Planting Joel's Tree

Ben and I picked out a blossoming cherry tree to plant in memory of Joel. All four of us planted it together, just outside our kitchen window. Timmy had started asking more questions about heaven and the baby and this was a good chance for him to talk with us more about what happened and how he was feeling about it.

Painting

In an attempt to distract my head this week, I pulled out the paints for the kids to use in the basement. They had a blast painting an old box. Lucy requested a new color to use about ever 30 seconds. Timmy liked trying out all the different brushes to see what they would do (I had a variety pack of like 15 different brushes). If I'd let them I think these two would paint every day!

Because he lives I can face tomorrow

We are heartbroken to share that last night we lost our baby Joel. It has been a long and surreal 48 hours. We were in Kansas with Ben's brother and sister in law and are now traveling back home to rest. Please pray for our family as we grieve.

Because he lives I can face tomorrow
Because he lives all fear is gone
Because i know he holds the future
And life is worth living,
Just because he lives

Happy Birthday Lucy Lu

After a long day I really was not feeling up to Good Friday church last night. Lucy and Timmy both have been fighting a cold and were ready for bed. But I really wanted Timmy to go. I knew this was the first year he would really understand parts of the service, helping him to better understand what this special weekend is all about. He was fascinated by the church getting darker, the book being slammed, even the bulletin cover with the empty cross was a topic of conversation. When Ben slammed the book Timmy gasped loudly-Ben even said he heard him up front. When we got home he told Ben "that was a cool service" and asked Ben to read him one of the books about Jesus dying. I'm glad we went!

It's not that life has been boring or that I haven't had the time to post...I just haven't gotten to it a lot lately. Here's some bits from the last couple weeks to catch you up on our life a little bit!
-We have snow on the ground, it snowed last night, I've never had an April snow before!
-Timmy's love of dinosaurs has resurfaced and he has been playing a lot with his dinosaurs again.
-Lucy went potty like a big girl for the first time the other day. Hopefully it is a trend.
-Timmy's new favorite TV show is Turbo Dogs. It's a Saturday morning show on NBC.
-Lucy dislocated her elbow in a fluke accident. Dr. said that it may happen regularly since she's done it once. So far it's not happened again-Ben gets to go to the dr. the next time they have to put it in place-that was not pleasant!
-I have my first baby dr. appt on Good Friday. I have been feeling better with this baby than either in the past and am hoping that continues to hold true.
-Lucy has turned into quite the singer with her two favorite songs to sing being Happy Birthday and All Creatures of Our God and King (she likes the Alleluia part). Each week in church she gets out a hymnal and pretends to sing along. Our Missouri church members will not be surprised about this-Lucy has loved singing since she could first make sounds.
-We have a beautiful new niece who will be our goddaughter after the baptism next week. We can't wait to meet her.
-Timmy has discovered that he likes gum. I had avoided giving it to him up until about a month ago. Now he gets it in church because he's a big boy. He only likes the "not spicy" kind which means no mint or cinammon.