Asher enters manhood

That's one small step for Asher, one giant leap for us all. Okay, manhood maybe extreme but Asher finally took his first steps and may I add, on his own initiative! Until now, he has shown no interest in walking unassisted, but he took 2 small steps followed by a leap towards me. After his first baby steps, we made him do it over and over and he was enjoying ever step. At times he was exuding so much joy in his new accomplishment, he was taking several quick little steps...too quick for the rest of his body. Up next on his accomplishment list-soccer!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BOYS!

both of my boys had their birthdays last week, so we celebrated them together. this will be the first of many times they share a cake, the bday song, and asher will probably always get more presents than james. i think james felt a little jipped in the whole thing though. he grew up with a twin brother. jason was more outgoing, and as he remembers, ALWAYS blew out the candles on their shared cake. well, this year his shared cake was with his son- but abbie blew out the candles for them. he was waiting for the one year he'd be able to blow them out and in swooped those little lips of abbie's and poof! he missed his chance again. maybe next year, baby... maybe.

we had a great time with friends and family and asher LOVED the cake. he is so happy, and full of life- a true blessing to our lives.

as james begins a new year of life, he will face new and harder battles with tumors returning to his jaw. the treatment is going to be rougher and the hope is getting smaller. but we know that God is the God of the impossible, and we will continue to live in the hope that he is able to do more than we imagine.

now, let them eat cake!

R.O.C.K in the USA!

to celebrate abbie's 5th birthday we threw a big rock n' roll party in the backyard! this is the first year the weather in april has cooperated and what a huge blessing that was! i tried to clean out the garage to set up the stage, but there is no way there would have been enough room. her friends all brought their own instruments and with marjorie's help we got a stage set up for them to perfom. the first game was called FREEZE PLAY! everyone played their instruments until abbie held up the STOP sign. whoever made the last noise got to go join abbie in dancing. it came down to two boys, and at this age it's too hard to declare only one winner. our friend noah made a turn table, that he was sliding his record on, like a dj! it was so creative. our next game was called RHYME TIME! we split into groups and they each made up a song using rhyming words. my group simply sang, "see the dog and a frog on the log... yaaaaaa". abbie's group sang "jingle pig, jingle pig wearing a nice wig. he danced a jig and ate a fig, jingle jingle pig". the last group sang about skat the cat, "i had a big cat with a silver hat. i wanted to chat but he ate a rat then he told me to skat... dubi du bop bop du bop and a rat a tat tat." it was a great time! we made ice cream sundaes instead of a cake and then a dance party started. it was a great night.

we are so blessed to have a great group of friends to share good times with. this will be a big year for abbie as she finishes her soccer team, possibly starting a karate class and she will start kindergarten in the fall! we love her so much and are so proud of the creative and compassionate young lady we see.

you can enjoy a glimpse into the party by watching the show! enjoy!

www.sorellimages.com/theparty/