Happy Valentines Day everyone!!! We have some fun news for everyone for V Day... Jacqui lost her first tooth! She also has 3 other teeth loose, so we are thinking she may have a toothless 5th birthday. Love you guys lots and miss you all!

Superbowl!!!

Katie and I are going to be watching the superbowl at the superbowl!!! We are going to Tampa on friday. This is a once in a lifetime thing and I'm so lucky Katie was willing to make it happen for me. Poor Lucy can't go.

Snow in Spokane

Well now that the holidays are over and we have finally gotten rid of some of this nasty snow we have had... I promised some pics of the snow so here you are!

This is the back porch, getting pretty deep here even after a foot or so melted off...

Uncle Levi helping get some of the snow off the roof and off of the rain gutters...

Jacqui playing on a sled in the snow in Walla Walla when visiting Grandma Quack Quack

Helping Grandma Quack Quack clear off the deck.

Making smore's in the fireplace after a long day of shoveling snow!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year for 2009! Hope everyone is doing ok and getting around in this mucky weather without trouble. I don't know what I would do without friends without 4WD! Hope the new year finds you happy and healthy, and with many blessings. We miss you all and are thinking and praying for you.

Merry Christmas

Well Merry Christmas to everyone... We are snowed in Spokane and not going anywhere and so will miss all of you. I know that the rest of you are in a similar pickle from watching the weather and forecasts for the rest of the state. We love and miss you all and are thinking and praying for you this Christmas holiday. Hope everyone is able to stay warm and safe. We love and miss you all. God Bless everyone for Christmas and for the new year 2009~! May it be everyone's best year yet! Love You~!

This is a pic of Levi's car... 3 hours after he finally dug it out of the driveway... we have accumulated another foot since then... Aren't you all glad your are not here?!

Jacqui-isms

I have a fun story to share with everyone. Jacqui and I were driving in the car a few days ago, listening to music when she says, "Mom, did you know that Jesus loves me?"
I answered her, wondering where this was going, "I sure did, and he will love you your whole life!"
Smiling, she replies back, "Do you know how I know that? ... I have a bunny who tells me that every day!" (This would be great grandma and granddad's bunny that sings Jesus loves me.)
"Well that bunny is right, Jesus does love you and he always will", I tell her. We resume our silence, watching the traffic and people walking by...
After a few minutes of just staring out the window, Jacqui starts up again. "Mom? Did you know that Jesus lives up there in the sky?"
"He does? That's right! How did you know that?" I say, wondering where she is getting this information and where this conversation is going...
"Mom, (with attitude) you know when you yell to the sky and there is an echo...? (pausing for effect here) The echo is Jesus talking back to you, because he lives in the sky, that's why!" said with as much authority as a 4 year old should have.
This concluded our conversation as she heaved a big dramatic sigh and let me know she was done explaining how things work to me. I think for a 4 year that is as logical as you can get for figuring out Jesus and where he lives... what better proof is there?! Thought you would all get a chuckle out of this one, I know I sure did!

My Life

These days, my life revolves around my work at Center For Sharing, Kayla, Levi and Jacqui. It seems there is never enough time to do it all, considering all the travel and such...however I try to make the most of the time I do have with Levi, Kayla and Jacqui.

Now that Levi is in Spokane, I do get to see him more often...which is great...when he was in Phoenix and Seattle, it a little more work to get there.

On the work side, I just returned from a trip to Hyderabad India. I will post a report on that in a few days. The trip before India was one to Muskegon Michigan the first part of October. I went to a conference of Partner's Worldwide, Partners Worldwide ...it is a non-profit that connects successful business people to aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries. There, I learned of a new concept called, "mircofranchise". Successful business people putting together small simple businesses, like selling milk or reading glasses that can sustain families in developing areas through a franchise system. The idea is great because you know it will work if you follow the guidelines because it has worked elsewhere.

Using the bicycle to sell milk, they said a person that buys the franchise can often pay off the bike in one week...how great is that!...then the franchise holds 10% of their earning so when and if they leave the business, they then get that 10%, which in some cases has saved them enough money to buy a taxi. Pretty cool, I think!