Ella & Justine's Baptism

Early in October, Ella decided she wanted to be baptized again. She had already been baptized when she was 9, but she doesn't remember it. There were actually a bunch of youth age kids getting baptized...Justine included. He had been baptized before as well, but didn't remember it either. 

It just so happened on the Sunday they were getting baptized, October 13th, Justine and Ella were also on the worship team. I had to get Ella to church early in order to for her to practice. 

I was sitting in the sanctuary listening to them practice and I decided I wanted to get a picture of the team. 

Justine saw what I was doing so he kept turning away trying to make it so I couldn't get a picture of the front of his face. Ella kept looking at him like he was crazy because he just kept looking all around. 

Finally I was able to snag a picture of them both looking forward! Silly guy! 

During the last worship song Justine and Ella left so they could go change into their baptism clothes. The church provided each of the people being baptized with one of the burgundy shirts with the church logo on them. Then they just wore a pair of shorts or swim trunks. 

 

Yeaab, our church's Youth Pastor, was the one getting to baptize everyone which made it even more special. Justine was the second person to be baptized! 

It's so cool hearing these kids' hearts! 

Ella was the first girl to be baptized. She said she was really nervous, but I think she did great. She just wouldn't look out at the congregation! 

It was fun that Pa was there helping the kids out of the tank....he's in the background of almost every picture that day! 

Once they were baptized they hung out on the mats off to the side so they could watch the other people get baptized. 

So proud of these two and everyone that was baptized. It's so great to get a front row seat to their journey! 

Easter Sunday 2024!

On Easter Sunday after church we headed down to Ga-Ga & Pa's. On our way down we needed to make a quick stop to pick up Girl Scout Cookies from...

LOGAN!!! 

She was in town for the weekend and it was so fun to see her even if it was only for about 10 minutes. I love these girls...don't they look so cute in their glasses! 

Ga-Ga had the Easter baskets all laid out and labeled so the kids knew who's was who's. 

Ga-Ga had set her stove to start cooking while we were at church, but it didn't work so dinner was going to be later than normal. That was okay though....we just decided to do the egg hunt prior to dinner. 

Christina and I have such a fun time hiding the eggs. We really try to get clever and make it not so easy on the kids. 

They are hidden all over the backyard but nowhere else. 

My sister!!! 

The kids each have their own number and the eggs are labeled so they can only take eggs that have their number on it. It's genius really because they basically have to find all the eggs. 

They each have 8 eggs to find! 

Aaron's pointing at his shirt because it says..."Egg Hunting Squad"! 

Bunny Ears! 

Checking out the goods!!! 

These older boys...I'm not sure how much longer they'll be doing egg hunts! 

Easter Baskets! 

These things were full of candy! 

The best part was Ga-Ga put the jellybeans in a plastic baggie this year so they didn't get lost in all the plastic grass inside the basket! 

So much sugar!!! 

I think Anna picked these flowers! 

Hanging out catching up with friends & family! 

Johnathen & MJ! 

Ga-Ga & Grandma Ruth!

Papa & Bill! 

Pa & Michael! 

These precious girls! 

I was hungry since I never eat breakfast so we brought out some snacks to tide us over until dinner was ready! I love chips & salsa!!! :) 

Of course there was some serious gaming going on upstairs! 

Look at these handsome dudes! 

How fun are these tulip hardboiled eggs! 

Me and my man and for some reason I can not seem to look at the camera for pictures right now! Who knows! 

Dinner time! 

This time Pa decided to divide the table down the lines of men and women so we didn't have to talk over each other. 

I thought it worked really well! 

It was a great day celebrating our Risen Saviour with loved ones. It was also so nice sitting around chatting after dinner bearing our hearts and then also lifting each other and others up in prayer. So thankful for the HOPE we have in Jesus!

Grandma Grant's Celebration Of Life Service!

On April 23rd my last living grandparent...Grandma Grant AKA Gram...went to be with Jesus! She was 91 years old and had been living with Alzheimer's for the last 15 years. She died peacefully in her sleep...honestly the best way to go! 

My Aunt Donna, my Dad's sister, asked me if I would be willing to make up some kind of picture board for her service. It was an absolute pleasure to do so! Aunt Donna emailed my Dad a bunch of pictures and he and I also found some too. Dad printed them out and then I went shopping for supplies with the kids. 

It was so much fun looking through all the old pictures of my grandparents. The picture on the top left of my grandma as a little girl sitting on a stool was hanging outside her bedroom in Denver. My Aunt Donna...who had been caring for Grandma for years with the help of her wonderful husband, my Uncle John...said that every day Gram would come out of her room, look at that picture and say..."Look at that pretty girl!"

I decided to do each row as a new era in her life. The first row on the left was from childhood until my Dad was born. You can see him in the bottom picture on the left side. The next row was them as young grandparents through to their square dancing days. You can see them all dressed up in their square dance attire on the bottom left picture of the second row. The third row was their 40th wedding anniversary through to my grandpa's death. The picture on the bottom left of that row is grandpa holding Jack. He would be gone just 4 months to the day of Jack being born. The fourth row goes from Grandma's farewell party when she left to move to Denver onto the end. The last picture I chose to put on the board was her at a party. It wasn't hers, but something someone said just tickled her and she gave the best laugh and Aunt Donna or Uncle John snapped that picture. I just love it!

Just like the stickers say...it was just a glimpse! There are so many memories wrapped up in these pictures and so many more that couldn't be included. Gram didn't always have an easy life, but I do think overall it was a life well lived. A life with ups and downs, laughter and tears, love and loss. Whenever someone passes it just reminds me to cherish the time that you do have with those you love! 

It turned out so nice and my Aunt Donna was so pleased with it so that made me happy. My parents took it down with them so it would be at the service that was held in Denver. 

Aunt Donna & Uncle John came back up with my parents after the service in Denver to bring Grandma home to Washington to be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery with my Grandpa. We had another small service there at Tahoma on Thursday, May 18th. Michael's Dad officiated for the service. 

Dad read a portion of the Eulogy that he wrote. 

He thanked Aunt Donna & Uncle John for their selflessness in taking care of Grandma for so many years. It was not an easy job, but it was one they wanted to take on to make sure that Grandma would be cared for by people who love her. We so appreciated everything they did! 

It was a small service, but still quite a few people showed up. Even some folks from our church that had never met my Grandma, but that wanted to support our family. It was such a blessing to be able to share with them stories about Gram! 

It was a beautiful day celebrating...celebrating that Gram is no longer trapped in her body that she has been made well and is in the presence of Jesus. What a great thing to celebrate! I know that I will see my Gram again one day and I know I'll hear her say..."Hi Lynnie Ann!"

Easter Adventure & Easter Sunday

Scott, Jenny and I headed up the Easter Adventure at church again this year on Saturday, April 8th. I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but that was because we were having such a fun time. 

We did get a picture in front of the Bunny Booth though. This year we changed a few things to make the flow of the event work better. One of those was moving the Bunny Booth toward the exit instead of the entry. It really worked out well. 

All the volunteers gathered together in the lobby to pray over the event. 

There is no way this event could be what it is without all these lovely people. They are so committed to serving our community! One of the coolest things we added this year was a prayer table where people could come over and ask for prayer. I saw numerous people throughout the event getting prayed for. It was awesome! 

Brenda is always my "go to gal" for being the Bunny Bouncer. She's the one that hangs out with the Bunny and makes sure that the Bunny gets a break and then she brings in a relief Bunny. It can be a "hary" job, but somebody's gotta do it. FYI...I'm pretty sure that's Jack in the Bunny suit!

The next day was Easter Sunday at Ga-Ga & Pa's

The normal crew was able to join us for the celebration. The Martin, Kuch & Oliver kids! 

Love these goofy kiddos! 

Look at these handsome older boys!!! 

And these sweet younger dudes!!! 

And these beautiful young ladies! 

The beautiful table setting! 

Pa filling up the glasses with sparkling cider!  

Since the kids can't fit at the big table with all us adults we have them go through and get their food first. 

Pa has a special table set up in the family room for the girls. The boys sit at the pub table which is in the breakfast nook, but no one got a picture of them this time. Oops! 

Look at that yummy food! Ga-Ga made one of my favorite meals No Peek Chicken! 

Look at these adorably festive cookies. I believe Christina made them! 

The weather was not nice this year so we had to hide the eggs inside. It's always a bit more chaotic, but it works out! If I remember right someone was missing an egg...not sure if we forgot where we hid it or if there was a miscount from the beginning...who knows, but it wasn't the end of the world. :) 

Ga-Ga had all the kids Easter Baskets lines up on the stairs. 

Ella always gets different stuff since she can't have any dye. 

Everyone going through their baskets. There was some trading going on! 

Addison just loves to play around with other peoples hair. She did this amazing French braid for Ella! 

With her hair so long and curly it's so hard for me to do a French braid...it turned so good! 

Such a fun day celebrating with friends and family. We know it's not about the eggs or the candy. It's about Jesus and how he died on the cross for all our sins and paid our penalty. He died so that we might have life! The best part was He didn't stay dead...the grave had no hold on Him just like death has no hold on us if we believe in Him. What a beautiful thing to celebrate!