Run For the Arts

The kids participated in a fundraiser "marathon" at school to earn money to keep art programs at their school.  The first run got rained out, but when they finally did run, they did fantastic!  Jeremiah ran 14 laps (3.5 miles in 30 minutes) and earned a T-shirt.  Alayna ran 11 laps (2.75 miles in 30 minutes), but was still 2 points shy of winning a T-shirt.  She was so bummed, but felt better when we told her that she would inherit Jeremiah's once it was too small for him.  (Although, she'll probably earn one next year, and that one still won't fit her yet, as petite as she it!)  Here are a few photos from the run.

On a walking break

Dodging some walkers

Looks like she's prancing!

Run, Layna, Run!

Goof

Alayna's class

(Didn't get one of J's class.  They had to rush back inside to finish testing or something like that.)

Tulip Festival

Tulips are abound in Portland right now!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!  I love walking or riding my bike through our neighborhood and seeing them in bloom in many of the yards.  We even have a random patch of them in our yard!  It's delightful.  They put me in such a great mood.

This weekend we had absolutely gorgeous SUMMER weather in Portland.  It was 75º on Saturday and 80º yesterday!  Spectacular.   We took advantage (along with the rest of Oregon) and went to the Tulip Festival, about 45 minutes away in Woodburn.  Worth the drive and the crowds.  Gorgeous fields of tulips.  I am so in love with spring in Oregon.  Seriously, all 4 seasons have been awesome.  We are so blessed to live here!

We took at least 30 pictures.  I picked 10 to post here.  The rest are on Facebook, if you want to see.  :)

 J on the zipline!

A on the trampoline.

Easter 2012

Our family really makes a big deal about Easter.  Moreso than Christmas.  But not with candy and eggs (though, there is some of that too).  We spend a lot of time reflecting on Christ and reading Scripture, praying, worshipping with song, and celebrating with friends (or family, when the opportunity presents itself).  We just want to delight in Christ's sacrifice and resurrection.  That is, after all, what Easter is about.

Our annual Holy Week Scripture readings are:

Matthew 21: 1-11; chapters 26-28

Mark 11:1-11; chapters 14-16

Luke 19:28-44; chapters 22-24

John 11:45-57; 12:1-35; chapters 13, 14, 17-20

Isaiah 25:8, 53:1-12

Romans 3:23-26; 4:25; 5:8-11; 6:23

This past Thursday night, the night we usually meet with our Home community, we commemorated the Last Supper with a semi-traditional Passover Seder.  It was an awesome experience.  It reminded me of my childhood and spending Passover Seder with my childhood best friend, who is Jewish.  We enjoyed it so much that we will be adding a Messianic Seder to our Holy Week traditions in the future.

On Good Friday, I made Matzah ball soup from scratch for dinner before attending the Good Friday service at Imago.  It was so yummy!  Recipe is here.  Another new tradition is born!

We incorporated a few more new traditions this year.  We did a Resurrection garden and made Resurrection rolls on Saturday night.  (We did not dye eggs this year.)  In addition, thanks to our friend, Kat, we will be reinstating our own version of "resurrection eggs" again (we haven't done them since 2008).  She made them an awesome homemade version, and called it the "12 Days of Easter".  We opened up one egg a night in the days leading up to Easter.  I even hid them and had the kids find them each night.  It was fun!  (Thanks Kat!)

We have other traditions that have been in place for several years.  My husband and I always watch "The Passion of the Christ" on Good Friday and the kids watch a cartoon version of it.   We have a scavenger hunt to "find Jesus" on Easter morning (in addition to an egg hunt).  Seeing the kids work together on the hunt is awesome, since its rare that they get along.  And, I write a short Psalm every year, as a way to worship the Lord and pay homage to His sacrifice (you can read that HERE).

The weather was gorgeous all weekend!  Easter Sunday was filled with celebration with our Church family in the morning, a scavenger hunt, an egg hunt, games and treats with Aunt Jill and Aaron and the neighbors, and lots of giggles and photos.  Alayna wasn't feeling well most of the day and ended up getting sick at the end of the night.  So, we had a sour ending to a great day.  Still, a day to remember, our first Easter in Portland!  Hope you all had a blessed time celebrating the resurrection of our Savior!

Resurrection Rolls

Resurrection "garden"--Sealed tomb

Empty tomb--He is Risen!

Family Pics

They "found" Jesus!

Church

Ready for egg hunt

My man-boy

Sweet girl

With Aunt Jill and Aaron

Dinner

Bike Accident

Last Friday (10 days ago), Alayna and Jeremiah took a bike ride with our (adult) neighbor up to Mt. Tabor.  As they were coming back down the steep hill, Alayna lost control of her bike and fell off, face first, into the asphalt.  It was pretty bad.  There was a lot of blood.  She knocked out 2 (baby) teeth.  We took her to urgent care in case she needed any stitches (she didn't) and then, followed up with a trip to the dentist.  They did some x-rays to make sure everything looked good and then she was clear to eat solid foods again (but cut up).  She shouldn't bite into anything with her front bottom permanent teeth because they did receive some trauma from the accident.  The dentist said we have to watch them closely over the next few months.  Hopefully, a root canal will not be necessary.  In the meantime, she needs to be careful how she eats.  She's been getting plenty of spoiling from everyone.

Alayna is healing nicely and is back to her old stuff (just in time to return to school today).  We've been documenting the healing process with a photo every other day (only, she wouldn't allow it last weekend, when the swelling and bruises were at their worst).  Obviously, I didn't get one right after the accident, as we had to get her to urgent care.

Day of accident (after a visit to urgent care and a bath)

3 days after accident

5 days after accident

One week after accident

This morning

She is a little weary of getting back on her bike.  We will take it slow with her, so she can rebuild her confidence in her own timing.  Thank the LORD she is ok.  This accident could have been so much worse!  A couple lost teeth (ones she would have lost anyway) and scrapes and bruises is a small price to pay for that kind of fall.  We are so proud of how brave she was through this whole ordeal.  And we love her new grin!  :)