Mykaela has braces!

The pics above and below are of Mykaela's initial visit when they made a plaster cast of her teeth. Lovely pics!


Here she is showing off her patriotic rubber bands.

Vacation

Well, I'm finally writing and posting some pictures from our vacation to Sunriver, Oregon. Sunriver is a small town south of Bend. It has about 35 miles of paved bike trails. It is a very beautiful place. We rented a house that had a private hot tub, bikes, etc. The weather was cool, with scattered thunderstorms, but overall, it was very nice. Here are some pictures:
We took a side trip to Sisters, Oregon. It was a beautiful day.

This is a merry-go-round at Fort Rock Park in Sunriver.

A pizza party at the rental.

Here is the hot tub. We enjoyed this a lot.

Above are two pictures from the black-light mini-golf at Sunriver. The kids really enjoyed seeing everything "glowing."

On the way home we stopped at Bend for its "Balloons Over Bend" activities. There were a lot of neat things to see, with lots of vendors. We couldn't stay long as it was Saturday afternoon, and we still needed to get home to clean the church and get ready for Sunday services.

Newport Revival

Well,  we were in Newport, Oregon on the coast for revival services from March 15-21st.  We had a good time while there, being able to take the kids to the Tillamook Cheesfactory, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Historic Bayfront, etc.  Mykaela ended up breaking her ankle on Friday, but other than that all went well.   Here are a few pics from the week:

  Here is Mykaela at the beach.

We had one day after it stormed when the wind wasn’t blowing, the sun was out, the sand was hard, and the water felt “warm.”  The Lord blessed us with that, and were were thankful.  I was able to share the gospel with a man while there, leaving him with a copy of my printed testimony.  We hope that the seed sown will bring forth fruit.

Below is a picture of the Cheese Factory at Tillamook. It is amazing that they process 1million pounds of milk a day in to make their cheese!

The kids at the waterfront.  It was very tempestuous waters!

The kids at the bayfront looking at a small colony of sea lions. They sure are proud, haughty creatures!

Here are a few more pics from the beach:

Some Recent Pictures

Here is Kayson in a box from one of our recent trips to Costco (a place like Sam's Club for those in the east).
Here are some of Mykaela's recent baking sprees. She made some cream puffs for Malachi's birthday (not a good idea...being so light and full of air, a whole batch lasted about 2 minutes, and everyone was wondering where the birthday cake was at), and then she made another batch for a fellowship we had after a Wednesday evening service at church. Below are some cookies she made.

Here is Kayson after Mykaela gave him a kiss. At least, that is what I am assuming by the look of hte picture. I wasn't there when it was taken, so I can't be absolutly sure.

Kayson, in his play pen. He will pull himself up and "walk" around the edge of the pen. He is a very busy boy.

Myakeala and Mercy with their matching outfits.

Dog House Video

Here is a funny video that was sent to us at Christmas time. I was able to edit out one offensive part. It is very humorous. I hope you enjoy.

NEWPORT AND OAK HARBOR TRIP

Well, here are some pics and things from our recent road trip to Newport, Oregon and Oak Harbor, Washington. We went to Newport for a Bible Conference. The theme of the conference was "Baptists in America" and the messages focused on the first Baptist Church in America, the Baptists' contribution to religious liberty, the move west, etc. It was a very good conference. Mike preached on the life and ministry of Elder John Leland, and on the subject of Religious Freedom in America.

In Oak Harbor Mike preached at a Men's Rally on Friday night and on Saturday morning, and then again for Sunday Evening Services. The church put us up in a very nice hotel room that had a separate bedroom with a king size bed, a main room with 2 queen size beds, a couch that made into a bed, a kitchen table, and a small kithenette. It was very nice.

On Saturday morning while Mike was at the Rally, the rest of the family met up with the Elam family (who are missionaries to Russia...the father was also preaching at the rally), and went to Fort Casey. The pics from the week are below.
This is Kami and Camille Elam. She used to play on the Canadian National Team, and was in the Atlanta Olympics (they came in 11th out of 12 teams!).

This is Mykaela at a Tea Party the Newport ladies put on. There was a lot of fancy things. She really enjoyed it.
At one of the meals and John and Tilly Kraft's home, where we stayed while at Newport. They have a very nice, large, log home.

Kourage taking at potty break at a rest stop on the way to Oak Harbor.

Below are pictures of Fort Casey:



The McDowell and Elam kids.








Brian and Camille Elam with their 3 sons, Shawn, Matthew, and Joshua.
Mercy was very tired after climbing all the stairs and things at the fort. She couldn't bring herself to smile.

We had a wonderful time on the trip. We left on Monday and saw Grandpa Jack and Gra-Lu at the mall in Bellingham. Tuesday was Kami's grandma's 89th birthday. We enjoyed spending a few hours with them before heading back to Fossil. We got home about 12:30am or so.

Malachi's Faceplant

Well, here are some pics of Malachi's faceplant out in front of the neighbor's house. We took him in to the clinic to make sure that everything was okay, and everything checked out okay. We still haven't figured out how he flipped over his handlebars on his bike. Mykaela said he was riding with his handlebars backwards, and used the wrong brake, Malachi said he though that he might have gotten his foot stuck in the spokes...who knows...knowing Malachi, it was a combination of the two! Anyway, he seems to be doing better. Maybe we can get a pic of some good black eyes tomorrow.