Belated Congrats

I don't know where the days have gone, but tomorrow will be one week since Noah proposed to Rachel. We got to be there for the big event. She said yes, of course! And we had a great weekend hanging out with everyone in northern VA. It will be fun having a sister-in-law on this side of the country!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Who knows if they'll fit me, but thanks to my favorite brother in the whole wide world, I had money to spend at Anthropologie (my favorite store, remember?). This pair of really cool checked pants with the snazzy buttons is my much debated-over purchase. Thanks, Mike!

"I'm a speed-racer!"

Gabe has been talking about his race for a week now! He had so much fun at the Chug For the Jug last Saturday. There was a Kid's Fun Race to kick things off, and Gabe was the youngest to run. All of the kids ran up the street in downtown Rocky Mount. Gabe got halfway there with Ryan running along the sidewalk next to him, when he bit the dust. It looked like a bad fall from where we were standing at the start/finish line, and Ryan ran over to him to pick him up. They chatted for a second, then Gabe took off and started running again! Everyone clapped and cheered for him. He got last place, but definitely earned the title of Speed Racer, like he has been telling anyone who will listen.
He got to do the 4-mile walk in the jogging stroller after that. Ryan pushed him and Noah, George, Tori and Rachel all speed-walked through town together. Ryan and Gabe came in fourth out of all the walkers! Jon and I ran the 4 miles together. We had fun and Jon did a great job. He and I had run the course earlier in the week and it was quite a switch for Jon because he had only ever run on the treadmill. The hills added a challenge, but he really did well in the race. He even let me cross the finish line 2/10ths of a second in front of him!
Here is some proof that we all finished...

"We go bowling because we just go bowling!" -Gabe

We needed to get some practice in for the last two weeks of our bowling league...George, Rachel, and Noah were there, too, but I wasn't too thorough in my picture-taking. Gabe had to stretch out before his game, mostly because all of the guys were busy stretching out their 4-mile walk induced sore muscles.

More From Easter...

The previous post started malfunctioning on me before I could add these last three pics from Easter. We had a great time up at the farm. We got to see a lot of family, eat tons of great food and enjoy a nice hike down to the creek. Gabe got a kick out of seeing Alice ride her horse through the water (he didn't want it to get too close, though!). Here is a photo of the Easter crowd, a family picture, and the one of Gabe in the hat has gone down as my favorite picture of him to date. He really wanted to be a cowboy in that moment!

Easter In Pictures

Gabe's 1st of 3 Easter Egg hunts...It was hilarious to see how excited he was! He was almost shaking when they said "Go!" They didn't even put candy in the eggs, but he still had fun opening them all up. And we got a doughnut afterwards, so can you beat that?? This one was put on by Trinity Mission Health and Rehab Center, so there were a lot of elderly people watching all of the kids. Gabe and I want to go back and check out the fish tanks and visit with some of the folks living there. He really loves having conversations with people, no matter what their age, so I think a lot of people would get a kick out of chatting with him.


Hunt #2 was at the library during Story Hour. Miss Joyce made Jellybean Soup and Gabe found a bunch more eggs. These actually had candy in them...


We saved the best for last...there were 15,000 eggs scattered throughout Waid Park and Gabe snagged his fair share of them. He had so much fun opening them all up and dumping out the stickers, tattoos, erasers, bracelets and candies. They kept him busy for a couple of days afterward. We ran into some buddies there, too!

Weekend Update with...

It's hard to believe that it is Friday already! This week has flown by and been packed full. We headed up to northern VA Monday afternoon without Gabe, which was kinda nice. I always dread keeping him occupied at NIH while Ryan is getting CT scans and we're waiting forever for doctors. Tori was more than happy to keep him at the lake so that we had one less thing to think about. We stopped in to see Grandma Barb and Grandpa Herman and they were sad that Gabe wasn't with us, but we'll make it up to them--we'll be up there for Easter this Sunday!
We got some great quality time in with Noah and Rachel, and aside from blood tests, peeing in a jug, CT scans, waiting 4 hours to see the doctor and lots of rush-hour traffic, we had a really nice trip. We had lunch at P.F. Changs and I got some time in at Wegman's and even the mall, so it was a well-rounded visit to Maryland. The best news is that Ryan's kidneys look fine--he doesn't have to get them checked again for a year. Now we just have to get through the neurology tests in June to make sure his brain and spine look good.
This weekend is looking pretty busy already...Ryan had off today because the market closes on Good Friday. We were on our local cable station this morning putting a plug in for some community events coming up. It was a lot of fun! We didn't get to watch it yet, so we'll try to tune in tonight to see how we look on t.v. Gabe attended his second Easter Egg Hunt at the library after that. I'll load up the pictures this weekend...we'll be dying some eggs, too--probably with our friends Tom and Bryan, who should be here any time now. They'll be here until tomorrow night and then Sunday after church we'll be heading up to Front Royal for a big Easter dinner with lots of family. We are looking forward to it!

Spring is in...

Yes, spring is in the air. The chilly, rainy days have far outnumbered the sunny ones so far. The daffodils are prolific and yellow. The swing in our yard has held a tiny bum any time there has been a touch of warmth in the air. The birds start their singing early every morning even when it is pouring rain, like it was today. Spring has arrived, forgiving the winter for its cold harshness and redeeming it with fresh smells, green grass, new buds and the promise of blue skies. I am thankful that it is here. Fall used to be my favorite season, but I think that spring has moved in to take its place. Spring is the promise of things to come. It is about new life. And Easter makes it about redemption. How grateful I am that Jesus paid the ultimate price for a sinner like me and gave me the opportunity to have new life.

I am glad that my birthday falls in the spring, as well. I can start my 28th year with the blooming grape hyacinths and the first warm breezes of 2009. It was actually sunny and kind of warm on my birthday this year. I had a very special day carefully planned out by Ryan. I assumed that we would be spending some of my birthday cash in Roanoke and hanging out, but was very surprised when we headed south on 220 and ended up in Greensboro. We stopped for ice cream at a place called Yum Yum's and made a few other fun stops along the way. Our final destination, however, was the new Anthropologie store there! It happens to be my favorite store (here is the link if you are curious...www.anthropologie.com) We wandered the store for a long time and Gabe helped me try on a bunch of dresses and the cutest pair of pants. (Sorry I forgot to text you a picture, Tiff!) It was a memorable birthday, for sure.

Some updates...
-Ryan has check-ups in Maryland next week--please pray for good results.
-Gabe can't get enough of his jets and airplanes and helicopter. He is flying something at almost any given time of the day.
-Lasternight is still a word in his vocabulary. He also pronounces airport "orport"; Bear is a pilot and Duck is his co-pilot; he'd love to have a whole bag of jellybeans in the tupperware container of his choice; a box full of packing peanuts has produced many bowls of popcorn for him and I while we all watch AFV; and last but not least, he thinks that we don't need to pray for our food if it isn't hot!