Ladybug is FIVE

I'm a couple of days late on this post, but Sierra Elise turned 5 this week! We are so proud of the young lady that she is becoming. Her heart is so sensitive. She is very obedient and loving. And although she is shy by nature, she has ventured out to try new things this last year. (She even enjoyed going to VBS all by herself this week!) We are excited and scared about the months ahead when she will start going to school and become even more independent.

The girls had a birthday party last week, but on her actual birthDAY we took the family to our local water park for the day. The weather was perfect and Valerie cooperated beautifully by napping almost the entire time that we were there! Sierra mustered up the courage to try some new slides and discovered that she LOVED them. The lazy river is still probably her favorite thing, but she did ride Mammoth Caves with me and came our smiling...sorta. It was a very fun day for her.

This one was from the photo shoot with Uncle Chuck last month.
Sierra's fake smile at her Littlest Pet Shop party.

Taking a short break at the water park on Thursday.

Cherry Pickin'

Today we visited the town of Emmett for the first time. It's just a half-hour drive from our house. The town is hosting its 75th annual Cherry Festival this week. We went early in the day so we missed most of the action...music, carnival rides, crowds, etc. It was nice just to walk around and visit the vendors and see the sights. On the way out of town we stopped at a beautiful little orchard and let the girls pick some cherries of their own to bring home. We ended up with 11 pounds in a half-hour! (And probably an equal amount in each belly.) As I type this post, the washer is busy removing cherry juice from the girl's little sun dresses. We all had a wonderful time and I'm sure that we will make this a tradition for our family from now on.

Turbo Turns Three

It's official. She is not our "baby" anymore. Ally Grace turned three today!

We had a combined birthday party for Sierra and Ally with the whole family at the cabin on Monday. The theme was "Littlest Pet Shop" since both girls are really into those toys right now. There was a total of 18 people there to help us celebrate so we had lots of fun. I'll post some more pictures after Sierra's birthday next week, but here are a few of our little Turbo child.

Ally's enjoyed having a can of Ginger "Whale" all to herself at lunch time.

Grandma races against Ally in a rowdy Pugs vs. Poodles pet food relay.

Sierra and Ally blow out their candles together.

Ally woke up to find this in the living room this morning.

Her choice for a birthday treat was a pink snow cone!

THANK YOU

I have a special (TRUE!) story to share...

Early on Wednesday morning I opened the mini-blinds of our front windows and discovered a post-it note with an arrow pointing down to the ground outside. This led me to open the front door where I saw an ordinary brown mailing box with a small type-written tag taped on the front which read "For Valerie." The box was very light when I picked it up. My mind started reeling. I took the box inside and opened it up on the dining room table. No one else in my family was awake yet. I had just fed the little miss and knew that I couldn't go back to sleep. (Now I was very wide awake!) Inside the box was an envelope. On the envelope the reference "Matthew 6:25-34" was typed. Before I opened the envelope I got my Bible out and read the passage. By this time I was sobbing. My fingers trembled as I opened the envelope. A very large sum on money was inside. Cash. There was nothing else. A box, an envelope, a Bible passage and a very generous gift.


I immediately thought that my parents were behind all of this. After awkwardly bringing the matter up with them, I found out that they are not. In fact, they don't have any idea who is involved. Marc and I have tried to guess who left the box at our door but we really have no idea. This leaves us in a difficult situation. Obviously, we desperately want to say THANK YOU for the gift. But how?! Someone has chosen to remain anonymous. It seems like such a meaningless thing, but an open letter is really the only way that we could hope to get our gratefulness across. We pray that the right person/people will read this.

Dear Gift-Giver,
You will probably never know how much your gift has meant to our family! God has used you to teach us yet another lesson about His faithfulness and provision. Marc and I are humbled to tears to be on the receiving end of such generosity. Thank you for both the physical and spiritual blessings that your gift has given to us. You have helped us to pay a hospital bill, but your gift has done much more than that. We have been reminded of God's faithfulness. We have seen the body of Christ put love into action. We have been able to teach our girls about the Biblical model for giving. And we have realized again our utter dependence on God in all areas of life. Thank you!
At the beginning of Matthew 6 it says, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Our prayer is that you will be rewarded in ways that only God could accomplish.
We are so very thankful,
Marc and Serena Mouser

Family Photo Shoot

My brother took these awesome pictures for us a couple of weekends ago at Albertson Park in Boise. I love them! Thanks, Chuck.

Outnumbered

We just got home from the cabin and for the first time ever the kids outnumbered the adults on this trip! Susie and Annie met us up in Garden Valley for a little get away on Tuesday through Thursday. (Benjy was in Seattle for Tim's sixth round of treatments and Susie didn't want to be home alone.) The first day was dreary and rainy, but then things cleared up nicely and we had plenty of time to play outside. We have had to switch from man-to-man to a zone defense when it comes to managing all the little girls. Considering they are all 4 years old and younger, they played together very nicely and didn't cause too much chaos in the cabin.

Sierra takes her turn pushing Annie in the swings.

Ally and Annie working on their summer tans.

(I'm going to save this one for a "then and now" in about 13 years!)

Valerie holding her head up to explore the beautiful scenery from the deck.

Susie and Annie resting in the shade.

Summertime memories at the cabin...PRICELESS!!!

Eleven Years

This picture was taken just after Marc asked me to marry him. We stopped for an afternoon visit to Yosemite National Park on our way up to Idaho for the summer of 1997. After a picnic lunch in front of Half Dome he popped the question. It was completely spontaneous and perfect. He had planned to have an elaborate proposal later in the summer, but couldn't pass up the peaceful afternoon and the beautiful setting. Some passers-by saw us out in the middle of the meadow and offered to take this picture for us just after the proposal.

Today we're celebrating 11 years of marriage
Here's to the next 11 years together!