Father's Day

The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.   Proverbs 20:7

Your godly life is a rich legacy for our girls and unborn son.  We love you!  Happy Father's Day to all of the amazing fathers and grandfathers in our lives.

Pink or Blue?

Our anatomy ultrasound was last week.  We told the technician we wanted to find out the gender of our baby, but not right then.  So she sealed the revealing photo in an envelope to take home.  Our generous neighbors, Lisa & Sophie agreed to make pink or blue cupcakes, and we had a little gender reveal party, just the five of us, on the backyard patio.  I decorated with some precious momentoes from Benji's & my childhood, and the girls chose to wear pink or blue based on whether they wanted a brother or sister.

The cupcakes were so beautifully decorated!  Lisa and Sophie went above and beyond what I was expecting. 

I told Lisa & Sophie to dye the cupcake batter, but instead they left the batter white and piped colored frosting into the center.  It definitely added to the suspense.  Even when we unwrapped the cupcakes, we had to bite into them in order to find out the gender.

We were totally shocked.......

.........blue frosting!!!!!!!!

We're having a boy!

We are absolutely elated!  And while Benji & I were almost certain we were having another girl, the doctor kinda gave it away at our appointment after the ultrasound.  After hearing that everything appeared normal with our baby's anatomy (Praise God!), Benji asked Dr. Johnson if anything else "popped out" in reading the ultrasound. He responded, "Nothing, except what was between the legs." 

There were four things that weren't seen clearly during the ultrasound because baby boy was squirming up a storm: the nose, lips, esophagus, and the aortic arch.  But the doctor said it wasn't any cause for concern.  Our baby weighs 12 ounces and is still expected to arrive around Oct. 23. 

Us Lately

We decided to plant our strawberry starts in the front yard this year.  We have a total of 25 strawberry plants, which could yield us a bunch of berries.  Unfortunately, Tessa has taken to picking and eating the strawberries while they're still white.

McKinley did a basketball camp at our church which happened every Saturday in April.  Not only did she learn about the game, but she also learned about teamwork & respect.

14 weeks ~ In front of the old apple tree in our back year before it was professionally removed.

First lunch on the patio!

There was a fun photo booth in our church lobby during Mother's Day.

Trying to hike in the snow on Mt. Hood.  After 20 minutes of slipping and sliding we came back down to drier trails.

Tessa is so happy to be hiking in the snow!

After trying to hike at Government Camp where there was still too much snow, we finally settled on some trails in the Wildwood Recreation Area where there was skunk cabbage instead of snow.  We also had a bit of a scare when Piper slipped on some wet rock and began falling off an edge.  Luckily I was able to grab her camelback and pull her back up to the trail.  

Sophie and her family went to Hawaii, and she brought back some real leis for the girls.

First pool party of the spring.

19 weeks ~ Trying out a new fashion accessory.

Piper wrapped up her second year as a Cubbie.  We are so proud of her; she completed her Honeycomb Handbook and hid a lot of God's Word in her heart in the process!

Piper's best friend from AWANA's: Miss Emma

Phillip is another one of Piper's friends from Cubbies.

McKinley also finished her second year as a Sparky.  She completed her WingRunner Handbook and made friends with another homeschooler named Elsa.

McKinley & Elsa