First Week of February

We returned from DC just in time for Ryan to make it to his first basketball practice for the 5th graders. They are going to be playing other churches and schools this season. This is one of the mounds of snow in the church parking lot!


School was closed on Tuesday, because the roads weren't cleared from the weekend. So, we went over to our friends, the Bouchers. They are getting ready to move, so we brought them a special ice cream treat because we love them! They have FOUR boys, just like us:)

Every Tuesday night Kris has to stay in Richmond for work and wouldn't you know it. . . that's the day I get a flat tire! Thankfully it happened at our friends' house AND Mike and Lake were there to fix it. The Lord is so kind!!

Trevor had to stay up late to get his homework finished one night, because we had so many things going on that day after school. He had a birthday party and then we went to the SGC Cougars Varsity games. Trevor is such a hard worker and really wants to do well in school!

The Boucher Boys came over on Friday, while their mom and dad finished moving. I surprised my boys - when they came home from school and saw their friends they were SO excited!!

Anderson reading to Liam during our family dinner night. So Sweet!!

Everybody helps out with chores and here is Cai getting the black scuff marks off of our stairs. Since, he can't do things on his own, he is my "special helper". He was a good and cheerful helper!

Saturday brought more snow and ice. Here is a picture that Kris took of one of our trees. This has been crazy winter weather for Virginia. The coldest since we moved here.

Oops . . . This picture should go on the second week of February's post. Oh, well. Here is Cai after story time at the library. He used SO much glue on this project. I just kept laughing as I watched him through the window. He kept sticking his fingers together and trying to flick the glue off. Not sure if you can see, but those three white globs upper right of his picture are glue!

Back Up And Running. . .

Okay. . . I know it has been a LONG while! I am going to attempt to update weekly - kind of like a "week in review".



Before I begin, here is a brief update. In July Kris' dad was dignosed with brain cancer and we prayed about moving back to VA to be near Kris' family. The Lord provided in every way, making it very clear that was what we were to do, although it was extremely difficult to leave GA.



January 25 - 31



Goodnight time with Daddy: Kris is such a great husband and daddy! He puts the boys to bed most nights.


The boys recently changed roommates. Cai and Ryan are now sharing a room. This morning Cai found Ryan's deodorant and tried some on, without asking. Here he is showing me his "armpits". He told me to smell his armpits (which were the tops of his elbows). Guess he was trying to be like big brother.

It was National Reading Month and so I went in and read these books to Ryan and Trevor's classes. Two of them are in my Top 10 Favorite kids books and the other is a fun legend about Michigan.

On Thursday, we loaded up the suburban and headed to DC with the Johns Family. At one point we actually debated driving both suburbans, because we were running out of space!

I couldn't pick just one photo for each of our days in DC, so here are some of my favorites.

Riding the Metro

The Capital Building, we took a tour.

Saturday it snowed!! Here we are walking to lunch near our TimeShare. We decided not to risk driving into the city or riding the metro because the roads were pretty nasty.

The boys playing pool.

The Washington Monument, we rode to the top - very cool!

The gang outside the Monument. . . freezing!

Our Family at the Jefferson Memorial. We were able to hear Martin Luther King Jr's speech on the steps of the Memorial, very moving!

The boys near the Reflecting Pool, which was a bit frozen. It was a cold trip, but a memorable one with lots of fun times shared with the boys and Kris' family. Can't wait for our next trip! Three days is NOT enough time for DC.

Our Baby is Three!!!

Last Monday was Cai's birthday. I was able to take him out on a special date in the morning. We got to the mall before the stores opened, so he played on all the little ride toys. Funny thing - Ryan used to ride them all the time and I don't think Cai ever has. We don't go to the mall nearly as much , now that we live so far away from a mall. Unfortunately, I didn't have any cash. Even so, he had a great time pretending to drive the different vehicles and I'm not even sure he realized they could move! (The other unfortunate thing is that I forgot my camera!) We went to the Disney store and Cai picked out a new swim suit, shirt and towel from Papa and Dee Dee. Then we went to the Croc store to pick out new crocs, from Gramma and Grampa. This year he chose a Buzz Lightyear for his croc. After that we rode the train around the mall and since it was his birthday the driver let Cai wear his hat! On our way out I let Cai pick out a cookie - he chose a double doozie which is two chocolate chip cookies with frosting in between. I told him he could eat it on our ride home, thinking he would eat maybe half of it. But, he ate the entire thing!! I couldn't believe it.

Here he is with his new Crocs.
We had a very simple party: pizza and cake by the pool with his cousins.

Caius, we love you to the moon and back. You are such a joy to our family. You make us laugh all the time with the crazy things you say and do.

It is hard to believe that our baby is three. No more two year olds at the Johns household. It has been a long time since our lives haven't revolved around nap schedules. A new season is beginning.

A New Decade Begins

Ryan turned 10 on Tuesday!!!

Birthday breakfast: Waffles with strawberries and whip cream!
Opening his new skim board slip n slide from Papa and Dee Dee.

Sporting his Michigan shirt and crocs from Gramma and Grampa (we won't mention the jack knife from grandpa and the wound that followed:)

Ryan wanted to have a party at the beach, so he and his friends could play sports and have fun in the water. We went to Galt's Ferry Beach. Here's Kris and the boys making the lines in the sand for their beach volleyball tournament.

After two rounds of Volleyball they headed for the water and stayed there. It was a beautiful, hot day. So much for the other games we had planned - but I might say that this was the easiest party I have ever done!

The whole gang eating dinner.

Ryan was born 5 days early, on his Uncle Ryan's birthday. We had planned on naming him Jaiden, but decided that perhaps the Lord had other plans. He did choose our son's birthday to be on the same exact day as Ryan's, who would never have children of his own. We believe that the Lord wanted to bless Ryan with a special gift that year and our son with a wonderful, godly namesake. Ryan lived much of his life in pain, but there were not many moments without a smile. He knew what it meant to suffer, and yet he knew true joy through peace with His Savior. One of our son's favorite memories from birthdays past is singing, Happy Birthday, Ryan and Ryan" Even though Uncle Ryan is no longer with us we still have the joy of celebrating his birthday each year and we look forward to be reunited with him one day in heaven. Perhaps he and Ryan will have a wrestling match that day:)

Amicalola Falls

We packed a lunch and headed an hour north a couple of Saturdays ago to visit Amicalola Falls. It was so amazing and beautiful!! We all fell in love with the place and we will be going back as often as we can!

When we first entered the State Park we were greeted by this sign . . . YIKES!

Thankfully we didn't see any bears, other than the stuffed one in the museum. First we drove to the top of the mountain to check things out. Here is Trevor looking down, over the Falls.

Anderson and Caius

We read a sign which said that we could walk down 450 steps to the middle of the Falls where there was an overlook bridge. After we ate our lunch, we headed down.

While we were on the bridge, I asked Kris if it were raining or if that was just the overspray of the Falls. He thought it was a little of both. We stood in amazement of God's amazing creation for a few minutes and then headed back up the steps. (going down was much easier:) Half way up the steps it started down pouring!!! We were all soaked, but we had a lot of fun!!!

Date Night With Ryan

Ryan asked if he could take me out for my birthday present this year. He had recently done a few things to earn some cash of his own. Wasn't that sweet that he wanted to use some of his money to take me out? He picked the place, Mexican, which we both love and then he asked if we could go to Bruster's afterwards for dessert. We had lots of fun conversation. He asked if he could hold my hand while we drove. He asked the waiter for things we needed and he was so sweet! At the end of the evening he said, "This is the best date I have ever been on!"

At The P-A-R-K Park

Here are a few more pictures from our time with the Andersons during the week before Easter.
Anderson and Charlie are wearing matching t-shirts (they LOVE each other). On the day Charlie was to go home they were talking about the possibilities of Aaron and Sara adopting Anderson so that he could live with Charlie:)
These two have a love hate relationship, but what gives me hope is that was Anderson and Charlie 4 years ago! Jimmy and Cai: