The Baby is home!

This hospital (building on the right) was the birthplace of our grandbaby. Not only was the hospital new and very beautiful, the scenery all around it was grand as well!

But, there is just no place like home! Yesterday, the little family arrived home to this welcome!

The little one is growing each day...

His parents are still in awe of this little creature who has totally changed their lives...

They love him very, very much...

And just maybe he thinks that all of us crazy adults are OK also!

We certainly enjoyed our visit to J&K's house today and loved every

minute that we had together with them.

Easter Blessings

A Blessed Easter to all!

"Then the angel spoke to the women, 'Don't be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come see where His body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead!'"

Signs of spring and new life are all around us...the Easter lilies, the daffodils...

and our most precious gift of life this spring...

our grandson Jayden James!

"How sweet to hold our newborn baby, and feel the pride and joy he brings.

But greater still the calm assurrance, this child can face uncertain days, because Christ lives!"

This is one very proud papa!

The three generations of "James"

He's here!

Our grandson, Jayden James, was born this evening after 11PM by C-section. He weighed in at 8lbs 9oz, length of 21inches. We are so proud to welcome this little one into the world!
Jamie, the proud father! (Krista was very tired, but doing fine! We are so proud of her!)

More pictures to follow in the days ahead...

Girls' Weekend Retreat

Two weekends ago, I was invited to come away for a weekend with our women's ministry team and help with the events planning for the year. Sharon was able to rent a suite in a nearby hotel so the 7 of us could comfortably relax, fellowship and brainstorm together.

Since our hotel was just across from Disneyland, we had an excellent view of the 9:30PM fireworks show! (Why are fireworks always so awesome--no matter how many times you've seen them???)
On Saturday evening, after a long day of working, we went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. We were fortunate enough to arrive early and only had to wait for 20 min for a table.
The food was delicious (and yes, we portioned our calories so that we could enjoy a delectable cheesecake dessert!) and the conversation was fun! Because we had arrived at 5PM the house lights were still bright. But we noticed that the lights became dimmer as time went on...by the time we tried to order dessert, we had to get out our cellphones so we could read the menus!
After our meal, we enjoyed a "shopping spree" at Kmart. Since none of us lives close by one, we really enjoyed our time at the big K!
Someone found a collection of hats, and soon all of us were trying on hats and having a wonderful time laughing and looking! Our clerk was vicariously having a great time watching us, too!

Thank you, Lord, for wonderful new friends.

blessings...of showers and friends

We are so blessed in many ways! God has given us a great family: four wonderful sons, and two wonderful daughters-in-law, and now we look forward to holding our first grandchild. A couple of weeks ago, our church family here at Calvary hosted a lovely baby shower for Jamie and Krista.
The decor was so cute! The girls had used their (Jamie and Krista's) nursery theme of "Baby Aviator." The center piece was this little bucket with the "clouds" for writing suggestions to the new parents on how to care for their baby. The cutest advice came from a little girl, "feed him lots of candy!" Even the water bottles on the table were special!

Baby Jayden received soooooo many nice gifts!

It was a lovely afternoon of many memories.

Jamie and Krista also received a childrens' Bible story book that he had grown up reading...

and Krista received the figurine of the new mother from her own mom. Now we are just waiting for the news of Jayden's birth!

Last week, we had another visit from Jim's "brother" Chuck. His job brings him frequently to our area and we always look forward to his short visits.
And, as often happens, the boys need to share with each other the latest silly video clip that they have discovered on the internet!
Last weekend, our church hosted the district conference. We were so excited that Jim's cousin Forrest and his wife Julie were able to attend. It was fun to catch up on their latest news from both family and church.
The speaker for the conference was Jon Lunde. These three adults (plus Forrest, who unfortunately had already left for home) had grown up in Africa together as MK's, so they had alot of remeniscing to do! Jon was a fantastic speaker, and we all enjoyed the time of fellowship that we had together as members from the different churches.
On Friday morning, we were surprised with a visit from some dear friends from North Dakota! They were in California on vacation, so decided to look us up and dropped by for a short visit. How exciting it has been for us to have our family and friends come to us, since we cannot always go to them! We are soooo blessed!