Today my parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! They are certainly best friends and a great example to us. They are returning from a special trip out West.
For Scott's 14th birthday, the guys took a trip to an off road park for a day of fun on the trails. Scott used his go-pro to get some great videos of their adventures.
I would have liked a few more still pictures of the two of them, but I was told that I would need to come along next time if I want more. Apparently neither has mastered the art of selfies!
It seems like Scott is growing up so fast. He's such a help to our family, and I think I'm ready to lock him in at this age and have him stay with us forever!:)
Blurry pictures- but the kids all ended the school year with various academic awards including All A's for all 3!
Natalie celebrated her 12th birthday recently! She had some sweet friends from school come home with us for a birthday scavenger hunt. It rained all day, so I scrambled all afternoon to convert the outside hunt to an indoor one. As I was finishing up though, the sun popped out. Thankfully, we were able to have it outside after-all, and now I have an indoor one pre-planned for a colder birthday in late October. :)
The last few months of school flew by. (The kids may beg to differ!) This will mostly be a picture post catch up...
I realize this story may only be funny to me because I just lived it, but I wanted to remember our process of getting the girls' ears pierced.
I wanted to surprise the girls! Natalie is coming up on her 12th birthday, and I always told her she could get her ears pierced when she turned 12. Kate gets her ears pierced when she's 9 because that's the benefit of being the younger sibling and having a tired mom who only wants to go through this process once. Sorry Natalie- maybe one day you'll understand. :)
I checked with several moms and got good advice on where to have the piercings done. We were all set to go to a piercing/tattoo shop and have Lizard* the Piercer pierce the girls' ears. (*Animal name changed to protect the innocent.) We then found out that the tattoo shop required a copy of their birth certificates to be kept on file, and we were uncomfortable with that. I had Jon call Lizard to discuss their policy. When Jon dialed the number and said, "Could I please speak to Lizard?" I about lost it and had to run out of the room laughing. Lizard wouldn't budge on his policy, so we decided to look for a new place.
I called to make an appointment at a cosmetic store. However, an elderly lady answered the phone and then put me on hold. I heard her holler, "Does Maddie have her ear piercing training yet?" She then got back on the phone, and we scheduled for the following day with Maddie. I went back and forth in my head that night. Maybe Maddie will be really good since she was just trained. No- I cannot have Maddie do her first ever piercing on my babies.
The next day, I drove to the mall. Some people had given me mall piercing horror stories, and others said it was totally fine. I prayed as I walked in that I would have clear direction. The man who greeted me was dressed as a woman with fake eyelashes, but talked like a man and had facial hair. I asked him a few questions about the process, felt sick, and left thanking the Lord for the "clear direction" from that location.
I then decided to go meet Maddie. She was all alone in the shop, and I asked her a few questions. She said, "I was just looking at that!"...and pulled out a box that was labeled TRAINING KIT. She said that the process wouldn't be as good as a piercing shop, but then started to teach me how the piercing gun works. I politely cancelled my appointment, and she seemed so relieved.
After talking to more people, I set up an appointment with a jewelry shop for the following day. To surprise the girls, I told them to get in the van where they were greeted by some stuffed friends who provided a big HINT as to where we were going. Natalie said it was a good thing that I did it this way because she would have panicked if she had to think about it for too much time prior to the appointment. (I know my Natalie!:)
And since tomorrow is Easter, I will end with a much more significant piercing story. "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." -Isaiah 53:5 Praising the Lord for His ultimate sacrifice that has made a way for us to have eternal life with Him. Thank You, Jesus!
