A GIVING HEART!!

I wanted to share a precious moment that happened a couple weeks ago. As many of you know Darin and I are going on a mission trip to India this summer. We have been praying as a family for our mission team and for our fundraising efforts. We had one of our many deadlines for funds due at our April 1st meeting and were still short some funds. Luke asked me if we had any checks come in the mail or if we were going to make our deadline. I said we will have to wait and see what comes in the mail today. He said okay. Then after dinner before we left for our missions meeting he asked if anything came in the mail and I said no. He smiled and ran upstairs. Next thing I know he says to me "Mom, I know this isn't very much money, but it is all I have and I want you and dad to have it for your mission trip" He handed me $7.00 and said he wished he had more money to give me, but hopes this helps. How precious is that?? We believe Luke has the gift of giving. He is such a cheerful giver and gives so freely of whatever he has whether it is his time or money. We are very proud of Luke and his giving heart at such a young age.

SPRING BREAK IN WASHINGTON!!!

We spent the week at Martin and Luke's Grandma and Grandpa Walling's house in Washington. It was a great week. The day we arrived it was beautiful sunshine. These are pictures of a little area Great Grandma Haley picked out to have a little hide away in. Luke dug a bunch of dirt and filled in the big hole that was where he is standing. My mom and Luke worked hard trimming back bushes and making everything just perfect. Martin and I played soccer. We had a great trip. It was nice to relax and not have a list a mile long of things that I had to get done.

Please note:

April took all the spring break photos. Darin was not able to make this trip so I did my best to caputure the fun and use some of the photos tips I have observed from Darin over the years :-)

PUZZLE DAY!

We had a lazy day of puzzles and games. The weather was rainy, hailing, with sun breaks now and then so we decided to stay inside. I love how Luke is one with the puzzle. Luke and I love puzzles so it was fun to have Grandma Lu and Great Grandma Haley there to join in the fun. This was a 1,000 piece puzzle so we didn't finish it this trip....it waiting for us until the next trip.

ARCADE DAY!

Spring Break wouldn't be complete without a trip to the arcade. The boys had a blast!!! The motorcyle is what Luke chose as his prize for the day.

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!

I love the picture with the flowers. We had picked these when we first got here and 2 days later it is snowing. Crazy!! Martin doesn't enjoy getting cold so he stayed in by the fire in his swim trunks. The necklace he is wearing is his prize from the arcade. I think the contrast of these pictures is too funny!

The boys were SO excited to see snow when they woke up in the morning!! It had hailed the day before on and off, but no snow. Luke wanted to build a snowman so badly so Grandma went out and helped him. They had a blast! I was happy Grandma went outside to help since I get hives when I get too cold and I didn't think to pack snow clothes for Spring Break...silly me!

THURSDAY FUN!

We visited the Ilwaco Heritage Museum on Thursday. It was great, because it was FREE day at the museum!! The boy's favorite part was the train area...pretty cool. The museum has a lot of history and is very well put together. We are happy we visited.

BEACH DAY!!

Who would have thought we would be out in just a sweatshirt playing on the beach when we had tons of snow the day before. It was the wildest weather I have seen in awhile. Made for a fun vacation. We went to Cape Disappointment to have a picnic and play on the beach. They have done a lot of improvements to this park....it is really beautiful! This was a great place to visit on the last day of our trip.

We had SO much fun building on the beach. Here is an overall shot of the wall we built to block the wind and the house Martin built for himself with some help from mom and grandma Lu. Luke was more into this gigantic pile of knotted rope that his grandma found. He spent probably an hour untangeling it all. He is holding the result of all his hard work. The rope stretched the length of the sand you see in the background of the photo! Luke is one determined boy.

MARCH CONDO TRIP

No trip is complete to the beach without a game of golf with Grandma and Grandpa Pfeiffer. Thanks for the laughs and memories.

We went to the beach for a visit and Darin helped dad install the shower doors. There have been many hours of father and son working together on several projects over the years. Thanks dad for all the work you did on Esterville!!