Happy Birthday, Jared!

Jared (R) and his buddy, Zach.  Kandahar, AFG.

Today is my brother's birthday.  He won't get cake or a special birthday dinner.  He'll probably fly on his special day.  Even though he won't be doing what he would normally if he weren't helping fight this war, we will still be thinking of him.  Celebrating him and the life the Lord has given him.  I'm thankful he is able to celebrate his 26th birthday, even if it is countries away.

Of interest, this picture was taken on April 7th, Drew's birthday.  Jared flew a flag for him on the little guy's birthday and is sending it our way as a most treasured keepsake.  

J - We miss you.  We love you.  We can't wait for you to be home.  Thank you for your dedicated service.  And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

A respite.

Things are crazy over here.  I have pictures I want to share but not enough time to write in depth about each one.

The boys ran ahead of me for breakfast one morning and when I came down 5 minutes later, this is what I found.  When I asked Drew what he was doing, his response was: I read my Bible, too!

We've had some gorgeous days.  Our tree stump is still a stump and while it is, we're using it as a picnic table, a jumping place, and a construction site complete with sawdust!

First non-weed flower presented to me by Evan.

The boys waiting for Scot to come home one evening.  A sweet moment.

I have funny conversations I want to share.  One-liners of the boys.  Here are just a few of the many:

Yesterday over breakfast while I was opening the blinds in the other rooms (so they didn't know I could hear them)
Drew: You best friend, Evan?
Evan: Of course!  We'll be friends for ever and ever and ever and EVER!
Drew: FOREVER?!  Oh cool.

Evan chattering about something to do with our bodies and he used the word "human being".  Drew just said "huh?" and Evan chirped up: Oh you know what human beings are!  That's the nickname for people!

Drew: (frantic) My bottom's ITCHY!!!
Me: Uh oh -- why?
Drew: (through tears): It's the way God maaaade meeeeee!!!!

*****

We move in just over 5 weeks.  I'm devastated and elated all at the same time.  Devastated because I know I will miss this place called Ohio that has become so near and dear to us.  It's been a place of growth for our family, for our marriage, for our boys and our parenting, for me as a person and as a child of the King.  We have found places that will make us smile every time we think of them.  And most of all, we've made friends who will always be neat and dear to our hearts.  Friends who have been there for us and walked this journey with us and who will miss more than I can say.

And excited.  Giddy, even, when I think of moving home.  Back to our church.  Back to friends.  To our old favorite spots.  Back to being an hour away from my parents.  The mountains.  I can't even tell you how excited we are.  It's such an odd experience, planning life in Denver while sill living life fully here.

And so in these last 5 weeks I am packing my days and weeks FULL of friends and outings and living in Ohio.  Enjoying our street and the nice days and the season known as Spring, complete with birds chirping and my flowering lilac tree.  And sunshine and the boys playing in it for hours at a time.

*****

So I may have pictures up now and again, but otherwise, this little bit of blog-sphere may be on the quiet side until I get settled in.

Micro-machine-madness.

 All vintage.

All very much fun.

All very much in the largest car-pile-up-madness of micro-machines this house has ever seen.

A trip to the dentist.

Being three meant Drew's first trip to the dentist.

Let me start off my saying Evan was an instrumental part of how well Drew did.  Evan "rode in the chair" first and talked about going to the dentist like some children talk about going to an amusement park.  Drew was jazzed to say the least.

Thanks to all that "jazzing", he didn't hesitate a moment.  He let our wonderful tech count his teeth, clean his teeth, floss his teeth, and squirt water in his mouth.  He was a champ!

Look who's THREE!

Has it really been 3 years since Drew entered our lives?  Time really does go by so fast.

We had a fabulous birthday weekend with the little dude.  His favorite place is the Farmpark, but since our pass ran out 2 months ago, we haven't been.  He doesn't understand the concept of "passes", though, so to him, we used to go to the Farmpark a lot, and now it's been forever since our last visit.

We were blessed with good weather this past weekend (read: not freezing, snowing, or raining) and Scot had Saturday off, so we made a morning of our last time at the Farmpark.  It was bittersweet.  I'm not actually making any promises that we won't be back in the next 7 weeks.

 

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Per our tradition, the birthday boy gets to pick his breakfast.  Be that a special cereal or going out, it's his choice.  Drew asked for scones from the bakery down the street, and no one tried to convince him of a better option.  I had some of his favorite fruit and a special "juice smoothie" to complete the meal.  It was a grand start to a fabulous day.

Another tradition try to hold to is the birthday boy gets to pick what I make for dinner.  My mom did this with us kids growing up and I loved it and have very fond memories of it.  Drew has been talking about Dewey's pizza for the last 2 months strait, so when I asked him what he wanted me to make I wasn't too surprised when he asked for pizza from the place that "throws it".   Oh, and with the Wilsey girls, too, mom, he said.

We decided not to have a party this year.  We did have our good friends over with their girls, and Drew's "Miss 'Manda", but it was low-key and wonderful.

 

They are now both 3!

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I made this owl cake and I thought it turned out so well!  He requested an orange owl cake and he was very pleased, indeed!

Happy birthday, Drew-boy!  We love you!

Easter fun 2013

This is our last Easter here in Ohio, but it was a good one.  From dying eggs with friends on Good Friday, to dinner with friends Saturday evening, to a fabulous meal and Easter egg hunt after church on Sunday.   The whole weekend was spent with friends, focusing on the gift of Jesus Christ, His death and ressurection, and we cherished all our family time as well.

Here are a few pictures of the weekend:

Resurrection Eggs