The wind in her hair

Today...it was finally....WARM!  Rachel took full advantage by playing outside with her neighborhood friends and also got in some swing time before dinner.

Meeting Carson

Me and the kids spent the spring break week in Illinois on the "Illinois Tour of Grandparents".  We visited all 4 grandparents and one great-grandfather.  The highlight of the week was meeting the newest Hackney family member, my new nephew Carson.

Carson got plenty of love from Rachel and Makenna.  I believe Rachel would have sit and held Carson for a long time.

All of the grandkids on Dusty's side of the family.  Aaron finally has another boy in the family to help him even out the score.

There was plenty of girl time as well.

Silly girls!

And plenty of cuddle time!  Of course Aunt Heidi was packing camera equipment and we had ourselves a little photo shoot.

And just for comparison, here's Makenna at about the same age.

I do believe they may be related!

We had fun visiting, but we're glad to be home.  I think Dusty's glad that he doesn't have to eat a frozen dinner tonight.  We felt a little bad that he had to spend the week in Indiana alone, so we brought him pizza from his favorite hometown pizza joint.  All is well.

Random Shots

There's nothing major going on here to report.  So I give you some random photos that came from my camera this week.  Can't wait for it to get warmer and greener so I can get out give the camera  a work out.

My little buddy Gabriel who came to hang out with me for a while this afternoon.

The "Super Moon" as it was setting around 7:10 AM on Saturday morning

Baptism from Sunday's service....always a good thing to get to shoot.

Emma and her sock monkey ensemble from the Pure Girl event over the weekend.

My friend Stacy and her daughter Chloe at Pure Girl

My friend Melissa and her daughter Makinna....also from Pure Girl.

Thai baby!

In an attempt to break away from the taco, spaghetti, hamburger rut I've been trying to find some new recipes.  The best thing I've found....cookinglight.com  Tonight's dinner was Thai style stir fried chicken.  Chicken, mushrooms, carrots, rice noodles, and chop sticks = a winner.  Dusty (who doesn't like a lot of Asian) said it was "OK".   Me and the kids dug in with our chopsticks and spent dinner going "mmmmmm" :)

Lighter

That's how Rachel probably feels now.  Her hair was down in her eyes and it was time for a trim.  When I mentioned it was time for a haircut she said that she wanted it short.  When I asked why, she said that all of her friends had shorter hair and she wanted shorter hair.  So I tried to remember what I live by..."It's only hair".  However I felt a tiny twinge because her hair was so long and pretty.  But on the flip side it's also a bit of a pain because it gets in her food and will get tangled and be a pain to brush.  So off we went to see Chasity.

The "Before"

I had measured it to see if we could send in a donation to Locks of Love.  You have to have 10 inches and that would have made it extremely short.

"During"

And the "After".  Rachel likes it.  I think it's cute and it will definitely be easier to take care of.

3 years

We received an updated photo of Mwajuma today.  Mwajuma is the girl from Tanzania that we sponsor through Compassion.  I hadn't realized that it had been 3 whole years that this wonderful girl has been a part of our lives.  3 years ago we received this photo.

A little girl with sagging socks.  And though we've never met in person, we've exchanged letters, photos, and prayers.  We know that our small and meager donation provides her with nutritious meals, education, and the knowledge of God's love for her. 

Today we received this photo.

A beautiful young lady with a bright smile!  We've been blessed by her letters.  I've been humbled to know that this girl from halfway across the world who's life I'm sure is vastly different than mine takes time to pray and intercede to God for us.

I have never once second guessed our decision to sponsor Mwajuma through Compassion.  If you have questions about sponsorship, I would encourage any of you to go to the Compassion website and seriously consider opening your heart to giving to a child in need.  Or send me a message...I'd be happy to tell you about our experience.  As their motto says, it truly is releasing a child from poverty in Jesus' name.

Jammin'

Aaron filled in for our drummer this morning at church and he did a great job!  Next Sunday is youth Sunday so he'll get to go another round next week.  This was shot at the end of our service so there are people talking in the background.  You can also ignore the person who's singing harmony in the background. :)