Birthday Camp Out

Our little Ricky turned 3 years old yesterday! Months ago he'd requested to go camping for his birthday so that's exactly what we did over Memorial Day weekend. We all had a great time. How can you not when there's a camp fire with marshmallows & hot dogs, a four wheeler with a plethora of jeep trails, a baby backpack with lots of ground to walk, a wall tent & a camper with tons of delicious food, friends & family, & an adventurous, energetic, superhero birthday boy?!

Yesterday we spent some lovely time with grandparents, Ricky got to open quite a few birthday presents, & we went to Burger King for dinner so the boys could eat ice cream & play at the playground. It turned out to be a nice day for our boy! So, a BIG thank you goes out to ALL the grandparents for their contributions in making Ricky's birthday quite grand. You are all simply wonderful!

Cedric has grown so much in the last year in many ways. His speech has improved immensely & he is getting quite tall. He loves to do EVERYTHING his brother does to a point where it rather irritates me at times. This next year Ben will be starting preschool & I think it will be really good for Ricky as well to hopefully start developing a bit more of his own interests. Ricky loves to play baseball & catch & has become quite good at riding his balance bike. He is an awesome helper to Brian & I when we do projects around the house & is a hard worker (when he's in the mood). He can be a bit fussy at times but is usually surprisingly good at controlling himself when we ask him to stop & take a deep breath. And more often than not, he's very willing to share his toys (even his new birthday presents!). One of his greatest struggles this past year has been staying seated in his chair while we eat... this boy can NOT sit still!! He's always got to be moving! We are incredibly thankful for our sweet boy. He brings so much joy & spunk into our lives!

Happy Birthday, Cedric! We thank God for you every day.

Now, before you scroll down any further, I'll warn you that there's a good possibility of your drowning in pictures!

Grandma Parker visited yesterday!

So did Grandpa & Grandma G!

The camping trip:

The whole crew.
Some friends of ours from church came, too.

"We love our Grandma!"

"Sooo big!"

Papa & his girl.

Our birthday boy

Dad Schultz was quite the chef with his dutch oven!

The boy's quarters

We were singing "Happy Birthday" to him... he was thrilled!

Ricky requested a train cake... so he got one!
The boys made sure that no details were missed.

The boys enjoyed the cake.

Mmmm... Cake & ice cream for Evie!

Opening gifts

A real super hero!

Evie had a ball crawling around in the dirt.
She didn't care one bit how cold or dirty she got!

Ben resting on the cot. He thought it was quite cozy!

Roasting hot dogs & mesmerized by the fire.

Even Evie got a ride on the four-wheeler!

"Oooh... Not quite long enough for me to pull. "

The boys loved climbing the rocks.

"Here I am!"

This girl was a mess, but boy did she have fun!

Our Birthday Girl!

This past Friday our little peanut turned 1 year old! God is so good! We set out planning a big birthday bash to celebrate this big milestone in her life & to thank God for the incredible mercy & kindness he's shown her in this first year. It was all planned out, food prepared, tables & chairs picked up and hauled home, new outdoor patio completed, gifts made, and over 40 people were planning to come when not just one but three of us (including the birthday girl) came down with some sort of flu bug. HUGE bummer! I had to call everyone on Friday and cancel the party that was supposed to be held the next day. Not only was it a major disappointment to have to cancel the party but it is no fun feeling crummy. Despite it all we still had a little bit of a celebration amongst ourselves. 

We are thankful beyond words for our sweet little Evelyn & the miracle that she is. May she continue to astound us in her strength, in her good health, & her joy. May God be glorified through the life story He has written for her. And may she continue to be blessed immeasurably.

Happy 1st Birthday sweet little Evelyn!

Welcome 2013!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

As shocking as it is, Christmas is once again here and gone and a new year is upon us. After all the preparation and anticipation for this most glorious time of year, in a blink of an eye Christmas day is but a memory. I think it especially feels like it to me this year because I had started preparing well in advance due to being out of town for Evelyn's doctor appointments and various other things most of December and was especially looking forward to celebrating this first Christmas with our baby girl. As things worked out, we got home a few days before Christmas and were very much looking forward to being home and the coming festivities with church & our own family traditions, but a day after we arrived home our entire family was struck with a nasty flu bug. Yes... God has a funny sense of humor! We'd never before experienced our entire family sick at the same time & I tell you I hope it never happens again... YUCK! I remember thinking, "Why now, Lord? All we want to do is worship you with laughter and song but instead we are strapped to our beds and the bathroom unable to sing your praises. Why?!?!" But I had to remind myself that even through the million extra loads of laundry & upset tummies, we can still worship our good God & be grateful for the birth of his son. After all, it is a fitting finale for the crazy year we've had! Although not the most enjoyable Christmas, I'm very thankful that by Christmas morning we were all feeling quite a bit better. Brian felt pretty crummy most of the day and the rest of us weren't at 100%, but we were certainly in a better state than the previous couple days.

As we stroll into the new year, we are extremely thankful that God has sustained our family through this past year & that He has blessed us beyond reckoning in every area of our lives, but above all we are thankful that He sent His son into this world and has & is & will redeem it. We are humbled beyond understanding that He chose us to be a part of His people, to love & forgive & to rescue. Through Him all things are made new. And so we are hopeful & trusting in another very blessed year. May yours be also!

The boys got some beautiful quilts from their Uncle Chris & Aunt Aubrey.

Evie's first Christmas!

Christmas morning:

"This is fun, but can I go back to bed now?!"

My beautiful bracelet from my amazing husband!
He surprised me with it on Christmas Eve as I was laying in bed feeling quite awful... it was a very wonderful & welcome surprise! He is so good to me!

Big Boy Ben

Our oldest son turned 4 years old a few weeks ago & we celebrated with a birthday party in honor of him. He had his friends from church over for fun & games & all had a good time.

 

We've seen him grow and mature so much this last year and we are so proud of our bright and beautiful boy. He has learned to write his name along with most of the other letters in the alphabet and has developed a love for race cars & mazes. He's discovered video games & is easily consumed by them so has to be limited on the amount of time he's allowed to play, but he's quite good at them and is surprisingly tech savvy. Doing arts & crafts projects is a favorite activity especially when it comes to cutting things out & gluing shapes on paper. We look forward to the coming year & what it has in store for our little sponge!

In honor of Ben, I'm posting some great pictures he took all on his own the other day. I gave him complete control over the camera as I was cleaning up around the house and these are some of the things his creative mind captured! I was rather impressed & am planning to print some out to hang in his room.