Catch up.....

The blog and I do not have a positive relationship right now.  Sorry!!!  We have had full weeks the past month or so with lots happening.  I have also started working full-time and am feeling like the blog needs to take a back seat to laundry and cleaning for the time being.  I'm gonna do my best to update the past month here.  Hold on for the ride: 

The event that has dominated our time the last two months was the Easter musical at church, My Brother's Keeper.  We performed it April 15-17 and it was so much fun.  I never thought I would ever be in a leading role, I was perfectly happy in the chorus, but I had such a blast.  I continue to be so humbled that God would use me in this way.  What a blessing!!!!!  Close to 3,000 people heard the message of Jesus' sacrifice for them that weekend.  We believe lives were changed and we are so grateful to be a part of it.  Here are a few pics from the musical.  Hopefully we can send some of you a DVD when it is finished. 

 Easter Sunday pics....

 The boys finished their second book in Sparks and earned the second year award on Wednesday.  Next year they will be working toward the Sparks plaque that hasn't changed since I was in Sparks.  We are very proud of them and pray that the verses they are learning will be forever in their hearts.   

 We finished this month with a spring dance recital for Kaelynn.  They got to wear the same outfit they wore for the winter recital- which was a nice gift.  Kaelynn did a beautiful job! 

Hopefully it won't take me another month to get update this, but don't hold me to that.  We have 4 1/2 weeks of school left, and then a much needed break from everything.  June 11th is the magical date- school will be done, Andy will be back from Israel, Vacation Bible School will be done, and we will be officially on summer break.  Hopefully I will do a much better job then :)  I hope everyone reading is doing well. 

Blessings

I would say music is absolutely one of the most important ways I feel closest to God.  Music stirs in my heart such a desire to know God more and to give Him everything that I am.  The following song has been an incredible encouragement to me in the past day or so.  I love the words of the last chorus that say:

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise?

Happy 5th Birthday Kaelynn!

Five years ago today at 2:00am our sweet little girl, Kaelynn Grace Kvernen, was born. 



1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

Today at 5 years old!

One of her presents from Andy and I was her very own Bible.  She's been asking for one for a while so we thought her 5th birthday would be perfect.  She loved it!

Last Friday evening we had a party with some of our family here.  Grandma from Mpls. and Karrie and Justin and family were here.  As well as Grandpa and Great Grandma Ruth.  We had stuffed shells- Kaelynn's favorite meal, strawberries, spinach salad, and garlic bread.  She chose a Hello Kitty cake with vanilla ice cream. 

The girls table with Emma and Ava.

Kaelynn loves clothes and she got some very cute ones.  She got this cupcake nightgown from Grandma in Mpls.

Look what she got from Auntie Katie, Uncle Rusty, and Declan.  She loved the princesses, but wasn't sure about how they felt on her nails.  Fun for in the house though!

Today she was supposed to celebrate at pre-school with cupcakes, but we are having a snow day from a GREAT winter storm last night.  UUGGHHH!!!!  Oh well.  She'll celebrate tomorrow.  She opened presents this morning and we have church activities tonight so she will celebrate with her friends at Cubbies. 

On Friday evening she is having a friends party.  The theme is Dora the Explorer and we have lots of fun Dora activities planned.  It should be fun! 

Happy Birthday sweet pea!  We love you so much!

Update!!!!!

Goodness!  It's been almost 2 1/2 months since I've updated.  I'm sorry, but it's just been difficult to give it the time right now.  Life is on warp speed for us right now and it shows no sign of slowing down until school is out.  I have taken maybe two or three pictures in the last 2+ months, and those were nothing special. 

So what has kept us so busy? Well I directed a children's musical in February.  It was a ton of fun and it went well.  A few missed lines here and there, but the dancing and singing were awesome!!!  What a blessing to have that opportunity. 

We are in the midst of  preparing for our church's Easter production which is an original Broadway-style musical written by Andy and his team.  I have a speaking/singing part this year which adds on several extra rehearsals, but has been a learning experience and another great opportunity. 

I am working 3-4 days a week and am going to be taking a long-term paraprofessional position at Connor and Carson's school starting mid- April through the end of the school year.  I am excited about the position and am looking forward to being able to work with these students. 

All of this on top of small group, kids choir, adult choir, AWANA, and worship team make for full weeks. 

Oh yeah, and we have the most AWESOME kids in the world.  We could not do all of this stuff if they were not so self-sufficient and self-entertained.  They have been amazing during all of these rehearsals and meetings.  They don't complain and find things to do (for the most part). 

We had conferences for the boys this week and both of their teachers talked about how great they are.  They are both excelling in school and are leaders in their classrooms.  They both talked about how they make wise decisions and are model students!  We know that this is truly a testament to what God has and is doing in their lives.  We are so proud of them and I just had to give a little shout out to them........

Kaelynn turns 5 next week and I promise to get up some pics of her parties!  Until then.........
     

Girls just want to have fun!

These girls have had so much fun over the past week together!  Dress-up and dancing have been the main activites of choice!  From ballerinas to brides, it has been a flurry of pink and ruffles!  So fun!!!!!  

Christmas Program

Kaelynn's preschool Christmas program was on Thursday.  She did great.  They did 8-10 songs and it was precious!  Here are a few snapshots:

They learned how to say "hello" in many different languages.  This is one of Kaelynn's favorite songs!

Oh man!

I feel like December is flying by us and I'm trying to hang on as best as I can.  Yes, life is busy.  I would venture to say very busy right now, and I am looking forward to the day when I can say that I have nothing to do.  Will it ever come?  At this point I'm not sure.  But there's always hope right?  So, this might just be the only blog post in December.  So here's my attempt to catch up:

My most favorite tradition we have for Christmas is this advent calendar.  It was given to us from Andy's brother and sister-in-law and I absolutely love it.  It is a daily reminder of the true meaning of Christmas among all the hustle and bustle of life.  I have it on our front stairway and love that I see it several times a day! 

Grover spent a day with us last week and we made sugar cookies together- another favorite tradition of mine!

We have entered the world of dance, and last Sunday was Kaelynn's first dance recital.  Her class was the Snowflakes and they danced to Point of Grace's "Let It Snow" medley!  She did an awesome job and we were very proud of her.  I will have to put the video on here later.  I don't know how to get it off of the video camera and onto the computer- that's Andy's job and he won't get to it until at least this weekend, if not next week! 

 On Sunday, we had Barlowe Girl at our church for a Christmas concert.  I worked their merchandise table and was able to meet them briefly.  They gave us a signed Christmas ornament.  The ladies in the row with me are Anissa and Kari who worked with me.  It was a great concert! 

So that's just a tiny bit of what December had held for us.  We have Kaelynn's pre-school program on Thursday and our Christmas program at church this weekend.  We hope you are having a blessed Christmas season!