Let the Little Children Come to Me...

I do have more DC photos to share, however, this past Sunday was quite special in the Libby household and more important to share right now.  Caleb got baptized!  We were so proud of him.  The greatest part is that this was not something that Dave or I pushed on him or told him he should do.  Over the past year as he read through the gospel of John, he would ask questions about what it meant to be baptized and who should be baptized and when should someone be baptized.  We just kept answering his questions.  And when the baptism announcement came out a few months ago, he said he was ready.  He felt not many people knew that he had Jesus in his heart and he wanted to tell them.  We are so proud of the man of God he is becoming and of his desire to follow Christ.  We are excited to see how God uses his life in an amazing way.
Here is the link to see the video that played before he was baptized.  Hopefully you can get to it okay by cutting and pasting it to your web browser.  It should download to your computer.    file:///C:/Users/Libby/Downloads/Caleb's%20Baptism%20Video.wmv
(If it doesn't and you still want to see it, just e-mail me and I can e-mail it to you)

 A big smile for the camera while his video played for everyone.

 Here we go...

 WOO HOO!  Congratulations Caleb!

 Selfie!

I was really keeping my fingers crossed for a family picture before the baptism but with daddy working Sunday mornings, that isn't always easy...so he had to settle for a picture with his proud mama!

Traditions Shared

So we got home from our D.C. vacation on Wednesday and what a blast we had!  Everyone was sad to leave because the week was so very blessed by beautiful times of friendship for both the adults and the kids. Hannah was especially sad to leave Anna. I think she really enjoyed having a "big sister" for the week.
The Thorsons did something very kind while we were there (actually, they did many kind somethings while we were there!).  They shared one of their Easter traditions with us.  Each year they each get a cake to decorate...Easter story style.  They each get to decorate their cake with candy and other goodies but it has to tell a part of the Easter story.  However, in sharing their tradition with us, there would have been 8 CAKES to decorate...AND EAT!  So we gave the kids a challenge.  Not only did they decorate their cake with a part of the Easter story but they had to do it as a team.  The only 2 that got their own cakes were Josie and Jonas because those would most definitely not work together well...they spent much of the weekend yelling at one another about one thing or another so it was best to separate them.  But the others did so great together.  They worked together to put some amazing cakes together.  See for yourself!  Thank you Thorsons for sharing your tradition with us!

 "Team" (and I use that term loosely with these 2!) Jonas and Josie

 Team Jessie and Josiah (these 2 LOVED being together all week!)

 Their cake was Jesus on the cross with all the soldiers around them.  They made sure to grab a blue peep..."because Jesus is a boy" is what they said.

 Team Asher and Caleb

 Their cake was Jesus riding in on the donkey on Palm Sunday....the donkey is dead center and again, Jesus is the blue bunny.  SO CREATIVE!

Team Hannah and Anna.  Yes, Hannah is totally stashing some candy in that mouth of hers!

 I just love this picture of Anna with her tongue....so focused.

The girls cake was Jesus coming out of the tomb.  (I love the trees!)

The cake making crew enjoying their cake creations...yup, we just gave them forks and let them have at it!

Greetings from D.C.

Our family headed down to the D.C. area on Thursday and we are having a great time!   We are staying with our dear friends Mary and Joel Thorson and their 4 great kids.  Needless to say, with 12 people in one house and 8 of them being children in the age ranges from 9 down to 2, it gets a little loud and crazy but we are truly enjoying the week just "living life" together. It does get a little confusing, however, with a Jessie, a Josiah, a Josie and a Jonas.  And then there is a Hannah and an Anna...rarely does the right name come out! 
Our kiddos did really well on the drive down.  It took about 9 hours of actually driving but with a couple of stops, we were on the road for 12 hours.  Jonas was the toughest to keep entertained for long periods of time and didn't sleep as much as we would have hoped but he survived along with his mom and dad!  We stopped at Gettysburg on the way down which was very cool.  So neat to see the things we have been learning about.  These pictures are from our day in D.C. yesterday.  It was a long day with 8 kids walking through a very crowded city but it was absolutely beautiful and so awesome to see the history in just one place.

 Our crowded little corner of the Metro into D.C.

 Oh from wence we have come...when Dave and I met Mary and Joel, neither couple had any children.  Now, here we are with 8 kids in front of The White House...oh wait, we could actually use the White House with all the space we need for these kiddos!

 I just love this picture in front of the reflective pool with the Washington Monument and Capitol Building in the background.  You see this all the time on T.V. with speeches but how neat to see in real life.  

 The Lincoln Memorial was definitely my favorite part of the day.  The kids have been studying his life in history and we studied how and why the memorial was made the way it was so it was really cool to see up close and personal.  It was a moment of loving that we homeschool. Being able to bring things to life for them is a blessing.

 The Lord has blessed us with beautiful weather while we are here! I actually had to buy some things for the kids because I didn't bring cool enough clothes...it's been 80 degrees!!!  And not only blessed with good weather but also that we hit Cherry Blossom season.  Right. On. Time. They were literally blooming Friday and Saturday.  I was really hoping to be here to hit that bloom time and was so excited that we did.  They are absolutely beautiful.   

 The Jefferson Memorial set in between the beautiful cherry blossoms.

 The kids like posing for this picture...anytime those boys can climb a tree is a bonus.

 The beautiful Thorson family.  We are so grateful for their hospitality and love this week.

 Another great photo op.

 Seriously, it was like walking through a forest of these trees and when the petals fell in the breeze, it was like it was snowing.  So pretty....

 I love this girl!  There are some friends that you can not live near for a long period of time yet when you see one another, you just pick up where you left off.  That is my dear friend Mary.  Though we are miles apart and busy with our lives and kids, when we come together there are still times of hearing each other's heart and encouraging one another. 

It has been such a blessing to see one another each day.  It will be hard to say good-bye...

We have a few more things planned and already have more pictures to post but this will due for now.  I will update again in a few days!!!

Happy Birthday Josiah!

Josiah turned 7 in March and he wanted an army themed party.  I thought this would be a challenge at first but then when you realize you have to please a bunch of BOYS with "army stuff"...no problem.  "Easy peasy lemon squeezy" as my kids would say.  The boys were recruits at Josiah's Birthday Bash.  They had to go through "rigorous" training in order to accomplish the mission: to detonate a minefield of grenades (AKA camouflage easter eggs filled with candy!).  
The boys had an obstacle course and some other training drills to accomplish.  They had a lot of fun.  It was a great day so in this mama's book...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

(Thank you Auntie Wendy for the amazing pics!)

 Auntie Lauren never fails us...another great cake.  And the best part was not only the camo on the outside but she even made the inside camo.  So talented! 

 Each recruit got their own helmet, dog tag and "canteen".  

 That's right...training time!  Push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks and running!

 And you didn't think the girls wouldn't get in on the action, did you?!?!

 The tire run of the obstacle course.

 The army crawl was certainly the favorite in the course.  Dave did such an amazing job putting this course together.  (And shhhh...but I think he enjoyed putting it together as much as the kids enjoyed going through it.)

 He may have been trailing behind but he was a part of everything the big recruits were doing.

 I just love this face of Hannah doing the army crawl.  So intense...God will use that quality someday, I know.

 Our little soldier.

 So they through the course 2 times but before the 2nd round, they had to pick a card out of a helmet.  On the card they either "lost a leg" or "lost an arm" or "went blind" during battle.  So they had to do the course without that body part.  That was funny!  Caleb lost his sight so it was pretty funny watching the legless soldier leading the blind man!  As you can see Siah lost an arm.  They were all such troopers (pun intended!).

 And of course some good 'ole fashion tug-o-war!

 This was the funniest!  Dave found this old army stretcher at work and brought it home knowing I could figure something out to do with it.  The kids had to "carry their platoon" from one destination to another until the whole team was carried.  Some weren't as strong so yes, some soldiers were dropped!

 Auntie Wendy handed me the camera and surprised the kids by hopping on the stretcher.  They thought that was great.  Everyone knows that Auntie Wendy is no doubt a trooper!

Happy Birthday Josiah!  You are a soldier in God's army and He is going to use you in amazing ways in all the missions of your life.  We love you!