Ella Grace is 8!

Today our precious "baby" turned 8 years old.

Ella Grace was born on March 11, 2002 at 11:35 am

She was 6 lbs, 4 oz and 18 inches long.

Today we celebrated Ella's 8th birthday!

Grandma came over to celebrate her special day. Ella requested waffles and fruit for dinner. Everyone except Ella enjoyed her birthday dessert (brownie sundaes) -- Ella was too full!

She was VERY excited to open her presents!

Here she is trying out her new DS. Even big sister Avery doesn't have a DS!

Thank you, Grandpa & Grandma T. for my new game!

We praise God today for the gift of our precious daughter. Her unique personality keeps us laughing and amazed. We rejoice today that we have the privilege to be her parents! She is "fearfully and wonderfully made" and we are thankful!

To-Do

I wish my to-do list were as simple and sweet as Ella's:

HighPoint Honor Videos

Our family loves to serve, attend, and be involved in HighPoint, the Northridge kids' program on Sunday mornings. Our monthly curriculum centers around a Bible verse and virtue. In February, the virtue was Honor and the corresponding verse was Romans 12:10. To help kids remember the verse and virtue, and to make it fun, we decided to videotape kids reciting the verse and virtue and make it into a weekly video component of HighPoint. I have had fun learning to use iMovie on the Mac to create these little movies. This month we did a comic book theme for the movies. I'm working on a film theme for March.

Both Avery and Ella got to "star" in one of the videos in February. Check them out below!

Week One: Ryan and Avery

Week Four: Ella and Will

Lately...

Lately we've had a lot of snow...

Meghan & Ella

Avery, Gaby, Anaja & Amaris

Lately, we've been enjoying time with good friends. I celebrated my birthday by going out to dinner with my best friend, Eric :) as well as our good friends, Kim & Gary. Avery had an overnight with her good friend, Gaby, and Ella had two playdates this week with friends from her new school.

Avery & Gaby doing devotions in bed

The dogs had their own devotions to do, as well as a pizza party!

Lately, we've been serving at church, as we excitedly prepared for the opening of our new church worship center and stage for HighPoint.

Eric has spent many hours at church in the last few months!

Even the girls are serving! Making CD's for the Virtues worship team and assembling Family Fuel Packs

Lately the girls are settling into their new schools and enjoying new opportunities and friendships.

Ella was selected, with 3 other children from her class, to do a presentation for the district school board.

Lately we have had a lot of sickness around here. Avery had the stomach bug. Ella had scarlet fever. And Avery is in bed, as I write, with a fever and ear ache :(

Ella made the most of her sick time at home, including a project that involved sorting her crayons into color families!

Lately life is good!

Three In One!

Three teeth out in one day!

Tooth 1: As Avery and I were driving in the car this afternoon, she popped a piece of gum in her mouth. The "hard" gum caused her tooth to get very wiggly, and she proceeded to pull it out before we reached our destination!

Teeth 2 & 3: Ella's nickname for several weeks has been "snaggle-tooth" because of the two, very loose, teeth sticking straight out from her mouth. She insisted that she would get them out when it was time and didn't want help. Apparently the motivation was knowing that her sister was going to get a visit from the tooth fairy! Both "snaggle-teeth" were pulled by Ella, without assistance!

NOTE: It was Ella's intent to only pull one tooth, but when I told her that the tooth fairy sometimes brings special treats to kids who turn in multiple teeth, she quickly got to work on #2!

Second NOTE: Both Avery and Ella have always known the truth about the tooth fairy. That hasn't stopped them from naming them (Vanessa [Avery] and Juliet Elise [Ella]) and referring to them as though they are real. Ella asked that I recommend something good for the tooth fairy to bring "like Littlest Pet Shop" :)

With a Friend

Practicing is always more fun...

...with a friend!

Special Date

Dinner at IHOP

+ Grandparent's Night at school

+ Sleepover at Grandma's house

One Special Date!

2009: A Year in Review

Things we learned/are learning:

• To ride a bike (Avery and Ella)
• To sail a Thistle sailboat (Eric)
• To play the piano (Ella)
• To play the violin (Avery)


• The meaning and life application of Sabbath rest (Maria). I highly recommend the books "Breathe" by Keri Wyatt Kent and "Shopping for Time" by Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore and Janelle Bradshaw

God is working around us:

• General Motors declared bankruptcy and Energy Secretary Chu eliminated federal funding for automotive fuel cell research. These happenings have caused much instability in Eric's workplace. These events led to the need for an updated resume, although no formal job search, as of yet. God has used this career unrest to cause Eric to depend more daily on Him and to be prepared & willing for whatever may come.
• Ella completed her last year at North Baptist Christian School and began attending 2nd grade in public school this fall. She has adjusted amazingly well and loves her new teacher, friends, and school. She is learning to distinguish between God's ways and the world's ways and has been bold in telling her new friends that Jesus is the reason for the hope that she has.


• Maria had the privilege to baptize her friend, Meg, in September. My passions continue to include counseling and mentoring women, studying God's Word and sharing it with others, serving at school and church and (most of all) being a wife to Eric and mom to Avery & Ella.


• Avery entered 4th grade this year and is now in middle school! She has experienced sweet new friendships, a kind teacher, and many fun opportunities for clubs and activities. Avery is learning that it is hard to be different -- to be a Christ-follower that lives in the world. She has also experienced the joy that comes from depending on God to be her strength.


• Our church is building a new worship center that will be done within the next couple of months! Our family financially contributed to the capital campaign, and Eric has spent many hours of physical work on the new building this fall/winter. We are so very excited to see how God will use this building, and the small part that we had in it, to accomplish His great purposes in our community!

Life goes on:

• Eric & Maria celebrated 11 years of marriage
  
• Maria turned 40!
• We didn't renew our membership to the Children's Museum :(
• Ella's room got a big-girl re-do!


• Avery got her ears pierced (3 times -- it's a long story)
• Eric has recovered wonderfully from his 2008 back surgery and feels like a new man! We praise God for his awesome healing and ability to do most things without pain

Special events & trips:

• A "surprise trip" to Great Wolf Lodge in February
• Seabreeze membership -- a special gift from our friends


• Boston & New Hampshire in July
• Avery's performances in Aristocats, 101 Dalmatians & Madeline's Christmas
• Camping in the backyard and 1000 Islands
• Family Camp at Circle C Ranch
• State Fair with Aunt Lori, Greg & Amanda
• Many visits with cousins, grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, moms and dads. We are so grateful for a loving family!

God is working in us:

• Avery and Ella continue grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They are a joy to our family and others that they know
• Eric's focus in reading this year have included books on godly manhood, being an effective (Christlike) father to his precious daughters, and growing in Christlike speech and conversation. He is committed to following Jesus and he leads our family well. We are so thankful for him!
• I (Maria) am convicted daily of my need for Jesus -- His forgiveness, grace, power, and leadership in my life. I am currently studying the fruit of the Spirit "with" one of my favorite teachers, Beth Moore. I want to pour out love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in all that I do and to all with whom I come in contact. I am overwhelmed by God's goodness and faithfulness.

Some of our favorite verses:

ERIC: "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?" Isaiah 40:12

MARIA: "And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

AVERY: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

ELLA: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Happy New Year, from our family to yours!

Madeline's Christmas

This weekend, Avery had the privilege to do one of her favorite activities -- acting! In September, she was cast as a supporting character, Gigi, in the musical, "Madeline's Christmas". She performed two shows on Saturday, after rehearsing for the past few months.

Avery was thrilled to have Dad, Mom, Ella & Grandma attend her morning performance, and some of her good friends, Maria, Faithann, Mandi, Sam and their parents attend her evening show. She was overwhelmed (in a good way!) by the support and praise she received from her "fans" :)

I wasn't able to get her picture in full costume (adorable red "Madeline-style" coat), but I captured a couple of shots in her French beret. Acting is one of the things that Avery loves to do, and God has gifted her to shine on the stage. We are so glad to see her developing into the beautiful young lady that God has made her to be!

Pandora Radio

As I understand it, I am late to the game on this, so maybe you already know all about it?! Eric's friend told him about this great online (FREE) Internet radio called Pandora. It is very easy to use and so cool!

1) Go to Pandora Radio and set up a free account
2) Create a "new station" by choosing an artist or song that you particularly like

Pandora will play a song similar to the artist/song you've chosen, then go on to tailor a "radio station" that has songs/artists similar to the one you specified. They use something called The Music Genome Project to identify which songs you will like. It's really amazing how right-on they are in selecting songs that fit what I want to hear!

A really cool feature is that you can create multiple radio stations and choose which one you would like to hear at any given time. For example, I have 4 stations: 1) Fee Radio, 2) Selah Holiday Radio (had to have this for the Christmas season!), 3) Third Day Radio, and (my newest and favorite) 4) Sovereign Grace Radio. The names of my stations are named after the artists that I entered when I first created the radio station.

If you are so inclined, you can learn more about the artist, album, song and lyrics of the song you are hearing. You can also bookmark a certain artist or song. The one thing you can't do is request a specific song -- you get what you get! But so far I've liked 99% of what I hear, and you can skip any songs that you don't like.

One of the reasons why I like this so much is that I am hearing songs and artists that I've never heard before. I am getting so many ideas of CD's that I want (dangerous)! But if you're willing to just wait, and listen to what you get, you can hear it all for free. It's very cool!

Keys to Christmas Joy

It is really easy for me to get caught up in my to-do list around this time of year. Shopping, wrapping, writing cards, & decorating -- it's all fun, but it's not what I want Christmas to be all about. So to combat my hustle & bustle tendencies, I seek out resources to help me stay focused on Jesus. I'm guessing that many of you probably struggle with this same issue, so I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite finds of the season.

Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, by Nancy Guthrie, is a collection of 22 short readings drawn from the works of classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers that help readers to focus on and enter into the wonder of the incarnation of Jesus and the story of his birth. I love reading one each morning throughout advent!


Another place where I always find wisdom, Biblical advice, encouragement (and often a good laugh!) is at Girltalk, the website and blog of Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters. This year, I found a great resource there called Keys to Christmas Joy. This is a downloadable article (actually a series of articles) that will challenge you to keep your mind and heart on "the most important thing" this Christmas season. A few quotes that I have been pondering include:

"So let's pray for ourselves and our loved ones: that God would 'help us in our blessings.' That He would give us 'much grace to keep us humble in the midst of riches' this Christmas."

"The actual 'Grinch Who Stole Christmas' is often the sin of worldliness. It's at the root of much of the anxiety, unhappiness, bickering, discontent and strife that permeate what should be a joyous time."

"But if we give priority to our time in God's Word and to prayer, we will find renewed joy each morning. Joy that sticks in the midst of Christmas craziness."

Check out the whole article here. You will be blessed and challenged!


Last but not least, I read a new (to me) book this year called In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas, by Dan Schaeffer. This book is amazing in that it takes away some of the familiarity of the Christmas story by challenging me to think about God's amazing plan, Christ's sacrifice in taking on human form, and the wonder and glory behind the story that I know so well.

I pray that you will all have a blessed Christmas season, filled with Sabbath rest and a fresh joy that comes with daily surrender to Jesus and His Holy Spirit within you.

Christmas Cute-stuff, by Ella

This is an angel.




This is a wise man. He is from Paris. [Mom: "Why is he from Paris?] Because he's wearing a beret. [Mom: Why is he wearing a beret?] Because his bald head didn't look good!

Thanksgiving: a Mary sort of day

I was so busy yesterday that I hardly took any pictures. But I like to believe that I was more busy in a "Mary" sort of way than a "Martha" sort of way. Last Friday I gave a talk to my MOPS group about hospitality. The basis of my talk was Luke 10:38-42, the story of Martha & Mary:

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

So in preparation for Thanksgiving, I really tried to practice the truths that I taught at MOPS:

1) Prepare to spend time with your guests

2) Relationships are more important than tasks

3) Focus on Jesus, and make it first priority to do the "one thing that is needed" (spend time with Him)

I started my Thanksgiving Day by having some quiet time in God's word and prayer. My time with Jesus gave me a peaceful heart, even with all of the preparations that needed to be done.

We were blessed to have 27 friends and family members join us throughout the day! I was so glad that my mom, dad, and two of my sisters (Lori & Kristy) and their families could join us, as well as Eric's mom, the Rochester Connor brothers and some good friends. It was a fun and joy-filled day. We have so much to be thankful for!

Of the few pictures that I did take, I have two favorites:

Above is a picture of Avery eating fruit loops for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. Of all of the good (and I mean really delicious!) food that we had for our Thanksgiving feast, she told me that the fruit loops were her favorite :) I never buy sugar cereal, but since cousins were sleeping over we got it for a special treat. She was so excited!

This is Ella (age 7) sitting on the shoulders of her biggest cousin, Jake (age 17). Ella told me that she LOVED playing with her big boy cousins. The girls are fun too, but the boy cousins are really special to Ella :)

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Mix 'n' Match Day

One crazy kid...

... in a tye dye tee and striped sweater...

... with two different socks. And she wore it to school!

Isn't she cute?!

I Love Grandma (and I like her stuff)

This weekend we headed to my hometown (or "homestead", a word that Avery learned in school just this week!). We spent two nights with Mom & Dad Tillis and got to visit with my sister, Coleen, and her family, as well as my cousin, Mary, and her baby. One of the purposes of our trip was to spend some time with my Grandma. Grandma has been in assisted living for two years now, and, in spite of some major health concerns, she continues to enjoy life (or complain, depending on the day!). I told her that God must have some purposes for her life that haven't yet been carried out. Not sure if she believes that, but I'm certain it's the truth.

Mom and Dad have been really busy, cleaning out Grandma's house -- clothes, dishes, jewelry, valuables and keepsakes. I spent some time with Mom, looking through boxes and choosing some items that I can use, as well as things that bring back memories. One of the favorite things that I brought home is Grandma's recipe box. I can't wait to go through it! I love to experiment with new recipes, and I'm sure that many of the cards in this box will be familiar dishes that I've enjoyed since childhood.

I also got to keep several shawls and knitted/crocheted items that Grandma made. It will be fun to wear them and remember where they came from.

I love Grandma and pray that she will know the true, everlasting love of Jesus. Psalm 139 says that God "created her inmost being" and "knit her together in her mother's womb", 97 years ago. He knows the number of hairs on her head (Matthew 10:30) -- a number that is decreasing daily :) Grandma is "fearfully and wonderfully made" and all of her days have been ordained by God -- "they were written in His book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:14, 16). Thoughts about Grandma are precious to God -- He thinks about her all the time! (Ps. 139:16)

Thank You, O LORD, that even in the final years of her life, You continue to search Grandma's heart and You know her. You know when she sits and when she rises; you perceive her thoughts from afar. You discern her going out and her lying down; you are familiar with all her ways. Thank you, Jesus that she can't hide from your Spirit, and she can't flee from your presence. I pray today, that she would know you personally, and that You would lead her in the way everlasting. Amen

The Naughty Kids' Club

On Sunday, our pastor, David, gave a message about serving. To illustrate the importance of servants (volunteers) at church, all three services were carried out without volunteers. There were no greeters to tell new people where to go, the bulletins were done messily and with errors, no ushers to seat people, no multimedia or audio volunteers, no worship team, etc.

There were people serving in children's ministry (otherwise it just might have been too chaotic), but David wanted to demonstrate what might happen if there were no children's workers. Ella and three of her friends were chosen to help illustrate this message -- we called it "The Naughty Kids' Club". At a certain time during the message, Ella and her friends ran out of the hall, screaming at the top of their lungs, and ran down the aisle in the worship center, totally disrupting the pastor and the service. They practiced on Saturday and were so excited to do it on Sunday! Here is a picture of them practicing -- way too much fun!!

Unfortunately, Tyler was sick and couldn't participate. To Avery's delight, she was asked to fill in for Tyler, and she became an "honorary member" of The Naughty Kids' Club. It was so fun for them, and a great picture of just one of the ways that God asks us to use our gifts in serving His church

Here is The [original] Naughty Kids club, plus Ruby (Caleb's little sister). From left to right: Caleb, Ella, Taylor & Tyler

.

Trees

All of this beauty can be seen from our front door!

"Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:33-34