We are Glad!

The Westermans 2006

I just went back to my November archive from last year.... It has been on my mind so often lately that just one year ago we were in such a different place. I had just learned we were having a girl, that I needed surgery, and that I was going to be on bed rest. Every day was a small victory in getting Caroline into the world-- now the stress and worry seem like a distant memory.

Of course, we will never forgot those times and the lessons learned, but on this Thanksgiving, we will be especially grateful that God led us through those tough times and delivered our precious little ones-- both Luke and Caroline-- to us in His timing and in His way.

We went out to eat tonight since I decided not to stock the kitchen this week since we would be gone. As we were leaving the hostess commented, "You have a blessed family." Yes, she's right-- we are blessed. Luke and Caroline are each miracles and true blessings.

The things I was thankful for last year are amazingly similar this year:

We give thanks for

• our little girl, who is still doing well and has made it to 24 weeks
• our incredible Luke, who is the most perfect son any parent could ask for-- he is such a joy to us-- so smart and sweet
• our marriage-- through the good and the bad, we remain best friends and genuinely appreciate the relationship that we have shared for 13 years
• our wonderful friends and family who lavish us with love and support
• our beautiful home that we are so blessed to have and to enjoy each day
• all the many blessings, big and small that God continues to send

The LORD has done great things for us;

We are glad. Psalm 126:3
Thank you, Lord!

May you all celebrate this Thanksgiving

with the ones you love! God bless!

Pine Cones, Pictures, and Praise!

At the Pine Cone Lodge-- Sevierville, TN

At the top of Clingman's Dome- Smoky Mountains

At Elkmont campground where we stopped to eat lunch.

On the deck of our lodge...

We just returned from a great weekend in Gatlinburg with our lifegroup! We stayed in a cabin called "Pine Cone Lodge"-- it was just the perfect place with plenty of room and the ideal mountain feel to it.

The weather was great on Saturday and we made the most of it. We drove up to Clingman's Dome and made the trek to the top. The view was amazing as usual, and the kids did ok... Luke had a minor breakdown on the way back. He kept complaining that his legs didn't work and he wanted Scott to carry him! We took it in stride considering he was operating on such little sleep. The three boys in our group had all been SO excited when we arrived! They had a room with three twin beds so they all were able to sleep together, too! They finally conked out around midnight and they were still up at 6:30 Nashville time!

We had to get back Sunday because I had to be at the Ryman auditorium for a community Thanksgiving service. ZOE has participated in the event before, but I wasn't able to go last year-- I had just begun my bed rest.

What an amazing experience! Not only was I standing on the historical stage, but I was also standing with brothers and sisters in Christ of different color! Sadly, not something most of us do on a weekly basis. We were blessed to sing with a wonderful group from Temple Church led by Victor Wynn. He and Brandon led plus we sang with George Rowe. He did a spectacular song he wrote called "Be praised"-- so beautiful-- he is such a talent! Anyway-- a great night! And, a perfect way to end a great weekend-- even though I was tired-- and the perfect way to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday! :)

Praising God in the Ryman! The Ryman actually was first a church-- Union Gospel Tabernacle. Dwight Moody even held a revival there in 1896. It has held presidents (Teddy Roosevelt) and famous musicians (John P. Sousa) ever since!

Janet, Trina, Karin, and me! We were blessed to sing with Temple Choir!

The Temple/ZOE Gang!

CHURCH: Full Circle 'Round

Another great time tonight at the vespers service at church.... Bob True, a deacon at Christ the King Catholic church, spoke to us. He had read a book by Thomas Cahill which talked about the community of Sant'Egidio. It is a group based out of Rome which has been in existence since 1968 and whose main goal is "evangelization and solidarity with the poor and the weak."

The concept of the group moved him at the time, but he did not act initially. Even throughout the busyness of life, his mind would come back to the Sant'Egidio community. He finally researched it on the internet and located a chapter in New York-- one of five in the entire U.S. He began a dialogue with the woman for over a year, but still nothing materialized-- until, one day a new member at his church approached him about getting involved with ministry opportunities. That's when he first acted upon starting a chapter of Sant'Egidio, and he asked the woman if she had ever heard of it before. She had indeed-- for she had actually been there and visited with them!

Now, the Nashville Community of Sant'Egidio meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month for prayer and fellowship. It is a time where many from all types of different faiths and backgrounds come together to act upon being the hands and feet of Jesus to our city.

His talk was motivating. It has been on my heart for a long time to truly become the "Proverbs 31 Woman" who "extends her hand to the poor, and stretches out her hands to the needy." I want Luke and Caroline to grow up seeing Scott and me ministering to the poor and needy. We have been so blessed, yes-- but, mainly, Jesus called us to reach out to them.

So-- once again Otter Creek has caused me to think and to hopefully act. I LOVE this church-- this community of believers!

Today as I walked out of the Y, I overheard two men who were lingering on the front porch. The older man was patiently listening as the younger man passionately spouted that he did not need the "church"-- what he needed was a relationship with Jesus. He continued to point out that all the great church fathers-- Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, et al. had found genuine faith apart from an organized church setting.... As I carried Caroline and guided Luke toward the car, I just kept thinking, "I love church."

I think my parents get the credit (or the blame!) for fostering this love. Growing up we NEVER missed a Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, or Gospel Meeting! We were at church every time the door was open! There was not an excuse or reason justifiable apart from extreme illness. Being so bound to the people at 7th and College Church of Christ in Mayfield, KY, shaped me and created a love for the "family" we find in our church. People like Sona Knight who could just have easily yanked me up and spanked me as my own mother-- and she probably did a time or to!

Yes-- I LOVE church! I love walking into the foyer each Sunday and saying hello to the door greeters. I love the name tags we fill out and slap on so that no one is a stranger. I love the glorious sounds of people laughing, sharing, and catching up on each other's lives. I love that Luke asks to go to church and can't wait to go each week-- and that he is able to locate "his" church now and to distinguish it from the 5 other churches we pass by on our way. I love church fellowship meals and the long tables of casseroles and desserts! I love the "meet & greet" each week so that I have the chance to speak to those around me that I otherwise might not get to know. I love the older couples at church who represent stability, loyalty, and faithfulness. I love our new "sanctuary" and the purple pews. I love how "Miss" Donna and the other workers are always there to welcome Caroline into the nursery and to love on her while I attend class and worship. I love those Sunday School classes and Bible discussions. I love "Birthday Sunday" and singing "Happy Birthday/May the Lord Bless You" to all the sweet little children on the stage. I love the moving pictures on Media Shout scrolling behind the powerful texts of the songs we raise to the Father each time we are gathered. I love the people and the place and the purpose....

I am so thankful that many other people at Otter Creek feel the same way. I hope that Scott, Luke, Caroline, and I can contribute our gifts and talents to our new family at OC. I already feel like we have been adopted into the fold here with open arms.

Funny how on some days every event I come across comes full circle 'round (the Holy Spirit at work?!) .... One of the tenets that Sant'Egidio affirms on their site:

"You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother."

an interesting concept to ponder.... or, perhaps, as Jesus described-- "His bride."

Royal Blood...

Today was Bible study day. I have SO enjoyed this Beth Moore study. One thing that I am also discovering is that I also LOVE planning and leading worship! As I work through the study each week, I jot down whatever songs come to mind and then try to incorporate them into the worship order somehow. Today I introduced the Keith Getty/Stuart Townend song "Holy Spirit" (yes, I finally found a great Holy Spirit song!). It is the perfect song for this study.

I feel like Beth's analysis of the Holy Spirit is really sinking in. I continue to be awed by her insights. The past two weeks we pondered JOY-- what a study! She causes so many thoughts to rattle around my head-- too many to put into words... but, here are a few things I picked up from her on joy.

• The Greek words for "joy" and "grace" come from the same root. (chara, charis) God is telling us, "If you only understood what grace means and what you have received by way of it, you would never cease to rejoice!"
• "Though you have made me see troubles many and bitter, you will restore my life again" (Psalm 71:20). The presence, purpose, and power of God is best discovered through difficulty. God allows us to experience troubles because he desires to reveal His joy to us through restoration.
• Beth spent a great deal of time in the video portion on joy discussing how Christ went to the cross and endured suffering because of the "joy set before him" (Jude 24). The joy before him was "bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 12). Just as he kept his eyes on the eternal picture, so should we. We should "fix our eyes upon him." Any suffering we go through now is just for a time and for some purpose. Those who "sow in tears" will "reap with songs of joy" later (Psalm 126). "Though weeping may last for a night, joy cometh!" (Psalm 30).
• Beth also asked us to think about what joy physically feels like when experienced. She referenced Isaiah 60:5 where it is described as when the heart "will throb and swell with joy." She went on to elaborate about a book signing she had done for her children's book "A Parable about the King." She said the children all came dressed as princesses, knights, and princes. She said she felt overwhelmed at the scene that day and made a parallel about us all being "royalty" in God's Kingdom. "Royalty knows it's royalty." That is what allows us to humble ourselves and to serve. We don't need to have others validate our royal status because the KING already has! "You have royal blood-- act like it!" As little girls, we all believed that being a princess was a reality and a right. Somewhere along the way life intervenes, and we lose that sense of importance. She wanted us to rethink that. She asked us to ponder Jesus calling us to be as little children-- when we believed and trusted that we could be "royal." One day, we will wear joy like a crown on our heads (Isaiah 35:8-10).

And so much more... What a blessing Beth has been in my life.

Our fall family photo proofs are in! They are cute! If I get time tomorrow, I will post a few.

Halloween 2006

We had a GREAT Halloween season this year! It started with a trip to Gentry's farm, continued with a pumpkin carving party, then Trunk or Treat, and finally-- our friends and family gathered at our house for dinner and trick or treating! This has become somewhat of a tradition with our small group because our neighborhood is the perfect place to go door-to-door. Many neighbors go all out with the decorations and tons of kids come through. The rain held off, and it couldn't have been a better night-- it was like a Norman Rockwell painting watching all the kids up and down the sidewalks in all their cute costumes.

Trunk or Treating at church was so fun! This is our 2nd time and we came prepared with a decorated trunk-- complete with lights and real pumpkins-- and tons of candy!

Luke decided at the last minute he wanted to be a dragon. So, thankfully, I stumbled upon the perfect costume for him. It was really cute and brought out the blue in his eyes! He still wasn't quite sure what was going on as far as asking for candy at each car. He was more in awe of all the kids in costumes-- especially the "scary" ones. He is really into "spooky" things.

Our little sweet pea! Ever since the first days in the hospital, we have called Caroline our little sweet pea-- so, choosing her costume was obvious. How wonderful to think that this time last year, we had just learned we were expecting a girl-- and had no idea that surgery and bed rest were awaiting us. But, God is faithful-- and she celebrated her first Halloween with us. Such precious times.

Luke had a great time trick or treating in our neighborhood-- he had really gotten the hang of it after having practiced already at school and at church!

The sweet kids from our lifegroup-- notice Luke had already ditched his costume so that he could tackle the BIG sucker Ben Troupe gave him (a Titans player who lives around the corner)!

Fall Fun

We went to the Bluegrass and Molasses Festival at Ellington Ag Center on Saturday. It is literally right behind our house, but we had never gone until now. It was really fun, plus it was the PERFECT fall day. We had just gotten our fall family photo taken, so we decided to stop by and see what was going on-- very glad we did.

Our Masterpieces: Mine is the cool spider!

We had a great time with our small group Sunday night! We carved pumpkins and drank hot cider with the kids. I just can't get enough of the fall fun stuff! :)

By the way-- if you're looking for a moment or two of fun, go carve a cyber-pumpkin! It is very cool! Check it out!

Lots going on this week-- Tuesday night we visited Luke's open house at school-- so cute! Wednesday night we had the Parade of Bible characters. Luke was post-fall Adam. I'm thinking I have to be more creative next year!

I took Luke up to my parents today. He's staying with them while we go to Detroit for the weekend. One of my favorite friends from college is finally getting married! :) This is such a huge answered prayer-- I can't wait! :)

We'll get back on noon Sunday, just in time for trunk or treat at church! I bought Luke an adorable monkey costume months ago only to have him request a dragon costume this week. So, yes-- I got him a dragon costume today! I had seen it earlier in the week and it was on sale. I showed it to him tonight, and he loved it! It is SO cute-- a funky blue with the perfect pointed tail. Guess the monkey's headed to Ebay!

Trick or Treat photos to follow!

A Thousand Words...

Above are some photos of Caroline's 3-month portrait session. I never posted them, and thought I would finally get around to it! :) She's such a sweetie!

I took Caroline for her 2nd panel portrait today. She was a tad grumpy so I hope that we have a few good shots to pick from. She was more interested in chewing on a fake string of pearls he had lying around than mugging for the camera.

I am a little crazy/obsessed about photos-- in case you haven't noticed! I want to make sure that no event goes undocumented in the Westerman household! You never get the chance to go back and get pictures of the kids, and they grew up way to quickly! And, even though I doubt Luke and Caroline will ever beg to see the 10,000 photos I took of him as a child, perhaps their future mate will-- and their great, great grandkids!

One of my little dreams is to start my own photography business one day where I could utilize my computer skills to do cool photo effects as well as to design holiday photo cards, invitations, etc. Who knows-- maybe it will happen someday! I would need to go back and take some classes to hone my skills first though.

This Saturday we are going to get our fall family photo made that we will use in our Christmas newsletter. How fun that we will have a new little face in this year's shot! We always get a big one to hang in our living room, too, so that we can remember all year how fast time is flying by and how blessed we are as a family. I'll post some shots when the proofs come back.

Pumpkins and Praise!

What a weekend-- we started with pumpkins and ended with praise!

On Saturday, we took the kiddos for their first pumpkin patch experience at Gentry Farm out in Franklin. Scott actually had Mr. Gentry as a teacher and coach at Brentwood Academy. He spent many winter breaks working on the farm in high school. We ran into Mr. Gentry and they had a chance to catch up which was nice. The farm is beautiful and we had the perfect fall day!

The kids had a great time-- although Scott and Luke got separated from us and got lost in the corn maze!

Our sweet little pumpkins reluctantly pause from play for a photo op for Mommy! It is SO hard to believe how fast they are both growing! Next year Caroline will be running through the pumpkin patch trying to keep up with Luke!

As the day wound down-- and naptime approached, the photo ops became harder to come by! But, a fun time was had by all!

On Sunday, ZOE was privileged to participate in A Light for the City. We joined the Nashville Chorus, Greater Nashville Community Gospel Choir, and others in a night of worship and praise in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Other featured artists included Marty Goetz, Ashley Cleveland, Buddy Greene, and Mandisa of American Idol fame.

Not only did we sing with the 400 plus choir, but we were also asked to perform "How Great is Our God" as well as to sing the lead part on an arrangement of "As the Deer" with the entire chorus. Words can't describe the experience! The music was so powerful and genuinely beautiful-- Scott said that during the first few opening numbers he thought he was in heaven!

Some of the best highlights:

• The GNCG choir singing "They Didn't Know"-- an incredible piece about Jesus and his sacrifice for us. They received a standing ovation, and I think we were all moved to tears.
• The entire chorus singing "How Great Thou Art"-- it was wonderful to see the sold out house singing along with all of us! It felt like the roof was going to come off!
• Buddy Greene on the harmonica-- accompanied by an accordion. Amazing!
• The prayer before the start of the show led by the director of the GNCG choir, Sam Robinson. He reminded us of what an opportunity we had to "christen" the new symphony hall with God's Spirit. He also remarked how neither "Prima" or "Donna" showed up for the show, but that we were all working together to touch the community.
• Mandisa leading us in "Shackles"! We were all dancing-- as best we could! :)
• The last song-- "Total Praise" and the "amens" at the end-- that was one of the ALL time best singing experiences of my life! The passion of director Sam Robinson was beyond anything I had ever seen! The music went straight through to the core and the entire room was in the Spirit!

ZOE has been so blessed to participate in community activities here in Music City. Next month it is the Ryman! Yeah, God!

You can see more ZOE photos from last night and a post about the conference on the ZOE blog site.

Two Little Pumpkins

Whew! What a weekend! It was such a blessing! Almost too many things to recount! It was so wonderful to see so many of you! Hope you felt encouraged by the weekend as well.

It is always so hard to believe that yet another conference has come and gone. I think I really savored some of the moments this year more than I have in years past. What an awesome experience to be standing in front of a thousand people who are worshipping God with everything they've got! You could feel the Spirit! So powerful!!!

It's late, and I won't even begin to relate my favorite moments and lessons learned-- I will at some point this week. I should have a few photos, too.

The leaves are changing, a chill was in the air, and the moon was gorgeous tonight! Bring on the fall! :) Here are my little pumpkins! :)

From "It" to "He"-- A Journey

Today was a great day at Bible study! Melissa (ZOE) and I are leading worship each week which has been fun. I planned out today's songlist and I even sang lead and let Melissa sing alto! It was fun to switch it around for a change.

The one thing I am finding is that there aren't many songs about the Holy Spirit in the C of C repertoire! This is not surprising considering no one I know ever heard sermons preached about the Spirit, either. I think we were all just too afraid to tackle the subject-- if we couldn't explain it, then we preferred to just leave it alone!

Anyway-- I have been on a quest to have a better comprehension of Him since my mid-20s... I am hoping this study challenges me in ways I have never thought about Him before.

Some points I liked from this week's lesson:

• 1 Corinthians 12:13- "we were all made to drink of one Spirit"; 1 Cor. 12:30- "All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?": Beth used these two verses to show that having the Spirit dwell in you does not equate to having the ability to speak in tongues, etc. Many often say that having the Holy Spirit requires this gift. Her point is that speaking in tongues may be a gift from the Spirit, but that not all of us will have this gift. "No matter how you feel about the gifts of the Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues are not the same thing" (Moore, pg. 37). I think this is one of the major reasons we have shied away from teaching on the Spirit; We can't explain tongues, prophecy, and healing so we altogether ignore His gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and faith (vs. 7-9).
• John 16:7-11: 7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. One of the ministries of the Spirit is to convict or reprove. Whenever we have felt the burden of reaching someone who is lost or correcting a believer from sin, we must remember this is not our job-- it is the Spirit's role. We can only be instruments used by Him in the process. No arguments we make or testimony we give is effective apart from the Spirit. The only power we have is intercessory prayer on his/her behalf.
• "The spiritual life will never come 'naturally'" (Moore, pg. 48). We have to make a deliberate choice to yield our spirits to Him each day. Surrender must be a daily choice.

Of course, there were many more challenging ideas this week. The best part is that it has me thinking about the Spirit and His role in my life.

The Spirit is slowly becoming less of an "It" and more of a "He" to me! Thank You, Lord!

Buy My Sister's Book! (shameless plug)

My Two Sisters: Nancy, Me, and baby sister Mary Kate.

Yes! My sister, Nancy has a new book coming out on October 9th. It is called A Red State of Mind: How a Catfish Queen Reject became a Liberty Belle. It is published by Time Warner Books. Visit the site to read an article about the book. Visit Amazon to pre-order now! Mary Matlin wrote a blurb for the cover and actually read and liked the book.

The book tells the adventure Nancy has had over the past several years living as a conservative in a land of liberals. It is a comedic take on her first-hand experience of being a conservative outcast while in New York and Philadelphia:

• Downtown Philadelphia was not the most welcoming place for a conservative during the year of the hotly contested Bush/Kerry 2004 Presidential campaign. As a mother of two, I pushed a double jogging stroller all over the City of Brotherly Love, which frequently put me right in the middle of some serious political tension. When I walked to church, voter registration activists urged pedestrians to "take back our country." When I shopped for groceries, pollsters stood at the doors mocking my stance on the war. When I got my haircut, it was under a gigantic sign that mocked the President. When I walked through parking lots, the bumpers of the Subarus explained that hate is not, evidently, a family value. When I visited my six year old's public school, the walls had signs up that read "America Hates George Bush Because He Lies." And the teachers even wore Kerry buttons.

So-- if you can't get a shameless plug from your sister, who can you?!?!

Seriously, Nancy is extremely talented and always has been. In high school she was loved by all-- well, except maybe her senior English teacher, Linda Montgomery--- that's a LONG story, but suffice it to say, if Nancy becomes a famous author, she'd definitely have the last laugh! (speaking of English, that is a very poorly constructed sentence!)

Visit her blog for many more amazing insights. You can also visit her website www.nancyfrench.com , but please note-- this is only a site that I put up for her several years back before she was famous-- her "official" site is almost ready and will be launched soon at the same address.

There is also some "Church of Christ" humor in the book! In what other Time Warner book are you going to find that!?!

Nancy lives in Columbia, TN, now with her husband David and her precious kids Camille and Austin. David is a Harvard law grad specializing in constitutional law. He works for the Alliance Defense Fund and has defended the rights of Christians on college campuses all over the country-- including several landmark cases like the one at Tufts. He is amazingly talented, too, and is an author in his own right-- four books, including A Season for Justice: Defending the Rights of the Christian Home, Church, and School, and numerous op-eds. Read his latest article on the National Review.

He spent this past week at the White House meeting with Dick Cheney and Karl Rove! Both he and Nancy are politically involved-- with some big name future presidential candidate-- more on that later-- when he actually announces he's running!

Yes-- this is my family! We're a talented bunch?!? Did I tell you that my dad is a wood worker and has made most of the family articles of furniture like beds, desks, bookshelves?!?

Living Beyond Myself

I am so thankful that I have started a Bible study. I have just completed the first week of Beth Moore's new study, Living Beyond Yourself. It is based on the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians chapter 5. This will be my 5th Beth study.

There is something about being in an organized study that I just LOVE! I need the accountability and the discipline that a group study brings, plus I also thrive on the discussion times. I am fascinated by how others view Scripture, and I love to hear all the different perspectives.

I am always amazed at how Beth comes up with her ideas. She really has a depth to her teaching that resonates with me. Today she talked about how we were created to be filled-- this is from God, and it can be extremely rewarding as long as we allow Him to fill us up with His Spirit. But, if we allow this need to be filled to become driven by the flesh, it can be totally destructive. We begin searching for anyone or anything to cling to in order to fill the void in our souls. Isn't this SO true?!

When I think back to the times in my life when I was most out of control as far as sin and "self", I can now see that it was all just a desperate attempt to be needed or to feel love-- to fill up the empty places in my heart.

She also believes that America has never been more empty and desperate. She alluded to Proverbs 13:12 as a possible explanation:

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

She suggests that we have never been surrounded by more "stuff". We live in such a materialistic society and in a culture that tells us to look to all sorts of things to find happiness and fulfillment. We place our hope on the "next new thing" to come along, praying that we will finally find the answers and peace we have been searching for.... But, it never happens-- at least no longer than a small amount of time.... Then, we're off again, looking for our next fix.

Nothing we grasp onto brings us what we ultimately want and need-- It is simply "hope deferred," and it leaves our hearts sick. Yes, that seems to be an apt description for all of us.

Instead, God calls us to something so much more than that! He offers us His Spirit! He wants us to be filled to overflowing with Him! NOTHING that our flesh desires or tries to offer us can compare to what God has promised us.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9,10

Praise be to Him! I want more than I can "ask or imagine" from this life.

I also LOVED her insight on the "FRUITS" of the Spirit. She adds that of course they are called fruits-- They exist in our lives so that others may get their first "taste" of the Lord, so that they can taste to see that He is good. Being filled with His Spirit places us in a wonderful position of ministry. Our Spirit-filled lives drive us to share this abundant life with all we meet!

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6

So-- I am just excited to have a renewed joy for the Word! I have allowed myself to get way too busy and have neglected meaningful study for too many months now.

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to take part in this and to be challenged by His Word.

I'll keep you posted on any cool insights I gain along the way!

OC Consignment Sale 2006

I'm Ba-a-a-a-a-ck! :)

Yes-- I am ashamed to admit that it has been a month since my last post! Every spare moment that I had went toward the Otter Creek Consignment Sale. And, I am proud to say that it was a grand success! In two days we sold over $18,000 and our playground fund kept half of that.

We really had no concept of how much we could make-- I think we were all shocked that we raised so much. Everyone who came to the sale complimented us on how well-organized it was and how neatly the items were displayed. Over 100 volunteers helped to make it such a success-- it could not have happened without their hard work! :)

So-- Luke has started pre-school at Otter Creek. He is in Miss Betsy's class, and he loves it! We are so happy that he is in school there.

Here are some pics of our life over the last month:






Luke with his teacher, Miss Betsy.


Caroline is SIX months-old! :)




She is proving to be a good eater like her brother.


Big Brother and Little Sis! Favorite thing: Luke will put his arms around Caroline and say, "Oh-- she's so sweet!" :)