Party Girl

Today we went to a birthday party. Ella's friend, Annelies, turned 3. The best parts of the party (according to Ella) were the "boon" (balloons), the ice cream, the "brown" (brownies) and the toys for baby dolls. It was just another great opportunity to spend the morning hanging out and having fun with friends (for both Ella and me!). Before the party, I was talking to Ella about saying "Happy Birthday" to Annelies. Here is the sentence she put together in response:

(Clapping hands) "Happy, Boon, Bye-Bye, Birdie, Kiss, Dinner..."

Translation: "Last night, me and Mommy and Daddy went out for dinner at Red Robin. I heard people sing 'Happy Birthday' and they clapped their hands. I got a balloon, but I had to say 'bye-bye' to it this morning. Also, the big mascot bird, Red, came to talk to me and I blew a kiss to him."

"Bobbles!"

Why haven't we done this sooner? Tonight, for the first time, Ella took a BUBBLE bath! To say she loved it would be an understatement!

The Baby Table

Today we had our Coffee Break Brunch. My weekly Bible Study takes one week off per season to have a nice luncheon for all the ladies (there are probably 60 or more of us). What was different about this one was the food and decorations. The food was fun breakfast foods (casseroles, quiches, muffins and fruit) and the decorations were done by volunteers who decorated the tables with themes. I actually did this table-- surprise, it was themed "Baby On the Way!" Here is a picture of me with 2 of my closest pregnant friends, Jamie (due in about a month) and Jetta (due the same time as me). We also heard a cool presentation from a couple of the ladies who are nurses just returning from a medical mission trip to Nicaragua. It was a good morning!

The Importance of Accessories

Today has been a pretty normal day. We ate cereal for breakfast, we got ready, we went to Costco, Dave came home for lunch, Ella's down for a nap, I'm tutoring this afternoon...the regular routine. Oh, Ella did completely fall into my bath this morning with her pajamas on, but that one sentence summary is about all that deserves. If it weren't for some fun mail, I would have nothing interesting to blog about! Auntie Kris is the champion of keeping in touch via the post office. She writes Ella (on average) one letter a week. These letters always describe some crazy story or adventure in her present life. They also dispense wisdom and sometimes (like today) even contain goodies! Today we learned about how wearing fun accessories can make a day feel sunny and happy even if it is dreary and the temp is a freezing 1 degree. To help learn this lesson, Ella received a big, fun flower pin and a pack of pretty nail polishes. On a day where we have nothing exciting planned to do and it is cold and raining, this advice was perfectly timed. Thanks Auntie Kris!!

Cookies

Ella has a new favorite snack...Animal Crackers. She loves to name each animal and then tell me what noise it makes. Pretty stimulating for a cookie! I'm just in love with the way she says "aminal" also.

Along with the Cookie theme of this blog, I thought I'd share a favorite recipe I made for this weekend. I know that everyone has their own favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, but this one is especially good and very easy. I made them for a picnic and we ate them again when friends came over Friday and Saturday nights. So, for the Sara(h)s that mentioned wanting this recipe-- here it is!

Award Winning Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup melted butter (no substitutes)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 white sugar

1 package (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and baking soda, set aside. Blend butter and sugars. Stir in pudding mix until blended. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop cookies by spoonful onto cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Makes a little over 3 dozen. Can easily double recipe.

Almond Blossoms

Here is Ella in one of the many almond orchards (people from our chuch own this one). Try to imagine seeing a stretch of these blooms for miles and miles. There are few places we can drive without passing through the orchards. Guess that's what makes us the "Almond Capital of the World" or as a friend says, "Almond Capital of the Known Universe!"

Today was our favorite day. Upon our move out here we discovered the neatest celebration-- The Almond Blossom Festival. This is a weekend in February where the trees are blooming, the weather is warm and the Saturday is filled with an excellent parade, a tri-trip lunch, a carnival and long walks where we bump into tons of people we know. Ella seemed to enjoy the parade, though her mobility made it a little different from last year. The theme this year was "Support Our Troops" thus the looks of intense patriotism on Ella's face...

2(Dave + Ella)

Two (Pastor) Daves and two Ellas...today was a little confusing, but still fun! Our friends Dave and Sarah and their daughter Ella, who are currently serving a chuch in Iowa, are out visiting and today we met up with them for a picnic lunch and lots of play time at the park. Dave and Dave got to know each other well at seminary. Both were are part of the "Dream Team" (a group of 5 guys who excelled at their classes, made serious work lots of fun and somehow won the love of all their professors!) The "Dream Team" and their wives had a great time doing things together outside of school also. We miss this crazy group of friends, but are happy to have stayed connected with Dave and Sarah. They have had a pretty traumatic year. Their Ella was attacked by a dog this summer and lost much of her scalp. She has been on a long road to recovery that has included long surgeries, long stays in hospitals, skin grafts and (in the future) hair growth stimulation. Through it all, they've seen God's hand and give an awesome testimony.


We just discovered another thing in common with them also-- a love of the game Settlers of Catan! So, tonight when the Ellas are sleeping we will reunite for a showdown...

Happy Anniversary Kris and Eric!

Kristen (Dave's younger sister) and Eric were married 4 years ago today. I got to stand up in the wedding and Dave got to deliver the message. I have great memories from the whole weekend 4 years ago of all the fun things that go with weddings: the crazy bachelorette party, the rehearsal dinner, the meaningful ceremony and the dancing at the reception.


We have always thought that Kris and Eric were a perfect match. I can really see how it was God that brought them together. They have much in common including a sense of humor that is completely in sync. Like the rest of the couples in Dave's family, they too both graduated from Timothy Christian (though not in the same class as each other, like the rest of us). Kris and Eric are a lot of fun and we are so happy they have been blessed with a happy marriage. We wish you guys many more years of married joy!

Too Beautiful!

Today we had some special company over and Ella got a taste of what life with a sibling will be like. My friend Jetta is also pregnant and due the same week that we are. She is about twice as big as me now, though, because she is having twins! Today her and her husband Phil went in for a sonogram and her 4 daughters came to play with us for a few hours. Yes, I did say FOUR...her twins will be numbers 5 and 6! Everything on her sonogram is looking great and today they learned that the twins are not identical. Except for some minor jealousy in sharing everything from her baby doll and stroller to her mom's lap, Ella had a great time playing with her friends. Phil and Jetta brought back a special and delicious lunch for all of us to share, so the adults had a good time also.

Happy Cows (and Daughters!) Come From California...

Hi, this is Ella. I am so happy that God made cows! They are some of my favorite animals. Almost everyone we know has cows or trees and this morning we got to visit the cows. (Stay tuned for this weekend, it's Almond Blossom Festival, so there will be lots of tree visiting then...) Daddy has a boy in his Bridge (Jr. High) youth group who broke his arm the same way Mommy did when she was in high school (well, the break was the same, the method was very different. This boy broke it flipping his 4 wheeler off a manure pile!) We went to see how he was doing and bring him some cards and because he lives with over a thousand cows we got to visit them too! I know that a cow says, "Moo!' so I kept trying to talk to them. I saw lots of babies and was able to tell Mom that they came from a "tummy." The cows seemed just as curious about me as I was about them-- they all came wandering over to the fence to see and smell me. I had so much fun. I said, "Bye bye cows!" the entire car ride home.

Amazing Race Let Down

One thing we enjoy sharing with our families is a passion for the reality show The Amazing Race. There are different groupings of family that get together to watch it, phone conversations about it and even the occasional Sunday night church service skipped to watch it. Dave and I were so excited when we saw our first glimpse of the All-Star commercial after last season's finale. We thought it would be cool to bypass those first few episodes where you have to learn names and personalities and get right into loving and hating people.

I find myself disappointed after watching tonight's premiere.

Not one of my favorite teams made the All-Stars. There are no clowns, no hippies, no Kris and Jon, no funny brothers (whose names I can't remember...), no Chip and Kim. They seem to have ignored all the teams who were positive and uplifting, who enjoyed the experience more than the million dollar prize, who encouraged each other and were kind to locals. They picked only villains. Maybe this will be better for ratings or maybe that "love-to-hate them" title is more valuable than I realize. I found myself already annoyed and mad at most of the teams and of the two that I could imagine cheering for, one already went home tonight!

We will continue watching the Amazing Race (because we are suckers and can't resist it no matter how lousy it is!), but I will watch it waiting for Kentucky to get lost, Charla and Mirna to have a car break down, Teri and Ian to get injured, Beauty Queens to be backstabbed by friends (although who would be their friend?), too many gay couples to get screwed by locals some how and Eric and Danielle (seriously?) to break up. Evil, I know, but I'm just waiting for bad things to happen to these, in my opinion, bad teams. That will make it an interesting season.

Shhhh, Daddy's Sleeping

Who says you're old and no fun when you turn 30? Last night Dave stayed up all night! He had a lock-in at church with his high school youth group. The lock-in went well and got pretty good attendance. Dave was, surprisingly, one of only 4 who made it the whole night without sleeping. Highlights of the night included: Liar's Dice, video games on the big screen, Sardines and Hide and Seek. The funniest story to come out of the lock-in was the guy who hid in our church's huge refrigerator during the game. His text messages to the seekers changed in tone from the taunting, "Ha ha, you'll never find me!" to the desperate, "Hurry up-- very uncomfortable and cold!" So all day Dave is going to try to catch up on what he missed last night. Ella and I already went shopping and when she wakes up from a nap we'll play outside to continue giving Dave some peace.

High: 71/ Low: 45

Well, we survived. We endured and persevered through our two very difficult months of winter. And believe me, they weren't easy! Several friends lost pipes in the unusual freezing temps, we went through our entire pile of wood making fires, I used a Christmas gift card to buy a new winter jacket (that I wore for a whole 3 weeks) and our gas bills were higher than normal. It was pretty rough! (Do you catch the hint of sarcasm in my typing?)

This week spring has come though! The dreaded month of February has turned into my favorite. With it comes the sunshine, the blooming of trees, the bees in their boxes pollinating, the promise of fresh fruits only a month or so away and the lovely 70 degree weather. Our home page lists our daily highs and lows and those of our Chicago family. We keep them on there to remind ourselves what we are blessed with. Today it says we have a high of 71 and low of 45. In Chicago the temps are ranging from 14-18 degrees today!

It is hard to believe that I grew up a hard core Midwesterner. I drove in white-outs. I scraped my car every day. I had the knee-length down jacket that was able to snap/zip up and cover everything but my eyes. I knew how to work a snow-blower when I was pretty young. I didn't think twice about big, ugly piles of gray snow and slush on the side of the road. My sunglasses lived in the drawer for 5 months straight. I knew the definition (and joy) of the words "Snow Day." Now I'm a big cold weather wimp. Amazing how just 4 short years can completely change your tolerance, I guess it's pretty subjective! California vacation, anyone?

Enjoying some sunshine at our nearby park today.

Ahhhh, Romance

While most of the big-deal I made out of Valentine's Day was for Ella's benefit, I was still disappointed to find myself totally sick yesterday. I've been battling a typical cold all week, but yesterday after lunch I was hit with blinding sinus headaches and all my muscles feeling sore. Dave, being the awesome husband he is, gave me a taste of real romance by taking Ella out for a few hours and bringing me home some chicken noodle soup. And actually our night was filled with heat-- hot tea, hot compresses on my head and the offer to run a hot bath!

This was not Dave and Ella's first "date." They go out together regularly. A few months ago Dave took just Ella to Chuck E. Cheese where they had a blast.

Tattooed With Love

Happy Valentine's Day, Family and Friends!

We hope you are having a day filled with lots of love. Auntie Kris wrote Ella a letter recently telling her to make the most of each day and live her life with lots of joy. She explained that some of the easiest days to do this on were holidays. So with that advice in mind, we have been trying to make our Valentine's Day very special. Our Valentine's adventures started a few days ago when we got lots of cool mail from family. Grandma and Grandpa sent a package full of cards, candy, and cute goodies for Ella. Auntie Kris sent the best possible gift-- Cars valentines and tattoos! It was Ella's first experience with tattoos and she found it quite amazing. Last night we made some special cards and treats for Dave and the people at church while he was at a meeting. Today we plan to hang out together and do something fun, albeit casual, for dinner.

Cars Cheers! As soon as the Lightning went on, Ella ran to get her video to compare.

Admiring her tattooed hands.

"I think this is how Mom did it, maybe I can recreate it and get another?"

Grandpa always picks out the best cards for his girls.

Opening the special package from Grandma and Grandpa. Inside was a teddy bear Ella had to sleep with last night. During cuddle time before bed, she hugged it and quietly chanted, "Gramma, Gramma, Gramma..."

Messy glitter paints ("Peteys"). We used these to make a card for Daddy.

We also made Candy Bar Fudge for Daddy and all the staff at church. (Ella helped hold and read me the recipe.) We went for a walk in the sunshine to visit them today.

PS Did you know that if you click on a picture, you can open it in a bigger screen so as to see it better? This works with most of our pictures. That way you don't have to get out your magnifying glass (Mom and Dad)!

Happy Birthday, Theoren!

In about an hour and half his time, our nephew Theoren will be ONE year old! Theoren is a great nephew and cousin. He is full of cuddles, smiles and giggles. We are sad to not be in Chicago for his actual first birthday or for his fun Valentine's Birthday Party, but we hope he and his family know how much we love and miss him!

Here are some interesting facts about Theoren: he is the son of Dave's sister, Karen, and brother-in-law, Christopher. He has 2 brothers, Calvin and Aidan. He was baptized by Uncle Dave! He is recovering from a second ear tube surgery and adenoid removal. He is the most content and happy little guy we know. We have only got to visit with him 2 times in his life (which is so hard because, of course, he is constantly changing!)

We hope you have a wonderful birthday, Theoren! We wish you many blessings in your second year of life!!

"HAT!!"

Tonight Ella found another use for her potty seat...

I Love My Playgroup!

Hi everyone, this is Ella again. Today I had the best day...I got to play with some of my good friends. About once a week Mom gets together with her friends to talk and laugh and us kids all get to play together! We go to a different house every time, so there are always new fun toys. We eat lunch together too, so there are always new fun foods! Today was especially fun because we went to Jetta's house where we can play outside with very different stuff than what I have at my house. I have 3 new words after playgroup today: Chicken, Driving and Tractor. You will see what a great time we had from the pictures...

Even though not all the moms and kids could come today, we still had a good time. These are Mom's friends (from l to r): Amy, Mom, Amy and Jetta. Ha ha, Midwest family and friends, do you see the sunny, spring weather we have today?

This was the COOLEST! I got to "drive" the blue Ford tractor!


Kirsi and Annelies hopped on for a ride. We're ready to go plow, or scrape or do whatever tractors are supposed to do!

Here we are eating our delicious lasagna lunch. We all bring something, so it's not too much work for any one person.


My friends who were there (from l to r): Kirsi, me, Annelies, Jonathan, and Jared ("Joey"). Friends who were not in the picture: Helia ("Hey-ya")-- she was too sad.
Friends who were not there: Jacob and Bailey (their mom is having a baby very soon!), Thea (she's at kindergarten) and Mikaela ("Kika") (her mom wanted to have a lunch date with her dad today).

Flashback to 1995

Exactly 12 years ago today Dave and I had our first date and our first kiss. After a couple months of liking each other, talking on the phone every night, going out in groups of friends together and even holding hands once, our first date was to Timothy Christian's Homecoming Dance. The dance was at the Katherine Legge Lodge in Hinsdale. Before the dance we went out for a fancy dinner at Kennesy's. After the dance we drove around holding hands and talking about if we were boyfriend/girlfriend. When Dave dropped me off at home we kissed on my front porch. Obviously it was a memorable night!


What is most amazing about this story, though, is the sequel...where we are 12 years later! I was an exuberant girl in these pictures. I was going to an exciting school event with the boy I had a major crush on! I am now pregnant with our second child. Together Dave and I have endured: long-distance in college, death of loved ones, moving 5 times, changes in jobs and the expected trials of a relationship. Together we have celebrated: vacations, the growth of our immediate families, exciting ministries, new friends, raising a family and the joys of the every day routine.

I can get a little nostalgic and emotional (especially now, guess why?) A few weeks ago Dave and I found ourselves sitting in the bleachers of another Christian high school. We were watching their Homecoming game. We saw one of our youth group girls and babysitters march across the floor, a queen potential. We sat with some good friends-- other youth pastors from this area and their families. We wrestled so much with Ella (she wanted to run up and down the stairs and even onto the court!) that we had to leave before that game was done. Sitting there brought my Homecoming of 1995 flooding back to me and it hit me how far we've come.

Tonight we won't be dressing formal (I am wearing only maternity clothes now...they're all that fit!). There won't be a day of anticipation and getting ready, there will be a nap. We won't be going out for fancy dinner, we'll be having left overs. We won't be attending a high school dance, we'll be attending church-- where Dave will be preaching and leading the service. We won't have conversations that will make my stomach flip with happiness, we'll watch the premiere of the Amazing Race. We won't have any late night kisses on our front porch (that would make the dog go crazy and that would wake up the daughter). As wonderful as February 11, 1995 was, I wouldn't trade it for February 11, 2007. That night was special, but our life now is even better.

Brownies

This has been a super busy week for Dave! He has been gone every single night this week with youth group and committee meetings, Bible studies and the concert last night. Unfortunately, a busy week means it's a last minute sermon weekend. This does not mean the sermon Dave preaches tomorrow will be anything less than great, but it means he needs to write it today. Even with this big task on his shoulders, Dave wanted to spend some time with Ella and I so he took the morning and afternoon off for a little day trip. So, because he has to write all night, Ella and I decided to make him a special treat-- brownies from scratch. The treat was meant for Dave, but I think Ella may have enjoyed it more!

My super helper-- this is her stool. Whenever I'm making anything in the kitchen she loves to watch. The mixer is especially fascinating.

Yep, Mom's a sucker...I did let her lick the spoon. She's never done this before.

What a happy girl!

Crowder

(David Crowder in concert in Modesto, CA)

Dave here - So, a few weeks ago, I was doing a little bit of Internet time wasting and decided to do some looking for stuff from one of my favorite Christian artists, the David Crowder Band, and was thrilled to see he was going to be very close to us. Long story short, Jen and I are just getting home from seeing him in concert.

We both agree that it was one of the greatest concerts we have been to.
Mainly, it is so cool just to see someone that you like so much. We knew all of the songs that he did. It was in a local and smaller venue that was really easy to get in and out of.

More importantly though, Jen and I were just struck by how it really wasn't a David Crowder concert, but more of a praise service led by David Crowder. It truly was a worshipful moment.

For me, it was one of those times that makes you look forward to heaven. It feels like you are getting just a taste of it here on earth. So many people just pouring their hearts out to God and having a ton of fun praising him together.

Again, to many of you, I will highly recommend 1) David Crowder's book "Praise Habit" A wonderfully humorous and yet deep look at the Psalms, and 2) David Crowder Band's album "A Collision." I use that word album intentionally because I think it is the best put together collections of songs that I have ever heard. Great music, great lyrics and all genuinely to glorify God.

What a fun night!

How Does So Much Personality Fit in Such a Little Person?

Thought you may enjoy a little laugh today. Here are some goofy pictures of Ella taken recently and some funny stories that all happened yesterday...



While walking around the Target, Ella offered a piece of her dry cereal (held it out and asked, "ereal?") to every person we passed.

To get her ready for potty training, we have been changing her diapers in the bathroom and letting her watch us empty the contents into the toilet. After watching it swirl away, Ella waved and said, "Bye poop!"

I found Ella sitting in her room reading an animal story to her baby doll. She pointed at a picture and said to her baby, "Doggie, see, arf arf."

After I finished my brownie dessert, Ella took my plate and licked it clean. (Hmmm, wonder where she learned this trick...Lily? Dave? Both answers would be correct!)

She brought me an item and thanked herself by saying, "ink ooo."