two through and through

sawyer turned two this week! can you tell??

cousin line-up

sawyer's birthday party, from left to right: the birthday boy himself, levi, sarah, elyse, miriam, trey, & brady, who looks by far the most excited to be having his picture taken at that moment. it was a full house!

water lily update

well, my first craft fair was a flop -- nothing sold. bummer. but i'm not giving up! i wasn't even there and my card sets were sort of a tack-on to my cousin's jewelry display, so that could be part of it. this weekend i'll try again, and have my own table this time! thursday and friday evenings -- contact me if you would like more details. i also will have matted 8x10 prints for sale, as well as some larger 11x14 prints on display (borrowed from the walls of myself and my sister). and of course, i always take orders!

i am also excited that Treehouse Books (downtown Holland) has agreed to carry my cards! last week my mom had miriam and levi for an afternoon, and sawyer and i headed downtown with my card sets to see if anyone was interested in putting them out in their store. (lug the cute kid along -- good icebreaker.) i have to mark them up a bit since they take a cut of the profits, but it is a low-risk way to get some exposure.

locks of love

i wanted to wait and surprise family with miriam's new look on thanksgiving, but i just had to post these pictures. the two pigtails miriam is holding will be used to make a wig for a little girl with cancer.

water lily debut

Water Lily Photography's website is up and running -- check it out! it may still need a few bugs worked out and the print gallery is not complete, but for the most part it is ready. i owe it all to my dear husband who is gifted in this area. today the first card sets made their appearance at a local craft fair (thanks to my cousin). please keep me in mind for christmas gifts! perhaps you know of a wall that needs brightening, and everyone can use blank cards, right? :)

kid tidbits

1) Miriam and Levi went to Sam Wolthuis' "superhero" birthday party today. I usually feel at a loss when it comes to having to dress the kids up a certain way, but I'd say we did a pretty good job considering we were just using what we found around the house. (Levi is grabbing a sword from behind his back... and yes, those are his underwear on the outside of his pants.) What do you think?

2) We've finally been trying Levi wearing underwear to bed at night, and he's been doing really good staying dry. One morning this past week he came into my room wearing only his underwear and Miriam's robe. I figured he had wet because he had taken his pj's off, so I said to him, "Is your bed wet, Levi?" "Yeah..." he replied, and then paused. "Well," he continued, "my pillow is wet, but my underwear is dry!" I had to think about that one for a minute, especially early in the morning. I guess he's just a big-time drooler when he sleeps!

3) Miriam and I were driving downtown Holland the other night and I was pointing out different places to her, one of which was the Pizza Hut. She looked at the sign and said, "Huh, that's funny, this one is called Pizza HUT and the one by us is called Pizza HOT!" I tried to convince her that they were the same but she did not believe me. I guess her version of the name really does make more sense!

ALEX'S BLOG

http://supportsmileys.blogspot.com/

PLEASE PRAY FOR ALEX

some of you know that while we were in Australia we became very good friends with a couple named Jamie & Jess. like us, they had sensed the Lord calling them to the Byron Bay area, all the way from Fort Wayne, Indiana (with three kids in tow). a short time after arriving, Jamie was diagnosed with leukemia. he died a few months later, just after Jamie & Jess' 10 year anniversary. we were back in the States by then and it was torturous not to be there for them during that time. Jess and the kids returned home to the States and we were able to attend Jamie's memorial service in Fort Wayne.

since then, Jess has been remarried and their family now lives in Chicago. but their life has now taken another unbelievable turn. their oldest son, Alex (12, i believe) has just been diagnosed with leukemia. this is supposedly not something that is passed down and the doctors are shocked. he barely had any symptoms. he has begun chemo and his sister and brother, Halie and Sam, are going to be tested as possible bone marrow donors for Alex. would you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for them, and pray for a miracle.