Demo Team

We are so proud of the accomplishments Stephen have made in karate. We are also amazed at what he has learned and what he can do. I think he would tell you his favorite is breaking boards.

Cousin Time!

Stephen looks forward to his cousins coming from Ohio each summer and the fun things we do.

Steamtown

Enjoying a visit to Steamtown in Scranton, PA .

Choppers

Our family enjoys watching the TLC show American Choppers which features Orange County Choppers. While on vacation, we visited their new headquarters. The headquarters is nice but they have gotten show big that you can only view their shop through a tinted glass that makes it hard to take a picture. We left Orange County Choppers World Headquarters and drove a few minutes down the road to V-Force. Vinnie and Cody left OCC and opened their own shop. They were very friendly. We were given a tour of their shop and pictures. It was a great experience and a highlight of our trip.

Stephen in front of OCC new headquarters.

Photo of OCC shop

Family photo with Vinnie

(Vinnie had a similiar pose when Stephen posed with him a few years ago)

V-Force Shop

Karate Boy!!

We have been so proud of Stephen and his committment to karate. The end of May, he tested to go into Cadets. He did an awesome job. He just tested June 19th for his orange belt. He did a great job writing a flag report for the testing. We are excited to watch him in the future.

Happy Birthday Stephen!

On June 21st, Stephen turned 8 years old. I remember the day he was born and the joy that I felt the first time they put this precious gift in my arms. I still feel the joy when I watch him. I look at the young man he is turning into being and can't help but feel proud. Stephen, I am so proud of you. On his birthday, we looked at his baby album and have spent the last few weeks looking at home videos. The time has gone so quickly. I know Stephen can't wait to get older, but I wish it would slow down. We do cherish every memory.

Cool Experience

We were visiting the zoo during their earth day celebration. Stephen was excited to meet the Philadelphia Eagles' Mascot Swoop. After an hour of waiting the zoo was very kind and gave him another treat. He was taken behind the scences and able to feed the Southern Ground Hornbill. He was also able to go in the Emu cage and pet the Emu. It was a great experience!

Brown Belt Testing

Stephen tested for his brown belt at test night the end of March. He was very nervous to test in front of a panel of judges. He practiced hard and did a great job. He is already working hard for his advanced brown belt.

Easter

Stephen had a great time coloring Easter Eggs and looking through his Easter Basket.

Dr. Suess's Birthday Celebration

Most of you know that Dr. Suess's Birthday was this week. In honor of his birthday, Stephen dressed up "Suess Style."

Guatemala 2008

The experience of serving in Guatemala is incredible but hard to put into words. I think each time I go, I leave a part of my heart. The feeling of walking down a street and giving a toy or piece of candy to a child and watching their entire face change to excitement or putting a brand new pair of socks and shoes that fit on a child and see them walk away with a bit of a skip to their step or looking around a room full of children that were just given the Wordless Book story and watching many, many hands go up that they had accepted Christ as their personal Savior and would be walking the streets of gold is so amazing. We had the opportunity to go to 2 different schools this year. It was so cool to introduce Playdoh to a preschool class and teach them how to use it. It was a proud moment when Stephen gave his sandals that he had been wearing to an 11 year old boy that needed shoes. In another 10-15 years, I may even be fluent at Spanish. The amazing thing is giving breaks down the language barrier. We went to the schools after we had done a VBS and many of the children remembered us and ran up to us and gave us hugs. Some held out their wrists to show us they were wearing the bracelets they had made with us the day before. Even though we just returned and am counting the days until we leave on our next trip. Please keep the people of Guatemala in your prayers.

In this video, our kids sang to the class and the class sang a song back to us. It was such an awesome experience.

I will post more photos soon.

Demo Team

Tonight at Karate, Stephen was invited to be on the Lil' Dragon's Demo Team. Only 6 students are invited to join the Demo Team and Stephen's Instructors nominated him. With excitement, he accepted the invitation. He was thrilled to find out he would be using weapons. They have nunchucks for them to use and we bought him a Bo tonight. We let him pick it out. We are very excited for him and very proud of him. The main instructor explained to him that he was chosen because he showed so much improvement in the last several months. They were also impressed by his focus and determination especially in the last tournament. We will post a picture of Stephen in his new demo team uniform with his Bo soon.

Memory Maker

While I was pregnant with Stephen, people would tell me to enjoy every moment because it goes so fast. I did not believe them after the first few sleepless nights. Seven years later and it feels like time just flew. I know that time will continue to move very quickly, so I am trying to enjoy and make lasting memories. I once read a Church's sign around Mother's Day and it read MOM (Maker of Memories). Every moment is not perfect but it's the precious moments that I hope Stephen will remember for a lifetime. I am thrilled when Stephen wants me to tuck him in and pray with me. Tonight we competed on WebKinz together. Some day he will look back and know that I took the time to play with him. Children are a wonderful gift from God and I am so thankful to God for giving us Stephen. Another memory we are about to create is our mission trip to Gautemala. We took Stephen last year and he has talked about it all year. We leave in just over a week and we are looking forward to it. It is hard to put into words the emotions of serving as a family. I was thrilled a few weeks ago when Stephen said he wanted to learn Spanish so he could be a missionary and translater. Of course, he will probably change his mind a few thousands time but at least for now I will take it.

Karate Board Breaking Tournament

Stephen has been in Karate for over a year now. He competed in his 2nd tournament a few weeks ago. This one was a board breaking tournament. Because he is an advanced purple belt he was in the highest group to compete for Little Dragons. He entered 3 events: Upper Body/Hand, Lower Body/Foot, and Combination. He went out there each time and broke every board. At the end of the tournament, he left with 2 third place trophies. We are very proud of his accomplishments especially because he only started breaking boards a week before the tournament. He loves breaking boards and I'm sure this will be the first of many board breaking tournaments that he enters.

Boyd's Super Duper Bear Factory

We went to Gettysburg to visit with Monica's Uncle that she hasn't seen since she was a little girl. Before we left Gettysburg, we stopped at the Boyd's Bear store. Stephen had a great time creating a bear. Here are the steps to make a stuffed "friend"

First- you take a time card and punch in. You walk over and choose your stuffed friend.

Second- you fill a measuring cup with beads. Each color bead represents something you are filling your bear with like red for love, purple for laughter, blue for joy, and etc.

Third-the beads are put in your bear and you are given a golden bean

with a paw print on it to make a wish for your stuffed friend.

Fourth-you brush and fluff your bear.

Fifth- you pick out an outfit that you would like your bear to wear. Stephen chose jeans and a sweater that has Gettysburg written on it. Lastly, you take your bear home to be your forever stuff "friend".

Celebrating Christmas at Thanksgiving

We look forward to going to Michigan each year at Thanksgiving and visiting with family. It is now a tradition to celebrate Christmas at this time. Stephen counts the days before he can see Nanny, Pappoes, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Larry, Great Grandma, and all his cousins and aunts and uncles. This year, Monica's neice Brittany got married the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was a nice wedding and we wish Brittany and Brian a lifetime of happiness.

Stephen modeling the scarf that Grandma Nancy gave me.

It has become a tradition to go to Bronner's at Thanksgiving and visit Santa. We do not have Bob's Big Boys in Pennsylvania and Stephen loves to eat at them when we are in Michigan. He could not wait to get his picture taken with the large Big Boy.