Be Strong and Courageous

Our church directory was updated and we finally had a family photo taken. Of course Addysen wouldn't smile to save the day, but it will be how we remember this age of "I will not smile, not even for a lollipop."

Remember the days gone by of 25 cent rides at the store fronts. Well our local grocery put one in this summer and Addysen loves it. Of course it is located at the cookie store which also stills gives cookies to the kids, rock on! (i took this picture with my camera and finally figured out how to get in onto my laptop.)

I cannot believe that it is past mid-September and fall is just a day away. The kids have been in school 3 weeks and we seem to all just be exhausted. Soccer and Ballet, youth group, MOPS the every day tasks seem to just be sucking the hours right out of our days. Of course the kids are glad to be back at school with their friends and yet not really enjoying the homework aspect of it all. We have been having major computer issues and hoping that they are resolved for now. I hope to add some photos soon and catch you up on all the other news in life. God Bless all of you .- Love Nicole

Well it finally arrived - 6 am this morning - up and Andrew , Emma and Mommy time to get ready for school. We were out the door by 710 and on our way to drop Andrew to his 2 ND year at the Intermediate school and begin 6 Th grade. This year he will have Mr Jonas, he was kind of glad to have a guy teacher. Oh yes and it started raining just in time for the drive in. Emma's school does not start until 855 so we had some time to kill, and came home. Addysen was a bit upset because she was pretty sure that she was going to get to stay the day at school as well ( she even got her own backpack last night - it is pint size). Emma got the teacher that I asked for by the skin of her teeth due to enrollment, but it was so nice to walk in and have her greet Emma by saying that her 3rd grade teacher had said so many nice things about her she couldn't wait to meet her. I pray they are able to reconnect with friends quickly and form new friendships as well. pictures coming soon.

So last night I went and registered Emma for Ballet, I am very excited for her to enter the world of dance. I danced from Kindergarten until 8th grade and love it; tap was my favorite. I think it was the noise factor. Andrew will have soccer starting the 2nd week of September, after taking last year off I know that he is very excited to get back out on the feild. Addysen and I will have MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) 2 times a month, and BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) every Thursday morning. Of course there is always our commitments to church with Women's ministry and Youth Group stuff, Keith is involved with the Grounds maintance program, and soon enough the kids will start rehersal for the Chritmas program again. Wait a minute did I just say Christmas, WOW!

This is picture of the kids with cousin Donovan. Andrew is 11 1/2, Emma 9 1/2 , Addysen 30 months and Donovan 18 months (yes he is a whole year younger than Addysen). What a blessing to be caught in the cooling trend here in Central Washington. We have had our share of 100 degree days but as of this week it has cooled tremendiously and we have been able to be out side most of the day with out complaint. it may even rain here this weekend. With so many friends and family in the South we have keeping our eye on the flooding and excessive high temps in the last few weeks. And of course our thoughts and prayers are with our men and women who are serving overseas in blistering temps under very dangerous terms. We pray that all come home safely and that their families are doing fine. The kids are getting ready to go back to school in just over 2 weeks and no one is more excited than I - LOL! School will of course bring back soccer practices for Andrew this fall and Ballet for Emma, she...

Welcome to my first Blog, I have decided to join the revolution. With so many of our friends in far away places I thought it would be nice to share our lives with you in a more regular way. Who knows Maybe some of you will do the same and we will reconnect old bonds and form new connections. Since I love to photograph our life it seems like and easy way to share them with you and give a few details as well. Our hope is that all are well, God bless - Love Nicole and family