Friend Thomas Turns 3

 Today we had a great time celebrating with our friends for Thomas' 3rd birthday.  I loved the animal theme and the masks the kids made.  Luke makes me laugh so much in this picture (back right)!  It is amazing that I am actually posting a blog on the same day that an event took place.  We are making progress here!  It is also amazing that the kids sat still and actually wore their masks for this one (though unfortunately the birthday boy himself is blocked by the parrot in front).

 The kids went on an animal hunt.  AH!  I see one!  Wait!  That is not an animal is it?

 "Monkey says....jump up and down!"  There are 65 pictures on my Facebook album if you want to see more.

 I LOVE this one of my great friend, Rachel, and her son Whit.  So much love!  Thank you, Father, for friends and fun!

 "Pin the tail on the Lion."
"Look, Malachi!  You got the tail spot on!" (our friends are British).

Emily is so celebratory in her little party dress!  And I have to admit, I am excited to finally be back into my old jeans again!  YAY!!!  That is reason enough to party!

Elijah's 5th Birthday--Car Theme

My firstborn son is now 5!  He is such an energetic, funny, passionate guy!  Keeps me active!  Keeps me on my knees praying.  Thank you, Lord for this precious man.

 3 brothers love to race cars...so we decided to have a race car birthday.

 Do you like my cake?!  I always think of Beckie and Cheri whenever I decorate these.  Thanks, also, Angel, for the recipe.  (The brownie mixes I usually like to buy were gone, except one imported Gheradelli 6 pack that cost more than 900 pesos--$18 USD!  No way!).

 "I'm 5!"  Thanks, Sarah, for the "Happy Birthday to Me" shirt from last year.  Even though it didn't arrive in time for his 4th birthday, he was making sure it was washed and ready in time for number 5!

 Thank you, Lord, for friends for my kids!  We love you guys!  It was fun to write a song for Elijah's birthday with the race theme from Hebrews 12.1-2 "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith."  The kids loved the actions!  See Elijah jumping for joy!

 They listened to my Bible story about Elijah running faster than King Ahab's chariot.  We can even find races in the Bible!

 The kids had fun painting their own race cars...thankfully I found some great Crayola washable paints at the mall, even though it was imported.

 Time for cake and ice cream!  What a bundle of fun kids!  (Hope this picture doesn't show how sweaty I am!)

 MMMMMM!!!!  Sojo, Elijah, and Silas!

 Time for our race car parade!!!  I am so glad the kids liked this idea!!  Thanks to my mom for teaching me to have fun birthday parties and for giving me creativity and joy in birthdays!

 Ready to race!  Elijah was proud that his headlights were painted white.

 Go kids!  Run!!

 Finally, we had a car wash!  We borrowed our friends' car for the day.  It's amazing how much fun bubbles and sponges are!

That afternoon I enjoyed a precious date with my boy!  We looked at pictures from his special day on the computer as we drank hot chocolate at a coffee shop.  Thank you, Father, for this guy!  May he grow to love you and know you Lord, and follow you all his days!

Autumn in America & Micah's Wedding

 I LOVE autumn.  While I do not miss snow or winter, I do miss the glorious autumn season.  I praise God every time I see these colorful trees!  It has been a picture for me of my spiritual life--and the life of others.  Change happens one leaf at a time.  Slowly and surely the whole tree turns into another color (and other trees change at a different rate).  So in my spiritual walk.  Soon the Lord's transformation in me will be a glorious testimony to our Creator, and at the same time others will change at a different rate and give a different color.  All to the glory of God!

 I got to be in Omaha for my 33rd birthday!  (you can see my Mom's brilliant idea of having 3 + 3 candles).  What a special treat!

 I love my sisters!!!  How sweet to be with Erin, Ali, and Sarah for the wedding weekend!

 Micah, what can I say!  I LOVE YOU BROTHER!!  This pic is just moments before the wedding began.  I praise God for doing this work in your life.

 Walking down the aisle!  I love the perfect blue skies and my Dad's smile =)

 I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Micah Bruce!  You may kiss the bride!

 The Ghormley clan!  What a special gathering!

You can see an album of 66 wedding pictures on my Facebook.  Friend me if you haven't already:  Jessica Nell Becker.

 4 boys in a bath!  We are having fun staying with our life-long friends in Zionsville, IN!

 Luke took his first steps (finally!) yesterday!  Yay!

My life-long friend, Trisha, and I are enjoying time in person together--precious!  How fun between us we have 5 boys!  Active times--get these guys moving!

You may wonder where Nate has been in all these pictures!  Well, he's been doing so many things!  What a man!  Visiting schools, making connections with people, speaking at church, watching the boys so I could go to the wedding.  We have't had as much time together that I would like in these last few weeks, but I am hoping we can make it through this home-stretch and find ourselves back home in the Philippines in two weeks!  Pray for us please, thanks!!

May: Growing Boys



Luke turned 11 months on April 27th,
but I was so busy I didn't get his pics 'til May 1!  Handsome guys!



Luke is such a joyful boy.  Thank you, Lord!

He's learning to pull himself up and stand.

May 8th, Elijah turned 4!  Here is his fire truck cake.
(Cheri, thanks for the new bags!)

We got to open Grandma's present--3 boys!
(P.S. This post is mostly for my Mom!  Bear with us here on the multiple
family pics =)...also this is only one day of the many we've had lately--no time for pics).

A new outfit from the Grandparents.  E loves frogs!  Special birthday boy!

The party started with E's favorite game.
We did "Pin the dalmation on the fire truck".

His little friends gathered by his side for story time.

I'm thankful to Rachel for taking pics for me.
If you enlarge this, you can see how sweaty I am!  You'd think
I had really gone into a fire or something crazy!

Our buddy Michael came to join the fun.
I laugh the most at myself in this one, drippy sweaty Mama,
pouring out buckets of love for this guy.

Here are the attendees, with Elijah in the middle saying,
"I'm FOUR!"

Little firemen putting out the big fire with spray bottles.

Swimming fun (after the crazy water balloon toss in the front).

Mr. Becker brought his band class to the house (out the back gate)
for a "Happy Birthday to Elijah" song.

Then for a surprise date, I took Elijah to find some real fire trucks.
His face looks so terrified in this as I just randomly posed him for a pic.
He was afraid it would start moving for a real emergency. I guess
I should have prepped him more before the picture.
Did you know they have green fire trucks?!  Also white, red, yellow...

There were no firemen at the green one, so we found the
oldest station in the city.  Elijah still isn't sure about this,
but Mama knows it will be FUN!

I think I'm having more fun than E.  We got to sit in the truck
and how fun to randomly show up and get a tour!  Only in the Philippines!

For fun they even rang the bell for us, and this
fireman got his gear on and slid down the pole for a demo.
This time I had to prep E so he would know it wasn't a real emergency.

I think this was a pretty fun date. Do you recognize that cute firefighter?
Yes, I remember being in elementary school and wishing I could try it on.
Now is my chance!  E didn't want to try the hat.  Very hot and heavy!

Finally, at the end I think he was warming up to the truck.
What a fun birthday!  I can't believe in four years you can graduate from college,
or you can have 3 babies!  Crazy years--full years--special years!