Confirmation!

CONFIRMATION: The sacrament in which, through the laying on of hands, anointing with chrism, and prayer, those already baptized are strengthened in the Holy Spirit in order that they made steadfastly profess the faith and faithfully live up to their profession. (Catholic Dictionary; John A Hardon, S.J.)

With the Archbishop.

My apologies to those I just could not fit into the frame.

James and Madison with our parish priest, Fr. Jon VanderPloeg

Madison with her confirmation sponsor, Aunt Marie and her godparents, Mary (family friend) and Uncle Steve.

James with his confirmation sponsors, Mr. M and Uncle David

Yes, I know. But you don't understand just how difficult it is to get a picture of Madison with her eyes open.

I am so proud of you both. You both put forth a great deal of effort in preparing for this day. I pray you will continue to let the Holy Spirit have His way in your heart and in your life. May you be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and live in such a way to put those gifts to good use in the years ahead. I love you both so very much. Congratulations.

G'ma Jan

James and some friends, Isaiah and Andy.

Well, Madison, you should feel loved!!

16!!

James turned 16 on Saturday. Aunts, uncles, cousins,

g'ma, sisters, brother and mom all joined in the fun!

These are my favorite pictures of the day!

Doesn't James look so handsome struttin' around with his new purses.

I do believe they were his favorite gifts!

(ok... so the purses really belong to my nieces, but we all got a few good laughs from this)

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, James. Know that you are loved dearly!

Swing Dancing

A group of youth from church wanted to get together and go swing dancing, again. They went about a month ago for the the first time and really enjoyed themselves. Yesterday a group got together and went out again. Quite a few of the kids have been taking dance lessons through home school group and really have fun dancing on a real dance floor with a live orchestra. And it is fun for us parents to see our teens dress up, watch our young men act like gentlemen when they ask a lady for a dance and escort her onto the dance floor, and see our young ladies twirl around a dance floor!

James and Myriah agreed to comply with their mother's request (ok, so it was more like pleading) to get a video clip of the two of them dancing together. Of course, we had to go off to the side! But at least I have them on film!! Actually, I think they kind of have fun dancing together. They danced a few dances together out on the dance floor and at home they will even dance in the living room!

I do have a couple other videos that for some reason are not downloading to blogger. I will try in another post, maybe tomorrow.

FIFTEEN!

My son turned 15 years old today! And what a wonderful young man he is becoming!

James, May you continue to grow in the grace of our heavenly Father. Know that you are loved beyond measure! Happy Birthday, my son. I hope you enjoyed your breakfast banana split :)

Fencing!

Uncle David and Aunt Kari... you were right! James and Lawrence have been participating in a fencing class and having a grand time! I think they look very cool in their gear!

"Pret??"

"Oui!"

"Allez!"

My boys and I are learning French! Isn't that exciting??

Well, I knew I was picking up a few new words in French, the boys just knew they were learning a few terms needed for their new sport. Any guesses as to what that new sport may be??

I think I'll make you wait a couple weeks until they have class again and I can take pictures of them. They looked really cute tonight in their gear! (Please, don't tell them I said that!)

They both had a lot of fun!! They are excited for the next class, and so am I!

They're home!

I have all 5 of my children under one roof again! Myriah and James are home... with lots of stories to catch us up on and lots of sleep to catch themselves up on!! It's so nice to have 'em home!

She coming home!

Myriah will be home sometime late tonight! She has been away in North Dakota on a mission trip with our church this past week and I miss her! The down side is: she will only be home for the night. Tomorrow I take her and James to church and they will both be gone for a local mission this next week. These mission opportunities are great experiences for teens to step outside of themselves and give to others. Myriah has been involved in the missions for 4 years now and her faith and maturity have grown immensely because of the experiences she's had. This will be James' first mission experience and I am anxious to see what impact it makes on him!

Happy Birthday, James

14 years went by so fast! You're taller than me and still growing. Where did my sweet little baby boy go? I love you, James. Happy Birthday. May God pour out His spirit upon you and help you to become the man He so desires you to be!

Teenager!

Yes.... it happened. Today, in fact. Our second child, the oldest son, turned 13!





We are so thankful to God for choosing us to be your parents! We love you! Happy Birthday!

BRACES!

The long awaited for day finally arrived. This morning the braces went on. Lloyd is so excited about his braces. He is anticipating a great smile in a couple of years and is ready for whatever it takes to get it (even head-gear, which will be added in a couple of months). I just hope that all the extra care that goes into brushing with braces and all the denied foods don't spoil his excitement too soon. And he even chose green and gold bands in honor of the Green Bay Packers (his mother's favorite football team).