The kids and I have been staying with Donna and Michael since Thursday afternoon. Dad and I were to attend a conference at NNU Thursday night through today at noon, and Mom came to stay with Ella and Thomas. Dad and I ended up going to about half of the conference and spent the rest of the time here. The conference was not what I expected. It was disappointing, and a bit unsettling- BUT it did evoke ALOT of theological conversation around here, which has been really good.

This evening Toby, Julie and the boys came over and we had a little celebration for Thomas's upcoming birthday.

Here is Thomas-chillin' after the party in his new cowboy vest made by Poppa and his FIRST train engine from Donna and Michael. The engine was the hit of the night. The boys gave Thomas a CD player with a microphone. The microphone was not on- and the CD player empty- BUT Thomas sang his heart out. It will be like a brand new present when we plug it in and he discovers that it makes sounds- and makes HIS sounds louder! As always, Poppa willingly does whatever it is that Ella asks him to! Blowing out 2 candles-- One of the good things about not attending half of the conference, is that it allowed me some extra time to visit with Mary Lu. What a FUN time we had Friday night. We have not seen each other since the move (almost a year ago!) and it was such a joy to be with her. Thomas has discovered his pockets-this is during a walk to the neighborhood park. So, tomorrow morning we will head back to the mountains, snow and CHAD. It's nice to have him around. I think he misses us too.