Some More Pictures of the Party...

Kurtis and his cake and the number ~~10~~ in candles!

Kurtis took his friends to play Laser Tag. They had sooooo much fun!

Here the attendant at Laser Quest made everyone sing happy birthday to Kurtis on their knees. Quite funny! Unfortunately the batteries died before I could snap a picture of the crowd.

It was so funny to walk in and find Kurtis had decorated the living room after what I had posted below. This boy has a fascination for moving things!

It was a fun day! Thanks for inviting us, Kurtis!

~~Happy Birthday, Kurtis~~

Kurtis is hitting the double digits today. That's hard for us "older folk" to believe.

Birthdays are a time for joy and reflection. Of course we can't celebrate the gift of Kurtis without remembering Annette on this special day.

Here is a part of Annette's note to Kurtis 2 years ago, on his 8th birthday.

"Happy birthday my love! You are an amazing kid and we'll always remember your birth day as one of the two most special days in our lives! Love your Mom and Dad"

And here is a beautiful picture of Mother's Day, almost 2 years ago:

Your mom LOVED your creative, mechanical mind. She loved to brag to anyone about all the creative things you thought up. Here's another post she wrote about you:

Life with Creative Kurtis
This kid continues to amaze me with his creativity. This is a "device" he made the other day. The base is a motor that spins around. This is from his K'nex sets. He then attached a K'nex straw to it. At the very end, he had wire attached to a butterfly (fake, obviously) that he found. He secured the whole thing to the ceiling with tape. Once turned on, the butterfly spun around and around. He made it especially for me.

Happy Birthday, buddy! We hope your day will be filled with fun memories, good times and friends and family. We'll post some pictures after we come back from your party.

We love you!

A Blessed Easter

Today we mark and remember the day that our Savior conquered death and sin. We sang this song in church today and I thought the words were so perfect.

He Lives

I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today;
I know that He is living, whatever people say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him, He's always near.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me Along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

In all the world around me I see His loving care,
And tho my heart grows weary, I never will despair;
I know that He is leading through all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing will come at last.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me Along lifes narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

We stood at Annette's grave on Friday. We rejoice that she is not there, but in Heaven, celebrating the full reward of Easter. We know we will join her and Mom again someday.
But even more, we rejoice in the full joy of Easter. I pray you will also be blessed this Easter with God's grace and salvation.

What's This?

Well, you might remember my hopes for having tulips and daffodils in my garden this spring.

You might also remember that I could not find 4 minutes to dig them into the ground last fall.

Well, I decided to try planting them a few weeks ago in my urns. I figured they were a lost cause anyway.

And, what's this?? I am quite ecstatic about my sprouts! And you thought they wouldn't grow!

I don't, however, see the daffodils coming up yet. They might just be a lost cause this year. We'll see! Hoping for blooms!