Learning...Fishing...Running... and finding Miss. Daisy

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." ~ James 1:17-18 What a beginning to 2011! I appreciate the above verse from the Bible because it is so true. Anything good that happens to me (or our family) is a gift from God! Everything truly comes from Him. Much has happened over the last 3 months since we last posted. Of course, we have every day to thank the LORD for His love, His grace and His eternal Word! Vicki, Hannah, Gracie and I have been on some wonderful adventures in this time and we'd love to share some highlights!

Bible Quizzing

- In late January, Grace was part of our church AWANA Bible Quizzing team. They have been studying hard since Nov. '10 and their hard work paid off! Quizzers answer questions about the Bible from their TNT handbook. Also, in the speed round, they can recite Bible verses for points. Very exciting stuff! This year our team took 3 first place finishes and one second place. Overall, it was a banner day for our GEBC Awana program!

Science Fair

- Hannah and Grace both participated in their homeschool co-op annual Science Fair and did very well. They both received awards for their projects! Hannah's project was about magnetic fields and the the germination rate of plants. Grace's projects was on the burn rate of candles at different temperatures. Both projects were well illustrated, colorful and the girls presentation of their projects was bar none! We are blessed to be the parents of Hannah and Grace!

Running

- Vicki is gearing up for the racing season. She is currently training to participate in the Rainier to Ruston relay race with 4 other ladies. It is a 50 mile race and she is running two of the legs, specifically the first leg which starts closest to Mt. Rainier. The race is on Sat. June 4th. Should be a great time! What a blessing to have friends to spend time with doing what you love to do! (http://www.rainiertoruston.com/). (We are tentatively planning on running the Rock n' Roll the end of June...we'll keep you updated!).

Field & Stream!

I made it into a magazine: Field and Stream in the March 2011 edition! The picture below shows me with my first winter steelhead. It's from a trip with my good friend Tally!

Schilling Addition!

- Lastly, we ended our 2 month puppy search when we excitedly brought "Our Sweet Little Ms. Daisy" home on Sat. February 26th! She is an English Lab and was born on Sat. January 8th. What is the BEST part of this is that we witnessed the birth of the litter via webcam! Then we daily watched as these puppies grew and began to walk, play and develop. What a neat experience to see all that happens to puppies from birth to 7 weeks and then be able to choose a puppy from the littler! We've had her for over a month now and we're all getting used to the tail-wagging and sloppy kisses from our happy Daisy! What a blessing she is to our family! To introduce her to you, we had some fun and put together a little video for you! Enjoy!

In closing, we just want to thank the LORD for His goodness shown to us in so many ways, BIG and small! As we look forward to Easter and all that it represents, we thank the LORD Jesus for His guidance in our lives. We know that He is real, alive and one day - as the Bible teaches - will return as the King of kings and Lord of lords and reign over all! As we patiently wait, we continue to thank Him everyday for His wonderful gifts!

Staying His course, Jay, Vicki, Hannah, Grace, Daisy & Donut (our Rabbit)