Grace & Truth 08

Finally I am posting some pictures of our Ladies Conference, Grace & Truth.  These are random pictures that I found from various friends. Some the of quality is rather poor since I "stole" them off Facebook.  Some key people that are pictured are our speakers, Aunt Theresa & Holly Stratton. Others are friends from Morning Star that you may or may not recognize, and still others are out of town guests from Indiana, Michigan (friends of Berrymans), and S. Illinois (a past BYWAVer), and from South Carolina, Belinda, Candice and Megan Jones (remember them from Belgium).  I hope that you enjoy and that it entices all you ladies to come and join us next year!

 

Happy Boy

Stefan at 4 months.

Going to the Dentist

We are in a missions conference in Burlington, Massachusetts, this week and have the exciting privilege of being in the same conference as Dr. Jack Mitchell and his wife Jennifer, of whom we first heard several years ago through Bob & Jennie. Dr. Mitchell did an excellent job of putting both of our little M & Ms right at ease. Even Miriam let him "count her teeth" (that was no small feat!) and now considers herself fast friends with "the doctor". I'm pleased to say that we all got clean reports.

Sunshine day in MA

Fun filled day of Sunshine!!

Yesterday the kids and I went to my parents and enjoyed the sunshine.

Corban learned that he LOVES mud pies!

and Patience learned to ride her bike!!

A Distinguished Visitor

Today I had the privilege of meeting and talking with Mme Michelin, the wife of the former CEO of Michelin Tires Worldwide. She has moved to the States for a school year while she is having a new house built in France. Her husband had always said that going to school in the US was the best thing that happened to him, so she decided to move her family here for a year. (He was killed in a boating accident a little over a year ago.) She is the mother of 6 children, a devoted educator, and active in education rights in France and even Africa. She was very instrumental in having an education reforandum signed between France and the US. She is the lady beside me, then a teacher-friend of hers from France, and then Jeanne Johnson, my co-worker who teaches 2nd and 3rd grade. She is very down-to-earth and friendly. It was very exciting to meet her.

Toothless in Rockford...

Last night after a hard day of play and a shower Patience finally lost her top front tooth....

.... this morning Daddy helped the other tooth out!!

the poor Tooth Fairy is going broke!!!

Happy Birthday, Brenda!

Your beautiful smile always lights up the room when you enter. Thanks for being such a great wife to my bro, mother to my nieces and nephews, daughter-in-law to my parents, sister-in-law to me and my other siblings, aunt to my other nieces and nephews, and cousin to my sister-in-law! Whew--you are a lot of things to a lot of people! You are one busy woman! We love you and hope that you have a wonderful day and get very spoiled by your wonderful family. (And you have the same beautiful smile you did when you were just a teenager!)

Along the Way

We've been back in the New England area for a week now, and are getting to enjoy an extended spring this year. We saw the rhododendrons bloom in SC/NC and then returned up here where the locals were just beginning to enjoy blooming forsythia and pear trees. The weather has been nice. These pics were taken yesterday. The collage was at a church about an hour away from Brian & Jo in Millbury, Massachusetts. Sunday afternoon we had a little extra time and spent some time in a park in Salem, New Hampshire, and took this family pic before heading to the evening service in a nearby church.

All tuckered out!

Stefan was sitting on Brian's lap during dinner. He apparently was ready for bed instead!

T4G08

We had a wonderful time at the T4G Conference this year. We caught glimpese of Dan now and again, enjoyed lunch with him one day. But the mob made it impossible to visit with too many people. I was so thankful to be able to go along this year. We took 18 from our church. Corban and Patience enjoyed their time with the Millers and got very spoiled!

BMM Conference 2008

Here are some shots of our annual conference. This year we did it here in the Chateau that we use every year for the 3 church retreat. Sylvia and I did all the cooking,but it went like clockwork! We had done a lot ahead of time so that was nice. Our banquet was "Christmas in April" with a fun game of white elephant. We were only 29 this year--a small group.

Having fun with our Siberian cousins

It was fun to be on the same missionary docket as Kevin & Jessica Jones at the missions conference of Friendship Baptist. We even had a chance to celebrate Brianna's first birthday together at the Pahnke's. Here are some pics of our visit. For a few more posts of what has been going on in this Bixby family during these last few weeks, check out "Bixby News" at HopeforFrance.org.

Just had to post this!

This was taken on our little outing to Newport, Rhode Island today. It was beautiful--a quaint little town right on the coast. As you can see even Stefan enjoyed our outing! For more pictures of our day you can visit Hanson Happenings.

Happy 7th Adoption Day!

Patience, this is just another day to reflect on God's goodness to our family. We love you and can't believe that you are already 7 years old! I know that life is busy right now, but I hope that you have a very special day.

Happy Spring!

The Colorado Mountains

We are having a phenomenal time in the Rockies. It is beautiful. It's been snowing up at the cabin most of the day. We drove over the Continental Divide. It was fun to go up that high in the mountains. We came with Brenda's nephew Andy and and his wife Sara. They went skiing today. We are having a blast.

Come back soon!

We had such a great week with Donna here. That leaves only the Bob and Dan fams to visit us in MA. Hurry over! We can't wait to show you around!