April/May 2011

During 2010 we have been learning how important the power of prayer is. We have learned that we can be good christian people and try really hard at doing the right thing but without the power of prayer we would be working in our strength. God wants to provide us with so much more beyond what we can comprehend or imagine. Therefore in the this new year we would like to begin being more purposefully with our prayer life and share them with you, our faithful family and friends. (Plus it gives you non-facebookers and peek into our daily lives.)  And please feel free to send us any prayer requests that your families may have.

~Whew! Spring has sprung and the days are busy! Finally! Just a quick review of the past few months... a friend and myself spruced up our church's 2-3 room with a new coat of paint, Kimberly performed special music at the evening service, Ken and I attended a leadership conference together, Meghan celebrated her 3rd birthday, I celebrated my 36th birthday, I walked a 5K, KJ is working on a 6-week special project at work, we celebrated Easter and Mother's Day, and lived everyday life in between!! Life is good!

~ Courtney has had another ear infection and that makes 6 since January. The peditrician has said that either this is a really stubborn ear infection or her adnoids are too big and blocking the ear canal from draining. She has been on a low-dose anitibotics for 30 days, if she doesn't get another ear infection in the next month or so then we are in the clear, if she does get another one than we are off to the ENT specialist to see if they might need to remove her adnoids. Please keep it prayer.

~ I am finishing up my duties on the nominating committee at church. We are only shy one person for a full ballot of officers. Please keep it all in prayer, the annual meeting is next Thursday.

~KJ is also finished with his annual budget process for the church. The church will vote on it next week at the annual meeting, please keep the meeting and all aspects of the process in prayer.

~Nice weather has hit and the kids are ready to be done with school, piano, ballet, etc. Pray that they finish the year well.

~Kimberly is going to summer camp for the first time! She will attend a local christian day camp called Pinnacle. She will go with 3 other little girls from our church. Pray for a good time and financial resources.

~This Saturday I am going with both Princess #1 and Princess #2 and both Moms to NYC so the girls can pick out an American Girl doll. They have saved all of their allowances, birthday money, and extra monies over the last few years and both have earned enough to buy a doll. We are going to have a fun time, just keep mommy in prayer as we try and navigate the wilds of NYC!!

~I am in the full thros of VBS, recruiting, recruiting, recruiting!! My least favorite part! Pray that God will bring the right people to the leadership team so that we can have a successful VBS this year.

~It is the spring selling season and houses are coming on the market. We have looked at a few, please pray that the right house will be available and within our price point. Pray for wisdom and knowledge as we walk through the process.

~PopPop and MomMom are house swapping! Northern missionaries, who live in Alaska are coming to visit for 3 months and live in their house, while PopPop and MomMom go and visit Alaska for 3 months and live in their house. (I think they are also going to try and make a quick swing through CA to see their soon-to-be new grandson) Keep all the details in prayer!

Well, I guess that sums up us for the last few months and coming months...
here are some dates to Mark on the Calendar:
5/23: Princess #2's final ballet class/performance at 3pm in the library
5/24: Princess #1's ballet recital at 6pm ($4/person admission)
6/18: Princess #1 and Princess #2's piano recital at 6pm at
6/19: Prince Charming (in a quartet) will be singing in the AM service (9:30am)
6/22: Princess #2's Kindergarten graduation
6/24: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
7/10: Princess #2 plays special music in PM service (7pm)
7/11-7/15: Princess #1 summer camp
7/17-7/22: VBS
7/31: Princess #1 plays special music in the PM service (7pm)

Princess #3's first haircut with Aunt Beautitican

Princess #2 starring in her school play, "The Mitten" by Jan Brett, she played the grandmother

Princess #1 playing piano in church

Princess #3's 3rd birthday

Princess #2 lost both of her bottom teeth

Family Easter picture

Dresses made by Grandma

Domestic Goddess's 36th birthday

Painting project for Mother's Day

Final Totals

The weatherman said this is the most snow we have gotten in 30 years!  We ended up with about 36 inches in total...surprisingly 5 miles to our east only got about 10 inches of snow and to our west they got about 40 inches!  What an odd storm!.  The hard part about this storm was that the snow was heavy wet snow, great for making snowballs and snowmen, but impossible to move.  Nobody could plow it or snowblow it without getting stuck! I think today is the first day you could drive the roads without feeling as if you are in a tunnel because the banks of snow on the side of the road are higher than the car.  Everyone in town now has power and internet access.  We are slowly recovering from this massive snow...

No these are not snow banks, this is how high the snow is... look at it relative to the door

This is our snow banks

Our front yard

Snow banks on the road

From the road looking at our house, tried to get the snow banks at the end of the drive

You can see how hight it is on the roof

The snow bank in the left of the picture really does touch the roof of the building

Global Warming

We are expierencing the full effects of "global warming" as you can see... hehe


We got about 26 inches yesterday and another 24 inches is expected today

It hard to see but the snow level is up to about the top of the wheels on the pathfinder
The snow is up to the second step on our first porch before the plow came through and pushed snow banks up to the top step, the pictures definitely do not it justice....

I will try and post again after this next storm, should be about 3-4 feet of snow in the fields and about 5-6 feet of snow banks.  At least we have power which is more than I can say about the rest of the town...

Happy Birthday Prince Charming!!

Since we are getting over/in the middle of croup in our household, we didn't have a big celebration for Prince Charming's birthday.  I made a dinner of his choice: bacon wrapped mojito scallops, bacon cheeseburgers, homemade french fries, and tossed salad.  Top it all off with rum cake and vanilla ice cream!  YUMMY dinner!  Then the girls and I gave him our gifts, a playstation game he wanted and a travel mug with the girls pictures on it.  Finally, we played a rousing game of Sorry, Prince Charming's favorite game, which I won!  It was small and quiet but still enjoyable.  So, Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

33 Years old

Prince Charming's Dinner of Choice

Prince Charming not being so charming

Fun Pictures

Just some fun pictures from the last few months....

Shopping for Mom with the siblings and Pop
Wrestle time with Daddy

Princess #3's Big Girl Bed

Princess #3's MP3 Player (Fisher Price FP3 Player)
Daddy and Princess #2
Grandma and Princess #3 doing the dishes

Finally got some snow

Happy 5th Birthday Princess #2!

Time goes fast.... seems just like the other day she was a tiny baby

5th Birthday
4th Birthday
3rd Birthday
2nd Birthday
1st Birthday
A few hours old

Around KJ's Table: September 5th- September 11th

 Let's start out with a moment to remember It was also the first day of school this week: And back to prep-ahead meals since all my cook...