. This is what I found:

Thanks for the heart-attack, Ally!

If...

If...

monotony tries me and I cannot stand drudgery;

if stupid people fret me and little ruffles set me on edge;

if I make much of the little trifles of life,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If...

souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it,

because the spirit of discernment is not in me,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If...

the praise of man elates me and his blame depresses me;

if I cannot rest under misunderstanding without defending myself;

if I love to be loved more than to love,

to be served more than to serve,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If...

the moment I am conscious of the shadow of self crossing my threshold,

I do not shut the door,

and in the power of Him who works in us to will and to do,

keep that door shut,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If...

I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the cross,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

~ Amy Carmichael

These are just some excerpts from a little booklet that I have by Amy Carmichael, missionary to India. I hope that you are keenly aware of the depth of Calvary love this weekend!

Signs of Spring

Family night dinner this week .... a picnic at the park!

Miss Savannah enjoys a bite of cupcake with Grandpa Cook.

Ally learns to ride her bike...finally!

Yes, I made the poor child haul all of the jackets that we peeled off along the way. But the helmet was all her idea. I promise!

Aunt Susie and the girlies at the park.

Sierra waters her beloved purple tulips which will soon be in full bloom.

Even picnic lunches at home are so much more exciting that eating indoors.

Blowing lots of bubbles out in the sunshine.

Valerie's Baby Shower

In case you don't already know, we have finally settled on a name for our third daughter. She is:

Valerie Joy

Ever since I read the Jim and Elisabeth Elliot biographies in high school, I have loved the name Valerie. (She was their only child and was 10 months old when Jim was killed. Elisabeth and Valerie remained in the Auca territory of Ecuador for several years before returning to the States.) Valerie means "strong/strength." Joy is my mom and sister's middle name. Together "Valerie Joy" has special meaning: THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH! We pray that this will be true in the life of our precious little girl.

A few weeks ago I bought a baby book for Valerie. As I was flipping through the pages, I thought about how sad it would be to not have any entries under the Baby Shower category. Not that we needed much in the way of supplies, since we already have two girls and all the baby "stuff" you can imagine. But, well, you know....just the whole idea of not having a shower to tell her about, an invitation to show her, pictures to look back on, etc. That's when my sweet friend, Kelly, called and wanted to know if I would be interested in a low-key open house style shower that she wanted to host. WOW! I was thrilled! Another friend from church is expecting a little girl just a month ahead of me and we could make it a combined event since we have many mutual church friends. It was perfect. The theme was "Back to Basics" and we both got lots of diapers, wipes, receiving blankets, onesies, lotion, baby wash, etc. Sierra and Ally loved helping me open all the gifts and then show them off to Marc when we got home. The setting was so relaxing and the food was delicious. Thanks, Kelly. You know how to throw a party!

Spring Break Recap **Lots of pictures!**

We had a wonderful Spring Break. In fact, it was a little too good. We "popped" most of those balloons, hardly took any naps and didn't get a single chore done around the house. Oh well! It was so fun to spend time together. Here's a brief recap with LOTS of pictures:

Monday & Tuesday:
We spent the first part of the week up at the cabin. There is still about a foot of snow in most places, but it is melting quickly. On Monday morning, we took a nice walk up the forest service road to a great look-out point over the creek. As always, the girls enjoyed reading and playing with Grandpa and Grandma Cook.

Sierra collected a bag of treasures along the way...rocks, twigs, pine cones, pieces of metal, etc.

Wednesday:
Since it was gray and rainy on Wednesday, we decided to try a relatively new indoor play zone in Boise called Rafiki. We had a coupon for a free admission, so it was quite affordable. The girls had a wonderful time playing at all the different stations.

The "snow" table...really fun texture!

The dress-up center.

The kitchen/house play area. (Ally contaminated the plastic carrots. Yikes!)

The art table.

Not pictured, but definitely the most exciting, was the climbing structure and slide. They also had fun using their wooden blocks to build some great cities.

Thursday:
It was still cold and windy, so we had to plan more indoor activities for Thursday. We started off with about an hour at POJO's before heading over to Barnes & Nobel for some book browsing. We also hit Target that afternoon and found this on sale for the girl's combined "big" birthday present in June. SHHHH!

Only in Idaho would you find a "toddler friendly" arcade game like this one!

Clearly, Ally is captivated by Sierra's story-telling ability.

Friday:

The weather cleared up nicely for a day at Zoo Boise with Aunt Susie and cousin Annie on Friday. We had a great time viewing the animals, riding the carousel, eating lunch and just being together. The lions put on quite a show for us in their new exhibit...complete with a nice loud growl and mane shaking.

The cousins at the entrance to the new exhibit.

Friendly natives in the model granary.

We enjoyed the new signs posted around the zoo. So informative!

Cutest (and happiest!) kid at the zoo!

Savannah's newest trick....WALKING! She is 10 months old.

Our little birds!

We were so excited that the "hairy dogs," as Ally calls them, were finally back!!!

In case you haven't been to the new exhibit, here is one of the newest zoo members.

On the way home we made another stop at Settler's Park and let the kids expend any ounce of energy that they might have had left in their tired little bodies.

Saturday:

After sleeping in and catching up on some laundry, the girls and I headed over to Kelly's house for a very fun baby shower in honor of our new little girl and another friend from church who is also expecting a little girl in a couple of weeks. I have a separate post for that event...so stay tuned. We had a great time and got lots of fun presents!

In the evening, we went over to Susie and Benjy's house for a birthday party for Uncle Chuck. It was a fun family time with a random Mexican theme. (No idea why!) Chuck had requested Mom's famous cinnamon rolls instead of birthday cake and we all enjoyed the change!

Uncle Chuck, Aunt Missy and the nieces.

As you can see, it was a busy and exciting week. Now, it's time to tidy up the piles that have accumulated in every corner of the house, catch up on mail/blogs/etc. and get the girls back on a regular schedule. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz......