Passover Party

Last night our family celebrated a messianic Passover, remembering how God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and freed us from sin through Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. Kevin read a Passover book to the kids, we learned about the foods on the Seder plate, and enjoyed a yummy meal together.

Here is our Seder plate:

It has haroseth, a mixture of nuts and apples to represent the mortar that the Israelites used to make bricks in slavery in Egypt, parsley dipped in salt water to remember the tears shed in slavery, an egg to symbolize mourning, a shank bone to symbolize the lamb that was sacrificed to save the Israelites' first-born sons, and horseradish to reflect the bitterness of slavery.

We also ate matzah, because the Israelites had to flee without time for their bread to rise.

Naomi and Johnathan love the tradition of hiding the matzah, and I think their favorite part was drinking sparkling grape juice from fancy cups. After the Seder plate we ate... and ate!

Matzo Ball soup

Baby Moses salad crafted by Naomi (see the little babies in their baskets, all ready to float in the Nile!)

Potato kugel and balsamic-glazed lamb chops

And lemon sponge cake with strawberries for dessert. Yummy!

I love the traditions of Passover. And the kids do, too. What other lesson from the Bible engages more senses than this, tasting the bitter herbs and salty tears, smelling the lamb, seeing the bruised and pierced matzah, setting out a cup for Elijah? It's all such a tangible reminder of God's faithfulness and love for us.

What I learned from my pastor... 3-28-10

Kevin is preaching from Romans 8 for the next three weeks. Romans 8 is, I think, one of the most amazing chapters in the Bible, if it is even possible to narrow one chapter down that way. I've read it often in the past six months, as well as other seasons in my life. Today Kevin focused on the first few verses, which condense some of the most critical components to understanding God's plan for salvation. It is both awe-inspiring and sobering to read that first verse: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" - Wonderful to know that there is now no condemnation when we are saved by Christ, but sobering because that means God does condemn sin. Kevin explained how these verses give us a foundation on which to stand and understand the world and its suffering: That we who believe Jesus are justified or counted free from guilt, that He paid the penalty for our sin through His atonement, and that we are sanctified - to walk in a new way as a result of our new position in Christ.

Working Hard

Johnathan has been working hard at his physical therapy sessions and this week it seems like he's made a "growth spurt" of new things he can do. With the warm weather lately we've been out on the playground a lot, and he now can climb up the ladder-steps to get up to the slide himself. He's more confident with climbing on and off his favorite "rocket" swing by himself, too. Just yesterday he cleared the ground in a little jump with both feet - and landed (he's been aspiring to do that for a long time!). Way to go, Johnathan!

Last Day in San Antonio

Just to prove what rookie parents we are when it comes to planning vacations in big cities, we made a spontaneous decision Thursday morning to take a "quick trip" to the San Antonio Zoo before we headed home. Or maybe we wanted to give our children another lesson in "flexibility" (uh, no). Either way, as we sat in a zoo-induced traffic jam for 45 minutes, we knew before we even saw the enormous line that the zoo was not going to happen on this trip.

Plan B? Head back downtown to the Children's Museum, which Naomi and Johnathan found to be very fun. They played on a miniture bulldozer, flew an airplane, had fun with bubbles (and even stood inside a giant one), and shopped to their heart's delight in the HEB market.

We ate lunch on the Riverwalk and then bid San Antonio farewell. We are thankful that we had the opportunity to take such a fun trip for our spring break!

Sea World!

The BIG adventure of our trip was our day at Sea World on Wednesday. We got there nice and early to get good parking and a spot near the front of the entrance lines, which was good because it was crowded. But we were prepared this time! And we had a beautiful day - warm and sunny. Here's Naomi waiting patiently and studying her map.


Our first stop was a new show that included beluga whales, dolphins, tropical birds, synchronized swimmers and divers. The kids loved the animals and the divers - it was so fun to watch their reactions.


We hit Johnathan's highest priority next - the penguins. He loved them and was so excited! He told me that when penguins walk, it's called "tippy-top." Johnathan is known to make up his own funny phrases to repeat over and over, and "penguin tippy-top" is a current favorite. Try it - it is fun to say!



Next, the much-anticipated Shamu show. While we waited for the show to start (and in the days leading up to our Sea World trip), Naomi and Johnathan worked on remembering Shamu's name... I think we answered the question, "What's that whale's name?" at least 20 times! For some reason they couldn't get it to stick! But they have it now.

Due to recent events, the trainers didn't get in the water with the whales, but it was still pretty amazing.



Our favorite part was seeing the baby killer whale (named baby Shamu) who was born two months ago. He swam along next to his mother during the show while she did her stuff. Watch the video below to catch a peek of him!

(hmm - video not working. I'll try again later)

We checked out the flamigos, ducks, and crocodiles.



And we took in a Sesame Street show.

Kevin tried to talk Naomi into going with him on her first log ride since she's tall enough now. But the ride looked a little intimidating, so they waited patiently in a long line to ride this Shamu kiddie coaster. Naomi found it quite thrilling! Johnathan and I were to small or too pregnant (respectively!) to ride, so we shopped for a little penguin figurine that Johnathan played, slept, and ate with happily with for the rest of the week.

By this time we (especially Mommy) were ready for a break and some ice cream. Then we went to our last show of the day - the sea lions, which were fun and silly.

My favorite part was the walrus doing sit-ups to work off all the fish he ate.

We stopped by the dolphin pool right at feeding time, and Daddy (we'll call him the dophin whisperer) was able to get dolphins to come up to him without even having any fish to offer.

Our last stop was at the shark and coral reef exhibit.

Though it was an exhausting and packed-full day, we had such a fun time at Sea World together. It's funny how, as the kids grow, the fun of vacations shifts from doing things that the grown-ups find relaxing to the joy of watching Naomi and Johnathan experience and thrill at something new. I think I spent half the shows watching them watch, and training the camera on them, trying to capture the magic of their child-like reactions. I guess that's just being a mom who can't stand the thought of them growing up so quickly. We're thankful for the fun memories of this day.

Remember the Alamo

On Tuesday morning we loaded up and left the EFCA camp for San Antonio (with a little side trip to scout out a fishing spot for Kevin). We hit town at lunchtime, so our first stop was at the Riverwalk to go to the kids' new favorite theme restaurant, the Rainforest Cafe. After a short time of yelping in mild terror, they settled right in and enjoyed the animals and simulated thunderstorms! Johnathan requested that we go back there for every meal the rest of the week.

After lunch we took in the Riverwalk, which was packed with spring break tourists. Then we walked over to the Alamo, taking in the courtyard and the huge, old oak trees inside. When we told the kids, "This is the Alamo," Johnathan kept asking, "Where's Elmo?" He now knows the difference between the Alamo and Elmo!





After getting a little rest at our hotel, we tried to go to a science museum and had lesson number one in flexibility - the line to get in was so long, I don't think we would have gotten in before closing time! Maybe because it was an admission-free afternoon - I thought I was so smart doing my research ahead of time, but apparently half of San Antonio had, too! So we headed back to the Riverwalk for dinner and a boat tour. It was sunset by the time we weaved through long lines to get our turn on the boat, and it was fun to see the lights sparkling on the river.

Our First Spring Break

Except for a weekend in Galveston, we haven't really taken any extended vacation time since we moved to Texas, so we've been looking forward to our first "Spring Break" trip as a family. Our plan was to spend the night in Austin after dropping of Grandma and Grandpa Stata, then go to San Antonio for two more nights. We had lots of fun and have plenty of opportunities to teach the kids about flexibility along the way!

Our first afternoon, though, was dedicated solely to relaxation. We stayed at the EFCA camp in Buda, TX, just outside Austin. It was so peaceful, with blue skies and temperatures in the 70's - perfect for playing outside.

We stayed in the nurse's cabin, which had a queen bed and two bunk beds, and a playground right outside. Deer lounged in the trees right behind our cabin.

After we settled in, we hiked down to the river, which had a fishing dock, hammocks, swings, and a fun swinging bridge and rocks to explore. Kevin and the kids tried out the fishing and played adventurers on the rocks and bridge.

I parked right here, in the hammock. And that is where I stayed all afternoon!

Ahh!

Zilker Botanical Gardens

Our week with Grandma and Grandpa was lots of fun, including lots of bike riding and kite flying in the church parking lot, yummy Mexican food, a trip with Naomi to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, a girls-only shopping trip for maternity clothes and baby stuff, and a boys-only fishing trip.

We ended the visit on Monday with a trip to Austin for BBQ, botanical gardens, and goodbyes at the airport. Here are some pictures of the Zilker Botanical Gardens, which are not quite blooming much yet, but are very green!

What I learned from my pastor... 3-14-10

Kevin posed a question in his previous sermon from Luke 15... What do the three parables (the lost coin, missing sheep, and prodigal son) have in common, and what is the one aspect that is missing from the parable of the prodigal son?

He addressed that question in this morning's sermon, pointing out that in that culture, it was expected of the oldest son to do whatever he could to restore the honor of the family by looking for the younger son. Are we who follow Christ willing to do the same by seeking those who are lost?

We also saw how this parable doesn't really have an ending like the other two, leaving the hearers to wonder, did the older son join the party? John McArthur writes that even though Jesus left his hearers to ponder the ending, we who have the whole revelation of Scripture now know the ending to the story...

The older son (the Pharisees) did accept the father's invitation to join the party. Instead, he took it upon himself to see that one of the sources of the family's shame was ended, and he killed the father. They did not recognize Jesus's offer of salvation through grace, and they had him put to death on the cross.

Rodeo Day

It's Rodeo Day at Naomi's school! And as an extra treat, we got to bring Grandma and Grandpa Stata along, because they came to visit us this week. Rodeo Day was packed full of fun events for Naomi and her classmates, including...

A trail ride (on stick horses)

Stopping for some trail mix

Tug-of-war

A hoe down

A hay ride with Grandma (Johnathan was thrilled by the tractor!)

Roping practice

Sack races

... And a chuckwagon lunch of Frito Chili Pie. Yee haw!