Fun at the Park

oops.. Benny missed a step

Asher with no fear, just joy

Yeah, taking turns!

We have discovered that Asher likes to go head first down a slide. It is like he has no fear. He will crawl right up and throw himself down, it is so funny to watch. And Benny the little man is climbing and running all over, not to mention shooting squirrels with his pretend gun-"Just like daddy." We have tried to make the most out of these last beautiful days before it is too cold. I don't even want to think about what they will be doing next year at the park.
But it has been a lot of fun, let's do it again soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHER!!!

November 1, 2006

One year later

Yum yum cake

We celebrated Asher Dale Hawkinson's birthday on the 2nd of November one day after his actual birthday. We had fun, lots of friends and family and for Asher lots of cake:) It was the first sugar he ever had-what a great gift huh?
It still seem so crazy that just a year ago he was 8 lbs 13 oz and today he is nearly 25 lbs and running and playing with his brother. It truly goes by so fast, but what a joy it is.

Meet Daniel John Hawkinson

Benny with cousin Daniel

Uncle Joe and an awake Daniel


Meet the newest Hawkinson; Daniel John Hawkinson, he was born Sept 17th 8lbs 6 oz (Q) and 20 inches long.
We drove down to Hutchinson last night to meet Mr. Daniel and the rest of the family. Michelle looked great and is doing well she says Daniel sleeps a lot in the mornings but not a lot at night. So pray he switches his schedule soon :) But we had a great time visiting and meeting Daniel, so far no baby itch for me :) time will tell.

Ummm Corn

We had sweet corn this week for dinner and Asher especially enjoyed it. He stayed in his chair gnawing away long after we had all left the table and cleaned up.
On a sadder note for me he started walking all by himself today-I can't believe how big he is. It goes by so fast.

Walking Hazards

Asher has started 'cruising' and has started taking some spills on the hard wood floors. Two days ago Asher fell at Aunt Elizabeth's house and put his top teeth into his bottom lip. And yesterday he fell on our wood floors and put his bottom teeth into his top lip. So poor boy has a fat bottom lip and a fat upper lip. But still so cute and still trying to walk all by himself.

Catch Up

First hair cutFavorite new place to play
Baby Jake

Since I haven't posted in a while I decided to play catch-up. So, some new things have happened starting from the top, Asher got his first hair cut a few weeks ago. No more curls in the back now he is looking so much older, my big 22lb almost 10 month old baby. Benny and Asher's new favorite place to play is in my pantry in the kitchen. They love to take everything out and then take turns climbing inside-Ben espescially loves to play "Where Benny go?" Asher mostly enjoys pulling everything out and making a mess :) And the cute little guy in the last picture is baby Jake. I have recently started watching baby Jake three times a week from about 8 a.m.-4p.m. His parents Roy and Cindy Tanner have been good friends of ours for about 2-3 years. But so far it has gone pretty well Ben really likes "Baby Jake" not just Jake it is "Baby Jake" when you talk to Ben. And Asher just wants to grab his face off in a loving way. I still have not ventured out with all three of them but I am getting braver by the week. So we are caught up for now hopefully I well be better about posting in the future.

Conversation with cousin Rachel

Visiting with family last week at KBC Benny was playing with his cousin Rachel's doll. He pulled the baby's diaper down and asked,
" Where is the p*nis?"
Aunt Michelle, "Well, that baby is a girl baby so she has girl parts, not boy parts."
Benny, "Oh."
Cousin Rachel, " I like girl peanuts."
Benny, " I like almonds."

Lord Joseph

Last night the reign of Lord Joseph ended. Originally Lord Joseph was supposed to be disembowled :) but everyone (adults) thought he was so funny they didn't want to see him die so, one of his guardsmen was disembowled in the dining hall. One of the directors "McKevin" threw out spagettti on the kids--it was fun all the kids cheered and lord Joseph screamed like a little girl and then signed over his lands to the Scotts. It has been a lot of fun but Joe is happy that Lord Joseph is all done because he didn't like having all the kids hate him.

We are planning to leave tomorrow and drive to Tennessee and stay with the Baron's . Then leave after the breaking of bread meeting at the assembly in Tennessee and make it home late Sunday night. Please pray for Joe since he will be doing the majority of the driving and then have to go to work Monday morning. God is soooo good-we are so happy to be serving Him at camps.

Camp Hope

Greetings from Camp Hope in Dalonega Georgia!!
We are all enjoying our time here at camp. Joe is leading music for this Teen 2 week and I am enjoying having him around a lot more. Chris Schroder is the speaker this week and from what I have been able to hear I have enjoyed. The theme this week is a Scottish theme "The Battle of Loch Pony" JOe is playing the part of a pompus British lord, Lord Joseph and he is supposed to get killed later this week :) In the pictures youcan see thy brought in some sheep to make it more authentic-Benny is loving petting the sheep every day.
I am having more of a relaxing time and Joe and I have enjoyed some fishing. Hopefully i can get some good pictures of Lord Joseph dying later and post it.

Busy Busy Busy

We are still alive. Busy, is all I can say about the last month. And sadly it looks like the summer will be busy as well.
Asher has three teeth right now his top right canine-yes, Joe calls him "Fang" and his bottom front teeth are in. He is now working on his front two teeth one just broke through the other day. At his last appointment he was a very healthy 22 pounds 10 ounces! Yup I have a happy healthy one. He has also started army crawling around the floor. He can't quite get up on his hands and knees so he uses his toes and arms to get to all the things he shouldn't.
Benny is recovering from a rough week last week. He fell down the stairs, fell off the bed head first and ran his face into one of the pews at church :( And he was puckey sick last week too. But he played with his cousins today and went to Chipotle with his daddy and got mommy a free burrito. Hooray!!
Joe is working hard at Kalos and doing a great job. We are getting ready for our church VBS next week. We will be having meetings at night at the chapel and also in the mornings in our backyard. So we would appreciate prayers throughout the week. But in everything God is good-ALL the time.
Well, that's the update for now hopefully I will be more faithful in posting after the summer :)

FACT OR CRAP

Last night we had Dave and Rachel Everhart over for some fondue fun-it was delicious-and we had a great time. We played a game called Fact or Crap. I thought I would type some of the Question cards and give everyone a little trivia.

Fact or Crap

• The Archer Fish can spit water up to 5 feet to shoot down its prey.
• FACT
• Fact or Crap

• U.S. President Martin Van Buren and his wife spoke Dutch at home.
• FACT
• Fact or Crap
• Apart from Pluto, all planets in our solar system were known in the ancient world.
• CRAP
• Uranus was discovered in the 18thcentury: Neptune in the 19th
• Fact or Crap
• Before becoming a dictator of Italy, Mussolini worked as a sewer dredger.
• CRAP
• He was a school teacher

So Cute!

They are just so cute! That's all I have to say.

Family Weekend

The lone fish of the trip

Little Fisherman
Don't drop it!
Daddy and Asher

Mommy and Benny on the tree swing

This last weekend Joe's band had a retreat at Living Water Ranch in Manhattan, so we took advantage of the weekend and had a lot of family time. We took Ben fishing, he got a brand new "Cars, Lighting McQueen" fishing pole and tried to catch fish. Mostly he tied himself up in the fishing line, tried to fish with daddy's pole and even threw his new pole in the lake. But he had such a great time. He kept talking to the bait: "Hi, worm how are you? or Hi fish, hi." Joe and I have decided that next time Ben "fishes" we will not. :)

All in all it was a relaxing and fun time. We took walks, swung on a huge tree swing,walked on the beach at the lake as well as went fishing. It was just so nice to be out in nature and enjoy God's creation. And invest time in our family. We highly recommend a family fishing weekend if you (the parent) don't mind not fishing the whole weekend.

Fun with Cousins

Garrison, Gabriel and Ben
Asher with Aunt Elizabeth and cousins
Asher and Keke
Garrison, Gabriel, Christian and Ben making their own fun in the pack and play





Last week Joe was on a business trip in Wichita so the boys and I had dinner at "cousins' house." Ben loves playing at Elizabeth and DJ's. After dinner we all just sat and watched the boys play it was a crazy time but everyone had fun. Ben always enjoys time spent with his cousins and he asks almost daily to, "go see cousins." It is such a blessing to have family live only a few block away.

He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!

Remembering the death and resurrection of our Savior this Easter. (2007)

Lots of Love

Does Asher Look Nervous?
Pucker Up!
Ben Is Even Sharing His Toys!

Ben has been loving on Asher a lot lately. He wants to play with Asher, hold him and touch and kiss him all the time. It is really sweet how much he loves his brother.

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Great Is Thy Faithfulness written by: Thomas O. Chisholm, inspired by Lamentations 3:22,23

vs3: "Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow-Blessing all mine with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided-Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me!"

I love hymns. They have so much truth, promise and encouragement in them. I think about this hymn a lot, well I sing it a lot too. It reminds me that the Lord gives me the strength I need for the day. I daily pray and ask the Lord for His strength-because I know that mine is insufficient for for my tasks. Days when I am tired (which are pretty often) I know I can make it to the end of the day because My God is faithful to supply me with His strength. This brings to mind another hymn; Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.

So if you are tired today pray that the Lord will give you His strength- it is more that sufficient. And let us not forget the chorus; "Great is Thy faithfulness! ALL I have needed Thy hand hath provided-Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto ME! We truly have a faithful God who loves us individually and personally. How blessed we as believers are to fully rest in the Lord and have bright hope for tomorrow.

Thank you Lord that you provide the strength I need for my day.

Thank you that you are so faithful to me.

Pilates

This week I started exercising and doing Pilates again. So I got my mat out and started up the video and Ben decided he wanted to exercise with me. So now I have a Pilates partner. He layed right next to me on the mat and tried to do everything I was doing. After I was done Ben kept going and did the next video set. I guess it is never too early to exercise and get in shape. The funny thing is that if you look at the T.V. and what the instructor is doing, he is doing a good job of following along with her.

30 hr Road Trip

Last week we took a 30 hr road trip to Georgia for Ben and Kristi Grave's wedding. We caravaned with Jere and Reagan Kemper, Josh and Amanda Paul, Seth and Marcie Neinhause (spelling?), Zeb Barron, Chris Woodhouse, Rob (don't know his last name) and the Joseph Hawkinson family. It was a lot easier and fun with so many people. The Lord was gracious and gave us great weather, gas mileage, safety and sanity. All in all it was a great time. Here are some pictures of the wedding.

The wedding was outside beside a river, it was beautiful.

Joe and Jess Drees

Mr. and Mrs. Graves