"Houston, we have a 9 year old!"

Yes, that is right! Gwangi is 9!!!!

Now, for the amazing story behind his gift this year.

Last fall, he decided that he really wanted an "electronic" something...an iPod, a Kindle, a Nexus, something like his friends have, to read on and play games. We told him that he needed to wait. We were concerned that he wasn't mature enough to know when to say "no" and when to turn it off. His Christmas present had already been purchased, so we figured for his birthday in May, he might be ready.

While we were in Little Rock in November, he was given a gift of some money to put toward that purchase, he diligently saved it for all of these months. We told him in April that we had done some research and that for reading, playing games, and to have a camera to do his stop motion animation movies, that a Nexus seemed to be the best choice. He was going to split the cost with us, using his savings from last fall, some leftover Christmas money, ALL of his allowance that he had been saving ($5 a month, since last fall), and some birthday money that we knew was coming. We figured all was well, but, as Indy and I talked a bit more, we realized that we still would need to buy a separate "durable" or "rugged" camera for when we are in Kyrgyzstan next year...something that we could take out in the field, out camping, etc. What to do?

This past Sunday we were speaking in Archdale and after the service a couple came up to us and said that they felt led to give us their pretty much, brand new Nook HD+. We were floored, "Really?! Are you sure?" They said they were absolutely sure and handed us the Nook, in a nice case, and the box and charger!

Wow! He takes care of everything, all the stuff, the big stuff, the little stuff, and the dreams and hopes of a soon to be 9 year old! Incredibly blessed and amazed would be an understatement.

So, this morning we told Gwangi, this is your gift, it doesn't have a camera, but it has a much larger screen and we are now going to take the money we had been saving to buy the Nexus for him, and buy a camera that we can all use...even a 9 year old! He was THRILLED and thanked God right then and there for his awesome new present! We were so excited to see him sharing it today, with his siblings and with the neighbor kids that came over to play. He has grown up, he has matured, far beyond what we were expecting or even praying for last fall. It is all so very exciting, to see the Lord's hand in this blessing and in our son's growth.

Now, on to some pictures from today...but, before I go...I think we are going to get something like this - Nikon Coolpix Camera - has anyone tried any of the "rugged/waterproof" cameras before? Thoughts? Ideas? Reviews?

Seeing the Nook for the first time.

He was truly excited and thankful, what a precious boy with a heart for God.

In our house, birthday person gets their choice in all three meals!

Breakfast was Daddy's deer sausage, on bagels with fried eggs and cheese.

Lunch was ham sandwiches, and he wanted to make them for everyone.

Dinner was PIZZA!

Sissi helped me to make his birthday cake today. She just loves to cook..

....and lick the batter, of course!

We also made cupcakes for his baseball team practice tonight.

This afternoon the kids were all out playing, and when you have 4 boys (our 2 and the neighbor's 2), the choices of games seem to include sticks and be a bit rougher than what a girl would choose. Unfortunately, princess girl was scratched under the eye and had to have some "special attention" to make her feel all better.

Gwangi's cake. It is a "Minecraft" concept with a mountain that is erupting with lava on one side and water on the other side....and of course, we had to have Lego candles!

Blowing out the candles.

At baseball practice tonight he hit an awesome home run, all the way out to the soccer fields!

Getting ready for dessert #2....cupcakes!

Some of his team mates.

Enjoying the cupcakes.

They all said they were pretty good.

I think we only brought one home.

Oh, that is because he took some of the extras in his mitt.

The end of the day, doing some reading on the Nook before bedtime. I think they were both reading Lewis' "The Magician's Nephew." 

That is a great way to wrap up a birthday!

Happiest of days to the sweetest 9 year old I know! May this next year be full of the Lord's grace and growth in your heart and life, my son!

A Lovely Easter

I took some pictures of the kids this morning.

Then I took my camera to church and took pictures of all the families there...and had a friend take our family photo. It is hard to get a picture of all of us!

Happy Easter...He is Risen, Indeed!

My precious kids, they are so very sweet and lovely!

What a cute girl.

I love how she turned for me to show part of her hair.

So very sweet!

My handsome boy, Gwangi.

Krypto wanted his picture by the white flowers.

...and a picture of him smelling them.

Singing at church today.

Our family, outside of Generations Church, Lewisville, NC.

The OBX

We have been so blessed by the generosity of friends and family, and our trip to the Outer Banks was no exception. Thanks to a friend, we had a place to stay in Avon and we were able to spend some awesome time with some pretty great friends from our time living in Maryland.

The Outer Banks. The Ocean was wonderful and brought back some memories of our time in Tanzania. They were so excited to be back in the water!

My beautiful girl.

She just loved all the waves knocking her over.

The gulls were flying so low today. I enjoyed trying to catch pictures of them.

We got to take a trip the tallest lighthouse in the US, Cape Hatteras, in Buxton. It wasn't open for climbing, but we got to walk around and learn quite a bit about it from the museum.

Looming over the trees as we walked up the path. It is 257 steps, equivalent to 12 stories tall.

This is not it's original location, because of erosion due to the Labrador Current and Gulf Stream colliding in this area, the lighthouse had to be moved inland about 15 years ago. Pretty impressive story about how they moved it on rails to its current location.

The kids, on the steps leading up to the lighthouse.

Back to the beach...my Gwangi!

Running in the waves.

They loved all the little crabs they found.

My girl had crocheted a fishing line...she didn't catch anything on the string, but there was another family fishing and she and Jeff joined in. She did catch something with a proper pole and line.

Our sweet friend, Josh.

Joshua and Caleb, at the beach. Friends since they met when they were just 1 year old.

Yes, I did wake up at 3 am and took some pictures of the "Blood Moon." I didn't wake anyone else though.

We were able to go to the Wright Brothers Memorial on Wednesday. It was Wilbur's birthday and so it was free to enter and there were plenty of extra activities going on.

There had been an art competition and Sissi would like to enter for next year.

This was one of the winners.

I loved this one, so cool how she made it look like an aged stamp.

Here they were awarding the winner. The gentleman in the beret is from the First Flight Society and had some interesting stories to tell about his time in flight, in battle.

The memorial, on a hill.

It was a cold and windy day.

This was a mock-up of the huts that the Wright Brothers lived and worked in back in 1903.

They had a birthday cake for Wilbur.

We did walk up the hill to the memorial, and almost got blown away in the wind gusts!

Wilbur was the special brother of the day, I don't think we even took a picture by Orville at all!

The famous photo, turned into life size statues.

Sissi and Jase, doing the Rainbow Loom.

Josh and Krypto.

Laying on the couch, just lounging around.

My good friend, Kristy. She and I met at a Moms and Tots play group back in '04, when we moved to Maryland. We've been good friends ever since. We loved having you guys along on our trip!