Happy Reformation Day!

So today as I wished everyone I met Happy Reformation Day, I got the same question over and over--what is Reformation Day? Well as a Christian it is a fantastic day to honor and here is a simple explanation of why...

This is the day we celebrate Martin Luther's hanging of 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517.  What were the theses and why did Luther and others protest?

The chief debate was the matter of salvation -- how man could have his sins forgiven and be restored to a right relationship with his Creator-God.

The church taught that people could buy forgiveness for their sins. Luther’s 95 Theses protested this teaching. Luther and other reformers taught that God alone could grant forgiveness. The reformers also taught that religion and good deeds could not save people. They taught that salvation came only through faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

"Through faith alone in Christ alone” began to be heard all over Europe. The reformers urged people to transfer their confidence for salvation from the church and its religious traditions to Christ alone. They encouraged people to read the Bible. They also preached that the Bible should serve as the Christian’s final authority.

For every Christian this is a very big deal and I encourage everyone to read some more about it!

PS:  Thanks Jamie for Josh's cool Reformation Day shirt!

Camping

This past weekend we went camping with Kevin's Uncle, Aunt, cousins Harley, Eda, Erin and our great cousins Kaley and James. It was the best weekend for camping! The high was up in the mid 80's and the low in the mid 40's. It made the mornings a little chilly getting out of the tent, but it made the hot chocolate and smores taste that much better! Josh had the time of his life playing around the trees, digging in the dirt, and finding sticks to carry around. Sleeping was a little tricky because he still hasn't learned that we keep our head and feet facing the same direction all night long (which is pretty important when using a sleeping bag). I think he did great, however the people around us may not have agreed with me at 5:30 in the morning when he woke up crying (both days). It turns out Uncle Joe is a great cook and we had the best hot breakfast with bacon, eggs, and fresh biscuits. The site was close enough to Austin that we got to meet our friends from Dubai in the city for lunch. It was the perfect added touch to a super weekend!
Be sure to check out the last two pictures of Josh on the slide show...they portray how he spent the majority of the weekend. Running around with a grin on his face and then picking himself up after a major crash!

Car Ride Home

We went on our first camping trip with Josh this weekend. I'm working on a slideshow because there are too many pictures to post otherwise, but I had to post this video of the drive home. The campsite was about 3 1/2 hours from our house and Josh crashed for the first 2 hours of the drive. Kevin and I were playing the radio game (you know...you press the seek button and first person who can accurately sing the words gets a point with an added point if you know the artist as well) anyway, the song Everlasting Love came on and the next thing we know Josh is wide awake and dancing along!

Happy Birthday Josh!

Josh officially turned one on Saturday, October 18th.  We celebrated with friends and family who have helped us through the last year with love, encouragement, and support for the new dad, mom, and baby!  My parents flew in for the weekend and on Friday mom and I created these individual cupcakes for Josh's special friends.  I also sewed matching puppets as party favors.  

Here is Owen with his monkey puppet.

Josh LOVED his cupcake and sucked on the frosting for quite a while before digging into the cake part.  He was such a mess after his cake he went straight into the bathtub.  

It was a great day!  Then on Monday we had his 12 month shots and Dr. visit.  Josh weighs 23 pounds and is 30 1/2 inches long.  He is officially drinking whole milk and can say (among the words listed in a post a few weeks ago) nana for banana, ooo for the cow, bah bah for the chicken, voo for the car, and he pops his lips together multiple times for the fish.  Wow we love this boy!

Locks of Love

The two years I was in Dubai and my hair dresser (my mom) was still in the US, my hair grew a lot!  When I got back to the states I decided that if I waited a little longer my hair would be long enough to donate to locks of love.  I asked Kevin's sixth grade cousin, Eda, if she wanted to cut her hair too.  Her first reaction was "no way"!  But over the year her heart changed and she came to me this summer saying she was ready to cut her hair!  So this weekend was the big day! On Friday night she came over for the big cut...

Here is the before picture:

Half way through the cut Eda's mom, my very fun Aunt Becky, mentioned she would cut off her hair too!  



Here are the after pictures:

Looking good ladies!

Wow, A Year!

I can't believe Josh will be a year old next week!  Wow it really does fly by!  So here are some updates on his most recent accomplishments with video for those of you unlucky friends and family not able to see him on a regular basis.  

He is running all over the place and these days it is much more sturdy.  He is great at cautiously taking steps up or down and will actually hold hands when walking without throwing a fit (something he used to do when he first started walking...Mr. Independent).

He LOVES it outside and never wants to come in and has no problem pushing the dogs out of his way, even big old Yogi.  He is "talking" a lot but the words that we can actually understand are ball, more (muh), dadda, book (buh), and momma.  Used the most frequently in the order written.  I'm amazed at how much he understands.  He is great at finding the objects I request, like go get your bat or pick up your shirt.  He loves to climb on things, especially the couch and enjoys "riding" the vacuum cleaner, the radio, and his daddy. 

He is dancing up a storm but really that only includes moving his legs up and down with a big grin on his face.  His absolute favorite thing at the park is the slide which he'll go down any size and anytime without hesitation.  
  

Just recently he has started giving sugar (or large open mouth kisses) when you ask.  At first we had to bribe him for them but now he gives them freely to just about anyone.  And yesterday he discovered his belly button for the first time.  Now you can ask him where it is and he'll point to somewhere on his chest, usually a little higher than is anatomically correct.  

He is such a happy kid and so much fun to be around!  What a blessing! (PS- his shirt in the first video is a gift from our Filipino friends that says "50% Misty + 50% Kevin = 100% heart throb!"

Food

The other night I felt like remembering our time overseas with some Mediterranean food.  I've been cooking couscous for Josh lately and thought I'd find something for Kevin and me too!  I found this recipe Oprah's chicken couscous and thought it looked good.  If you like Arabic food you'd definitely like this recipe...I DID NOT!  It was actually one of the healthiest dinners I've ever made.  Kevin was sweet enough to eat all his but I ended up grilling a hot dog! (healthy huh?)

Speaking of food, Josh has made a name for himself in the nursery during my Bible Study on Thursday mornings.  Last week I picked him up early and he was still eating snack.  They had all five kids sitting at the table and Josh was in the middle.  There were NO gold fish in front of him, or the girl on his right, and he was in the middle of stealing the fish from the girl on his left.  The ladies watching him said he's been clearing the table, even with his checks full, he was going for more!