The Finish Line

The last year-18 months have been : busy.  Its been crazy, exhausting, and a zillion other emotions.  John and I made a decision early in 2013 for him to go back to school to finish his half-completed Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Seminary.  He had worked hard on credits while he was with Young Life, but then we had three kids, moved a few times, and even changed jobs.  For a while, John was not sure he wanted to pursue it to the end.  Then, after changing jobs, falling in love with the church, and wanting some development we decided it was time to go for it.  There were a few obstacles: John's 10 year time frame to complete his degree from his start date in 2003 was rapidly closing in.  He would need to complete courses at an intense rate and even then, he would need to file for an extension (which is never granted) or risk some of his credits expiring and needing to be re-taken.  Either way, we had already invested time and money in this degree and we thought it was time to see it through.  Our kids are young enough still that we don't have too much homework or after school activities.  I knew I could easily pack up the kids for a weekend at our parents if John needed the quiet house to study or write papers.  We did all of that.  Over the last year+, we have had help from our parents to host me and the kids when John had tons to do on the weekend or over summer or school breaks.  They took the kids for us when I needed a break or even when I traveled with friends to Florida and to Nashville with John last fall.  John's time to apply for his credit extension came in January and we were assured it doesn't really EVER happen that the committee grants and extension on credits beyond the 10 year time limit.  So, we were pretty sobered that John might well be in school until January 2015.  With a lot of prayer and some good luck, John's extension was miraculously GRANTED!  We were so relieved to find out he would finish school in Sept 2014!!  Somehow, we made it through the craziest season of life with everyone in tact!  There were a few weeks, close to the end, where the wheels nearly came off the wagon...but we made it!  Labor Day weekend John finished his last two classes.  Phew.

I was last minute and I had lots of great ideas for a celebration for John, but I decided to round up whoever I could on Sunday before Labor Day to celebrate before the craziness of the fall schedules sets in.  It worked perfectly with both our parents being available and Amy & Andrew came for a bit, too.  The kids and I even kept it a surprise from John until it was time to leave!  We enjoyed a really lovely dinner at the golf club, thanks to our parents.

And then we knew we needed a cake, too!  Congratulations to John for all his hard work and perseverance.  What a task to complete a Masters the way he did...with a whole family to support and care for, new responsibilities at work, and a million other distractions.  YOU DID IT!!

JW Annual Meeting

John was honored at the Annual Meeting tonight for his hard work in seminary.  Our church went through a trying year last year with lots of change and John finished his degree on top of it all!  God has really blessed our church and we came through some difficulty even better than before - and John can concentrate more on work and not on the distraction of school!

Logan's 7th Birthday and Party

Logan turned SEVEN!  Well, it might as well be 17 because it feels like years are passing in minutes and before we know it he will be a teenager.  After Bennett's epic party, Logan was busy trying to think up a theme and settled on Wild Kratts (the PBS show for kids about wildlife).  Its perfect because it really is a family favorite and I had lots of ideas to incorporate.  We held his party on Sunday, which was also his actual birthday, so that was fun!  Once again, I was lucky to have my sister come over the night before and help me with all the prep.  Thanks Amy!

Logan was so excited for his birthday and he kept saying things like, "Remember when you woke me up on my birthday with the birthday song? Remember when you made a special breakfast on my birthday? Remember when you hung up streamers and then I saw them in the morning?"  So, we had lots to do to get ready for Logan's big day!

Birthday song and special breakfast!  Check!

Since it was a wildlife theme, I couldn't resist making dirt cups.  Actually, Amy made them.  :)

And I made a little cake topper for the jungle-y cake.  It wasn't totally "Wild Kratts" but Logan loved the volcano cake.  

We made creature power vests for each of the kids complete with a set of creature power disks so they can morph into different animals.  They turned out great and the kids really loved playing with them.

Creature power!

Eden was super excited for the party.  Both sets of the grandparents were heading over again so she was pretty excited to see them all!

Of course I had to make Eden her own special creature power vest.  :)

We trimmed a ton of branches the week before the party, so John made a cool beaver dam out of them for the kids to play in.

And we had giant jenga...

The kids had some serious jenga skills - we were so impressed!

I came up with a bug/reptile hunt for the kids.  Each kid had a different list of what to search for and this was their favorite activity.  In fact, we did a few rounds of the grandparents re-hiding the bugs for another round.

Then we played a game of Cheetah Tag...it was not for the faint of heart.  Man, 7 year old boys can RUN!

We made "bats" out of tennis balls and John threw them up for the boys to catch - like a game of 500.

And after all that running, they were excited for cake!

Happy to be one of the boys :)

The party was a success and we were once again kinda relieved when it was over.  Everyone stayed for dinner - we grilled outside and Logan got to open presents.  Many thanks to both our parents for making the day so special for Logan!

Logan was so excited to get new hockey skates...he will be trying hockey this year for the first time...he is pumped!

The boys got fossils to dig for, so they were busy chipping away while...

Papa helped Eden build a little Lego.

And one more time for cake!

Happy Birthday Logan!  You are such an amazing kid - we are so lucky to be your family!  Can't wait to see what the next year has in store!  We love you!