Thursday, May 26, 2011

Friends

For a Christmas gift, Abby bought matching nightgowns for Anna, herself, and their bitty baby dolls.  Last week was the first time they were together after Christmas and they were thrilled to be wearing the same thing.


The whole bunch together around and up the tree.  What fun they have together.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Chicago

After visiting with Paul's family, the next day we headed north to a different Chicago suburb to visit our good friends for a few days.  On Wednesday we took the kids downtown.  The morning was cold, rainy, and foggy so we started in the art museum.



David and Ralph are looking at the guide figuring out how to get us to the next piece of art we wanted to see.


Some art is inappropriate for children . . . .


and husbands.

Some of the younger kids went to the family area while the big kids walked with us through the Asian art.  We saw Buddha.


And they couldn't resist meditating.



We wanted to see the Lucas Cranach paintings and we spent some time in that area looking and observing the artwork.



After our fill of art, we began our walk toward Millennium Park and we had fun at the bean, even with the oodles of school children all shrieking and running around us.




We continued walking north on Michigan Avenue on our way toward Pizzeria Due where we enjoyed Chicago-style pizza for lunch.
The kids enjoyed waving at people as they walked by the window.



After our fill of pizza, we enjoyed the American Girl store and the Lego store before walking back towards the parking garage at Millennium Park.  Fortunately the sun began to shine and the fog cleared so my kids were able to see the tops of the sky scrapers.  And I was able to get a decent picture of all the kiddos on the bridge over the Chicago river.


It was a fun day and my kids got a taste of what a big city with sky scrapers is like.  Nathan commented that it was a lot busier and with more people than when we were in Washington D.C.  He didn't like the crowded sidewalks as much.  But he did enjoy being there with family and friends, just like the rest of us.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Zachary's Confirmation

On Sunday we were privileged to attend our godson's confirmation.



Zachary is the son of my husband's brother Paul and his wife Lori.  Here they are with their four boys.


And here is the family who were able to attend.  We were able to caravan with Grandpa and Grandma so that they could attend this wonderful day in Zachary's life.  For my readers who might not know, Grandpa had a heart attack and surgery to install four stints the weekend of our daughter Ellie's confirmation.  He is doing quite well, but instead of them driving the eight hours for this event, David drove their vehicle and I followed in ours.


And here is Paul and Lori with Zachary.


Lori provided an awesome dinner for us and guests plus desserts.  Cross cookies, a giant Luther Rose cookie and a neatly decorated cake.  Yum!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Fun

We had the opportunity to visit an old college friend.

Carmen and I met our freshman year as we lived on the same floor.  We became fast friends and quite inseparable.  She married John after our freshman year and then commuted the final three years.  She was a bridesmaid in my wedding after college and we've stayed in touch over the years visiting each other but not as often as we would like.  This weekend was the first time in six years, which we promptly determined was entirely too long.

It was quite convenient of our heavenly Father to bless each of us with five children of the same gender in the same order at about the same times in our lives.  They had such a grand time playing with one another.
Can you tell who belongs to each family?

Carmen and John are Assyrian and we enjoy getting a taste of their culture.  We saw another bit of it while visiting and were delighted our children had the experience.  They threw a surprise sweet 16 birthday party for their oldest daughter.

It was held in a banquet hall and over a hundred and thirty family and friends came to celebrate.  There was Assyrian dancing which our oldest two enjoyed trying at the encouraging of us and their new friends.


It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed our time with our friends.  We are really going to try not to let so much time pass by before enjoying each other's company again.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Confirmed In Christ

The first Sunday in May is always confirmation in our congregation.  This year that meant the Sunday after Easter.   Our second daughter was amongst the seven who were admitted to the Lord's Table.


"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16: 16


Ellie was blessed to have many family members present,


including her sponsors Uncle Mark and Aunt Beth.


Thanks to my friend Mindy who graciously took all the pictures for me and even put together this nice thank-you card for Ellie to send.


The Dresses

I wrote before of my dislike of shopping.  And then I told how that post led me to Rhonda whom I knew sewed beautifully but I had never thought of asking to sew dresses for me until then.

And here are the two lovely dresses.  Ellie picked out the patterns and material, Rhonda helped us pick out how much material, how to match the ribbon trim and find the other notions, and then did all the work.  I gladly paid for the materials and her labor.  Thanks again Rhonda!  We'll be calling on you again!

The Easter Dress


The Confirmation Dress (with the jacket)




Without the Jacket

Monday, May 09, 2011

Happy Lutheran Mother's Day

This video was linked by several friends on Facebook, so maybe you've seen it already.  If not, watch and enjoy.

And I thank my Lutheran mother for encouraging my dad to send me to Concordia River Forest and for giving subtle yet strong hints that marriage to anyone other than a Lutheran boy would not be so easy and dreamy.  Thanks be to God I listened to my Lutheran mother and am married to a very good Lutheran boy who has helped me love Lutheran theology more than ever.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

At Least the Sun is Shining

Inside my brain however is a gloomy, crying mess.  So much has happened over the last two weeks, I'm having trouble coping.  I'm on auto-pilot with a morning to just melt, before needing to re-start auto-pilot.

This sinful world is such a stinky place.