Our Trip to the Zoo

Lions, tigers, and bears - oh my!

Our family made time to enjoy the Ft. Wayne zoo over the weekend.

It was so much fun! Thought you might like to see a little from our experience.

Madison loves horses so she was so thrilled that she was

greeted by one just after entering the gate.

Mom and Dad mentioned that they did not have a picture with both of them and all the grand kids together so we made sure we took care of that. There was a splash pool for kids to play in and this was one of the animals by the pool. It's not easy being green.

The sea lions were showing off and staying cool in the water.
Here is one of the pictures we got of a sea lion up close.
The kids loved being that close to the animals.

We saw an exhibit of penguins from South Africa.
Did you know there were penguins in South Africa? I didn't.
Apparently they like the heat, but as you can see there was one little guy swimming in the water.

A quick pose for the camera.

As you can see Paul got up close and personal with a piglet.

Who's that joey? It's Noah!

For Madison this trip would not have been complete without a stroll on the pony. Giddy-up!

Scott, Jennifer, and Makayla - enjoying the rain forest.

Although Madison was being silly on the carousel, she did not like being this close to the tigers. She left the viewing area immediately after this picture. Can you blame here?

Most of us went log riding - it is a must do if you visit the zoo. Sooo much fun!

Entertainment & Happy Kids

We recently purchased a new vehicle and had dvd players installed for the munchkins. They love their new play toys and Paul and I love the quiet rides their toys offer. Want to see a picture of them trying it out for the first time? Click here: http://www.acuramdx.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3322&papass=&sort=1

Perfect!

Thoughts from Madison's Momma

We all have goals - you know those things in life you really want to achieve. Growing up I really liked the idea of achieving straight A's, but I never really wanted to work hard enough to achieve that level of greatness. Chalk it up to being a social butterfly! Grades came fairly easy for me so I knew that I would do above passing so I never disciplined myself to achieve that next level.

Someone in my family has though and I wanted to share that GREAT news with you. Madison brought home her third semester report card and it is PERFECT. I think that rocks! Madison is incredibly smart and enjoys learning. If she keeps that mind frame I can only imagine what God might call her to do.

Right now though she is leaning toward veterinarian. I know she is only 5 but she thinks 8 years of school doesn't sound so bad. Trust me - she did not get that from her momma. : )

Hats off to 5 year olds 'cause they rock!

Happy Easter!

Sending you a bit of Easter cheer!

http://home.att.net/~solos_holiday/2008/_011/egg.htm

Crisp Parent's House Fire

Last night around 11PM, Paul's parent's house caught on fire. Likely caused by a lighting strike, they never knew anything was wrong until the smoke alarm started going off. When they went into the kitchen they found the microwave on fire and immediately called 911. Fortunately, Dad, Shirley & Candy (dog) were able to get out of the house with no problems and since the Fire Department is just around the corner, they got there in just a few minutes. Obviously, the damage is pretty bad so they will be unable to live here for a month or two.


Kitchen view from the broken out windows.


Kitchenette area.


Kitchen view from living room.


Kitchen ceiling.


Front entry & formal living room.


Spare children's bedroom.


Spare children's bedroom ceiling.

Cheerleading

Let me hear you say YEAH MADISON! Here a few pictures from her recent games. She cheers for other kindergartners learning to play basketball. Turns out her coach had too many conflicts with the program schedule and I am the new cheer coach. I am enjoying this new ministry and the girls are great. They get sidetracked easy so it is hard to keep them focused on just cheering but it's proving to be a ton of fun!

Ending the Year with a Bang!

A New Family Addition

IT'S A BOY!

Jodi and Jerry are now the proud parents of Jaedyn Michael.
(I'm not sure the spelling is correct, but I think I am close.)

He arrived on December 28 at 7:55 p.m.

Welcome to the family little boy!
And yes, that is a head full of hair.
He weighs in at 6 lbs. and 5 ounces.

This is Aunt Teresa's first time holding him.

Noah is checking out his Momma holding this little guy.

He sure is a sweetie!
Congrats Jerry and Jodi!

Pappy gets to hold GREAT grand baby #13!

Christmas with Grammy and Pappy

The Lewis Family Christmas

Ginger and Luke gave Noah this Cars racer and he refused to open any other gifts after he got this. Do you know of a kid who does not want to open more presents? He sit quietly in the corner and kept racing. He still loves it. Thanks Gin and Luke!

This is Grandma and Grandpa Lewis or Grammy and Pappy if you are a great grand kid.
We were lucky to have Grandpa with us this year. He was just out of the hospital and quite tired but he spent some time with all us hoodlums any way. Aren't they sweet?
Merry Christmas you two!

A Crispy Christmas

Christmas with Mom and Dad Crisp

This year we had the Crisp Christmas on Christmas afternoon.
We were thrilled to spend a little time with Uncle Phil along with John and Shirley.
Thank you for the yummy lunch!

Madison sits patiently but can you tell she's excited?
Can you say "Cheese"?

Noah enjoys a very Thomas Christmas.
He has listens to this CD story when he goes to bed at night.

Avery Christmas 2007

Christmas with Mom and Dad Avery



Christmas at the Avery's is on Christmas Eve every year. Our tradition is a dinner with steamed crab legs, cheddar biscuits, and this year Dad through in a little shrimp scampi too. Thanks to Mom and Dad for hosting us every year.

Makayla gets the party started in her Santa hat.

These two take a moment to give us a quick pose with Santa Mickey.
Grandma decorated her tree with cartoon characters this year and the kids were thrilled to touch all the fun decorations.

Mickey has been good this year and Noah felt like he needed a hug.

Our family

My brother's family

A fun gift of character towels was a picture moment in the making.
Too funny to pass not posting.

Think she likes her Leapster? The face gives it away! We have barely seen her without it since she opened it. And Noah gets his own set of tools. Paul was tired of sharing his tools with Noah. (We found them scattered all through the house.) So, when Mom and Dad asked if this would be a good choice Paul jumped at the chance.

Uncle Scott and Aunt Jen got Madison and Noah a race track. That's the first toy to be played with every morning. Uncle Scott "shows" Noah how to race. Who's having more fun?

And no Christmas is complete without the classic kid in the box picture?
Thank you Makayla for making our post complete!

Christmas at the Crisp House

What's Christmas like at our house?

Well, it's filled with pajamas and bed head, but as Madison shows you below the excitement of opening gifts is quite entertaining.


What's Christmas without a little juice? Noah and Madison live for breakfast but on Christmas morning even breakfast waits until all the gifts are opened and played with a little. Noah needed a little hydration though to keep going. : )

Noah's big gift this year was Thomas the train tracks. Madison and Noah play with his set every day and even Daddy gets in on the fun Christmas morning! By the way, Madison received a digital camera and she shot over 200 pictures at just Grandma and Grandpa Avery's house.

We trust you had a lovely Christmas too as we celebrated the birth of our Savior.
Happy Birthday Jesus!

Give me a C H E E R!

Let's hear it for my CHEERLEADER!

Madison has started a new sport this winter. It's UpWard cheer leading and these are shots from her first practice. Can you imagine 6 Kindergartners getting their cheer on for the first time? Quite entertaining!!!




Madison is a natural! Below you will see her with her coach, Miss Stephanie. Her team name is the Angels quite fitting I would say. She is stoked about having a megaphone and pom-poms. I'll be posting pictures of her first game in the new year. For now we can send cheers of encouragement to Madison for trying something new and liking it!

Christmas with Kindergarten Style

There are 90 Kindergarten students enrolled at Kendell this year and here they are in all their glory! Just wanted to share with you a few pictures from Madison's Christmas program! Too cute!

Madison loves to sing and dance and you can tell from this picture. And below...they were wearing jingle bells around their necks. One of Madison's best friends is in the Santa hat in the front row.

There is nothing like the kids at Christmas!
What joy! I hope your holiday is filled with much joy too!

Redefining Thanksgiving!

There is reason to CELEBRATE in Kazakhstan!!!

Thank you to all of you who jumped on board to support children in Kazakhstan. Because of your ministry support the Ideas in Motion department was able to raise enough money to provide warm clothes and coats to 18 children at the AppleTree house this winter. What a blessing to be part of this project and what a blessing to children in need.

If you did not get a chance to be part of this project you can start your own and it's easy). If you are interested in learning how just click on www.co-missioncatalog.org to see what projects still need your help.