New York girls

I just returned from a fantastic weekend in New York City with my sister and mom!!! I'll post some pictures of that soon...

I bought Tatum and I matching t-shirts while there and she LOVED it!

Here we are sporting our shirts.

"I have a blessing"

So we were hanging out on Asher's bed closing down the day. We have been trying hard to keep the idea of God's goodness and His many blessings at the fore in our home.

The other day Ash kicked out a new song called 'I have a blessing' which Lish promptly wrote down in her journal. Last night I asked the kids which blessing they wanted to thank Jesus for as we prayed. With big eyes Ash raised his finger in the air. He disappeared and came back into the room with mom's journal so that he could share his song with us. Tatum didn't yet know it so he took some time to teach it to her.

These two videos are what followed. We did not influence the song at all. Only transcribed. Tate even added a line at the end. I love that they are only 5 and 3 yrs old. Here's hoping they turn into a dynamice song writing duo.

I have said this from the platform when leading worship before... as a father to this boy and this girl, it is difficult for me to find words to express what I feel when I hear them singing songs that bless and edify our Heavenly Father. As a musician, that is magnified further when they 'write' their own songs that are praise and worship to Jesus! That being true, how much must God love hearing us sing songs to Him from a heart that recognizes the blessings that He has richly given us!

Enjoy...



Practice

The Final Product...sort of

Brother & Sister

They really are the best of friends....





and this is how much Tatum makes Asher laugh!!!

We are SO blessed.

An Archaeologist and a Ballerina

Look at what Asher (and Tatum) discovered in our backyard the other day!





It's a T-Rex fossil....amazing!


Besides the excitement of a dinosaur dig, Tatum started a dance class on Monday. It's a combo class so she'll be learning ballet, tap and tumbling. She is doing it with my niece Reagan, and the girls had a great time!

Happy Birthday

to my favorite sister!

Independence Day

Look at that...only 1 month between posts, and two posts in one night...not bad!

We had a great day on Saturday, celebrating our independence! What a blessing that is.

The four of us spent some time at Flaming Geyser State Park in the afternoon and then headed to my parent's house for a barbecue and fun fireworks show with their neighbors. It was the first year that our kids weren't scared out of their minds by the noise which made it extra fun!

Keven and the kids wading in the river

sharing a snack

learning to skip rocks

Tatum had just fallen into the water!

swinging on the tree swing

in the pool at Papa & Gma's

the big boys getting ready to "fly" some cans!

sparkler fun!

Ok, Ok, Ok

After some gentle prodding from my sister and dear friend Judith....here are some pictures from the past two months!

Enjoy you two!

All dressed up to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior!

Tate and NeNe

We had the privilege of going to see Walking With Dinosaurs with our dear friends/cousins, Jason & Brett. It was an amazing production and it was followed by a great time hanging out at the Seattle Center.




Here is Tatum playing with her Dino Nuggets after the show!

At a birthday party for Sean, Keven and I, the kids were climbing my parent's huge cherry tree in the backyard which led to all of us getting in the tree! Once we finally convinced my grandma to get near the tree we were able to take a 4 generation picture! Priceless.

don't get too excited but there might be more to come......soon.....if I get around to downloading some pictures off the camera!

Asher is 5!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Asher turned five on Friday and we had a great family day with him. Asher loves mustangs and we have a wonderful friend who owns a black Shelby 500 GT Mustang, and let us borrow it for the weekend! We surprised Asher with it Friday morning as we headed out to preschool...his face was priceless! It was his "special day" at preschool which makes us in charge of a special day poster and snacks...

We were able to pick him up early from school and then head out for our fun-filled day, all of which was a surprise for the kids. Our first destination was Bremerton where we hopped on a ferry to Seattle. This was the first ferry boat ride for the kids and they loved it! I think it was the highlight of the day for everyone. Maybe not for Keven as he had to stay with the mustang because the alarm kept going off:)

After we got off the ferry in Seattle we headed for the Aquarium. It's been a long time since I've been to the Seattle Aquarium and while it was fun and the kids had a great time, if you have ever been to the Aquarium in Newport, Oregon....Seattle has some work to do.

Ikea was our next stop so Asher could pick out a "collection" shelf. He has been asking for something to put a collection on for awhile now. It's pretty funny because I'm not sure he really understands what a collection is but he just wanted some place to put the toys that he deems special each day...hotwheels and airplanes.

The day ended with him opening our present which was tickets to see Walking With Dinosaurs at Key Arena in May. We really wanted to do this last year but chose to wait until he was a little older. We are all really excited to see the show!

It was a really wonderful day with a really wonderful 5 year old boy! We are really enjoying watching Asher transform into a kind, loving, sensitive and caring boy. He cares deeply for people and is quick to think of ways to serve and give. We can see Jesus at work in Asher's life already!

We love you so much Ash!

Special Day

Asher turns 5 this Friday, March 20th.... Five has always seemed like a significant landmark to me. I'm not sure why...maybe because it's half way to 10. There are days when I cannot believe I have a 5 year old and other days when I feel like he's been a part of me forever. It's quite something, this parenting thing.

This year my parent's decided to take Asher for a special day to celebrate his birthday. Keven and I are all for experiential gifts as we try to live a simpler, less cluttered, life. We want to teach our kids that a "present" can be so many things...not always stuff. So, while he did get a few things on his special day with Papa and Grandma, the best gift of all was the memories created and alone time with these two amazing people.

Their day started with a trip to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. This was Asher's choice and they had a great time! Asher was ready to teach Papa and Grandma all about dinosaurs!


There is a great insect and butterfly exhibit at the science center.

I love this picture of Asher in the mirror....I wonder what life would be like with two of them???

Papa and Asher inside a guitar!

After the science center they headed to Build-a-Bear for Asher's first experience there! He had so much fun picking out his new friend "Lektro".

Their day concluded with dinner at TGI Friday's. Since Asher went gluten and dairy free last September, he hasn't eaten at very many restaurants. He really enjoyed his little break from the diet....with no consequences!


Thank you Papa & Grandma for loving our Asher so much. Thank you for spending this kind of quality time with him....we all know that he will NEVER forget it!

Time with Daddy

Asher and Tatum LOVE their Daddy..a lot. They wait expectantly each day for his return home and the beginning of their special wrestle time! The other day, Asher was getting a little rough for my taste so I asked him to please be careful with Daddy. To which he replied, "Why, because he's old?" Keven and I laughed really hard at that!

The kids have also been playing with Keven's old hot wheel cars and Tonka trucks that he found in his dad's storage unit! It's been fun for Keven to bring them out, reminisce, and then watch his kids play with the toys he used to play with.

I'm thankful.

I read this quote in a book I'm reading and it is resonating with me today so I thought I'd share it with you!

Suppose for a moment that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and mind? And what about loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, who or what would be left of me?

Patrick Henry Reardon

I am thankful today.

Home Sweet Home

We are home! We have been home since about 1:30 this afternoon and it does feel good to be here and to have our family back together again.
Asher was amazing while we were with Tatum..we are so proud of him. Being away from us is not always easy for him but he did GREAT!
Tatum is amazing. We found out late in the day on the day of surgery that her epidural was leaking the medicine out of the insertion site. So, there is a good chance she was getting very little, if any, pain medication all day. You never would have known....must have a high pain tolerance like her mommy!
The final hurdle to coming home was getting her to walk. She had the IV in her foot so there was NO way she was going to walk until that was out...and the band-aid was off. That happened this morning and there has been no stopping her since.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We have been truly blessed this week.

Recovering

Well, we are resting in Tatum's room at Mary Bridge after a very successful surgery this morning. Everything went just as expected and we are now settling into our two day hospital stay. Tatum is doing as well as can be expected...sleeping occasionally....watching Diego....enjoying some peace and quiet. She has an epidural, catheter and IV in place so there isn't much moving around going on. All of those things will hopefully come out tomorrow.
We are now anticipating a visit from Papa, Grandma and Asher and later, NeNe!

Thanks so much for your prayers for our sweet girl. We are so blessed.

Surgery Update

Family and Friends,

Tatum's surgery is scheduled for 8:00 am tomorrow (tuesday). It should take around 1 1/2 hours.

I will update as soon as I can to let you know how everything went!

Thanks so much for your prayer support.

We love you!

Airplane Fun

We are at home today...resting...trying to get over this never ending cold/cough that has made its presence known for too long. With Tatum's surgery on Tuesday...we need her healthy. Please pray!

So, after watching some "history of airplanes" the kids got creative taping Q-tip bombs and boosters to their airplanes!