Andy's last Sunday/Mother's Day

Andy has interned at Nazareth Moravian Church for the past two years and this past Sunday was his last day. He received many gifts from the church and so many people were very generous. They also provided some yummy cake after church for a final gathering and a time to say goodbye to everyone. Denny has been Andy's supervising pastor during his time at this church. It's amazing how similar these two are. Denny often comments on how much Andy reminds him of himself. Here we are outside the church.Later in the day, we shifted into celebrating Mother's Day. First, Andy's mom opened up her gifts. Bella really enjoyed playing with Grandma's shoes. Whenever she'd get the chance, she'd often bring them to Grandma. Looks like she's trying to read me my card. I received some new summer tops! Definitely something that I needed and wanted! Andy picked them out all by himself!Later in the evening, we went for a walk. I had to get a picture with my little girl on Mother's Day!Bella and Uncle Tom!It was a nice night for a little run!Some exciting news: Yesterday was my last day at work. I am now an official stay-at-home-mom! I had a great job and worked with wonderful people; but now I'm ready to focus more on my family and my home. I am very happy!

We have a seminary graduate!!!

It is official. . . Andy is finished with seminary!!! This weekend was filled with graduation festivities that began on Friday night with the Senior Banquet which had the theme of "Bloom where you are planted". Each senior was given a gift and a plant/flower was picked to describe them. For Andy, they picked a palm tree cause it represents spiritual victory, success, and eternal peace.
Later in the evening, there was some music and dancing. Bella got to stay up way past her bedtime! Here she is dancing with Rebecca and Christie.
My turn to dance with the little lady!Andy decided to join in on the fun.

Graduation Day!!!

Bella wore a pretty dress and loved it! Here she is before the ceremony. After Andy walked across the stage to accept his degree, he was given a hood. It sure makes him look 'official'. He also won the Rev. Elmer V. Bender Memorial Award which has been created by Rev. Bender’s sons, Dr. Louis Bender and Mr. Henry Bender, in honor of their father. The prize is awarded to a graduate selected by the faculty who is preparing for the ministry of the Moravian Church and who exemplifies the qualities of leadership and integrity reflected in the life of Rev. Bender.Here he is with two of his former pastors: Steve Gohdes and Erv Boecher (I'm not sure of the spelling on this one). Here he is with his parents. . . . . . and his brother TomUs!Large family picture - the street behind us is the street that we live on.Andy and Tom sitting on the new seminary bench. . . . . . and being silly!Here's a keeper!

Some random pics from our week

It's so much fun to have a messy face!!!Taking the laidback approach to learning her signs: Bella is usually standing up and dancing around when a Signing Time dvd is on, but once in a while she just likes to sit back and watch.The weather has been gorgeous this week!Bella is such a daddy's girl lately. She just learned how to say 'Daddy' and she says it all the time now (especially when she sees Daddy up front at church)!PERSEVERANCEBEAUTIFUL IT'S SIGNING TIME

The Plan

Now that it's May, it's really starting to hit us that we're going to be checking out of here pretty soon. Since we don't know anything yet as far as what church Andy is going to be called to, our plan is to pack up our stuff at the end of the month, place it in storage out here, and then head back to Wisconsin to spend time with family. We technically have our apartment until the end of June but figured that our time would be better spent back home. Between now and then, there is a lot going on. . . Andy's family is coming out at the end of the week for graduation, I'll finish up with work the following week, we're taking a mini family vacation to Washington D.C., Andy has a week-long church planting conference from May 20-25, and then it's time to pack things up! Definitely busy. . . but all good stuff!

Bella is standing on the senior gift to the seminary: a new bench out front. Andy helped to organize this gift and Bella was the first person to sit on it!Either I was a little off or Bella was moving around a lot because all of my pics are off-centered!One afternoon, Bella and I were taking a walk through a nearby cemetery. As I was reading a headstone, Bella came up to me and showed me what was in her hands. It took a moment for it to register that she was holding a butterfly by the wings between her thumb and index finger. Startled, I somewhat yelled at her to let go and then I waved her hand until she did. As the butterfly dropped to the ground, I was afraid that she really hurt it. It was beautiful. . . deep purple, royal blue, and black. Thankfully, I went over to the butterfly and it flew off. After this, I had a little talk with Bella about how some things in nature are pretty to look at, but we need to keep our hands off.

Finished with Seminary

He's finished!!!

At 11:58pm on Friday night, Andy turned in his last seminary assignment. We were both thrilled as he checked off his last item on the to-do list. What a rewarding feeling! We celebrated by popping open a bottle of sparkling cherry juice and toasting to our past three years. It's taking a while to sink in that he's really finished. . . it will probably feel more real and official at graduation! Since this was a busy week for Daddy, Bella and I had a lot of time to hang out together. Earlier in the week, we went to the park. I put her on this bouncy duck and said "duckie". . . then she started to say it too. . . "duckie, uckie, uckie". It has now become her favorite word (after MaMa).After the park, we went to the library. There's a huge open area where Bella loves to run around. She likes to run but gets a little clumsy at times so she's now sporting two 'owies' on her knees. I tried to get pictures, but there was no keeping her still. . . After weeks of practice, Bella can now go up and down the library steps all by herself.

And then we went back to our place and played outside on the grass. Here she is doing her signs while watching 'Baby Signing Time'. I think she's doing 'phone' here. She added 'book' and 'fish' to her signing vocabulary this week. Here she is another day. This time I think the sign was either 'ball' or 'car' - I can't remember now. She's really been into putting shoes on her hands lately. Reaching for her beloved 'uckie'.And. . . I was trying to get a picture of Bella smiling. She wasn't really doing it, so I just asked her to show me her tongue. Guess I got what I asked for!!!

One final Bella accomplishment. . . she has learned how to turn off the light switch. For the past few months, flipping off the light switch has been a part of our bedtime routine. She points to pictures of 'Mommy' 'Daddy' and 'Bella' and then switches off the light. Usually, I've had to help her since she consistently tried to push it in like a button instead of pushing it down. She's finally got it! It probably takes a Mom to get excited about these kind of accomplishments, but I feel proud.