A Bridge Finally Crossed

At the rec center where we take swim lessons they have a cool curly water slide. Evelyn has loved going down it since she was a baby, and can go down independently now. Matthew, on the other hand, has had NO desire whatsoever to go down it. He was too scared, he said, but didn't know what he was scared about. All of his teachers have not forced, but strongly encouraged him to go down (the kids go down the slide on the last day of swim lessons) each time he takes lessons to no avail. Now, I know not going down the slide won't land him in therapy someday and I really didn't care if he went down it or not. But I knew he would LOVE it if he would just try.

This last round of lessons we talked about it the week before his last class. He was, as usual, hesitant about it but wasn't adamant about not going down. We talked about it and I told him maybe we would go for ice cream or something to celebrate if he finally did it. That apparently tipped the scale for my sweet boy and he said he would do it! And he DID.. without any hesitation! :)

Waiting in line..

Getting ready

...and down he went! He was ALL smiled and thumbs up (my pictures of that were blurry...boo!) and said it was "amazing"!

This picture was taken too late to capture the high five between Evan and Matthew. Evan is Matthew's FAVORITE swim teacher and has been in his class several times. Evan REALLY wanted Matthew to go down the slide, but also has been so awesome and gentile about it over the years. Evan wasn't on duty when Matthew went down the slide, but knew he was going to go down, so he came to the pool deck just to cheer my boy on. Matthew was probably more excited to do it for Evan than anyone else. Evan was so proud of him.. as was I!

...and yes, we celebrated. Not with ice cream, but with slurpees... Matthew's choice! :)

Matthew's First Ballgame!

It was a beautiful day yesterday, perfect for a ball game!! Matthew was SO excited for his game, I think he got into his uniform at 6AM! :) He was ready!

How cool that my sister, his beloved Aunt Michelle, was in town and was able to be there to cheer him on! 

Warming up with Coach Daddy

Love these two!

The "Thundercats" ready to play!

Coach Todd and his boy, Colin

I have no idea.... :)

His favorite cheerleaders! I was cheering, too, but I am "bench mom", meaning I get all the kids in line to bat and them cue them to go out to the plate. No sitting for me this season.. and I am okay with that! I love my job! :)

Game over, our team high-fiving the other team.

Matthew did so great for his first game.. all the kids did.. and I think Matthew is already counting down the days until the next game!

Naomi Jane

When our sweet Sam passed away 2 years ago, we knew it would be a while before any of us would be ready to get another cat. Emotional healing needed to take place first. We have grieved over and missed our "Boy in the Black Pajamas" a lot. Last fall the kids started asking if we could get another cat.  At that point we knew that a) we were probably ready to get another pet, b) kittens are hard to find in the fall, and c) we already had our Disneyland trip set as their Christmas present. So we just told them that maybe come spring we could look into it.

They held us to that. Shocker!!

We started looking and planning and reading library books about how to care for kittens, etc. I then found a litter of kittens up for adoption by a local cat shelter/non-profit. We drove out to the "foster mom" in Oregon City at the end of Spring Break to see the litter and maybe choose one.

The kids loved seeing all the kittens, and Doug and I were trying, as quickly as we could, to assess temperament, personality, etc in each one to see if there was one that fit us better.

This little one won our hearts that night. She was mellow and sweet and has the most beautiful blue eyes, the only one of the litter with them. After spending time with her, all of us agreed she was the one.

Of course, we couldn't take her home that night as she was only 6 weeks old. But we had plenty of lively conversation on the way home, discussing everything from food to sleeping arrangements to names. After going thru several names (Matthew was VERY insistent that we all had to be in agreement on the name.. no one person would get to pick... it was a family decision!), Evelyn started rattling off names of women in the Bible. When she got to Naomi, we all said a collective "awwwwww" and after a bit more discussion, Naomi Jane became her name.

We anxiously awaited the email saying she was ready to come home. I received that email Friday. We brought our sweet kitty home tonight!!

First moments with her when they brought her out to us. Precious greeting!

So stinkin' cute!

I think she will be VERY well loved!

She was mesmerized by Matthew's snapping fingers!

The "Cone of Shame"! She just got fixed today so she will need to be in this cone for the next 10 days or so except for times when we have her under close eye. Let's just say she is NOT a fan, poor baby!

Welcome to the family, Naomi Jane... please sleep well at night! HA!

T-Ball!

With a little encouragement and the promise of playing with friends AND having daddy as an assistant coach, Matthew agreed to do t-ball this year. We are SO glad he did.. as we are learning our sweet boy has a pretty good arm. Not sure if this will be his "thing", but are glad to be giving it a go this season.

He had his first practice tonight. There really isn't much cuter than watching a bunch of 5 year olds play ball for the first time! So cute and so hilarious!

Matthew and his buddy since birth,  Colin. There are 5 boys and one girl from our small group Bible Study on the team. How cool is that?

Getting some batting help from Coach Jason

Coach Frank pitching to my boy...

Already rockin' the grounders stance!

Matthew and Mimi.. a sweet friend and one heckuva ball player! :)

We are excited for how much Matthew will learn and how much fun he will have this season! Play Ball!!

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!

Last year I hosted a small group of family to celebrate Christ's resurrection and enjoyed it thoroughly. So much that I decided to go even bigger this year, hosting those from both sides of the family... 18 people total, and that wasn't everyone (we missed you, Debbie and you, too, Jeubs and Bowers!). Yes, it was a bit of work, but I had great help from Doug and his Aunt Mary (who usually hosts Thanksgiving so is a pro at big gatherings) and it turned out to be such a special day with those I love most!

Here are my sweeties after church. Evelyn has actually been sick all week and so only Doug and Matthew went to church. But she still wanted to get dressed up for the "party", which was a perfect photo opportunity!

To feed that many people comfortably, we had two tables. The grandkids sat in the kitchen and the rest of us sat in the living room. It worked out fine and I enjoyed setting both tables... and getting to use my china again (this is only the 2nd time I have used it since we got married!).

It was so lovely to have both set of parents here with us today.. and it was another great photo op!!

We all enjoyed dinner and conversations.....

After dinner, the "big kids" we so awesome and hid Easter eggs for the "little ones" and led that activity while the grown ups did dishes and chatted on our own.

Then the little ones hid eggs for the big ones... and they had SO much fun with that!

Watching the boys hunt for eggs... I think she is such a beauty on the inside and out!

Doug and his brother Don had a great time playing football with all the kids.. we were so thankful for great weather!

Mitchell "helping" Evelyn catch the football!

He didn't realize how big Matthew was... he didn't pick him up nearly as high..HA!

I love this little peanut!

Story time with Uncle Don was a big highlight for my kids! 

One day this picture will come back to haunt my sweet nephew Greg! HA!

Love the Sandau family!

As everyone was leaving, Matthew and Lily decided to spend time rolling down the hill. It was so cute to see them having so much fun!

Thankful for such a special time with family celebrating our Risen Lord! Happy Easter!