Regionals-Cinema Saturday, March 12, 2011

March 12th, Bonnie Schmitz, Linda Madding and I went to a Cinema Saturday Event in Crystal Lake, IL at the Showplace 16. This event took the place of Regional Convention. Displays included the new baby boy and girl coversets and the fabulous power palette for girls and rugged power palette for boys. The Make a Wish Foundation came out with a new coverset and accessories. Also, a portion of the money for each product goes to the

Make a Wish Foundation.

Creative Memories introduced the Album of Hope Movement!

What is the Album of Hope Movement? One of the greatest gifts a parent can give a child is an album of hope. It's the gift of self-assurance and a sense of belonging. It shows children they have a stable foundation and that they're part of something larger than themselves. It tells children they can be strong and believe in their dreams because they have a family backing them. It's for moms everywhere. Join by sharing your hopes for your children and letting them know how much they're loved. Together we will help raise the next generation of happy, healthy and confident kids.

Rhonda Anderson, co-founder of Creative Memories, also has a faithbooking site where she shares how you can make a faithbook. Go to http://www.faithbooking.com/

In Joel 1:3 "Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation." Scrapbooking is a wonderful way to preserve our photos and God stories and the faithfulness of God in our lives.

You can make your faithbook for yourself and for your children by answering 10 questions, which can be found at Rhonda's site.

A SPECIAL DAY WITH ELLIE! MARCH 9,2011

Our special overnight with Ellie started at McDonald's with lunch and play in the play ground.

Ellie helped sew her little build-a-bear together with needle and thread, stuffing her and naming her Sweetie with her own birth certificate and outfit.

The Children's Museum in Naperville has become Ellie's favorite spot for her special day out with Grandma. Thanks, Carrie, for introducing us to the museum. We started our adventure on the upper level in the Math Connections and Art Gallery for young explorers where Ellie set up her own little stage with family members. We brought our lunch so hung out in the snack area on the lower level to eat. Then came the most fun in the Waterways and Bubbles area. Ellie was having lots of fun surrounding herself with bubbles and playing in the water. Then on to the AirWorks to see what effect the wind has on different things. Ellie ended up in the art studio making a stained glass picture using black masking tape and painting the glass with different colors. What a fun day with Ellie.

Selah is 3 months old!

We went to Paul and Amy's for lunch after church on Sunday, March 6th, and got to hang out with the kids in the afternoon. Selah is smiling now and likes to be held. We played games with the kids. Monopoly is the game of choice. Seth really likes his White Sox monopoly game which we played, then Grace and Ellie and Noah wanted to play their version while the other boys played Scrabble with Paul and Les.

Florida with the Hawkinsons, Feb. 28-March 5, 2011

Cameron Cove in Florida with the Hawkinsons

We had a nice relaxing week with the Hawkinsons with an ocean front view.

Seeing dolphins, seagulls, herons, sandpipers and pelicans was interesting. Also the sea turtles come out in May so they paint the lampposts around the pool and complex facing the ocean black so the turtles don't come out too early. Since it wasn't May we didn't get to see any of them.

I have been taking an evangelism course at church called The Way of the Master with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. Our home work was to talk to strangers about the gospel so I took the opportunity to talk to several people on our trip. It is interesting to hear people's responses, and it was exciting to lead a young lady at the pool to the Lord. There are people everywhere who are just waiting to hear the good news of Jesus.

Jay's Storybook - February 20,2011

Jay's looking at his storybook, all about Jay's second year.

It's fun to see how you've grown and changed in a year!

Scrapbook Retreat at Michigan City, Indiana - February 25-27, 2011

Back Row:

Stacy Schott, Paula Dockery, Robin Hahn
Middle Row:

Jodie Beverage, Donna Preisler, Lisa Dailey, Linda Madding

Front Row:

Jen Franzoni, Carrie Schelling, Connie Larson, Vicki Williams, Connie Osborne

Not pictured: Debbie Lauthen

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

BACK ROW:

CONNIE OSBORNE: IDEA BOOK

JEN FRANZONI: SNOWFLAKE MAX ALBUM

FRONT ROW:

LISA DAILEY: NANCY O'DELL PERSONAL TRIMMER,

STACY SHOTT: DOODLING AND SWIRLS TEMPLATE

ROBIN HAHN: MINI HEART MAKERS

VICKI WILLIAMS: MINI HEART ALBUM

Scrapbooking at the Wade Inn, Michigan City, Indiana

We had 13 ladies join us for a weekend of album making and sharing. We completed 425+ pages during our 3 day weekend. We had lots of great stories and pictures preserved and shared. The Wade Inn was very comfortable for us and the caterer served us lots of yummy food, including pizza, lasagna, chicken salad and chicken wraps. I think he thought I told him we wanted food enough for 30 instead of 13. We had lots of leftovers plus all the snacks everyone brought, so everyone took something home, so hopefully didn't have to cook a couple of days.

Thanks to all who attended and contributed. A great time was had by all.

Elise is 6 months old!

While celebrating birthdays we also got to spend time with Elise; I can't believe Elise is
6 months old already. Elise is learning to eat from a spoon and likes her oatmeal, her bouncy seat, her bath and playing with her toes. It's fun to just take it all in. We got to watch Elise and the boys while Jenny and Dan went to the blue man group. I always love holding her,

and she was happy with Grandma and Grandpa.

Isaac's 4th Birthday and Dan's 40th Birthday!

Isaac with Grandma and Grandpa celebrating 4 years.

Celebrating Dan's 40th Birthday!

We enjoyed celebrating Dan and Isaac's birthdays this year: Dan turned 40 and Isaac 4 so lots of milestones. I made a storybook for Isaac highlighting the special events from the past year, such as our trip to Cancun together, Mother's Day at the lake, our first Larson annual reunion, the birth of Isaac's baby sister, Elise, and celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas together; letting Isaac know how special he is to us and to Jesus.

Selah Joy is 21/2 months old (Feb 17, 2011)

Grandpa and Selah Joy

Selah Joy is sleeping through Ellie's birthday party.
She's cuddly and fun to hold and has a lot of long black hair.