Our growing boy

I have so many pictures from recent outings that I don't even know where to start! Usually this is what triggers my extreme procrastination in updating this blog, because it is so much work to weed through all our photos (I have over 13,000 pictures on my computer). I really do want to share them with you all though, so I will try to just pick a handful to post and stop overthinking it!

I joined a mom's group recently, thanks to my friend Molly's prompting, and we have been making new friends and going on lots of adventures and enjoying the beautiful weather! Here is Calvin at the "POCK!!" as he would say (park).

Getting ready to go down the slide (with our friends Ashley, Logan and Mason waiting in line)!

Calvin loves to read! I love when I find him sitting on the couch with his carefully-selected reading material all by himself.

At Jump Street - a great place for kids with lots of big trampolines. Calvin's favorite part, however, is the arcade games.

It was so nice to be able to spend some time with my mom when she was on fall break from teaching! Here she is trying to encourage Calvin to try the trampoline, but he wasn't quite brave enough to try it by himself. He just enjoyed bouncing while I jumped around near him.

This thing is huge! They have several of these inflatable slides for the kids. I actually can't believe Calvin is afraid of the trampoline but not THIS!

Remembering Emma

October 3, 2010 - Emma's due date

We wanted to celebrate Emma's life on this day and remember her by doing something special. We decided to ask a few of our closest friends to meet with us at her burial site and release 40 yellow balloons. We had 40 balloons to represent the fact that she would have been 40 weeks old on her due date, and yellow is the color that will always remind us of her, and the color we would have painted her room.

Calvin's Nana brought him a special balloon to keep

Thank you to our wonderful friends who came to remember Emma with us. Your support and love means so much to us, and we thank God for all of you!

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."

I Corinthians 15:50-57

"I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Job 1:21

"Naked I come from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

John 11:25-26

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' "

Thank you, Father, for giving us the gift of Emma. We pray that her life would always be used to bring glory to your name.