My New Nephew

Here's a photo of Darin Geoff Sowder, son of DeAnn and Wayne Sowder, born on Easter morning, March 23, at 8:45 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs., 7.7 oz and was 20" long. Isn't he a cutie?

Easter 2008

The day before Easter, we had an egg hunt at our church. Angela, a friend and one of the organizers of the event, gave the girls a large inflated bunny. They loved playing with it.



Here are some pix of the girls from Easter Day:

Saved

Bridget, Tessa and I were baptized March 9. Dwayne also reaffirmed his baptism and we both joined Hope United Methodist Church. We began attending our church Easter Day 2007. Anyone who knows me well knows that organized religion has never been my thing. Becoming a member of a church is a big deal for me, something I don't take lightly. I never thought I needed to be in church, but it has made such a difference in my efforts to live a Christian life.

I owe a debt to my daughters for this positive change in my life. Sometimes people comment to me that Dwayne and I "saved" them from life in an orphanage. The way I see it, it is these two little darlings who have saved me in so many ways. They saved me from a too-selfish life spent mostly pleasing myself. They saved me from my bitterness over not being able to give birth. They restored my faith, which took a beating when I was dealing with infertility. They showed me that even when I was cursing God and thinking He didn't love me because I couldn't have a baby, He had a better plan. I love my girls so much and I know they were meant to be our children. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. God knew what He was doing and I learned that I need to let go and trust Him and not have to always know why things happen when they are happening -- it will all make sense someday, if not in this life, then in the next.

Plus, I would never have attended Hope Church for the first time had it not been for the fact that Bridget went to preschool there. I had such a bad attitude about churches that it took a church full of caring people, a minister who teaches as much as he preaches, and some rockin' inspirational music to win me over -- no other church would have been right for both Dwayne and me.

I am stepping off my soapbox now to share some photos. Doris took these for us, and she did a great job!

This is me being baptized as Tessa, Bridget and Dwayne look on:



Now it's Tessa's turn:




Here's Bridget:




Here, Pastor Frank makes the sign of the cross on Dwayne's forehead as he reaffirms his baptism vows:



God is good all the time!!

Tessa's 5th Birthday

Tessa had a very special birthday this year. For the first time, she and her Dyedushka (grandpa), who shares the same birthday, were able to celebrate together! He, Babushka (grandma) and my niece Ashley came to spend the weekend and celebrate with us. We had a joint celebration and cake on their actual birthday, March 7.

Here's the cake with a 66 for Jim and 5 candles for Tessa:



Here are Bridget and Tessa with Ashley:



Here are the girls showing off a birthday picture Bridget and Ashley made for Tessa:



Here are the girls giving Dyedushka his birthday card:



Here's Tessa opening one of her fave presents, a Hannah Montana guitar:



Tessa also got a Hannah Montana wig. Here's a short movie of her singing with her guitar:

A

Bridget (with Ashley) took a turn as Hannah:



Even Jim got into the act (if anyone wants to use this photo for blackmail purposes, you can click on the small image, make it larger, then download a hi-res image . . . hee, hee, hee):



On Sunday, Tessa, Bridget and I were baptized and Dwayne reaffirmed his baptism and joined our church.

The girls posed with Babushka (aka Granny-Pop) and Dyedushka before church:



After church, Martha, Sandy, Stephanie, Hannah, Allie and Brock came by for a 2nd birthday celebration. Martha made Tessa a Hannah Montana cupcake cake that was shaped like a guitar:



Of course, there were more presents. Here Tessa sits on Hannah's lap while Allie, Brock and Ashley watch her open a Hannah Montana singing doll (yes, ole HM was very popular around our house that weekend):



It was a very fun weekend and we were so happy that Jim and Tessa got to celebrate together!!

Kindergarten Cinderella Ball

The kindergarten classes at Bridget's school held their annual Cinderella Ball on Feb. 15. Cinderella, Prince Charming, Snow White, Fairy Godmother, and Fiona (Shrek's wife) were all in attendance. The kids dresses as princes or princesses. It was so cute!! Here are some photos from the ball:

Shown dancing with Cinderella are (l-r): Bridget's friend Lily, Tessa and Bridget:



Bridget (she's to the right of the girl in red):



Tessa met up with Natalie, a friend from preschool, at the ball:



The girls took their turns trying on Cinderella's slipper to see if it fit:




Tessa with Fiona:



Bridget and her friend Lily with her teachers Mrs. Hurst (l) and Mrs. Russell (r):

Bridget Ditches Her Training Wheels

On February 4, 2008, after only one day of help from her Pops, Bridget rode her bike without training wheels! She is so coordinated; she's good at everything she tries. That is so amazing to a natural klutz like me. That same day, she was also riding around in circles!! I remember it took me weeks and weeks to learn to turn a curve on my bike without falling over. Here is a short movie of her riding her bike on that auspicious day:

Snow Days

We had not one, but TWO snow days in the same week in January. It started snowing in the afternoon on Wednesday, Jan. 16. I was alerted to this fact by a squealing Bridget, who was outside swinging at the time. It was the first snow we've had since the girls have been with us -- they were very excited!! I was so happy that they got to see the huge snowflakes falling and got to play in the snow until it got dark. Here are some pix of the girls in the snow:




It snowed again on the following Saturday, Jan. 19. When we got up that morning, sleet was falling. I really didn't think we'd get any snow, but it warmed up a few degrees from 32 to 36 and the sleet started turning to snow. It wasn't the huge flakes we'd had on Wednesday, but it snowed much of the day, so the accumulation was actually greater. We had about 2 inches fall on Saturday, enough to make a snowman.

Here is Bridget with the snowman:



Here is Dwayne with the snowman:



A good time was had by all throwing snowballs and making snow angels.