Moving on...

Since I've had no end of problems for the past month in trying to post on my blog, we have now created a new one. We can be reached at http://www.mjerickson.blogspot.com

Birthday party and more...

The next day, we went to M&B's for Em's birthday party. It is so hard to believe that three years ago, we were in the hospital praying that God would spare this little girl's life. And here we were, celebrating with our family and all these Sesame characters  that the little miracle girl loves!

The weather was a bit cool, but the rain did not fall on her party, so the cousins had a great time playing outside. 

The pink car always seems to be a focal point...

...as well as the bounce-house

...and the swings

...and the playhouse!

We even got to see the newest cousin and her daddy via Skype.

All the kids did a craft project, organized by Miss B.

It was very serious work.

When asked how old she was, Em kept telling us that she was one!

The two youngest cousins thought the cupcakes were just too irresistible!

The birthday girl was all smiles this year when we sang for her!

There were plenty of eager helpers when it came time to open presents.

Such fun new toys!

Em finally got her hands on that cupcake...

and finally got to eat it.

The cousins found some fun new toys to play with while we watched over them for several hours because their mommy had a fall and ended up in ER with an injury to her L ankle. 

Happy Birthday! This was one very excited and happy little girl who loved her new Sesame toys!

While little sister was napping, Nana helped big sister sew the flower on her pretty new ballet dress.

She loves her dog!

The cousins enjoyed using my stethoscope to listen to their heartbeat.

Soon it was time to head out to a neighboring town for the next big event--K's first ballet recital. As we left, we glanced back at the snow-covered mountains and the gray canopy of clouds. What a beautiful sight!

The auditorium was packed, standing room only, as we enjoyed these lovely little ballerinas.

Of course, our attention was focused on this special little dancer.

She had such a good performance! It was the perfect ending to a fun weekend with family. We are so thankful that God has allowed us to live close enough by two of our boys so that we can enjoy some of these special events in their lives.  

Re-connecting

A couple of weeks ago, Marilyn was privileged to attend a conference in San Diego for pastor's wives. It was held at the Shadow Mountain Community Church, where David Jeremiah is the lead pastor.  

It was a very informative conference and so enjoyable to hear from fellow PWs, sharing about their joys and sorrows in their ministry roles of the church. We heard from a variety of speakers, including Jani Ortberg and Lisa Chan, and also met many new friends from several different states.

The best part of this conference was being able to spend two whole days with my long-time friend and colleague DL. Our paths in life have been so similar: both born and raised in MN; we went to the same school in France, one year apart; while attending school in France, we both gave birth to our firstborn;  we served together for many years as missionaries in Africa; our children grew up together (we both had four kids!), and now we are serving neighboring congregations in SoCal. The time of sharing and praying together those two days was awesome!

Last weekend, we were invited to spend a wonderful afternoon with some more missionary friends. We first met this young lady while she was attending high school in Nigeria. What a joy to visit her home and meet her family, and to renew friendships with her parents and her brother and his family.

Two more colleagues from our years in Africa! And, as always, these lovely women are spending long hours in the kitchen preparing delicious food! What a treat to have African Groundnut stew again, YUM!

Good friends, great fellowship, wonderful memories!

Our sons grew up with this young man, enjoying many hours of hunting and exploring together. 

And many years ago, this young man told us that he was never going to get married...

...twelve years ago we went to his wedding, and look at him now! 

Lot of cousins, lots of toys, lots of fun! We had such a great time together and so appreciate the spiritually rich friendship that we have enjoyed with this family for so many years. Thanks for the invite!

After we visited our friends, we drove to J&K's  to spend the night. Little brother was in bed by the time we arrived, but big brother was still awake, and quite excited to see us and also to show off his trophies from his summer sports. 

"Grandpa, did you see my trophies?"

What a thrill for us to visit our boys in their homes and enjoy their family life, close-up and personal! 

A Great Evening

Last week, we were invited to spend an evening with a couple of Jim's cousins. R&D hosted us in their new home. After a tour and some great appetizers, we sat down to a delicious meal and a wonderful time of visiting. 

R's brother and wife were visiting from Ohio, and we loved seeing them again. (When we were newlyweds living in Mlps, MN we would often visit P&F in their home and enjoy times with their twin sons. That's a LONG time ago! But such great memories of the times we spent together.)

Another couple that came to supper that night also had ties from Jim's high school days. And as the evening went on, we discovered that those ties have also reached into the next generation! It is indeed a small world.

It was great fun seeing Phil and Dave, high school classmates, having such a fun time together. 

Thanks R&D for such an enjoyable evening together!

Times and Travels

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to babysit our grandsons for a whole day! We had a great time.

We had so much fun playing together- cars, trucks, trains and planes! It brought back so many good memories of years gone by with our sons.

All smiles!

This little boy loves to dress up in different outfits! At one point, he was wearing parts from three different costumes--it was rather cute!

Later in the afternoon, J had his first soccer game, so we headed out to the park where the teams would be playing. When we arrived, there were some emergency vehicles parked in the driveway. This guy loves fire trucks, so grandma sat down on the lawn and waited with him so that he could watch his beloved truck until it finally  drove out of sight. It was his highlight of the "game!" 

It was quite interesting to watch 3-4 yr-olds playing soccer...lots of running around (in circles?) and other strange activities on the field! Some of the kids had alot of fun, others not so much! By the end of the "game" there were only a handful of players on the field, the majority of the kids were on the sidelines. Yes, it was interesting...but also wonderful to see our grandson out there on the field and to cheer him on! Unbelievable to think that just five years ago at this time we were awaiting the birth of our first grandchild!

After the game, we went to the adjacent park to play with the boys. J loved showing us how good he was at climbing.

Daddy and his boys on the bucking dinosaur!  We had such a great day with our boys!

Last week, Jim traveled to MN for church board meetings. He enjoyed staying with his sister and also seeing her daughter and grandson. Great family memories!

Most of the trees had lost their leaves, but a few shades of autumn still remained. 

Driving north, Jim was able to spend some time with our youngest son and see the shop where he is working and going to school.  (He also got to admire all his fantastic tools!)

So fun to visit J&H in their home again. 

Jim also visited another niece and husband the next day. He had a wonderful time reconnecting with both family and friends.

While Jim was in MN, our son M came with his girls to spend the weekend with Marilyn. On Friday, after work, we headed to Downtown Disney. There were so many things for the little girls to see and touch...

...like the new Lego displays at their store. They were thrilled to see the Beauty and the Beast--in Legos!

This was an awesome creation...all made from Legos!

On Saturday morning, we headed out to the Science Discovery Museum. We started with the dinosaur park...

K matched the puzzle pieces...

...then we went inside to check out the "Bob the Builder" display, first we planted flowers..

pushed some buttons, and just enjoyed everything there was to see and touch!

Photo-op (always climbing to the highest point, just like her father when he was a child)

Building houses with daddy

Two little girls and a big machine!

The last event was a 3-D movie about a little sea turtle. E didn't wear the glasses, but K kept them on for the whole movie. It was amazing to "see" the creatures swimming right up close to our face!

 I had such a fun time with my "daddy-son" and his little girls (mom was also on a trip to MN, so it was an ideal time to spend together). Thanks for a wonderful weekend, kids!