Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen or ye be a son of a biscuit eater!

Our good friend from LeTourneau, Jamie Zaehring and his wife, Michelle came to visit us for four days over the weekend. It was lovely. It would have been nice if the kids (and then us) weren't sick with colds, but we made the best of it. A huge shout out to the Lobner family who drove a long way to watch our sick kids while they had family visiting so we could go somewhere respectable for dinner with the Zaehrings. We have a deal where Ben teaches their oldest guitar in exchange for free babysitting. We LOVE this bartering system, it definitely meets a need for us.

Jamie made us lots of good food and they graciously tried my spicy Indian food. It was fun to have late night talks with friends and dream of living near each other in the Puget Sound. Six years ago, Jamie took me and Ben on a sailboat trip there. I've been all over the world, but this vacation, to the Puget Sound in Washington state was my favorite. Although I can't swim and large bodies of water scare me a bit, I found heaven in the slow rocking of the sailboat as we fell asleep at night. I learned about phosphorescence the tiny glowing plankton in the water that lit up when disturbed. The two others (shown above) that joined us on our sailing trip went on a paddle boat ride one evening after dark and every time they pushed their oars through the water they left a glowing path behind them. It was like a fairytale!

We sang sea shanties and practiced our pirate vocabulary. Whales followed our boat, we ate crab and fish that was alive two minutes previous and I bought a cool alpaca bag that is still my favorite duffel. I'm pretty sure the older Clifford series on PBS was based on the little islands off the coast of Washington, like Friday Harbor where Jamie grew up, you should watch it sometime. It's a charmed life on the islands and I can't wait to go back someday, maybe to stay!

A little to share

For four weeks in a row we had snow storms, the fifth week called for another and we were spared. Now two weeks later, all the snow has finally melted. You can still find a few piles here and there, but the rain has taken care of the snow piles that were previously taller than humans. During the storms, I drove by a church who's sign outside read, "Whoever is praying for snow can stop now!" Down the road from our house I saw a homemade sign stuck in a large pile of snow, "Yellow snow on demand."

A new season is upon us and we are busy. Ben is preparing, like a good farmer, for chicks and laying hens that we'll be getting in the next few weeks. During the slowest season in real estate, I've had a break from making virtual tours for Pissocra-Matthias Realty. It'll pick up soon enough. Meanwhile, the Mommy group in Sugarcreek I've been attending since Juju was born has been growing like crazy. The leader and I decided that I would start a new group at my church, since we're in different towns. It starts this Tuesday. We already have a "Baby Room" at our church where young moms come and take from our baby related donations. The two ministries seem to go well together. I'm taking on a greater role in the latter ministry as well helping recruit donations to keep up with the needs we're finding.

We're still having fun with the worship team, also growing. The whole church is really. It's neat to be part of something you can see God moving in. I'm also working with a couple people as a counselor. It's so much better than before though, seems like all the fun is zapped when you get paid for something.

We were able to have dinner with our former foster daughter, Kim, this past week. She left yesterday for Wisconsin to be with her baby. We're still waiting to hear that you got there ok, Kim! A friend from LeTourneau University, Jamie Zaehring and his wife, Michelle will be visiting us this week from Washington state, we can hardly wait to see them. I wonder if we'll have the chicks by then!

We have life, we have death. My grandma's twin brother died this week and I'm praying she and Grandpa drive home safely today from Illinois to Tennessee. Our two friends expecting twins had their babies about three weeks ago, and lots more babies have come since! Welcome to the world Austin and Sienna, Gideon and Salem, Kolter Alan, Josie Bloom and Elsie Grace!! We're so thankful for all of you!

Another photographer in the family...

"He's not Dad, he's GRAND-PA!" This is the important fact I was reminded of repeatedly during the three days we enjoyed my Dad's...er Grandpa's visit. Z so enjoyed his Grandpa being here, he gave him NO rest. Z is very, very, very wiggly right now. When I worked as a counselor, I made a mental note that eight year old boys are wiggly. I now know that three and a half year olds are twice as wiggly! This is the only picture Grandpa was able to get Z to look at the camera, be still and smile for. To me this picture is gold!

Juju, on the other hand, says, "Cheese!" when you point a camera at her,

puts on her best smile and poses for you.

Grandpa was very brave letting a one and a

half year old hold his little camera. She loved it though.

"You are coming back, right, Grandpa?"

Thanks for the pictures, Dad. We enjoyed your visit! Keep your eye on the slideshow over the weekend for pictures we got of you while you were here.