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For the Love of Family!

This was tonight's dinner. We made a big chicken/bacon ranch pizza and four small individual pizza's custom order for the boys. My mom, Lynn/Noni is here as are my 2 nephews, McGwire and Kael. We've had a great week together and we are so glad they came. Anyone want to join us? :)

July Update

Here is a much needed update. Come back as we're hoping to do more updating in the coming days!

Owen's 2nd Birthday!

We celebrated Owen's 2nd birthday today. My best friend, Jolene, her mom and daughter, and my mom all came up for the weekend! We've had a great time together and even got a trip to IKEA in yesterday!! The boys have loved having Kallie here and will be sad to see her go. THanks for a great weekend, Noni, Grandma Alice, Jolene, and Kallie. We love you!

Indonesia - Tell Me About It!

Our little guy is growing up!

Owen is getting so big so fast. Joel snapped this photo of him last week and as I just uploaded to the computer, I was amazed at how big he is getting. He's beginning to speak in sentences and is learning how to make faces that crack us up! If you ask him to make a cross face, he scrunches up his nose and furrows his brow into the most cross face you've ever seen! Where does the time go?

An Indonesian Dinner - Sate!

Jack's first egg hunt

This was the first time we have done an egg hunt with Jack. After church, we had lunch with and spent the afternoon with
our surrogate family here in Michigan, Richard and Joyce Eide and Rebecca and Tom Bertram and Anna and Noah. It was a perfect day with a perfect meal and well, they're not perfect but they're wonderful friends :)! After lunch, we hid the eggs and Jack had a splendid time finding them hidden all over the Eide farm. I wish you could have been there to see his face as he found each one. It was so much fun! The candy has all been confiscated and will be doled out little by little, much to his dismay! We had a wonderful day! Oh, and Owen slept through it all -maybe next year!

Happy Easter! from the Potters

It was a lovely spring day here in Michigan for Easter. We are so thankful to be here and for the
things God is doing in our lives and through our lives. It is all because of His resurrection that we have
any hope or power to live this life. It amazes us every day that God has given us His Son and that the
power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power we have to live in Him. That's some power!

We pray your Easter was as special as ours.

Congratulations Carol

I not only had the honor of hosting Carol's bridal shower and making her cake, but I also
get to organize the decorating of her wedding reception. Carol is an amazing gal who has a wonderful
future ahead of her. I have so enjoyed getting to know her and I look forward to her special day.
Congratulations Carol! 65 Days and Counting!!!
P.S. THe girls in the photo above are writing Carol little notes which she will get to read before her wedding,
on her honeymoon and at her 1 year anniversary. Rachel, that was a great idea!

My First Fondant Cake

I hosted a bridal shower for one of the students this past Monday. I also agreed to make the cake.
I love making cakes and thought it would be fun to try doing fondant this time, the first time.
So, while we were in Indiana, we had a little get together with some old friends and it provided a perfect
opportunity for me to make a practice cake. I think it came out pretty good. It wasn't without it's challenges and
I ended up making a different kind of fondant for the shower cake but for my first time, I was pretty pleased!

A Winona Weekend - A Flooded Walk

We had a couple of opportunities to go for a walk while we were in the Village.
We saw some amazing views of the flooding that has overwhelmed the little village.
The lake is in many people's backyards, literally, closing off several streets. Although
it is sad for many people whose homes will likely have damage, it provided for some amazing
pictures and sights for us.

A Weekend In Winona - Dinner Out

Joel and I were able to take a short weekend trip to Indiana to visit Joel's
brother and his lovely wife. The boys stayed home with Owen's teacher Emily
and had a great time! We also had a great time :).
Going out to dinner, a double date, no kids, at a really nice restaurant and being treated to
a most amazing dinner, well, I can't imagine it getting better than that!
Jon and Christine live in Winona Lake, former home of Billy Sunday, current home of Grace College
and location of a restaurant we would love to recommned to you! If you are ever in that area, check out Cerulean.
It's in the Village at Winona Lake and it's amazing!
Thanks Jon and Christine for a relaxing, enjoyable weekend.
We were refreshed and recharged for a busy week!

Rachel Potter

We celebrated another girl in our dorm a few weeks ago. Rachel is a senior this semester
which means we only have a few more months with her before she graduates.
Rachel, we love you and are proud of who you are and what God is molding you into.
OH and yes, her real last name is POTTER! Ironic, eh?

From Mommy and Daddy

From Gram, Gramps, Noni, Poppi,, Mon Oncle, Auntie Christine, and Auntie Bekah

Jack's 4th Birthday

Today we had Jack's birthday party! His birthday was actually last Friday - a week ago, but Mommy was gone for the weekend and so the party was today instead.

The theme was fish... a fish cake, fish on the table, fish crackers, fish bowls and plates and well, keep reading and looking!!

We invited a few friends over and had a great time!

Valentines Day Morning with the Boys

This year was really the first year for Jack to "know" what was happening with V day and what it was all about. He had a party at school where they exchanged paper valentines and they had a special party. I made each of his teachers a valentine too and he hand delivered them with a shy smile! Then on Saturday morning, we had a special breakfast together (and our friend David was also with us from North Carolina). The boys each got a Valentines bag and a special gift!. They had so much fun and Owen just couldn't resist eating everything right then and there. I'm sure by naptime, the sugar rush had worn off and he crashed!

Valentines Day #7

It's hard to believe this is really our 7th valentines day together. The first was very memorable as we had been engaged for a little over a month, were flat broke but totally and completely in love! I made Joel mint truffles and a homemade card and he made me a bouquet of sharpened pencils (You've Got Mail fans know exactly what that is!). It was perfect. Many things in life have changed in 7 Valentine's Days but one has stayed the same and has even deepend and that's our love for each other. We've had a few less than ideal Valentine's Days. Last year for instance, we were enroute back to the US, AGAIN and pretty much feeling a bit less than hopeful. We skipped Valentines Day that year but I'm happy to say, we've made up for it this year.

We switch off each year as to who does the planning and the gift giving. Whoever has V Day, the other has our anniversary and then it switches the next year. This year Joel did V Day. We just had a yummy dinner (a spring salad, pesto and chicken fettuncini, bread and dessert has yet to be served), and then Joel presented me with my gift.
And yes, he made it himself! Drool ladies, drool, he's all mine!! Husbands, you could learn something from this man, he's more romantic than I am. I am thankful for the almost 6 years of marriage we've had together and I'm hopeful the next six will be even better!