Jensen's First Day of Kindergarten

Well, the day finally came today, Jensen started kindergarten. He was really excited to go and because he had gone to a jump start program last month to get him prepared for kindergarten there were no tears. He said he had a great time and he really likes his teacher, Mrs. Prout. That's about all I got out of him, not many details, like his dad. Here are some pictures from today.

Peyton wanted to go to school too!

He is now a Parkdale Panther

Walking into school

Jensen's classroom

I thought this was funny, this is how Peyton fell asleep while Jensen was at school

Joyce Meyer

A few weeks ago I had the chance to spend a few days with my mom at a Joyce Meyer Conference. It was a really great time. I enjoyed spending time with mom and with her friend Diane. The conference was such a great experience. Joyce is such a wonderful speaker and she is just so real. She spoke on Healthy living: spiritual health, mental health, emotional health and physical health. Delirious was there leading worship. It was a really great conference and I would recommend it to anyone who can go when she comes to your town!

Summer Fun

This past weekend we went to a party at Brian's cousin Duane's cabin at Wixom Lake. We had a really nice day boating and visiting with relatives and a campfire at night. Jensen had been on a speed boat before but Peyton had it and he loved it. He went out on the boat at least 3 times with a huge smile on his face every time. Jensen like the paddle boat and he went on that quite a few times with his cousin Sara and with Brian. He did accidentally fall in the water once when he and his cousin Taylor were playing on the dock, thank goodness he was wearing a life jacket and there were adults close by to get him out right away. Enough to scare him and Mom though. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Picture of the cabin

Paddleboats

Loving this piece of watermelon

Riding in the speedboat

Peyton wanted in on this game of volleyball so bad

Grandma Jan, Aunt Norma & Uncle Ralph

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert

Brian and I had the amazing privilege of attending Steven Curtis Chapman's second concert back since the tragic death of his little girl, Maria. It was the most amazing event I have experienced. Of course it was extremely emotional but it was also a great time of worship. Steven and his two sons were all there and though it was obviously difficult for them to take the stage again they were still giving all the glory to God and made mention often that they were looking forward to seeing Maria again in Heaven. He started by coming on stage alone and came to the keyboard and said that the first song that came to mind on the evening of May 21st was Blessed be your Name which he sang along with the audience. Wow, was that intense, if ever the words of that song were effective it was then. He sang many of his songs old and new and many of the lyrics to the song rang so much more true due to the circumstances. He said that he wasn't sure if he would ever sing "Cinderella" again but felt he needed to and that he realized one day he would dance with Maria again. He talked about how it would be hard for him to get through it and unbeknown to him Family Life Radio had passed out little flashlights for the crowd to light during that song to show our support. He made it through the song but said that it wasn't fair to do that to him but you could tell he appreciated the support. The concert was an excellent tribute to Maria and an awesome reminder of what a great God we serve that can get us through the darkest of times in our lives and also the hope that we have in Christ that this life is only temporary and the life that we have waiting for us in Heaven is the one we should long for. I wish you all could have been there to experience this! Below is a link to the blog of Steven's manager that gives pictures and more info from the night. Unfortunately the battery on my camera died as soon as the concert started so I didn't get any pics :(

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/jim/2008/07/scc-ready-to-ta.html

Jensen's 5th birthday

This is my second attempt at this post so hopefully it works this time. We celebrated Jensen's 5th birthday this week. We did not have a big party this year as it has been too crazy around here with the move and everything so we split the celebration up over the past few weeks. Before Aunt Lara went back to Indiana we all went to Chuck E Cheese and Jensen had a blast. His cousin Sara came along also and so did Grandma and Grandpa Mowat and Grandma Jan. Then a week ago Bethany came over and celebrated with us and Jensen got his favorite musical card from her that he shows everyone that comes over. Then on his actual birthday the 24th we had my parents and Brian's mom over for a cookout and cake so he had a bunch of fun birthday events! Sorry some of the pictures are so small I couldn't figure out how to change the size.

Jensen & Chuck E Cheese

Jensen & Sara

Jensen & Aunt Lara

Peyton on the merry go round

Peyton and Grandpa with Barney

Jensen with his present from Aunt Lara & Uncle Dave & Aunt Net:
Alvin and the Chipmunks

The Birthday Cake that we had to use the wrong candle for because I forgot to get candles in all the craziness

Present decorated by Grandma Jan

Cars Patio set

Moving in!

Well, it has been a CRAZY last few weeks since I last posted. We closed on the house on the 6th, painted all that weekend and then we picked up all our stuff from Grand Haven on the 9th and moved in. Since then it has been unpacking and arranging and rearranging. We are still working on it but we are getting closer everyday. I am really anxious to have everything in its place and have it decorated and everything but I am trying to be patient and take things one at a time. Here are a few pictures I have so far but keep in mind it is still a work in progress. I will post again when it is all done.

Front of house

Before of backyard

Backyard now

Bathroom before

Bathroom now

Kitchen before

Kitchen now, sorry messy counters :(

One side of basement before

Now its the playroom

Livingroom before

Livingroom now

Closing Today

We are closing today on our house today, finally!!! I feel like we have been waiting forever but now I feel like it isn't real. We close at 4 and are supposed to have immediate occupancy so we are planning to take Lara over there tonight since she hasn't seen it yet and then we will pick out what colors we want to paint. We will be painting all day tomorrow and some of Sunday and going back to Grand Haven to get our stuff on Monday. I will post pictures soon and will be sending out an email with our new address and phone. Thanks for all the prayers!

Still waiting

We still don't know when our closing date is for the new house and it is so frustrating. Last week they said it would be by the 30th and now they are telling us it could be as long as the 6th of June. We are staying in the big town of Coleman with Brian's mom in the mean time and I am so anxious. We got to go in the house and my mom got to see it for the first time but I didn't want to leave. We did get someone to sub-lease our apartment in Grand Haven so that was a huge answer to prayer. If you think about us in the next we could use your prayers that we will have a closing date soon and things will go smoothly. Will keep you posted!

Pre-school Graduation/Chuck. E. Cheese

Wow! I can't believe Jensen has finished pre-school already! Here are some pictures from his graduation, it was so cute. Grandma Jan and I also took the boys to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate his graduation so there are some pictures from that as well. The boys loved it!!

Graduation Ceremony

Jensen with his teacher Miss Cindie

Chuck E Cheese

Peyton loves Barney & tractors, Can you tell?