conversations

shut up.

                                            

my 7 year old niece has lost her 2 front teeth.

i'm not sure if i've ever seen anything cuter.

dad.

many of you know that my dad is a chaplain in the air force reserves.  he feels a deep calling to go and help the soldiers who are over in iraq.  he is leaving today to train in the u.s. for a month, then, at the beginning of june, he will go to iraq.  i think that God will use him to bring His life to people who are in a really dark place.  if you think of it, pray for his safety and for God's strength as he begins his work.  and pray for my mom too, it would be pretty hard to not see your husband for the rest of the year and to trust God with his life.  it is encouraging to see dad taking risks and listening to God.  it would be so much easier and more comfortable to stay at home, but he is trusting God and going across the world to a very "unsafe" place.  although, corrie ten boom says that no place is safer than another within God's will. 

this picture of dad & ben is stolen from my sister's blog, thanks heidi!  it was taken last weekend at dad's peace gathering service.

mom.

today is my mom's birthday. 
this is one of my favorite pictures of her, taken in alaska with cakes some ladies from church made for her birthday.  she says that she is entering into the best decade of life, 60-70, and she can't wait. 
i am so thankful for such an amazing mother.
i'm hoping to be more like her some day.

vintage quilt.

                                     

after i told my grandma about my love for antiques & quilting, she decided to give me this quilt!  i was so excited (and even had to bring home an extra suitcase to transport it!).  i love it.  i really can't believe it's mine.  my grandma's grandma (maycie) made it for her around 1938.  it is all hand quilted.  i wish you could see the detail, she even quilted patterns of flowers in the corners.  so awesome. 

                                                      

slides.

over christmas we enjoyed one of my favorite childhood activities, that is watching a slideshow of pictures of us as kids.  my parents dug out the slide projector & screen & a ton of slides.  i loved it!  my dad had continuous commentary through the whole show.  it is crazy how he remembers so many people's names.  this picture is one of my favorites, of dad reading to us after bath time.  look at that stylish track jacket he was sporting.  my brother used to jump from our top bunk with his superman pjs pretending he could fly.  even after we watched hours of slides, i still wanted to see more.  maybe next trip to wichita!  my sister posted about this on her blog too, thanks for the picture heidi!

family likeness.

clark's mom asked me, "do you think clark is turning into his dad?" when i came down for breakfast on thanksgiving.  i thought she was referring to how tom was hovering & "monitoring" her cooking (clark does too).  actually she was referring to the exact matching outfits they found themselves in that morning.

annie & ally turned one last week.  they are a lot of fun.  i like this picture, they both preferred to only have on one shoe at at time.  and look at those legs!  they are awesome.

my sister's  kids were fun to be with.  they are really growing up.  abby, the oldest, was born my senior year of high school.  she will be 9 in january.  my sister posted about how they are growing up.  i really can't believe it.  it seems like yesterday when they were babies.  now they are turning into such cool people.  abby just sat at the table & talked with mom, heidi, & i telling stories & jokes.  parker & morgan just played outside on their own.  its hard to be farther away from family, but it makes our time together better, i think. 

 

baby david.

you should really look at my  brother's post from this week.
this is my new little nephew, david aaron.
not sure if i've seen a cuter little bear.