Birthdays Birthdays and more Birthdays!

Mid October starts the birthday marathon for us.  We have 5 immediate family members with birthdays and 2 are on the same day!  Plus 4 are within 4 days so it's just sort of a crazy time around here.  Josh and Cate love birthdays and we try to make them feel loved even more than usual!  Let's face it, we are trying to make up for all the birthdays we missed before they came into our lives. We have so many celebrations!  Not so many big gifts but lots of special moments with family and friends!  You just can't get enough of family and friends!  Check out some of the special moments below.

Our good friends and cousins, Dan and Lynn Knee, took Josh and Cate to the zoo for their birthdays.  Wow, what a blessing this was to us.  It gave Jeff and I a chance to have a Saturday afternoon to ourselves.  We were able to have a conversation or 2 and the kids really loved the zoo.  Thank you Lynn and Dan!

The celebration below is with my side of the family at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Yen Chings. Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Jenni & Uncle Kirk plus Great Uncle Jerry were all there to celebrate with us.

The next celebration was at Salvatori's with Jeff's side of the family.  His mom, Grandma Joan, was also celebrating her 84th birthday.  The older boys arrived with their families so it was super fun.  Plus Aunt Dawn and her friend Lisa came from Michigan.  Yay family!

Next we had a little celebration with a baseball friend (Jonathon Bond) and his mom (Erika).  Their dad is out of town like our dad so we figured we might as well eat together.  Ziano's is another favorite restaurant here.  The kids love their chicken barbecue pizza and they give great (free) birthday desserts!

We had to have a few presents I mean after all what is a birthday without some gifts?!

And Birthday breakfast is always a tradition.  Cate's birthday was on a Tuesday.  

She had candles in her omelet!  

A package arrived in the mail from our good friends, Kim and John Porter.  The kids love getting surprises in the mail.  Nice Job Kim!  The gifts were a big hit.  

 Josh's birthday was on Wednesday and he had candles in his pancake!

We had one more "clothes" present left that they opened on the morning of their birthdays.  

 And the last birthday celebration was a bowling party with their friends.  They each invited 2 friends and we headed to the bowling lanes for a fun morning.

Grandma Carol was my go-to-adult reinforcment person!  She is always so faithful to join us.  We love her!  Wow Josh and Cate are almost as tall as her.  It is getting close!

 Looking for some fun?  Take some kids bowling!  Look at the vertical jump from the short Asian kid on the right!!!  Wow!  And look at the cute purple heart girlie on the left.  Adorable children!  Every one of them!  And no we did not have a pitcher of beer at this place!

Thanks for reading the blog and praying for us.  We appreciate you!  If you are feeling discouraged just look at the above picture.  It makes me smile every time.  Blessings to you my friend.

Following Christ will fill you with a joy that will last forever!  Psalm 16:11
I pray you know Jesus today.

Choosing joy,
Chris & crew
 

October arrives!

Well October is officially here and there were squeals of joy when Josh and Cate realized it this morning.  Cate especially is our squealer!  October is the favorite month since it includes both their birthdays and Halloween.   For these guys it doesn't get any better than presents and candy!

We are still running Cross Country.  This is their last week for practices.  They have a regular meet tonight and another invitational on Saturday and then that's it unless you are a Varsity runner.  We are reserve here so almost done for Josh & Cate.  They have really improved the last couple meets.  They now both run the whole race without stopping and pretty much remain in the middle of the pack.  They have each cut a couple minutes off their time since the first race.  After Saturday's meet Cate said she actually enjoyed it.  This is the first time she has not thought she was dying by the end of the race.  It's amazing how much more fun the race is when you have practiced and are in good shape.

Fall Ball baseball continues for Josh and he loves playing for Coach Brendon Smith.  Josh wants to be like Coach Brendon.  Isn't it amazing how much more influence coaches sometimes have over our kids than we do as parents.  We interviewed Brendon before agreeing to him coaching Josh.  We wanted to be sure a Godly man was influencing our child.

We were able to get together with our friends Julie, Moses, and Sandria Boruff.  They invited us over for a bonfire and it was tons of fun!  Moses and Sandria came from the same children's home in the Philippines as Josh and Cate.  My kids love to visit them because to them this is family!

 Of course I always love to share pictures of my grandchildren.  We have the best grandsons in the world.  Nolan just turned 3 and got a new shark shirt from his other grandma.  He is very proud of this shirt.

Konrad was my buddy all day one day last week when his mommy had a panel discussion at IU.  We had a great day together and this child did not whimper once and sucked down all his bottles without any problem.  Pretty good for a nursing baby.  Wonderful day for this grandma!  Konrad is 3 months.

I pray you are having a great Fall.  Isn't our God an amazing creator?  The leaves are changing and the weather is different each day.  What an awesome God we serve!

Our breakfast scriptures today:

 I will lead you to a land flowing of milk and honey.  Exodus 3:17
Speak, Lord.  I am your servant, and I am listsening.:  1 Samuel 3:10

We are blessed to live in America for sure. It definitely is a land flowing with mild and honey. Lots of opportunities to serve Jesus here.  Be careful and don't let all the noise of the world hold you back!  We have to work even harder to hear Jesus I believe.  I pray you know Him today.  Thanks for reading the blog and praying for us.

Choosing joy,
Chris & crew