Sophia's Lego party

We had a party for my granddaughter, Sophia this weekend. 

 Aunt Mindy came with a stuffed unicorn that she won at Six Flags Over Texas that she thought the girls would enjoy, and boy! did they ever!!

 Miss Unicorn took quite a beating during the evening!

We have a tradition that the birthday person gets to choose the dinner for the night.  Sophia wanted a "brinner" - breakfast/dinner.  Pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, fruits.  

 Yummy!

Sophie thought we should let our tummies settle and wait for cake until after opening gifts!

 

I found this card at Party City that loudly proclaims "Sophia! Happy Birthday!!" and then sings "happy birthday,Sophia".  Claire LOVED it and opened and closed it over and over.  And would dance and twirl with the card.  And of course, Sophia danced too.  She is always dancing! 

 Sophie with Papa and Aunt Mindy

                                                               Granddad, Gramsy and Sophia

 A girl Lego cake!  Such a cute idea!

Happy wishes!!

Happy Birthday, Sophia!!!

Many happy hours putting Legos together!

Moving on

Allen and I have led a few young married's groups over the years. This past year, we took a break from leading and sent this group off on their own.

We decided to reconnect and invited those 

who were here over for supper this week.

I wish you could hear some of their stories.  Although a few grew up in Christian homes, some had some rather rough backgrounds.  And some have gone through some hard things in life.  But God has become their refuge and strength.  Their Rescuer.

Some of these girls began a ministry called Missing Motherhood 

and it will be taken to other communities as well.

We have been amazed at how God has led each of them.  First of all, there have been several moves.  One couple moved to Oklahoma.  They were almost hit by that tornado in Moore! -like a couple of blocks from it!  Another couple moved to K.C. and one more to Springdale, Ark.  In the picture below, we "talked" with one of those couples via computer (and then phone, since for some reason the computer didn't work out).

God has been at work in each of these couples lives and now more are branching off to other places where God is calling them - to begin a church plant in Cincinnati, and another to begin a church plant in Park City, Ks, one couple has moved to Hutchinson and is seeking God's leading there, and one has been helping with the church plant in Moundridge.  It seems that out of the original group, only 1 couple will remain in our midst!!  And they are pretty important in our church body doing techy stuff.

We are so proud of these kids; how they are listening to the Lord, leaving their comfort zone and serving the Him!

It reminds me of this old hymn.  I doubt any of them know this hymn.  Allen and I found out quickly that we were pretty "not with it" any more.  Ha!!  We loved them anyway, even though there were times we had no idea what they were talking about!  But, they are following Christ and I know will continue to impact the Kingdom!

I can hear my Savior calling, 
 I can hear my Savior calling, 
 I can hear my Savior calling, 
 "Take thy cross and follow, follow me." 
Refrain:
 Where he leads me I will follow, 
 where he leads me I will follow, 
 where he leads me I will follow; 
 I'll go with him, with him all the way. 

School starts

Summer vacation is officially over.

Emeri began school this week down in Arkansas.  

It is part school/part home-school.

Her younger brother will surely miss her!

His Grammie is taking him to preschool classes that 

Bible Study Fellowship has.  He will enjoy that!

And the girls here in Kansas began their school today.

I asked the Lord to bless you

As I prayed for you today,

To guide you and protect you

As you go along your way.....

                                  

Mary Poppins

Al's staff at the hospital gave him 2 tickets to the music theatre.  

We decided to purchase 2 more and take the girls with us to see Mary Poppins.  

It was almost 3 hours long and very entertaining!

Afterwards, the girls could NOT agree on where to eat, so we went

 to a buffet where there are many choices.  

Dessert was their favorite.

And Claire?

She was at home, pining for her sisters.

This is an actual picture of her looking at her sisters and saying "sissies".

Claire had a babysitter while her mommy and daddy also had a date.  Someday, Claire, you will be old enough to go with us!

Winding down

Summer is winding down.  Only a few more days until the girls are in school.  

They are making the most of it.

Slip and slide

Going to the park - preceded by a stop at Druber's (forgot to take a picture of that!)

Claire has started sticking out her tongue a lot.  Kind of like her Uncle Josh.

Hannah wanted to take photos

 this is the immigrant statue to represent the Mennonite immigrants to this area in 1874

going for a walk

These guys were not happy with us.  They honked loudly to tell us to stay away from their territory!

 With all the rain we have had this summer, the dry river bed has re-filled.

visiting Grandpa Pete

the girls were having fun with his bed!

the home has a bird named Chip

Claire reacting to Chip's screaches

We ladies all went out to eat since the guys were at an elder's meeting

On the way home, we ran into a horrible storm.  Nasty!  Luckily we all made it safely!

Next - taking the older kids to Mary Poppins!