ABCs

I finally got a video of Gracie singing her ABCs. Actually, it's E through Z (She started singing before the video started recording). Usually, when I pull the camera out, she stops whatever she's doing and says, "No...shy!" Unfortunately, the lighting isn't the best, but at least we got it! This has been a bit of a challenging week for us. Rocky is teething and also starting to express his displeasure when he's told "no." We've been working on obedience more intently now that he's started crawling and going for things like the floor lamp. I forgot how hard this is in the beginning. It makes me appreciate Gracie's obedience even more and gives me hope that Rocky will learn. We just have to be consistent and trust the Lord for patience. Please pray for us in this.
Praise the Lord for the fall weather! We've enjoyed taking walks outside this week in the cool air. We live on a small cul-de-sac, and Gracie loves to walk down to the end and back. There are several things we have to stop and look at on the way--the red house, the moss patch growing by the road, the fire hydrant, etc. Today, Gracie collected pine cones, and we put them in a planter on our step. It's so fun to watch her get excited about such simple things! She's talking so much now. It's great to be able to communicate with her. It's funny to hear her say things and then realize that she's picked up certain expressions from us. Lately, when she's eating, I'll ask her if she needs help getting food on her fork, and she'll say, "I got it!" Then, I started realizing how much I say that when I'm all set with something. If I can get a video of her saying it, I'll post it.
Over the last few weeks, I've started reading The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur. We just got the anniversary edition from Grace to You. I'd actually never read it, so I thought it was about time I did. I have really enjoyed it. It's amazing to me to read different passages from the gospels that I've known my whole life and realize how much was there that I had missed. Yesterday, I finished the chapter on Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler. It's so sad to see him choose his wealth and position over Christ, and it made me wonder what I'm holding on to that I need to submit to Christ. When I really stop and consider the value of Christ, I'm convicted by how foolishly I value other less important things.

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his own soul?"
~Matthew 16:26

Birthday fun!

On October 1st, Gracie turned two! We had a family party for her on Monday night. She definitely likes cake! She asked for it for breakfast the next day! (We said no).

Getting every last crumb...

"Happy Birthday to you..."
Here we were actually singing to Lou; his birthday was on October 3rd.

Opening gifts

Gracie with her cousin Maddy (I couldn't get both of them to look at the camera at the same time. Gracie doesn't like having her picture taken lately. She'll tell me, "No...shy.")

Reading her cards...

A quick shot of Rocky and me...his hair really is blonde!! Lou's dad said that Lou's hair was blonde until he was about seven. Rocky certainly doesn't get it from me! We are all just about recovered from our bout of colds. The kids have been glad to get out of the house again and go for walks on our street. It's really starting to feel like fall around here--leaves changing, cool wind, sweaters!

New York City and Birthdays

On Tuesday, Lou, Rocky, and I headed to New York City for the TMS Alumni dinner. Gracie stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. Rocky would have, too, but he's still nursing and we waited too long to try to introduce a bottle... Here's Rocky enjoying himself on the big bed in the hotel room; he's so happy to be out of the car after a 5 hour drive!
More smiles...Rocky loves NY!
Here is Rocky with Ray Mehringer at the dinner. I love this picture. He and Ray really hit if off; Rocky kept rubbing noses with him. We had a great time at the dinner. It was so encouraging to meet other sem grads and those considering TMS in New England. Lou was asked to speak about his testimony and how he ended up at TMS. Since Lou graduated in December 2005, he never got to give his senior testimony, so he joked that now he had his opportunity!

Wednesday, October 1, was Gracie's 2nd birthday! Unfortunately, we were all sick except for Rocky, but we still sang and opened presents. She's having her official family party on Monday, but we had to give her our presents on her birthday. She got some presents from Grandma and Granpa, too. Here she is opening Kipper books. She loves Kipper! She got some videos, too, that my mom found on Ebay. He's a dog with a British accent, and the stories are very sweet.
Gracie is clapping because we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. It's one of her favorite songs. She sings it all the time. In fact, sometimes when Lou comes home from work, she says, "Happy Birthday!" to him. I think she thinks it's a greeting. Although if she says it tomorrow, she'll be correct. Lou will be 35 tomorrow!!!!!
Opening presents....
Gracie checking out her sparkly bracelets!

I took this video tonight while we were having dinner. Gracie does this all the time, and it just makes us laugh. She points to her mouth and says, "Oh!" if we try to give her another bite before she finishes the one in her mouth. Sometimes Lou even tries to give her a bite early on purpose just to watch her do it!

Rocky is starting to hold himself in a standing position. Gracie decides to check out his progress!

Vacation!

We thank the Lord for providing a vacation for us! Lou had two weeks off. We spent the first week in New Hampshire and the second week at home. We did day trips and stuff. Here is Rocky trying out the swings at a playground in New Hampshire. We met our friends, Craig and Tiffany Johnson and their family, there.

Here are Gracie and Rocky in the maze garden at Heritage Plantation. This is a little museum and garden area on Cape Cod. Gracie was trying to pat the giraffe topiary.

This is the windmill at Heritage Plantation. The grounds are really beautiful. We had fun just walking around with the kids and being outside!

Here is Gracie on her first carousel ride! Heritage Plantation has this hand-carved, 100 year old carousel; it's really beautiful! Gracie loved riding the horses!

Rocky is trying on a pirate hat in the pirate exhibit. Who knew Cape Cod had so much pirate history? I guess they found the remains of a pirate ship off the coast of the Cape a few years ago. The exhibit was really interesting, and kids enjoyed playing in the interactive sections.

Gracie looking out the window at the cottage in New Hampshire. The cottage is right on a pond, so Gracie loved watching all the birds and animals around the pond.

Gracie pretending to be a cow at the Cabot store.

This was the mist on the pond one morning in New Hampshire. God's creation is so beautiful! It's amazing how still the water is in the morning!

Gracie and Rocky ready to go out and play!

Here's Gracie on the swings at the playground! She loved it! We praise the Lord for so much family time together. Ministry life is very busy, and it was nice to be together and to have some great fellowship. We saw the Johnsons in New Hampshire, and we were also able to see Patrick and Sarah Slyman in Rockport, MA on our way up to New Hampshire. Patrick graduated from TMS with Lou. On the second Sunday of our vacation, we drove out to Bethlehem Bible Church and visited Mike Abendroth and his people. It was great to see what the Lord is doing in some of the other New England churches.

Well, I'm attempting to upload a video! Rocky got his second haircut last week while Lou was on vacation. We took a drive to see Lou's dad at work (he's a barber), and Rocky got a trim! Unfortunately, my camera card filled up right at the end of the video so we didn't catch Rocky's huge smile at the end of the haircut. (You'll notice it ends kind of abruptly).

Pajama Time!

Rocky hiding his lips; I think he looks so cute when he does this! Rocky got his first haircut on Monday. Lou's dad cut it. He's been a barber for over 35 years, and he cut Lou's hair all his life (still does!). Rocky is now entering into the tradition!

Gracie running around--look at all those curls! She certainly didn't get those from me!

Playing together on the floor (Gracie was clapping; she really isn't about to clobber Rocky)

Yes, this is Rocky leaning over to eat his toe! Such a crazy little guy!

Finally, a picture of them sitting together...see below photos for all we went through to get this!

This is just a cute one of Rocky from the other day. He has the sweetest little face! He's been giving kisses lately, but he doesn't fully get the concept. He'll just open his mouth and push it against your face. It's cute, but a bit messy. This week has been full of running around for us. We are most likely going to break down and buy a minivan tomorrow. We're getting ready to go on vacation next week and realized that once we put two strollers and two pack 'n plays in the trunk, we're out of room! Plus, we're hoping to have more kids eventually, so we'll be saying good-bye to our Camry soon. Praise the Lord, the van we're looking at is great! The price is good, and the Lord has allowed all the details to come together. That is such a blessing. Although getting a car is exciting, it's a lot of stress, too. Time for Rocky to get up from his nap...more news later!

Some Serious Silliness

Rocky loves to put his pacifier in the wrong way. In this picture, he looks like he's trying to be scary...rrrraaaaarrr!!!!

Gracie decided to join in on the fun!

Here the pacifier is upside down (it's kind of hard to tell)

And here's just a cute one of Daddy and Rocky! Praise the Lord! He has sustained us through another week, and we are all doing well. We're looking forward to going on vacation soon. We'll be heading up to New Hampshire where we've gone before. Our friends Craig and Tiffany Johnson are at a church there, and there's a couple in their church who have a cottage they let us stay in. It's wonderful; the cottage is on a lake, and it's just time to relax and hang out as a family.
This week the Lord has been reminding me that I need to trust Him and not hold on too tightly to my schedule/routine. It seems like something has come up each day this week that disrupts our normal flow of life. Thankfully, none of the disruptions have been bad; some have even been fun (we went into Boston on Monday and got pizza in the North End--the Italian district--that was yummy!). I guess I'm one of those people who likes to feel like they have things under control, but the Lord has His way of reminding me that although I might make my plans, the Lord will direct my steps. Praise the Lord that He loves me enough to help me learn these lessons!
The kids are doing well. Rocky is teething but handling it well. Gracie is singing more and more. She can sing the ABC song well enough for us to understand 95% of the letters, and she's working on "Jesus Loves Me". It's really cute; she'll sing the "Yes" in the chorus and "Bible". The rest is unintelligible. She also shocked us the other day by counting to ten! We've been over the numbers lots of times, but I didn't realize that she'd learned them. We really have to try to figure out youtube so we can post some of these little milestones. She's also starting to get more protective of her toys and not always wanting to share with Rocky, so we're working on that one. Any ideas???
Lou is keeping busy as ever. He's been busy studying Judges in addition to his regular studies as he's hoping to begin going through it after we return from vacation. He's been preaching through the gospel of John on Sunday mornings for a few months now, and that's been a blessing. Other than that, not too much news to report! I can't believe summer is almost over!

Day Trips with Daddy

We praise the Lord for bringing everything together for our "Pursuing God" conference last weekend. Our fellowship group pastor from California, Phil Johnson, came and taught. We had people from our church and from other churches in MA and even some from New Hampshire. It was a blessing for all of us to hear God's Word and to fellowship with one another. Phil and his wife Darlene stayed with us. Darlene really hit it off with Gracie and Rocky; she was a huge help with them. Gracie was a bit afraid of Phil despite all his efforts to get her to talk to him. After such a busy weekend, Lou and I decided to go to Falmouth, another town on the Cape, for a day trip. For lunch, we stopped at a 1950s diner where the above picture was taken. We just changed Rocky's car seat from an infant seat, so this was his first time in a high chair at a restaurant. He loved it! And Gracie did, too! (you can see she's reaching for him in the picture).

Here's the whole family after lunch at the diner

We love this picture even though it's blurry since it captures all of their enthusiasm!

Some scenic photos of Nobska Light in Falmouth. We're still thinking about trying to sell pictures online, so we've been taking a lot more scenic shots. It's so beautiful here!