Easter Egg Hunt!

Josiah is on Spring Break this week. For most children that would be really exciting, but Josiah LOVES preschool. So, he thought today would be boring...not so.

We got him dressed & presented him with his brand new Easter basket.

He was so excited to get a new Easter Basket. It even has his name on the front. Dustin had the day off & so we decided to head to West Seattle for a community Egg Hunt.

As soon as we walked in the front door, Josiah spotted the "Easter Bunny." I put that in quotation marks because not only was it not a good looking Easter bunny, but there was a 6th grader inside. Ha! Josiah didn't seem to mind & ran right over to have his picture taken.

Then, we walked inside the gym to find all kinds of games for the kids to play. Josiah was so excited! This was the perfect activity because no one over the age of 4 years was aloud to play. Well, he's 4, so if anyone is going to get knocked over or pushed around it was going to be someone younger than him.

His favorite part was the bouncy house. This was the COOLEST bouncy house I'd ever seen. We couldn't get him to come out. The only way we finally got him was because they announced that the Egg Hunt was about to begin.

Here we are waiting for the whistle to blow so we could take off & gather some eggs.

GO!!!!! Josiah didn't hesitate for one minute. He was out on the field faster than most of the children. He knew exactly what he wanted. A lot of eggs were laying on the grass open. He would not pick up an open egg. He would pick up the candy on the ground beside the open egg & leave the egg on the ground. He knew what the best part of this hunt was.

Josiah was so excited when the hunt was over. He had a ton of eggs.

As soon as we got back inside he wanted to open his eggs & see what he got.

He got a lot of loot!

Next, Josiah decided he wanted his face painted. WHAT!?!? Josiah has NEVER IN HIS LIFE wanted ANYONE to put ANYTHING on his face. We were shocked. He walked right over & sat down & let the boy go to work. He LOVED the finished product!

As soon as he got his face painted, he said, "I need to go get another picture taken with the Easter Bunny since my face is painted." How funny!

What a great time we all had at the Easter Egg Hunt!

A Weekend with Papa & Meme!

Papa & Meme (Larry & Janet...Dustin's parents) came into town to visit for the weekend.

Upon their arrival, they brought goodies. They brought Josiah an Easter Basket & they brought all of us some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Mmm. Josiah was so excited to get a basket full of candy & toys. He even got an Easter book that Meme quickly sat down to read to him.

Later in the weekend we spent the day at Bellevue Square mall.

We shopped, had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory & let Josiah play at the playground.

They left this afternoon after church. We had a wonderful weekend with Papa & Meme!

Dads & Doughnuts!

Today was "Dads & Doughnuts!"

Recently, Josiah came home from preschool with a cap invitation to this very special event. He also painted Dustin a doughnut & even added sprinkles.

This event was for Dads & their children. They served doughnuts & drinks.

They had tons of games & activities for the children. Josiah was really enjoying this game. As you can see, he's got really good aim.

Josiah's favorite thing was the bouncy house. Here are some of his friends waiting in line to take a bounce.

Josiah went into the bouncy house four times. He loved it!

Josiah had such a great time at Dads & Doughnuts.

Dustin brought home gifts that Josiah had made for him at preschool. What a special time the two of them had at Dads & Doughnuts!

An Amazing Decision!

Josiah has always had a love for Jesus & a love for his Bible. For the past few weeks, however, Josiah has been asking some pretty deep theological questions. Most of these questions have been about salvation & eternity. It all began when his Bible started discussing the life & conversion of Saul into Paul. The life of Paul is an amazing testimony of a person coming to Jesus & being changed forever. The final story in his Bible was about Jesus' coming back one day for his Church. Josiah asked a lot of deep questions that night as well. Dustin did a great job presenting it in a way that was not pushy. We both want Josiah to make his own choices & not feel like he has to because of how we feel. At the end of the conversation, Dustin said, "If you ever want to become a Christian, all you have to do is ask God to forgive you of your bad things (kids version of sins) & then ask Him to come into your heart." Josiah replied with, "Ok, Daddy." We didn't know if that meant "Ok...I understand" or "Ok...I want to do that now." So, Dustin responded with, "Do you want to do that now?" Josiah simply said, "No, Daddy." Surprisingly, we were happy with his response that night. We don't ever want him to make such an important decision at our will, but only at his own.

A week or more passed after that night & we started his Bible over again reading about Creation, Noah, etc. These are not conversion stories, so we weren't thinking much about it anymore. Well, this morning at breakfast something amazing happened. We were reading a Psalm as a family, as we do each morning to start our day. At the end of the Psalm we were simply talking about it. Josiah then interrupted, folded his hands & said the following prayer:

"Dear Jesus & God. I want you both to come into my heart & live forever. I won't do those bad things anymore. I love you, Jesus & God. Amen."

Dustin & I just sat at the kitchen bar in silence with our mouths hanging open, I'm sure. We were stunned. Never in a million years would we have thought that prayer would come from our son this morning. There wasn't anything we did to influence him to do that, but he did. The very next words that came from Josiah's mouth were:

"I'm SAVED!!!!!!"

Dustin & I broke out into laughter & tears all in one moment. It was the most precious moment of our lives to see our son ask Jesus into his heart without any pressure from us. It was so genuine & beautiful! Dustin then asked me privately if I had a blank birthday card. So, I got a card out of my card box & we each wrote messages to Josiah about his salvation. We presented the birthday card to him & explained that today is his spiritual birthday. This is the day he came to know the Lord. The day he was "born again." He was very excited to get this card & ran into his room & placed it on his bookshelf. Then, he went into his dresser, pulled out his New Testament that he was given at his baby dedication & placed it beside his card. I don't know why he did that, but I felt it was somehow significant to him.

The rest of the day, we have been in awe of our Lord & Savior. We believe that this decision is solid. We know our son. We know how his mind works & he has really been processing all of this information for a while. He is also stubborn & we cannot get him to comply some of the time when his mind is made up about something. We feel so thankful that Josiah made this decision. To us, as parents, this is the greatest gift we could have ever laid before our son & he chose to accept it with joy & excitement!

Thank you, Lord, that our son made such an amazing decision!

Gorgeous Day to Play!

It is absolutely GORGEOUS outside today. It is 68 degrees...in March...in Seattle. WOW! Amanda & Grady came over for lunch & a playdate. It was so nice, we ate lunch on the deck & didn't even need coats.

While we were eating lunch, the doorbell rang. It was the UPS man delivering another package for Josiah from...you guessed it...Uncle Chris.

Inside the package was a bunny basket filled with Cheryl & Co. Easter Egg cookies. AMAZING!

We shared the love with Grady & Amanda. I think you can tell how happy Josiah was about getting these special treats.

The boys had a great time playing in the sandtable, playhouse, on the playground & riding the Kawasaki.

The boys did great taking turns & chased each other when it wasn't their turn.

The moms were happy enjoying the sun on the deck & knowing they were getting worn completely out.

All things, however, must come to an end. Look at those sad faces.

We had a great time, though...& what a gorgeous day to play!

Josiah's Special Day at Preschool!

Today was Josiah's Special Day at Preschool! It was his job to fill the snack basket with snacks of his choice & bring a show-n-tell item. He brought his new Diego lunchbox filled with toy food.

He was extra excited when he arrived to class to see that the rice table had been converted into a pasta table. The kids dove right into it.

Josiah was the student helper for the day. He lead the line, led the pledges, chose the weather & changed the calendar.

At the end of the day, Josiah got to share his show-n-tell item with the class as they were being dismissed.

Everyone seemed to enjoy Josiah's Special Day at Preschool!

A Few Favorites!

Here are some recent family favorites!

Chocolate Chip Smiley Face Pancakes!

They really put a smile on Josiah's face!

A HUGE favorite has been playing the game of "Trouble." I played this game as a child & we pulled it out a few weeks ago.

We have played this game at least 4 times a day for 3 weeks. It's so much fun! We just can't seem to get enough of it.

Presents from Uncle Chris!

Uncle Chris is at it again...spoiling Josiah...& Josiah LOVES it!!! Today we received a package in the mail from Chris & Josiah couldn't wait to open it.

Inside the package there were two presents wrapped in Josiah's favorite color wrapping paper...GREEN!

There was even a sweet card inside.

Inside the first box was a Diego lunchbox. This is Josiah's first lunchbox & he can't wait to use it.

Here's Josiah opening present #2.

Inside the second present were two puzzle books. The first puzzle book was "Kung Fu Panda."

The second puzzle book was about pirates.

Look at all the loot! Josiah is definitely spoiled & he loves it.

Once the presents were open, Josiah wanted to go right ahead & start on a puzzle book. We did 5 puzzles before lunch. What fun!

We all enjoyed Josiah getting presents from Uncle Chris!