G's Birthday Pictures (finally!)

I am thankful for my husband who was able to recover all (yes, all meaning all that we have ever ever taken) of our pictures that we deleted from our external hard drive. Because our computer has been working overtime I am just now getting to posting from the past few weeks!! Enjoy (if you make it through all of them)!

We decorated the house so that Graham would be surprised when he woke up in the morning!

A Clifford-themed party... This was for pin (tape) the bone on Clifford's mouth!
Happy Birthday, big boy!!
Enjoying an early morning e-card from Gramma and Granddaddy :o)
Opening presents from us after a birthday lunch!
Cheesy-Kate
"What?! You mean you put sand in this turtle?" Poor guy has been playing with an empty turtle for the past year and a half!
Mrs. Ellen came over early to give Graham a special present from their family... a wheelbarrow!
Graham's buddies from his church class (plus families!) came to celebrate with us!
The Clifford cake :o)
How many kiddos can fit on one slide?
The little cuties (Ella and Kate) playing together!
A very fun tunnel from Gramma and Granddaddy that keeps everyone (kids, adults, and cats) entertained!!
A Big Wheel from Gram-Gram and Pop-Pop!

Ride on big guy!!!

We love you, G-Man!! :o)

THREE!!

I can't believe that our little Graham man turned three today! It's amazing how it sometimes seems like three years have gone by so very fast (as in: I'm shocked when I realize that we have a three year old and not a three month old) but it ALSO sometimes seems like Graham and Kate have been a part of us forever (read: surely we've known this sweet little boy for longer than that!)! At any rate, we are SO thankful that God has blessed us these past three years with Graham in our lives. He brings laughter, energy (lots of energy), and compassion to our home every day. Having him has also helped sin in my life and in Nat's be exposed daily which has brought us to deeper levels of reliance upon the Gospel - there is no way that we could be considered "good" unless we are seen through Christ's righteousness. We love how G-ram is excited about everything in life - everything!! We pray (please pray with us!) that one day this personality trait will translate into an unquenchable excitement for Jesus and bringing God the glory in all of his life. We are so happy that you were born to us, Graham, and love you so very very much!!!

For a day in detail... I'm having trouble getting pictures on here tonight, but will hopefully have some soon. Graham had a fun birthday day, though! Nat took the morning off to take him canoeing (G was pumped because he saw an alligator and because a turtle almost went down his pants!) then they both came home for lunch. G opened his presents from us at lunch and played all afternoon while Nat went to church to get some work done and I attempted to pull a little party together for him (aka the cake fell apart so I spent a lot of time trying to sweet talk the icing into holding it together for me!). Graham's little buddies from his church class (and their families) came for pizza, cake, and to celebrate Graham's birthday with us!! The sky threatened rain but thankfully it was a beautiful night for lots of little feet to run around outside while the adults enjoyed some fellowship together. And Graham made sure that everyone knew that he was having a Clifford cake (he loves that big red dog)! We all really had a fun time and we were glad to have Graham's friends share it with him.

Happy Birthday again, Graham!! We love you love you love you!!!

Kate's Baptism

Today Kate was baptized by her daddy... a special privilege for sure! Nat did a good job explaining our purpose behind this sacrament during the service, so instead of trying to say it myself, I quote from him:

It is a great joy that we have today to be able to bring in

to the covenant family my own daughter, Kate, by giving to her as a sign and seal, the sacrament of baptism.

Baptism is one of the two sacraments (the other being the Lord's Supper) that Jesus gave us to serve as signs and seals of his covenant of grace.

After God made his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 1

7, saying “And I will establish my covenant betwee

n me and you and your offspring after you...” he gave the sign of circumcision to be given to all male Israelites as a sign and seal of this covenant of grace; serving as a sign to those who were born into the covenant, and sealing the promises of God to all who put their faith in him.

The bloody sign given to Abraham points to the blood Jesus suffered on the cross for the atoning of sins and no longer serves as a picture of what is to come. Therefore, after his death and resurrection, Jesus replaced the sign of the covenant with that of the Baptism of water.

In Acts 2:38-9 Peter, on the day of Pentecost, instructs all to repent and be baptized, and points back to the Covenant promise made to Abraham and his offspring, when he says, “For ​the promise is for you and for your children and for all ​who are far off, everyone ​whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Showing us that just as the children of covenant before Christ received the sign of the covenant, the children of believing parents should receive the sign of membership in the covenant family, and the seal of God's pledge to keep his promise to all those who come to saving faith in

him.

The sacrament of baptism is not a memorial or dedication, but a means of grace and a sign and seal of that grace.

Nor is the sacrament of baptism a washing away of this child's sin, rather it signifies the washing away of sin by Jesus' blood to all who come to faith in Christ.

Neither will Kate become a Christian today, as if it were through this sacrament, rather she will be brought into the covenant family where her faith will be encouraged not only by believing parents, but through a family of believers within the church as a whole.

It is for these reasons that we baptize, and I encourage you, as we administer this sacrament, that you spend time and remember your own baptism and the sign and seal it serves you, allow it to uplift your faith this morning as you remember the work God began in you.

We love you, sweet Kate!!

Today

We have been having some beautiful weather here in Texas and want to share it with you!!

Kate is standing by herself now (not taking more than one step, but I still can't believe it!) and Graham is excited for when "she gets bigger" and can run around with him.

Soccer man Graham

Loving the swing!

I'm contemplating playing a little more catch up... bear with me (sorry parents)!!

The Sock Hop!!

We had a kickin' time at the Sock Hop! Westminster Christian Academy (a ministry of our church) put this on and we had so so much fun! ...As a side note, I know it's been ages since I've posted on here. Our desktop computer died so I'm at the mercy of Nat's laptop and we have just stayed super busy lately. It's a shame too because we have a brand new camera that we are having so much fun learning how to use!! Perhaps I'll be better (?) -- I'll try! Instead of playing major catch up, I figure I'll just start... here!!

The nerds, a baby and a greaser who walked through some major wind - instead of slicked down, the gel gave G a nice spike ;o)

I stayed up with these sweet friends crazy late trying to make poodle skirts for ourselves... Joni did most of the work! Alissa, Kate, me, Joni and Ella

Traci was supercute in her getup too!!

Nat won the limbo competition -- I had no idea he could limbo! I love how all of the kids in the background are cheering him on! Ha!!!

Cheese :o)

G-Ram had a blast dancing!

What a bash!!!

Lull

Sorry for the lull in posts! Especially to our family who likes to see pictures of the kids!! The past few weeks (from Thanksgiving on really) have been chaotic (but good!) and... it continues! Hopefully soon I can have some consistency again :o) We'll see. I've never been very consistent.

Anyway, I hope that you are all enjoying this week leading up to Christmas and I pray that we will all slow down (myself included!) from the hustle and bustle and cooking and cleaning and wrapping to enjoy one another and, most importantly, to reflect and celebrate the first Christmas morning when Jesus Christ was born!!!

Boys Will Be Boys

Some good friends of ours needed someone to watch their son Jackson while Joni had surgery on her hand this morning so we gladly had Jackson join us for last night through today. While I was in the shower this morning (and, believe it or not, Nat was in the very next room!! but he said they sounded like they were playing so happily together he didn't think to check out what they were doing) the boys had a par-tay in the kitchen!! To be more accurate, they were playing in the "snow" and totally emptied our flour/sugar cannisters for it to be snowing in the house. it.is.everywhere. They were having a BLAST!!! Needless to say, flour and sugar have been added to the shopping list ;o)

Thank you, Graham and Jackson, for the biggest laugh of the week (what else can you do when you walk in to this?!)!!!