What is this fascination?

What is this look of intently watching something?

(And no, it's not the giraffe, that his finger is resting on.)

What is so interesting, that Ethan has to peer down the hall to see it?
What is behind these closed doors, that he wants so badly to come out?
It's nothing more than our vacuum cleaner!
Phew! Now I can see it in action. That's my boy! Someday he's going to be a big helper around the house, just like his daddy.

"Surprised by Joy"

I just finished my Bible Study for today. I am working through Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit study. What a blessing this has been! I am thoroughly enjoying this study. This week's study is on Joy. Today the challenge was this: to see joy result from discovering God's presence, God's purpose, and God's power in the midst of difficulties. So many of you came to my mind, as so many people are going through trials right now. It is never "fun" going through trials, and yet Christ calls us to "consider it pure joy, my friends, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Christ does not want us to go through trials, just for the sake of suffering. He wants us to grow through them. He has promised to never leave us, and that includes times of difficulties. We need to stay close to Him, especially during those times when things "don't make sense", or don't "seem fair". He is the only one who can help us through our trials. I realize that I am writing this, and so many of you are thinking, "You have never gone through what I am going through." You're right, I have not, but Christ has! The Bible says that He was tempted in every way possible. He loves you so much that he prays for you! God wants us to turn to Him for comfort. So whatever you are facing today, whether it be physical ailments, financial difficulties, relational uproars, or emotional instability, look for God's presence, God's purpose, and God's power. Finally, Jeremiah 29:13 says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Seek God and you will find a joy that is beyond comprehension, because you will have found peace and favor with God! May God bless you all!

I was wondering....

I was wondering...

... is it spring yet?

Tired of snow!

I found this comic on a friend's blog site, so I copied it! I loved it! How do you feel?

Ethan walking or is he running?

Here is the latest video of Ethan walking around the house. He thinks he is big enough now to just stand up and take off walking. Earlier today I was sitting here at the computer and all of a sudden a little body took off into the kitchen. It was Ethan walking right by me.

Praise You in this Storm...

I heard this song by Casting Crowns on the radio again today, "Praise You in the Storm." My heart was just burdened by so many people that I know of who are going through "storms" in their lives. I looked this up on the web and found this video of the song. If you have a few minutes, I encourage you to check it out and listen to the words again.

CASTING CROWNS LYRICS: "Praise You In This Storm"

I was sure by now, God You would have reached down

And wiped our tears away, Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls, I barely hear

Your whisper through the rain, "I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God

who gives and takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm

And I will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

And every tear I've cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

I remember when, I stumbled in the wind

You heard my cry to you, And you raised me up again

My strength is almost gone, How can I carry on

If I can't find You, But as the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain "I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and

praise the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The Maker of Heaven and Earth

[ http://www.azlyrics.com/ ]

I dedicate this song to each and every one who chooses to Praise God in the Storm even when it continues raining in our lives. God speaks not in the storm, but in the still small voice. So, be still and listen to His voice. He will be with you, whatever you go through. He has promised "Never will I leave you nor forsake you."

This song was especially encouraging to me as we went through our trial of infertility. We prayed for years that God would give us a child, yet it never seemed to stop "raining". It seemed like God remained silent for years. Last year, on Easter Sunday, we were given God's answer as he brought Ethan James into our lives and into this World. He never left us. He just wanted us to wait on Him, which is never easy to do.

I love you, Don & Brenda, Judy N., Tuck family and so many others who are facing tremendous storms in your lives right now. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Rollins' Annual President's Day dinner...

Dinner at the Merry Inn Restaurant in Manton last Thursday evening, with our Rollins Church family, for our annual President's Day dinner. We had childcare at the church, so us young couples could go out for a nice dinner, without the distraction of the kids. There were 8 kids, 3 of those being under 1 year old. Pam McLeod, a lady from church, ran the craft time, story time, and she even made dinner for the kids. Then we had 5 teens to help. What a blessing it was to have them serve in this way.

We ate dinner with our friends, Samuel & Heather Simmonds. (Sorry, Samuel, you got caught chewing.) They have been attending Rollins for about 7 months or so. They have a baby, named Ethan, also. He is 7 weeks younger than our Ethan. Our Ethans like to play together in the nursery.



Sitting right behind us were Don & Brenda Wilson and John & Jessica Morrow. Don just had 2 wisdom teeth removed earlier this afternoon. What a trooper with all that he's gone through lately!



Pastor Bob & Nancy Lanning, along with others, at the President's Day dinner. In the background, to the left, sitting in the orange shirt, is Pastor Ryan Stauffer & his wife, Melissa, from Boon Baptist Church. He spoke and gave the devotional for the evening. We had around 55 adults at the dinner. It was a fun night out with adult conversation! :-)

Ethan gets demoted...

As you can see, Ethan's been demoted. That's right. He no longer gets to sleep in his nice, cushy, roomy crib with a bumper pad to snuggle against. Nope, he's sleeping in the "Pak & Play". He thinks that just because he can stand up in his crib, he has a built in teether, that being his crib. He is scraping away at the wood finish on the crib. Besides making it look "used" now, I'm worried about him ingesting wood chippings. (Although, we are talking about my baby boy who gags on a muffin crumb. I'm sure if he got a piece of something, he would just gag. But the shavings have to go somewhere, right?)

Spencer is checking out this new crib in Ethan's room; and he can get much closer to Ethan now too.
Here's our big boy, who pulls himself up on to everything now. Especially the Ottoman, because it's at his height level. We just really have to watch him because it does rock and move.
Ethan is showing off his new practice event. "He pulls up to a kneeling position and then quickly...
...plops down to the ground." He's practicing his dismount, I guess.

(Oohh, that one hurt a bit. He was a little too close to the stool.)

This is a good thing though. He needs to learn how to get down, because getting up is the easy part. We have found ourselves going in to his room WAY too many times, to lay him back down, so he can go to sleep. Eventually, we just give up. He gets down somehow.

So our bedtime routines have been a bit hectic to say the least lately. I've been spoiled with a baby who has been sleeping pretty well. Hopefully this is just another phase, and will pass quickly. I know what you "older" people are all thinking. "Don't wish the phases away too fast, because time does fly way too quickly." I know. Don't get me wrong. We love Ethan very much! Some phases can just be difficult to get through. It's a good thing we're still fairly young, I guess.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers for us. We are staying healthy so far this winter, Praise the Lord! Bye for now!

Miscellaneous Picts from this winter...

Here are a few miscellaneous pictures I found from earlier this winter...

Standing in front of our Christmas tree on Sunday morning.
A couple of pictures from Gramma Brenda's tree. Her theme this year (she does a new theme every year) was "And the Gift Goes On". It was an "Ethan" tree.
She made the ornaments with Ethan pictures in them. Can you see Ethan in there? He's sitting in his carseat in this picture. Aren't these cool?
Ethan definitely is our "Gift that goes on" this year! Thank you, Lord Jesus, for giving us such a wonderful blessing in our Ethan James!
Ethan in his snowsuit. He looks like a little "Ewok."
Ethan got a new "Touch & Feel Baby Animal" book from "Aunt" Audrey for Christmas. Here Mrs. Wheaton is holding him, while he checks out the book.
Bart was asked to speak at the Senior High Winter Retreat in January at The Springs Camp in Gladwin.
Bart speaking. The theme was "WOW". How awesome is our God! One girl, that we know of, was saved over the weekend. Praise the Lord!

Bart's final challenge was on how we ought to resemble our Heavenly Father, so that others around us can recognize us as children of God. Just like when babies are born, everyone asks, "So who does he look like?"

Grandma Glupker having some "Ethan time" during her visit a couple of weekends ago.

Watch out world, here Ethan comes!

We are entering a new phase of parenthood. Ethan is now pulling himself up on things and pretty much walking. He's mobile! Watch out world! He keeps Mommy on her toes all day long! Ethan has always been such a good sleeper. I just give him his paci and blankie and he lays down and goes to sleep. Well, now he's decided that he can stand up and protest. He doesn't quite know how to get back down though. So this morning he missed his nap altogether. This afternoon though it only took me one time to go back in and lay him down, and he fell asleep for almost 3 hours. Good boy! I also found out how cheaply cribs are made these days. We have a pretty nice crib, and yet the FIRST time he chewed on the top of the crib, and he's already chipped away the wood! (Call him "Sharp tooth!") I have already contacted the maker of the crib and they're going to replace that piece for me. But knowing Ethan, it will happen again. It looks like I'm going to have to look for those plastic strips that go along the top of the crib. Oh well, it's just furniture and it is meant for a baby, right?

Here's a video of Ethan pulling himself up on the stool and grabbing his bottle. What a big boy!

More Ethan antics...

Here are a couple of pictures of Ethan crashing on the floor.

Getting ready to go grocery shopping. Ethan was ready for a nap, which he took in the van.
Again, almost ready for a nap. (Spencer always has to get in the middle too.)
One of Ethan's new tricks: He flips his paci sideways and then sucks it back in the right way. (It took me a while to try to get this pose.) He usually does this when he's trying to be a "ham," like right before bed, he'll flip his paci back as I'm taking him to his crib. It's kind of like he's saying, "I'm awake now, I'm not tired." (Yeah, right!)
Ethan is beginning to pull himself up on things now.
He pulled himself right up from a kneeling position. (That's the first time that I've seen him do that!) (Daddy says, now he has another project, lowering Ethan's crib to the final notch.)

He's looking for something... I wonder what that could be...
Oh, that would be his paci, that he threw out of the crib and onto the floor. (Another new thing.)

One final miscellaneous picture...

It was a beautiful sunny morning! I pulled up the blinds to let the sun shine in so we could soak in some rare sun rays. I noticed my roses (that my sweetheart gave to me for Valentine's Day) are beginning to open up. It's like they're longing for the sunshine just like we are. Aren't they beautiful? (Thank you, sweetheart, for your thoughtfulness.)

This is another reminder to me that spring will be here soon (I hope), and we will once again see the rebirth of plants, etc. There will also be new birth in my sister's family, and in a couple of our friends families. What a tremendous reminder of God's love in seeing new birth!

Winter Wonderland....

It sure is a winter wonderland here in Michigan. We have gotten PLENTY of snow, as far as I am concerned. Ethan is too small to be able to play in it and enjoy it. Here you can see him standing beside a snow bank. Our snow banks are almost taller than he is. (It's not a great angle, I know. We were trying to keep him in the shade of the garage, not directly in the sun.)
Ethan is watching Spencer run and play in the snow.

We did have a beautiful sunset this evening though. While I enjoy the different seasons and temperatures that we receive in Michigan, I am beginning to get spring fever. It's hard to believe that Easter is only one month away. It won't be quite the same, being in March. (We'll probably have snow for sure on Easter this year.)

Well, I guess that's enough rambling about the weather for today. Good night.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is the day we celebrate love. We cannot forget the greatest love story of all: and that is God, our heavenly Father, sending his only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die for our sins, so that we could spend eternity with him. He did this even "while we were yet sinners." He did not wait for us to tell Him that we loved Him first. Thank you Lord Jesus, for saving my soul, and for giving me the promise of eternal life in heaven with you some day - soon!

* * * * * * *

My next greatest love story, is Bart and mine, of course! I have been so blessed to have the best husband in the world! He is so loving, caring, sharing, and helpful... I could not ask for a better husband. Thank you, Bart, for asking me to marry you 12 years ago (in 3 days).

I still say, "YES, I DO!" I love you!

Our third greatest love story is the most wonderful blessing of our son, Ethan James, whom we love so much! He adds so much joy, excitement, and fulfillment, more than we could ever have imagined! Only God could have orchestrated such love stories.

Ethan wearing his Valentine's Day shirt. (Daddy says that Ethan stole his heart too.)

Ethan is reading his Valentine from Gramma Brenda & Grampa Don Wilson.

Ethan is reading his Valentine from Grandpa & Grandma Haase.

Ethan is opening his Valentine from Nana, Papa & Uncle Lance.

Here is Ethan practicing his wave ... for being the next President of the U.S. (or not!)

One final, good-bye for the day. Saying "Happy Valentine's Day to you all!" We love and appreciate all of your prayers for our family. May God bless you as you share His love with others all around you.

Taking baby steps...

Ethan is beginning to take his first baby steps alone. He enjoys walking between Mommy & Daddy. Below is a video, so you can see him as he walks down the hall!

Here is Daddy's boy - helping load the dishwasher. It is so funny, whenever Ethan hears the dishes being loaded into the dishwasher, he comes running to help! He does the same, when the front closet is opened. That's where we keep the vacuum and he loves it when Daddy gets the vacuum out. He likes to watch. Spencer helps by walking a step behind Daddy the whole time he is vacuuming.

Below is a picture of Ethan finding his facial features. He covers his hand with his face and holds it there, like he's hiding or playing shy. Or maybe he is saying, "Not green beans again!"

Peek-aboo feet...

I just couldn't resist taking these pictures this morning during Ethan's nap. He always has to have his feet up on things. Whether he is playing on the floor, or laying in his crib. This morning he fell asleep with his feet up on the bumper. As you can see he hardly fits sideways in his crib anymore. We can hear him when he's awake, because he usually "thumps" his legs on the bed. Doesn't he look so big laying that way?

Here's a picture from yesterday. When I come in to get him after his naps, he is usually peeking through the cracks holding on to the bumper. It's like he's saying, "Guys, I'm ready to get up." Thankfully he is patient and just talks until we come get him up.