This Week...

 Today I put Ila May in my mom's bonnet from when she was a baby. 

 The other day we went to The Home Depot and of course had to take this picture.

 We also have been doing some yard work getting ready for Spring! 

Going for a Truck Ride

 This morning my uncle Rick came by to give Levi a ride in his 1951 Chevy truck that he's been restoring.  Levi LOVES uncle Ricks trucks and cars and every time Levi sees uncle Rick he always asks him about his yellow truck.  So uncle Rick surprised Levi today and brought it over.  

 They both were so excited to play in the truck.  Plus uncle Rick let Levi take it for a drive.

 Then Lulu got to drive it.  Mark said that Levi was very focused and serious about driving and Lulu was excited and was looking all around having fun. 

Going for a walk

Today we had such nice sunny weather that we went for a walk around our neighborhood.  

 We stopped to watch this dump truck.  When the truck was done it drove past us and the kids waved and the driver gave them a honk.  Levi was so excited about that.

 We love walks.  We have many, many hills in our area and our rule on walks is that we run up every hill.  They love this, I love that they burn so much energy.

 The cherry blossoms are blooming!

This rock was my old bus stop growing up.  We called it bus stop rock.  

The First Day of....

...our daughter Lulu's new life in Christ!

Today she prayed that God would save her!

 Mark and I have been noticing for about the last year or so that Lulu has been really interested in heaven and hell.  She loves talking about Jesus dying on the cross and why He did that.  She's been asking so many wonderful questions and has shown concern for people in our life that don't love and follow Jesus.  Her heart has always been burdened for the lost people in our family.  She prays for these family members who don't follow Jesus because she knows that they are heading to hell and that really bothers her.  She knows that when they are in hell there is no way for them to get out.  She knows they will eternally be separated from God with no hope.  She wants so badly for these family members and friends to know and love Jesus so they won't be in hell when they die.  But what Lulu didn't know (maybe she did) is that her dad and I have been praying for her. We have been praying that her love for Jesus and the lost would turn into her crying out to God to save her.  We have been praying that God would save Lulu and that He would draw her to Him at a young age.  The thing that Mark and I have also been praying is that it would not be our doing but God's.  We didn't want to have her repeat some prayer that we told her to pray.  We truly wanted to see a heart change in her and for her to see her sins and want to run to our Lord to save her.

This morning we were all talking about heaven and hell.  We were talking about that many people don't believe in hell, they just like to believe in heaven.  We talked about how we know hell is real and that God has made it very clear in the Bible that hell is a real place.  Also God has made if very clear that EVERYONE is heading there.  Why?  Because of our sins.  Some questions we asked: Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stole anything?  Those are just 2 of the 10 commandants that God gave us.  If  you have done any of those then you are guilty of sin.  If you are guilty of sin where do you think God should send you?  Heaven????? No, you are guilty!  Hell is where sinners go.  And God has made it very clear that being a good person will not make up for your sins and being good will not get you into heaven. It's only by Jesus who died on the cross paying our debt that we owed.  We were sinners and Jesus stepped in and payed the price for OUR sins so that we can be in heaven someday with Him.   

So Lulu, Mark and I talked about her sins.  She told us she has sinned.  I then asked her if she were to die today where would she go?  And she told me "hell." She was very concerned and very burdened that this was where she was heading.  We told her that her mommy and daddy were once heading to hell.  We also told her that we cried out to God to save us and that we needed Jesus and His amazing grace.  She thought about all of this for a bit.  We could see in her eyes and how she was in deep thought all morning that God was working on her heart. Mark told Lulu that when God calls us we don't wait.  We need to run to Him right then.  Then she thought some more.  Mark and I started talking a bit and noticed that Lulu wasn't next to us.  We were wondering where she went.  We looked out in the living room and found her.  I asked her if she was praying and she said "yes." So we told her to go down to her room and spend some time praying to God and that when she was done to come out and tell us.  She was so excited that she ran down the hall into her room.  While she was down there Mark and I sat and prayed for her.  When she was done she came back down the hall with tears running down her cheeks.  She was crying tears of joy.  She was so joyful and she had a peace about her.  It was such an amazing thing to witness.  Mark and I were crying, Lulu was crying.  It was so special.  Lulu was so happy and was dancing around the house because she was a new creation in Christ.  

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

We have been celebrating all day what Jesus did for Lulu.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins and it is an amazing feeling to know that our little girl is now saved. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2012

 We woke up and got our green outfits on so no one would get pinched.

 Then we ate green cinnamon rolls with green milk and a green apple.

Sisters

Umbrella

 This week we are learning about umbrellas for our Grandma Class. Today was the perfect day for it too.  Lot's of rain.  Although we did learn that the first umbrella was not designed for rain, but for the sun to shade people.  Lulu has a parasol that was my great-great grandmothers.

 This morning the kids has a fun package on the front step that my mom left for them.  This is what was in it. 

 While the kids were enjoying their fun treats I was reading them some fun facts about umbrellas.

 We made umbrellas out of oranges and pretzel sticks.

Then the kids decorated a picture of an umbrella.  Levi colored his and Lulu cut out pieces of paper and glued them to her umbrella.

Thanks Mother!  They love it.



Happy 33rd Anniversary!

 Yesterday was my parents 33rd wedding anniversary.  What a great example they are to our family.  They love each other!  Thursday we celebrated and invited our family over to celebrate with us.

 Check out my mom's blog for more pictures. 

Happy Anniversary! 

Ten Months

 Today Ila May is 10 months old.  She is crawling all over the house.  She loves playing with Lulu and Levi and LOVES being held.  She also LOVES to practice walking while we hold her hands.  She understands no and yes which has been very nice now that she's crawling.  She weighs about 17lbs and is in 6-9month clothing.  What a joy she is!

Forts

 It's a fort building day around here. 

I love fort days. It means we have nothing planned and it's such a relaxed day to just be a family and play.

Dress Up

Today my Aunt Linda came over. She brought Lulu a wedding veil to play dress up with. Levi got out his fireman hat and they played and played. I dug through the boxes in the garage and found my real bow bouquet from my wedding rehearsal.  I have saved it all these years and it's now come in handy!  I just knew I would have a little girl who would need it someday.

Levi made the couch a truck and was Lulu's chauffeur and they drove to Mexico.  Aunt Linda was the mechanic when they broke down and she also was the drive through person at McDonald's when they got hungry.